Hosts my Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh cryeth out for the living God when shall I come to appear before thee when shall I shake off this clogg of the flesh and praise thee day and night in thy Temple when shall I be freed from this Earth and Dross and do thy Will O my God without Lett or Interruption O my Soul dost thou believe such a Heaven where no good shall be absent and canst thou be hunting after the husks and empty shells of sensual pleasure how little do the Inhabitants of that New Jerusalem mind the pomp and grandeur of this world they have nobler objects to mind and more delightful employments to take up their minds and thoughts didst thou live more in this Heaven O my Soul how wouldst thou look down upon this Earth as an inconsiderable trifle how little wouldst thou regard what man can do unto thee how contentedly mightst thou part with all that the world counts dear and precious for Christ his sake as knowing that there is laid up for thee the Crown of Righteousness which the Righteous Judge will give to thee one day and not only to thee but to all those that love his appearance Look upon the Primitive Martyrs O my Soul they broyled in Flames but loo'kd upon that Heaven and smiled St. Stephen hath a thousand Stones flying about his Ears but looks upon that Heaven and the Glory of God appears upon his face Abraham sojourns in the Land of Promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob but looks for a City which hath foundation and goes on triumphing Moses suffers affiiction with the people of God but hath respect unto the recompence of reward and esteems the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the Treasures of Egypt The Apostles are scourged and beaten for the testimony of Jesus but look upon this Heaven and depart from the Council rejoycing because they were counted worthy to suffer for the Name of the Lord Jesus St. Paul five times of the Jews receives forty stripes save one thrice is he beaten with rods once he is stoned thrice he suffers shipwrack a night and a day he is in the deep in journeyings often in cold and nakedness but what ails the Man he sings his heart dances for joy under all these troubles O my Soul he saw he saw that his light affliction which was but for a moment would work for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory O my God give me but my portion in this Heaven and I desire no more Come what will come Sword Fire Imprisonment Hunger Thirst Nakedness Disgrace Reproach Perils by Sea and Perils by Land Enemies Devils Friends Poverty Sickness Exile c. Here is a Jewel will counterballance all O give me but a room in that great House made without hands Eternal in the Heavens and then cut burn torture and afflict let storms and tempests come I 'll fight against them with my Title to that Inheritance which fades not away this shall quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil this shall bear up my Head above water this shall hush all my discontented thoughts this shall be my refuge in a storm my hiding place in flames my portion in poverty my pillow in great anguish my liberty in prison my cordial in temptations my Elixir in a swound my prop when I stumble my Laurel when it thunders my Rock in persecution my Safeguard in destruction my Light in the midst of darkness my Goshen in this Egypt my Ship under the fiercest Billows my Shield when I am assaulted my Helmet when I am in danger my encouragement when I do resist my Crown when I conquer my Manna in the Wilderness my Food in the Desart my Rose to smell to in a Dungeon my Guide in my journey my Pole-Star in my voyage my Staff in my Pilgrimage my Song in my misery my All when Death and Hell conspire unto my ruine VI. It makes a man prudent and discreet in secular affairs and businesses Consideration as it is a very great improvement of Mans Reason so it cannot but be very useful to him in governing his secular affairs with discretion Consideration makes a man master of his Reason and that man must needs act more wisely that hath his reason at command than he that makes it a slave to every flattering passion and since it is confessed that the fear of God hath that influence upon all humane affairs that it disposes a man to a wise and prudential management of them Consideration must of necessity be of the same Virtue and Efficacy for this fear of God is the immediate product of Consideration I deny not but men wise in Spiritual are not always so in Temporal concerns for either their scrupulous Consciences or fear of having their hearts carried out too much after the world or their giving themselves wholly to Heavenly employments may make them careless and unmindful of things belonging to this world but still in its nature and tendency this circumspection in things which concern a Christians Soul is able to shed wisdom and discretion into his carriage and behaviour to things which appertain to this present life hence from a man who seriously considers he hath a Soul to be saved you may expect great order in his Family a prudent foresight of dangers and a moderate care to shun them great temper in discourse and exact justice in his dealings and rendring to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honor to whom Honor as the Apostle's phrase is Rom. 13. 7. In all probability it was the attentive consideration of his Spiritual concerns that made David both valiant and prudent in matters as he is call'd 1 Sam. 16. 18. and to what can we ascribe Joseph's and Daniel's discreet Government of themselves and their secular affairs but to that Piety and Goodness which by long and serious consideration they had setled in their Breasts When 〈◊〉 mans wayes please the Lord he makes even his very enemies to be at peace with him i. e. He doth not only by an extraordinary providence turn their hearts towards him but infuses wisdom and discretion into his Soul so to behave himself towards his enemies that they cannot but bury their hatred and return to their former friendship and civility Prov. 16. 7. He that considers his ways with reference to his Eternal state and condition his ways cannot but please the Lord and such wisdom if he stand not in his own light will surely fall to his share and hereof we need no other proof but common experience The man who truly minds his everlasting interest and so considers the account he must give to God when this life is ended as to provide for that great and dreadful Audit thinks himself obliged to use what cautiousness he can that he may not wrong
consider the evil of thy courses the beauty of Gods ways and the sad consequences of sensuality thou deniest thy own Being deniest Gods Favour to thy Soul deniest the Glory of thy Creation deniest the most visible and the most apparent thing in the world if thou deniest thy ability in this point and if thou art able to consider so much what injustice can it be in God to demand an account of this consideration wherein doth he do thee an injury if he doth ask what thou hast done with this power wert thou in Gods stead wouldst not thou require the same account of thy servant on whom thou hadst bestow'd such a Talent if thou art able and wilt not take thy faithfulness into serious consideration can there be any thing more just in the world than thy damnation how easy were it for thee to lay home the danger thou art in and seeing it is so easy how just is it with God to let thee perish in that danger thou art resolv'd in despight of all Gods endeavours to the contrary to fall and sink into O Christian how dreadful will it be for thee when Christ shall depart from thee with this doleful exclamation How often would I have gathered thee as a Hen doth gather her Chickens under her wings and thou wouldst not wouldst not This is it that makes thy everlasting torments just O Sinner that God should invite thee to Heaven and thou put him off with this answer I will not that God should carress thee to become his Darling and thou voluntarily and freely list thy self in the Catalogue of the Devils favourites and votaries that God should leave no means untried to melt thy stuborn heart and thou desperately fight against his Heaven and when he would thrust thee into it violently to break loose from him and lay force upon damnation How inexcusable will this make thee What Man what Angel can or dares plead for thee after such horrid wilfulness by it thou shutst up all mens compassion against thee were thy error an infirmity or had invincible ignorance caused thy folly some or other possibly might be moved to speak in favour of thy concerns but that thou knowing the will of God and having power to think what the end of thy courses will be and power to avoid the danger and power to pray for help a gracious God to encourage thee a glorious reward to entice thee Eternity to fright thee the everlasting gulph to startle thee shouldst in despight of all these motives wilfully and maliciously shun thine own cure this is a malady which no creature can justly shed a Tear or frame an apology for Be astonish'd O ye Heavens and tremble O thou Earth ye Angels that rejoyce at a sinners conversion here on Earth O all ye that pass by behold and see whether there be a sorrow as such a sinners sorrow is We have read of men that have eaten their enemies of Monsters that have devour'd their own Children but here is one devours himself inhumane to a prodigy one that contrives how to shut himself out of Heaven plots how to undermine his everlasting Salvation and studies how to sink into the dungeon of desperation Sirs what is it that we are exhorting you unto is it to dig down Mountains is it to exhaust the Sea is it to pull down the Sun from his Orb is it to reverse the course of Nature is it to work miracles is it to unhinge the Earth or to stop the flux and reflux of the Ocean one would think by the earnestness and vehemency of expressions we are forced to use that it must be something beyond the power of man but no all that we keep this stir for is only that you would consent to be happy contrive how to inherit an incorruptible Crown and think seriously how to escape your own torment and needs there any intreaty for this one would think you should run to us break down the doors of our Habitations pull us out of our studies interrupt us though we were never so busy and importune us as that Widdow did the Judge and follow us day and night to be satisfied the thing is of that importance And O did you but believe an Eternity you would do so Believe why what should hinder you from believing it what arguments can you desire that you have not can there be any thing surer than the word of God can there be a greater witness than the Son of God God cannot deceive you he cannot impose upon you he cannot delude you dare to believe him though you have not look'd into Hell yet certainly there 's one though you have not seen the joys above yet such joys there are and to consider to study to ponder how to arrive to them is the great thing we press upon you as being sensible of your danger sensible that death will arrest you before you are aware of it sensible that many thousands are for ever miserable for neglecting such exhortations O Sirs we do not envy your worldly happiness we dare assure you that it is not any grugde we have against your prosperity that makes us put you in mind of these unwelcome Lessons we have a God calling upon us to stop you in your earnestness for the world woe to us if we give you no warning woe to you if you take no warning If making provision for the Flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof would make you happy if rioting and drunkenness chambering and wantonness and rouling in all the pleasures that your flesh does promise and your fancy pay could contribute any thing to your felicity if solacing your selves in the wanton streams of sensual delights would lead you into Paradise we promise you we would not molest or disturb you in your ways nay if you had not Souls to be saved did your Spirits dye with your Bodies we would not stint you in your jollities But oh can we read how the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men and see you fall a prey to that indignation Can we read how tribulation and anguish shall certainly fall upon every Soul that doth evil and not speak to you to prevent it Can we read how the Lord Jesus will e'r long come from Heaven in flames of Fire to take vengeance of those who have continued to disobey his Gospel and to punish them with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his power and not call to you Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Can we read how the unprofitable Servant that made no use of his Talent but buried it under ground and would not watch or make himself ready to meet his Master shall be thrown into outward darkness where there is howling and gnashing of Teeth and not beg of you to trim your Lamps and arise from the dead that Christ may give you Light Can we remember how many
thou putst upon thine own Soul and is thy Soul so inconsiderable a thing that thou makest nothing of deluding and circumventing it What thinkest thou Sinner suppose thou didst see a Senate or Parliament made up of very grave wise sober judicious men who should unanimously give their verdict in a Cause and determine it and while these men after serious deliberation give their judgement in the case propos'd to them in comes the malefactor against whom they have given sentence accuses the Decree of the Senate of injustice charges their Vote with a lye and takes a great deal of pains to make the world believe a tale of his own making whom wouldst thou believe that grave wise judicious Senate or the Malefactor the Senate sure and then when God Angels and Men the wisest the gravest the learnedst of them do all unanimously determine that without a serious consideration of thy Spiritual concerns thou canst not arrive to any sincere reformation of life canst never know the danger thou art in or what thou must do to escape unquenchable fire and that without it thou art a truly miserable man and dost take the way that leads to destruction hast thou the impudence to oppose thy sickly opinion which arises from a distemper'd ed head and a more distemper'd conscience to the grave sound and orthodox judgement of Men infinitely wiser than thy self when all with one consent affirm that thou art sick to death and nothing but consideration can recover thee wilt thou cancel their verdict by prescribing to thy self medicines of thine own making all cry out against thy inconsiderate course of life God doth not justify it Angels do condemn it the Preachers of the Gospel confute it Philosophers arreign it thy Reason hath arguments against it thy Conscience chides thee for it thy sober neighbors reprove it and wilt not thou subscribe to their sentence what insolence is it to think thy self more knowing than he that knows all things Behold sinner here lies the way to Heaven God is intreating thee to walk in it the Devil is busy to discourage thee from it God saith Here I will be found the Devil suggests that the Sons of Anack dwell there God wishes thou wouldst yield and live the Devil that thou wouldst stand out and dye God seeks to crown thee the Devil to rob thee of thy Diadem God assures thee that this is the Garden where thy Graces must grow the Devil argues that nothing but Weeds and Thistles grow there All the dispute is who shall have thy Soul God or the Devil think sinner for God's sake think who is the Rewarder and who is the Tormenter who is the King that can save thee and who is the Executioner that studies only to ruine thee shall not God prevail wilt not thou give him thy heart and shall Satan goe away with thy Soul shall he possess that Treasure which Angels are ambitious of for shame let not God goe away empty think what a condescension it is in God to be willing to accept of so inconsiderable a Present as thy Heart what is thy Soul to him what benefit doth he receive by offering thee his bosom if thou hast such a mind to be the Devils slave what need God take pains to rescue thee from that bondage dost thou think he cannot live without thee dost thou think thy being in his Heaven doth add any thing to his felicity cannot he as well be glorified in thy Torments as he can in thy Salvation cannot he make his Justice triumph over such a stubborn wretch as thou art wherein doth his advantage lye may not he be God and Great and Glorious and admired by Angels while thou friest in Hell thou hast very highly obliged him indeed that he need be at all this trouble to make thee in love with his ways shouldst not thou stand amazed at his Favour shouldst not thou wonder that this immense and infinite Majesty will vouchsafe a gracious look to so vile a worm as thou art and canst thou see a God court thee and grow coy doth God offer to kiss thee with the kisses of his Lips and dost thou scorn his embraces canst thou see him carress thee and turn away thy face wilt thou prefer the motions of a lying Devil before the Oracles of the Great God of Heaven hadst thou rather goe along with him that will murther thee than accompany him that will encircle thy Head with a Crown of Glory shall God magnify his Mercy upon thee and wilt thou fall in love with his enemy doth God intend by making love to thy Soul to give a character to the world of his infinite goodness and compassion and darest thou be so bold as to lessen that character by thy contempt and ingratitude Behold sinner God is willing to lay aside his Flaming Sword thou shalt hear of him no more in the Earthquake or in the Storm or in the mighty Wind that breaks the Rocks in pieces but in the still small voice the voice of Boanerges shall sound no more in thy ears he 'll blow his Trumpet of War no more all his frowns shall be done away he 'll fright thee no more with Hell-fire if his Grace his Mercy his Compassion can but allure thee to bethink thy self and close with him and so to consider the concerns of thy Soul as to resign thy self altogether to his guidance and direction his Aspect shall be kind his Countenance shall be nothing but smiles his Face shall be a perpetual Sunshine if by consideration of thy ways thou wilt become sensible of thy former folly and throw it away and take up with him alone if his kindly Beams can thaw thy frozen Heart if his calm can win thee and make thee prostrate thy self before the Lion of the Tribe of Judah Heaven and Earth shall be no longer in conspiration against thee and thou shalt not need to look any more for Thunders and Lightnings from that Heaven stand still sinner and see the Salvation of God behold Grace and Mercy lies weeping at thy Feet the free the soveraign the extensive the attractive Grace of God comes wooing to thy Soul and doth bespeak thee in this manner Hold Hold thou poor besotted creature whither dost thou run Hear hear I bring thee the joyfullest tidings that ever were brought to the ears of Men God will be thy Father the Lord Jesus thy Saviour the Holy Ghost thy Comforter the Angels thy Companions thy Life shall be a perpetual Holyday thou shalt be a friend of God an Heir of Heaven and Coheir with Christ thy sins shall all be done away thy iniquities shall be remembred no more all the promises of the Gospel shall be thine God will vouchsafe to live with thee the Holy Ghost will make thy Soul his Temple thou shalt have strength to overcome Hell and Devils Flames and Swords and be more than a Conqueror through him that loved thee the Lord Jesus Christ ask a Heaven and
love with eternal ruine V. Impediment V. Danger of losing their unlawful gain It 's a thing not unusual for men to thrive by sin and to prosper by iniquity to grow rich by oppression and to advance in wealth by unlawful callings to get money by pleasing other men in their lusts and to procure a livelihood by injustice and complying with the Vices of the Age we live in The Devil must have some rewards to bestow else his Kingdom would soon expire and though his rewards as well as temptations are deceitful yet rewards they are and being present and visible and consequently apt to make the deeper impressions they invite more strongly and caress men into desire and appetite Men many times would not venture on sin but that they believe it is the way to gain and the known road to advantage and emolument And as sin is judged to be the way to profit so they look upon 't as the onely means to preserve what they have got and acquired If Absolom had not had a Kingdom in his eye he would hardly have dared to rebel and Viper-like to prey upon the bowels that did feed and nourish him Demas sees how plentifully the Heathen Priests did live what credit what honour what wealth and glory they enjoy'd and that makes him forsake Christianity and embrace their wayes It was gain made Demetrius so zealous for the worship of Diana and the Masters of that Damsel that had a familiar spirit so earnest for telling of fortunes and unlawful divinations And we know who they were that told the Prophet Jeremy As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the Name of the Lord we will not hearken unto thee But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goes forth out of our own mouth to burn incense unto the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink-offerings unto her for then we had plenty of victuals and were well and saw no evil But since we left off to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink-offerings unto her we have wanted all things and have been consum'd by the Sword and by the Famine Jer. 44.16 17 18. And indeed this principle that a sinful life is the only profitable life doth so spread and infect the hearts of men that most are afraid to sit down and consider their ways for fear Consideration should make them weary of a sinful life and consequently make them quit and cashier the gain and profit they do reap by it Profit is the great Goddess the world adores and to preserve that men employ their strength and friends and make use of all opportunities to secure it it 's that which they are truly jealous of and which is as dear to them as their lives and which makes them climb rocks and clamber mountains and fight their way through all impediments that would oppose and cross it Touch that and you touch the apple of their eye and whatever cause they are zealous for though other reasons may be pretended yet profit and interest commonly is the true cause that inflames their passions and makes their spirits fervent and they seldom matter whether it be by lawful or unlawful ways that they have made their fortunes so they be but made and advanc'd to such a pitch they 'll be sure to protect what they have purchas'd and it is not an easie matter shall snatch it out of their clutches Consideration that unruly faculty would create ill thoughts of such gain in their minds and therefore as men that are loth to meet their Creditors and when they see them afar off turn out of the way that they may have no occasion to speak to them so the generality of men do carefully shun Consideration as an unhappy Remembrancer that will put them in mind of things they do not desire to hear and touch the sore they would not have handled or medled withall and search into those wounds they would not have healed up or come under the hand of a Physitian I do but think what a world of Religious men we should have how men would flock to Christ from all corners what a number of pious Souls would appear in all places if we could assure them that a serious life will for certain furnish them with an estate answerable to their luxurious appetite and I am apt to believe were men confident and could they trust to it that they should get an estate of 9 or 10000 l. per annum by frequent reading praying meditating and obedience to Christs commands the greatest part would make a hard shift to consider how to leave their sins and vices and apply themselves to reformation we should hear no more of the excuses they now make that they have no time or that their condition is such that they cannot serve God as they should The impossibilities they now pretend would all vanish and they that now rack and torment and tire themselves for a little profit upon prospect of so considerable an advantage would turn their pains and labour another way and become very devout worshippers of the Holy Jesus and find no such trouble in a circumspect life as now they do Should Christ appear in a visible shape from Heaven to the Swearer or Drunkard or Fornicator or Adulterer or Covetous or any other of the sinful Herd with vast glittering Treasures in his hand nay could we the Ministers of the Gospel secure such a Loâ—dship such a Principality such a Kingdom such an Empire to any of these sinners upon condition they would part with their Vices sure it would be a mighty Temptation to them to shake hands with their darling impieties for I see they sell their Souls to the Devil for 2 3 or 400 l. many times and I am so charitable as to think they would save them for a far more considerable sum It 's like some would be so brutish so swinish so sottish and yet but very few neither that would rather starve than leave their sins dwell rather in a Hogs-stie than renounce wallowing in the mire of their follies and live upon bread and water rather than deny their lustful desires and stoop to the meanest lowest and most sordid condition in the world rather than bow to the noble commands of Christ Jesus but one might engage safely for the generality of sinners profit and riches being the great loadstone that makes men willing to do any thing I see how if a Prince or other great person men depend or hope for something from dislike such a sin they are guilty of they can forbear it and comply with their Princes will and devotion I see how a person of quality can frown all his family into seriousness and the most vicious servant he hath for fear of losing his Masters favour and the good place he hath under him will find a way for profits sake to subdue his inclinations and take leave of a sinful pleasure since it is so that
Christ hath made it It 's that which Heaven is entailed on and without which Men if they dare take the word of that Jesus whom they do believe to be the Son of God can look for nothing else but everlasting destruction Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 18.3 are the express words of him who came from Heaven to reveal his Fathers Will words which do not only import the absolute necessity but represent the nature and manner of true Conversion And if the words added by way of Explication be thorowly weigh'd it will appear to any rational man that that laborious Conversion which the Ministers of the Gospel press and recommend is no other but what Christ requires in order to salvation for what can be the meaning of this phrase becoming as little children but that men must learn to be children in malice 1 Cor. 14.20 pull down their passions watch over their inordinate affections overcome themselves and harbor no grudge no hatred no revengeful thoughts in their hearts against those that have offended them and like new born Babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that they may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2.2 i. e. with all humility and alacrity submit themselves to be guided and ruled and govern'd by the precepts and injunctions of Christ in the Gospel without disputing or contradicting his commands though levell'd against flesh and blood as much as children leave themselves to the guidance and direction of their Nurses and have neither strength nor will nor malice to oppose the will or order of those that do lead them Not that Christ forbids examining either the Divinity or reasonableness of his Doctrines and Injunctions No God is not afraid to have his Will tried and examin'd by right reason for as it is the effect of the highest reason so it must needs be most agreeable to reason it being impossible that truth can be inconsistent with truth and therefore Christ doth so little discourage men from trying the Divinity of his Sayings and Commands by the rule of right reason that in several places he bids the Pharisees and whoever were his Adversaries to judge impartially of the Arguments he gave for the divine original of his doctrine And without all peradventure this liberty every man hath to examine and satisfie himself whether the injunctions of Christ and his Apostles were things that dropt from heaven or no. But then where men are convinc'd or have sufficient reason to be convinc'd that these Precepts are the peremptory Will of God concerning their salvation as any person who is not a Changeling or meer Natural may find upon due examination and inquiry if he will there God expects most justly that all pretences and excuses and carnal reasonings should fall and the Soul submit readily to the yoke of Christ and resign its will to Christs Will though it cannot for the present comprehend the true reason of some commands and suffer itself to be acted and guided by these Laws without contradiction or opposition or tergiversation denying and renouncing every apprehension or suggestion that would sollicit or tempt it to start aside from sincere obedience and all discourses that would dash or impede its willingness and readiness to embrace them And indeed this is all we mean by true Conversion viz. ceasing to obey the dictates of the World the Flesh and the Devil and endeavouring seriously to live up to the precepts of the Gospel without asking our lusts or vain desires whether they are willing to it or no a sincere resolution to get from under the yoke of sin and to make the Lord Jesus who bought us with his own blood our Supreme Ruler and Governor And since there can be no Government without Laws and we never heard of any other Laws Christ gave but what we have in the Gospel we cannot and dare not but conclude that to live up to these Laws of the Gospel is true Conversion And indeed the primitive Christians took no person to be converted that did not make these Laws the great Rule of his Life and shew'd by his Actions that he priz'd and esteem'd and valu'd these Laws above all the Orders and Decrees and Constitutions of the greatest Monarchs When we do entreat and admonish men to be converted what do we do but persuade them to mortifie their members which are upon the earth Fornication Uncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry and to put off Anger Wrath Malice Blasphemy and filthy Communication of their Mouths and to put on Bowels of Mercy Kindness Humbleness of Mind Meekness Long-suffering so as to forbear one another and forgive one another To let the Word of Christ dwell in them richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing with grace in their hearts unto the Lord and whatever they do in word or deed to do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks unto God and the Father through him To be poor in spirit to be meek to hunger and thirst after righteousness to purifie their hearts to follow peace with all men as much as in them lies To be patient under Slanders Reproaches and Persecutions To live in a sense of future Joyes and of an everlasting Recompence To avoid all apparent occasions of Evil even things that are harmless in themselves if they provoke or tempt to Sin To avoid Swearing in their ordinary Discourses and Communications to love their Enemies to do good to them that hate them to pray for them which persecute them and despitefully use them To give Alms without any sinister ends to pray without affectation of vain Applause or laying any stress upon the length of their prayers To fast without ostentation to lay up their treasure in Heaven to trust Gods Providence in their respective Callings and Conditions to love him better than the World to use the World as if they used it not to seek first Gods Kingdom and his Righteousness Not to judge rashly but to forsake their greater sins before they find fault with the lesser transgressions of their Neighbors To walk in the strait way and take pains for Heaven To avoid Hypocrisie and to manifest their Profession by their Lives both to hear and to do what they hear and to bring forth Fruits mete for Repentance and to let their Light so shine before Men that they may see their good Works and glorifie their Father which is in Heaven To be faithful unto Death and to hold out to the End and to suffer for the testimony of Jesus if God think fit to call them to it and to do good though they have no prospect of a present Recompence To feed the Hungry and cloath the Naked and visit the Sick and to hope and to believe that they shall be rewarded at the Resurrection of the Just. These are the
Soul Is this giving all diligence to make my calling and election sure when I am infinitely more concerned how to secure a small sum of Money than I am to secure those Treasures which fade not away Will God give a reward to Men that stand yawning and stretching themselves in his Vineyard unresolv'd whether they shall work or no A reward indeed they shall have but such a reward as hypocrites receive a reward from which Good Lord deliver us And am I so stupified that nothing of all this can move me neither the Glory of God nor the interest of my Soul nor all that can be said against my want of Zeal and fervency of Spirit Were these reason laid home by serious consideration it would rowze the Soul from her slumber and make her see how dangerous her rest is and how deer that sleep will cost her she is for the present lull'd in if it be not suddenly dispell'd and scatter'd but want of consideration makes the careless sinner fancy God such a one as himself one that is pleas'd with his indifferency in Religion as well as himself this is it makes him entertain very gross absurd and unreasonable conceits concerning that all Wise most Excellent and most lovely Being despise a Treasure of infinite value trample on the pearl of price and forget what the hope of God's calling is and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance is in the Saints Had the Covetous but a Heart to think with himself vain foolish man How loath am I to confess my self guilty of this vice How do I deceive my self with the fair names of good Husbandry and Frugality but will these delusions stand the fire Will these Paper Walls be proof against everlasting burnings if there be such a sin as covetousness and that sin so odious to God and his Holy Angels as Christ and his Apostles make it and so great an impediment to everlasting happiness as the Scripture represents it it must needs be worth knowing whether I am infected with this plague especially since my behaviour and actions look as if I were why should the Apostle call this sin Idolatry but because it makes men set their affections on the World more than upon that which is to come and more on their Riches Estate or Incomes than upon God and everlasting Glory whereby God is robb'd of his Honor and that high Esteem and Love which is God's due as he is God is given to be creature which in Gods sight is Lighter than nothing and vanity and is not this my case How is my Soul fix'd upon this World How close doth my heart stick to the profits and advantages it affords How is my Soul bound up with my Corn and Wine and Oyl How do I fancy that all my happiness is gone when these outward comforts are gone Did sin ever grieve me a quarter so much as a temporal loss Did offending a Gracious God ever cost me the tenth part of the Tears I shed for being deprived of a little shining Clay How hearty is my joy under the blessings of Gods left hand How little am I affected with the blessings of his right How far greater satisfaction doth my thriving in the world give me than my thriving in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ How loath am I to honour God with my substance How unwillingly how grudgingly do I part with any thing considerable for Charitable uses How loath am I to part with any of this worlds Goods for Gods service How happy do I count my self when Religion doth cost me nothing How loath am I to be any at charges for Heaven How doth it grieve me when I spend any thing upon Religion How do I dote upon these sublunary vanities How far greater pains do I take to be rich than to be happy for ever How can I dispense with a sin for profits sake How little of my desires and breathings hath God and a bleeding Saviour How dull am I under the most lively descriptions of the joys of Heaven How dull under the stupendous offers of Grace and Mercy How dead under the joyful message of pardon How dull when tempted by all the ravishing arguments of Gods love to love him above all What means my unwillingness to take God for my greatest portion What means that quickness sagacity and wisdom when my Riches Plenty or worldly prosperity is concerned and that strange dumpishness when God courts and beseeches my Soul to lay hold on Eternal Life Are not these evident signs that the World draws and attracts my Heart most powerfully God sees my Heart is not upright with him he sees I am afraid to take up with him alone he sees how covetousness hath possess'd my Soul and can I cherish this root of an evil in my Breast and not tremble at the danger my Soul is in Am I by the Apostles verdict an Idolater and do I make light of so great a guilt if no Idolater must expect a Crown of Glory alas what can I look for but Eternal Darkness when I read that it 's easier for a Camel to enter through the eye of a Needle than for a rich man who sets his heart on his Riches to enter into Heaven am not I frighted with the expression I find how this sin deprives me of a Holy communion with God and shall I loose my greatest comfort and support and satisfaction for it If any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him and can I be contented without the love of God if God be not my friend what doth the friendship of the whole World signify When my Soul must leave this Tabernacle and appear before Gods Barr O God I shall have so many witnesses against me that I shall not know what to say or whether to betake my self for refuge the Poor will accuse me because I have not open'd my Hand and Heart to them my own Conscience will accuse me because I have not been a good Steward of the means God gave me the Ministers of God will accuse me because whatever was laid out upon my Pride and Lust was thought too little and the least kindness I shew'd to those that wait at Gods Altar too much The Devils will accuse me because having a Soul so great so noble so precious I did employ it chiefly in scraping a little Dross and Dung together nay the Lord Jesus will accuse me because his example of contentedness and Heavenly mindedness would not allure me into imitation God will accuse me because having furnish'd me with all the motives and encouragements imaginable to mind Heaven more than Earth I preferr'd this Earth before all the joyes of Heaven and how shall I bear up under all this weight Would the poor deluded Worldling but let such thoughts sink into his Heart what a damp would it strike on his strong desires after the World and how would it make his immoderate love
thou delightst in a curious Picture why not in him that 's altogether lovely Thou delightest in a delicate shape why not in him that 's fairer than the Children of Men Thou delightest in a pleasant Garden in well-ordered Walks in flowry Meadows why not in him whose Gracious Presence can make a Dungeon a Paradise Hoise up thy Sails O my Soul let thy desires crave all that 's rich good and magnificent why in God thou hast it all in a most eminent manner while others delight in their plenty thou canst delight in him who is plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon him while others delight in knowledge thou canst delight in him in whom are all the treasures of wisdom while others delight in the protection of their friends thou canst delight in him who is a present help in the time of trouble while others delight in a stately Seat thou canst delight in the Secret place and in the shadow of the Almighty O my God thou satisfiest the hungry Soul and fillest the thirsty Soul with goodness They that cannot delight in thee have strange brutish Souls they see not how thou goest how thou my God goest in the Sanctuary they never felt thy Holy influences they know not what peace thou speakest unto thy People they are not sensible how thou dost encourage those that serve thee they are not sensible how great the rewards are thou hast laid up for Men that forget what is behind them and seek first thy Kingdom and its righteousness O my God I see how all the pleasant things of the World perish but thou art the same and thy years doe not fail and thou endurest from one generation to another here therefore I 'll fix my delight on this Rock I 'll build my joy while others delight in numbring their bags I 'll delight in numbring the loving kindnesses of my God while others delight in their preferment I 'll delight in being adopted into the glorious liberty of Gods Children while others delight in the greatness of their Relations I 'll delight in having the great Saviour of the World for my Elder Brother while others delight in their Farms and Oxen I 'll delight in my Title to the Tree of Life while others delight in Kingdoms and Principalities I 'll delight in him who hath made me a King and Priest unto God and to his Father I will delight my self in the Lord and he shall give me the desires of my heart Psal. 37.4 Did the man who is almost perswaded into Charity but seriously consider what a stress the Gospel lays upon this Pious liberality how Christ in the last day is resolv'd to insist more upon this Duty than upon any other how he is but a Steward of those blessings he enjoyes and how God gave him that Estate he hath with this very intent that he should be beneficial to those whom providence hath made objects of his Bounty how great an impediment his extream fondness of this worlds Goods is to his future happiness how it darkens his Graces clouds his Comforts hardens his Heart fears his Conscience enslaves him to the Devil how difficult nay how impossible it is for a man that dotes on these outward Comforts to become a true Disciple of Christ with what earnestness all the Prophets and Apostles of old have recommended this honouring of God with our Substance and with the First Fruits of our Increase how kindly God hath declared himself to this Duty how great Gods condescension is in being willing to accept of that as done to himself which is done to his servants or Christs distressed Members how signally he blesses this Virtue how all Faith is dead without it how vainly that man hopes for Heaven that hath no bowels of compassion I say would the man that is unresolv'd whither he shall deny himself and give away considerably to Pious uses but ponder all these arguments by the assistance of God it would make him resolve to lay by such a portion of all his gain and in-comes for Gods service and keep to it and stop his ears against all the suggestions of the Devil to the contrary and resign himself entirely to God's Providence and leave it to God how and when and where to make him amends for it and believe that it will most certainly be recompenc'd to him in the resurrection of the just Meekness in so great a Duty of the Gospel that Christ makes it the distinguishing character of his Disciples and indeed none is more likely to arrive to it than he that makes it his business to consider how famous some of the Heathens were for this Virtue how unworthy of a Christian it is to do less with all the helps of Grace than the other by the assistance of Nature only how this is to have the same mind which was also in Christ Jesus what mischiefs sudden anger hurries men into how severely the Great Redeemer of the World checks his Disciples that call for fire from Heaven to consume the Men who had denied their Master Lodging how great the conquest is to subdue those passions which would engage us to wrath and fury how discreetly that man can act that curbs those unruly affections how this excellent quality adorns the Gospel of our Saviour how it disposes Men for a satisfactory discharge of their Duty towards God how great evils and inconveniences it prevents how many times it melts the offender if there be any ingenuity in him and wins more upon him than all the fierce proceedings we call use how great a preparative it is for a good name and how Men who understand what self-conquest means cannot but commend and celebrate it how Heaven cannot but applaud it to see men strive to be perfect as their Father in Heaven is perfect how great wisdom it argues to be zealous in Gods cause when his Glory is affronted and meek in our own concerns and injuries what peace what satisfaction it causes in the Soul what blessings are entail'd upon it how comfortably those who have endeavour'd to be masters of this temper may leave this World and dye as the Jews say of Moses the meekest of men at the kiss of God into Eternal Glory Sanctification of the Lords day or which is all one consecrating that day to Gods service or spending it in publick and private Religious exercises in meditating hearing the Word praising of God good Works and Spiritual Conferences is a thing which devout Christians have in all ages thought themselves obliged to observe and certainly he will find great reason to follow them that shall engage his Soul seriously to consider some such circumstances as these How Holy is this day How should my Soul rejoyce at the dawning of it this is the day which the Lord hath made and which is to put me in mind of the greatest mercy that was ever vouchsafed to Mankind Can there be any thing more costly than the redemption of
Body A Soul that can build it's Nest among the Stars of Heaven walk through yonder Mansions and taste of the Rivers which make glad the City of God A Soul which can wing it self into the Clouds and survey the Crowns and Scepters laid up for those that dare despise the World and have their Conversation in Heaven A Soul which can enjoy a Paradise while the Body is in trouble and rejoice in him who is All in All while the fierce Winds are whistling about her ears The vast reach of these Souls we have their fitness to receive Divine illumination their strong desires after Immortality their secret actings without the help of a Body their hopes of Heaven their fears of Hell all proclaim the certainty of an eternal state or condition they are intended for This eternal state imprinted on our Natures discover'd to the Gentiles proclaim'd by the Son of God preach'd by Angels confirm'd by Apostles reveal'd to Christians believ'd in the World as it relates either to Bliss or Misery to Joy or Torment to Honor or Dishonor so how to enjoy the one and avoid the other must in all probability be the great object which God design'd Mens Souls should be chiefly employ'd about For as there cannot be a thing of greater moment than Eternity so he must be a Sot a Beast that can imagine that God who ever intends the noblest Creatures for the noblest Ends will give Men leave to busie themselves altogether about picking of straws and pleasing a few sensual Lufts when he hath given them Souls capable not only of labouring and seeking after but obtaining a Kingdom which fades not away And when we sweat and toyle and labour to make provision for twenty thirty forty years what do we do but proclaim our obligation to be infinitely more concern'd how to provide for that state which must never have an end And as it was the goodness and wisdom of God to make us capable of an everlasting duration so we should be injurious to both if we did not suppose that God hath order'd and appointed means whereby it 's possible to save our selves from the wrath to come He that takes a view of Gods proceedings and dealings with Men ever since the Creation of the World cannot but stand amaz'd at the cost and labour and pains and means and motives and arguments God hath us'd to make Men sensible of their everlasting interest and to engage them to a serious preparation for that World they must live for ever in This serious preparation must necessarily be a holy blameless spotless life for the means must ever be sutable and agreeable to the nature of the end And Heaven being a holy place perlect holiness reigning there it 's not to be imagin'd how perfection of holiness can be enter'd upon without a considerable progress in holiness here no man reaching the highest step of a Ladder without the lowermost and one might as well flatter himself that his Trade by such a time will bring him in Ten thousand pounds when he is so far from minding his Trade that he contrives only how to run with others into excess of Riot And indeed to plant this holiness in Men the means have been so various so numerous so potent before the Law under the Law and under the Gospel that one may justly admire the whole World doth not stand candidate for Heaven and all the Inhabitants of the Earth do not take the Kingdom of God by violence Before the Law the continual pleadings of the long-liv'd Patriarchs with sinful Men to improve the light of Nature that Primar of Divinity the many Visions Revelations Dreams Signs Wonders Voices from Heaven the Ministry of Angels Gods Patience Forbearance Long-suffering and sometimes Exemplary Justice the Examples of holy Men Gods love to those that honour'd him the signal blessings he bestow'd on those that made him their highest and chiefest good what were all these but so many calls and entreaties that Men would by holiness prepare for a future happiness Under the Law God was so far from being weary of using means and taking pains with Men in order to this end that he seem'd to have reserv'd those Ages for larger and fuller Demonstrations of his Power and Munificence and if the people of Lystra had any ground for their exclamation the Jews had far greater reason to cry out That God was come down to them in the likeness of men For while other Countries were left in darkness and like Moles suffer'd to wander in the shadow and vally of death they as if they had been made of purer Clay seem'd to be the Darlings of Providence and the Favourites of Heaven Heaven bow'd to them and under its protection they went as under a Canopy of State and might with greater reason than the Sultan have challeng'd that lofty Title The shadow of God And with that Persian Emperor stiled themselves Kinsmen of the Stars Their eyes saw Miracles almost every day and with their daily Bread they receiv'd daily Prodigies and in the midst of their Rebellion God like the Sun when smiling through a Cloud shew'd them a merciful Face not that he approv'd of their Impiety but because by these Beams he would warm their hearts into obedience Their Blessings came down upon them not in drops but in showers and their Prosperity like the Cinnamon Tree was so fragrant that strangers might smell it a great way off before they saw it The Waters of Life were continually flowing into their Bosomes and though God now and then frown'd upon them what Father would not sometimes chide his Son yet his Indignation which like Flints sent out Fire upon their penitential Tears strait way return'd to its former coldness The Rocks poured them out Rivers of Oyl they wash'd their Feet in Butter and one might say of their Land as he of the Isle of Rhodes They were bless'd with a continual Sunshine Their Prophets what mighty what powerful Men were they Men that like Lamps consum'd their own Oyl to light their Auditors to Heaven or like Silkworms spun out their own Bowels to deck their Hearers with Garments of Righteousness Where words could not prevail Tears were the means to supple and affect them and it seems there is not stronger Rhetorick in the World than these Here one Prophet spoke like an Orator there another like a Logician Here one endeavour'd by Eloquence to charm them there another by clear Reason to convince them Here one threatned there another promis'd Here one wooed there another thundred Here one came with a Scepter of Love there another with a Trumpet of War Here one offer'd his hand to save them there another made bare his arm of revenge Here one offer'd an Ark to those that desired mercy there another rain'd down floods of Curses to drown the obstinate Here one represented God with his Sword drawn a smoke going up out of his nostrils and devouring fire out of
he cannot enjoy that and his Masters good will together And therefore could we promise Temporal Crowns and Scepters and Estates and were we able to perform our promise upon mens quitting of their sins it 's very probable Holiness and Seriousness would be mainly embrac'd and follow'd and what is now out of fashion would be as much the mode then and a person that would not conform to the rules and orders of a serious life would look like an Antick as much as he doth now that dares be truly good in a sinful and adulterous generation But seeing all the Divinity we teach cannot increase their Trade and make their rocks drop with honey and sill their trunks with shining clay they look upon that holiness we press and recommend to them as a very beggarly business and mind it only on the By when they have nothing else to do And this is it confirms them in their fancy That a loose and vicious life is the only gainful life a Maxim notoriously false and which Consideration would soon scatter were it but call'd in to do its office this would represent to them how their gain which hath so ill a foundation must necessarily be a Moth in their Estates and how promising soever their gettings may be for the present they will soon bring a consumption on their fortune and prepares for their greater sorrow and vexation This would represent to them how such gain doth purchase the wrath of God and procures treasures of Gods indignation how it prognosticates a more plentiful condemnation and is a presage of richer flames hereafter This would lay before them that saying of Christ Matth. 16.26 What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul This would shew them their stupendious folly in venturing eternal torment for a little trash and discover to them how dear they buy their plenty Consideration would let them see That a serious life is in despite of all the suggestions of the Devil to the contrary the way to the greatest gain and yields the most durable profit and lays a foundation for riches which grow not old and fade not away and that peace with God is a far greater treasure than all the gold of Ophir and reconciliation by the blood of Jesus a nobler possession than all the jewels and pearls of the Indian Monarchs and that the Apostle was in the right when he counted all things but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Phil. 3.8 This would shew them That Friendship with God and fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ is worth more than Ten thousand worlds and represent to them the groans of the damn'd in Hell who were they to live over their days again would sell all they had to purchase this Pearl and give Ten thousand millions of gold if they had them for this friendship because this friendship would blow out their flames and cool their burning Tongues which all that mass of wealth will not do Consideration would lay open all the riches a serious life procures it would let them see that the intercession of Christ Jesus is entail'd upon 't a blessing inconsiderable in the eyes of the world but which men will one day set a higher price upon when it is too late To have an Advocate in Heaven who answers all the cavils and exceptions and accusations of the Devil against our sincere endeavours who controlls the rage and malice of the enemy steps in while the Foe is arguing against us shews his merits his wounds and the marks of his nails and makes our imperfect services pass for current Coin in the Court of the Highest covers the weaknesses and infirmities of our duties perfumes our devotions with the precious odors of his satisfaction offers up our prayers in his golden Censer throws his garment over us stops the Lyons mouth that 's open'd against us contrives our happiness promotes our interest with God and pleads not to cast us away from his presence nor to take his holy Spirit from us what profit there is in having such an Intercessor none will ere long be more sensible of than those who have been destitute of the benefit of this intercession and indeed none share in that mercy but men that dare apply themselves to that serious life whereof Consideration is the Key Consideration would shew them That this serious life gains the assistance and illumination of Gods Spirit And indeed to have the mind so purged as to see the vanity and emptiness of all sublunary objects the beauty of holiness the odiousness and loathsomness of sin the transcendent excellency of God the designs of Gods Providence the methods of Gods Mercy the reasonableness and equity of his proceedings and to be so assisted from above as to dare to oppose the most pleasing Temptations though they charm never so wisely and to esteem one hours communion with God above all the preferments and glories of the world for in this manner the Holy Ghost assists those that apply themselves to a serious circumspect life he that sees no profit no gain no advantages in this priviledge may justly be supposed to be quite blinded by the god of this world Consideration would let them see that the Promises of the Gospel are other gets riches than plenty of Corn and Wine and Oyl that there is no distress no calamity no misery wherein these Promises cannot hold a Believers head and support him against fainting that these can give content when nothing in the world can quiet the Soul and that these can make men triumph when they are made as the filth of the world and as the off-scowring of all things Consideration would let them see the unspeakable gain which attends the serious sincere and self-denying Christian when he comes to dye This would shew them that the immarcessible Crown of glory the reward of a serious life doth infinitely transcend all that the world can imagine advantageous and profitable Nay Consideration would discover to them That a serious circumspect life entitles men to temporal gain as well as to spiritual and eternal advantages This would shew them that more men are ruined in their estates by a Vicious than there are by a Religious Conversation and that Drunkards Whoremongers Adulterers Ambitious and Quarrelsom men break sooner and oftner in the world than those whose business it is to keep a Conscience void of offence towards God and man This would shew them that this worlds Goods are not ingrossed or possessed altogether by men who slight God and their own Souls but that even many of those who truly fear God have a very large share in temporal plenty and prosperity and that many times men thrive the better for a serious life and a secret blessing attends them plenty steals upon them beyond expectation and as if some good Angel were at work
for them riches flow insensibly upon them and every thing they undertake doth prosper insomuch that themselves cannot but wonder at their increase This would convince them that many men who during their ungodly Conversation could not thrive have signally prospered in the world as soon as they have applied themselves to a serious life and that a serious man is best qualified for getting profit and encreasing an Estate and that the generality of men had rather deal with a conscientious man than with a person who is careless of all things but his own interest as knowing that being conscientious he dares not cheat or deceive them but will think himself obliged to deal justly and honestly with them and do by them as he would have others do by him and that this is the great misfortune of ungodliness and the glory of a serious life in that one wicked man dares not trust another but both good and bad dare trust him who stands in awe of God and makes it his great care and study how to please him This would shew them that the serious man in being charitable takes the readiest way to prosper in his secular Concerns and that as great a Paradox as it may seem to sensual men there is not a greater truth in the world than that which Solomon speaks of Prov. 11.24 There is he that scattereth and yet encreases This would lay before them the Examples of men who by consecrating a great part of their Estate and Incomes to pious and charitable uses have enlarged their fortunes and by casting their bread upon the water have found it again with interest after many dayes who have denied themselves in their superfluities and yet are grown rich given away and gotten more than they had in times past This would lead them into the pleasant field of Gods Providence and shew them how that wise and gracious God wheels and turns things about for the good of those that dare trust him for a recompence and makes that money which was laid out for the use of the Needy return with advantage and usury Consideration would let them see how various Gods temporal blessings are which very often light on the head of a serious religious man and though he hath no Trade which stands in need of augmentation but a standing revenue how yet God may watch over him so that he shall lose little and all he undertakes shall prosper that his houses shall be preserv'd from fire and his Cattle from decay that his fields shall bring forth plentifully and his lands be as the garden of the Lord that he shall see his posterity advance in wealth and honour and his childrens children grow as the lillies and spread their branches as the Cedars in Lebanon Consideration would let them see how a whole Kingdom thrives where seriousness and the fear of God is encourag'd with vigor and sincerity What a darling a serious Prince is to his Subjects how well they love him how highly they esteem him and how plentifully and contentedly they live under his shadow This would refresh their memories how upon a publick humiliation God hath been entreated and the judgments under which a Nation groan'd have been averted and the Heavens which before were turn'd into brass have visited the Earth again with showers and the former scarcity hath been transform'd into plenty and abundance and how God hath seen their works that they turn'd from their evil ways and hath repented himself of the evil he had said he would do unto them and hath not done it Consideration would let them see that though a serious man should decay in the world and his conscientiousness be the cause of his ruine yet he would have more to support him under his losses than another man and it could not but be a very great satisfaction to him that it was not any vice of licentiousness that broke him but a good Conscience which is its own reward and the best preservative against murmuring repining and despair and very often a presage That God will set him up again and as it was in Job's case make the latter part of his life more prosperous than the former By such representations as these Consideration would scatter this suggestion of the Devil That a sinful life is the onely gainful and advantageous life But what argument can prevail against Experience and where men have found already that their sins have prov'd profitable and that their carelesness of Religion hath procur'd them no small advantages Their great care and study now must be that they do not put themselves into a way of losing them and therefore exhort them to consider what the end of these things will be and whether this be a likely course to get a title to the inheritance incorruptible reserv'd in Heaven for Believers they 'll be ready to reply What part with my livelihood Quit that which must support my Family Would you have me starve and perish Will your Religiousness give me bread Would you have me precipitate my self into ruine Will nothing less serve the turn than leaving all and following Christ Why should I despair when God blesses me and think ill of my way of living when God by prospering my endeavors declares his approbation of my deportment My gain is his mercy and if he did not allow of what I did he would with-hold his benediction His giving success to what I do shews his love and I have reason to believe he is not angry with me for taking this course because he never cross'd it by his thunders God would have me live in the World and since I have no other way to thrive but this I must suppose it 's that which God hath call'd me to My industry is in obedience to his command and why should I fright my self with his indignation when my prosperous fortunes speak his smiles and sun-shine Consideration would let them see that God doth not bless them for their sins but doth it to invite them to amendment Nay this would suggest to them that it may not be God that blesses them but the Devil and that he that is permitted to shew them all the Kingdoms of the world and the glories of them in a moment hath power also to reward iniquity and that prosperity which is acquir'd by sin cannot be of Gods making but is an effect of the Devils bounty who never gives but with an intent to murther and makes Presents for no other end but to make the Soul a prey to his fury who gives like the Grecians onely to overcome and seems kind onely to get an interest in the sinner and to take advantage against him when there shall be occasion who blesses with a design to curse and rewards to harden men in their contempt of the Almighty who lets men reap profit that they may venture confidently on sin and is contented they should have something for their pains that they may dedicate themselves more entirely to
his service But what can you expect from men that are resolv'd not to sâ—e and are so wedded to their gain that they are frighted with the very thoughts of a remedy that would clear their sight and shew them the fatal hand that gives them their prosperity and discover to them the Fiend that conveys the gain they get into their houses and bribes them into everlasting Tortures O poor besotted sinners And do you lose Heaven for this Is it for this you leap into destruction Is it for this you hazard the favour of God Is it for this you scorn the gold of the Sanctuary Is it for this that the riches of grace and mercy are vile and mean and despicable in your eyes Would any man think you had rational immortal Souls within you that sees you live thus Would any man imagine that you believe a reward to come that sees you so greedy after a present recompence so greedy that you fight your way through Oaths Curses Lyes Oppression Extortion Injustice Covetousness Uncleanness Blasphemy Flatteries Railings Slanders Abuses Drunkenness and through the most sneaking most sordid and most disingenuous sins to get it To see this what sober man would not bless himself What man of reason would envy such advantages Pity you he may but he can never wish for your happiness for that which you call happiness is misery in grain and must shortly die into endless lamentations Verily I say unto you you have your reward Mat. 6.5 VI. Impediment VI. Fear of being melancholy with so much seriousness is another Impediment And as the Devil ceases not day and night to instill this principle into mens minds so it usually prevails with the jolly Crew and such as are all for mirth and raillery and hate sadness as their most deadly Enemy Consideration they are afraid will strike them into dumps and a view of the odiousness and loathsomness of their sinful life deprive them for ever of that merry temper kind nature hath bestow'd on them Consideration of their danger they fear will put them in mind of the severe Duties of Religion and suggest something to them that will lie gnawing within and make them that they shall never enjoy a merry hour again They look upon men abroad who have applied themselves to Consideration of their wayes and studied how they shall be happy after death and find it had spoil'd their triumphs and caus'd them to walk about discouraged and dejected They see how some that think much of their salvation hang down their heads like a bulrush fold their arms and spend their days in tears and weeping They see how uncomfortable Consideration hath made their lives how it hath fill'd their hearts with sorrow and grief and anguish and they are afraid this will be their fate and the effects it hath wrought in others fright them lest they should be as disconsolate as they While they maintain their jolly temper they can live quietly and with content and while they have little or nothing to do with those serious things Divines do talk of they feel no disturbance and why should they meddle with Consideration which will certainly infuse sad thoughts into their minds and give them gall and vinegar to drink And are not these excellent Arguments against Consideration Are not these very lofty and pregnant Reasons to confute the necessity of so great a Duty Wretched deluded men Consideration would let you see that there is a great difference between melancholy and seriousness and that every man that looks grave and sober is not therefore dejected and discompos'd within and that it 's possible for men not to rant and tear and swagger and yet to enjoy great calm and quietness in their Souls That a man is not therefore sad because he will not swear and drink nor therefore Hypocondriack because his Conscience will not digest those sins which you can swallow down without chewing Consideration would let you see That you who allow your selves in sin and vanity of all men have least reason to be merry who have the King immortal and invisible for your Enemy and the blood of Jesus speaking against you and Gods Spirit bearing witness of your disobedience and know not how soon God will open the flood gates of his anger and how soon your portion will be in outward darkness who have no title to the benefits of Christs passion and are dead while you live who have your understandings darkned your inward and outward man polluted and your garments spotted by the flesh Consideration would let you see That your joy and mirth is but slight and superficial so far from being solid that oftentimes in your very laughter your heart is sorrowful and as fair as you carry things outwardly your Consciences cannot but fright you with an approaching storm sometimes and as merry as you seem to be you now and then feel terrors which make you flee when no man pursues you This would let you see how short your mirth and pleasures are and how they perish in the very enjoyment and are no better than Butterflies which when you have with great labour and industry got into your hands their curious colours decay with a touch and you can boast of nothing but a squalid Worm This would shew you how weak a thing it is with Lysimachus for a cup of cold water to lose a Kingdom and to hazard an eternity of joy for mirth which at the best is but as a morning cloud and as the early Dew which soon passes away Consideration would let you see That your mirth is worse than sadness and sorrow because it proceeds from a stupified Soul and from a hard heart and that it is rather a mans felicity to be a stranger to your mirth than unhappiness because your mirth is so vain your delight so frothy and your joy usually hath such a fearful end an end much like that of Belshazzar who made a Feast to his Lords drank Wine before them and to make the Deboshe complete and to make the blood of the grapes drink with greater briskness call'd for the golden Vessels which his Father had taken out of the Temple of Jerusalem as if it encreas'd the pleasure of drink to profane those Vessels by drunkenness which were consecrated to God and Wine out of a Bowl of the Sanctuary gave greater life to the spirits and reviv'd the heart more than a common Cup. But while their hearts danc'd and leapt for joy an unknown hand from Heaven writes the dreadful Mene Mene Tekel Vpharsin upon the Wall and on a sudden the Kings countenance changes and his thoughts trouble him so that the joints of his loins were loosen'd and his knees smote one against another Dan. 5.6 Consideration would let you see That your joy doth not deserve the name of joy and that your mirth is nothing but wantonness and how much below a great spirit such pleasures are how unworthy of a man created after Gods
errors of their wayes The truth is some are so civil as to send for us when the breath is going out of their body and give us leave to come and teach them what they must do to be sav'd when the Physitian gives them over and they ready to be summon'd to appear before the great Tribunal they are contented we should give them an Epitome of their Duties when they are past working in Gods Vineyard and furnish their minds with thoughts of Heaven and Eternity when their understandings are as weak as their bodies and their inward man as languid and feeble as their outward But there needs no great store of Arguments to convince any rational man That this is meer mocking of God and his Messengers It 's a sign they have a pitiful low esteem of another world who think Heaven worth no more than a feeble thought when they can serve the Devil and sin no longer It 's a sign they look upon eternal glory as some poor beggarly happiness who cannot vouchsafe it a serious look till their eyes grow dim and the Sun and the Moon and the Light and the Stars are darkned Eccl. 12.2 Would they but send for us or come to us while marrow is in their bones and blood brisk and lively in their veins their reason strong and their understanding in its full vigor and glory and advise with us about these everlasting things we would then tell them what eternal life means and how no man can be a man or be said to act with common prudence that doth not with all diligence make his Calling and Election sure we would then let them see how many thousands perish for want of thinking of Eternity We would let them see how miserable those mens condition must needs be who have their portion in this life who after this life must look for nothing else but everlasting chains of darkness We would prove to them that these are not things to be laught at but deserve their most serious contemplations and that the saving of a Soul is not so light a thing as they may imagine We would let them see that the pious Kings and Princes and Philosophers Confessors and Saints and Martyrs of old whose memories we adore were no Fools when they kept under their Bodies and brought them into subjection lest they should become Castawayes when they look'd upon all the losses and troubles and miseries that could befall them for Righteousness sake as things not worthy to be compared with the glory which ere long should be revealed in them when they did not count their own Lives dear for the Gospel of Christ and were ready to pass through the most daring flames to Heaven We would let them see that those men had brains and were men of wisdom and discretion as well as they and living so near the time of Christ and his Apostles could not possibly be ignorant of what was to be done in order to everlasting happiness and if they had not been very confident of the truth of Christs promises and known for certain that without strictness and contempt of the World and watching against Temptations there was no entring into their Masters joy they would never have striven so much to enter in at the strait gate as they did We would let them see how different mens thoughts are when they come to dye from those which they have while they enjoy strength and health and liberty and that a melancholy thought now and then concerning their sinful life is not repentance nor leaving such sins which would blemish their credit and reputation in the World doing whatsoever Christ commands them nor talking now and then of the vanity of the World using the World as if they used it not We would let them see what the Scripture means by working out their salvation with fear and with trembling and how dreadful that saying is If the righteous be scarcely saved where will the wicked and sinner appear We would let them see That the expressions the Holy Ghost uses concerning our Travelling to the Land of Promise imply very great care and industry and do plainly intimate that God will not part with his Heaven to men that do not think it worth seeking or being at any trouble about it We would let them see that if any thing in the World deserves their pains and care Heaven deserves it infinitely more as it is of infinitely greater consequence than the most boundless Empires or Principalities We would let them see that God is no respecter of persons and that as he hath fitted Religion for all mens capacities insomuch that though all cannot be wise or learned or great or rich yet all may obey him and keep themselves unspotted from the World so he will one day summon every man to give an account of his stewardship and bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or evil We would let them see that what satisfies men now will not give them any great content or satisfaction then and though now some sprinklings of Piety may lull them into good conceits of themselves and of their worth yet these like blown Balls will then be all upon the least touch shatter'd into Atoms By such discourses as these we might by degrees engage them to a serious Consideration of their spiritual Concerns and warm them into resolutions to lay by for some time their Farms and Oxen and ruminate on things which carry so much Terror and Majesty with them And indeed such things were they heard without prejudice they would in some measure confound and startle men in their courses and if they are not given over to a hard heart or to a reprobate mind rouze their spirits into nobler thoughts and contemplations But alas they shun our company except it be to talk of worldly affairs or to ask us about some nice Points of Divinity and are ashamed to make their condition known and to own themselves ignorant of the path that leads to glory They either excuse themselves with this that their Neighbors and their Friends will laugh at them for making Ministers their Oracles or plead that they know as much as the Man of God can teach them would God they did and that all the Lords People were Prophets But if they did is there not some difference between knowing these sacred Truths and having them set home upon the Conscience That shall stick in a familiar discourse which in reading we take no notice of and a word in private conference may drop from a holy man and may be spoke with that zeal and honesty as shall strike the Soul into a change or renovation of mind which perhaps many years study or a large stock of knowledge would not have effected so that if the question be ask'd Is there no balm in Gilead Is there no Physitian there Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recover'd We may truly say
give a few instances Did the Atheist but look up to Heaven Did his swinish and brutish appetite but give him leave to contemplate that glorious Fabrick the orderly Position of the Stars the regular Motion of those Celestial Lamps and the Mathematical contrivance of that curious Globe how is it possible but he must spy a most wise most perfect and most powerful Architect even that God who commanded them into being and still preserves them from decay and ruine Would he but consider how things that have a beginning could not make themselves unless they were before they were which implies a contradiction and therefore must certainly be made and produced at first by some supreme cause that is eternal and omnipotent Would he but reflect on the universal consent of Mankind how not only the civiliz'd but the most barbarous Nations in all Ages have had a sense of a Deity and how improbable it is that all Mankind should conspire into such a Cheat if there were no Supreme power how rational it is that when Men of different Constitutions Complexions Principles Desires Interests Opinions do all or most of them agree in one thing there must necessarily be something more than ordinary in 't and the Notion must be supposed either imprinted by God on the hearts of all men or carefully deliver'd to Posterity by the first Planters of the world which in all probability they would not have done except they had had very good ground and reason for it Would the Fool I say but think seriously on these familiar Arguments how could he say in his heart There is no God How could the wretch deny a Providence if he did but take notice how all things are preserved in those stations spheres and tendencies they were at first created in How things contrary to one another are kept from destroying one another How every thing prosecutes the end for which it was produced How the Sea that 's higher than the Earth is yet kept from over-running and drowning it How Kingdoms Empires and Commonwealths are continued and conserved in the world How one Countrey is made a scourge to the other for their sin and how the soberer Nation many times conquers the more debauched and vicious till the formers Sobriety dying proves a presage of the funeral of their happiness How men are suffered to tyrannize and to rage that their fall afterward may be more grievous and terrible How sin is punished with sin and with what measure we mete with the same other men mete to us again How strangely Murther is found out and secret Villanies discovered arraigned and condemned How Caligula that bids defiance to Heaven and threatens Jupiter to chastise him if he sent rain that day his Players were to Act how the poor miserable creature hides his head in a Feather-bed when it thunders and how the stoutest sinners tremble even then when no man pursues them How light is frequently produced out of darkness the greatest felicity from the greatest misery and even sin itself so ordered that it proves an occasion of the greatest good How miraculously men are preserved and how prodigiously rescued from dangers that hang over their heads and threaten their destruction How one man is punished by prosperity another favored by wanting of it How one mans blessings are turn'd into curses and another mans curses into blessings How men perish that they may not perish and are suffer'd to grow poor that they may be rich and are deprived of all that they may arrive to far greater plenty How strangely many times men are preserved from sin and something comes in and crosses their sinful attempts and intentions that they are not able to put their purposes in execution How men are fitted for several employments and no office or business so mean and fordid but some men have a genius or inclination to it How beasts which are stronger than men are yet kept from hurting men and men themselves that intend mischief to their Neighbors are prevented in their designs and in the Net they spread for others their foot is taken How by very inconsiderable means very great things are effected and sometimes without means very signal changes and alterations are produced How the greatest Enemy sometimes becomes the greatest Friend and he that hated another unto death is on a sudden convinc'd of his folly and loves him as his own Soul How kindly the Heavens dispense their former and latter rain and how upon solemn Prayers and Supplications some great Judgment is averted and men restored to their former peace and tranquility How even in things fortuitous Justice is executed and the Arrow which such a man shot at random is yet so guided as to hit the person guilty of some heinous Crime How such a mans ruine proves anothers instruction and he whom Education could not engage to Prudence learns to be wise by anothers fall How men ignorantly contrive their Neighbors good and while they least intend the happiness of others take the readiest course to make their labours successful and prosperous How a word that drops sometimes from the Preachers mouth in a Sermon shall make that impression on the Hearers heart as to change it and work him into another man He that would take such passages as these into serious Consideration how were it possible for him to question a Providence that orders and rules and governs all and extends its care even to the least most minute and most abject and contemptible creature How could he forbear to admire God as the most wise most knowing most lovely most perfect most holy and most beautiful Being whose eyes run to and fro to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is upright towards him The Unbeliever that doth not believe the Scripture to be the Word of God and fancies there is no other World no Judgment after Death and thinks it irrational That temporal sin should be punish'd with an eternity of torments it 's want of Consideration makes him continue Infidel For I. As for the Scripture which contains the Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion would he but take a walk in the Field or in his Garden or in his Chamber and weigh the Arguments which make for the Divinity of this Book and consider what he can object against it and whether his objections be equal in strength and weight with the reasons that fetch its pedigree from Heaven he would soon be of another mind and pity the weakness and sauciness of those Youngsters that play upon the Oracles of God in Ale-houses or Taverns or Theatres He need only dispute with himself in this manner I see the whole Christian world for so many Centuries together hath embraced these sacred Volumes as a Treasure of Gods Will and Ordinances as a Directory dropt down from Heaven to teach them how God will be worship'd what Notions they are to entertain of God and what they are to do to save
derived from Heaven too else it would follow that God had been very unwise in his choice and had exerted his omnipotent power to little or no purpose only to make a shew in the World or to increase the Kingdom of darkness than which there can nothing be imagin'd more absurd or incongruous If I consider the progress of this Gospel I find it 's altogether miraculous not only because the Apostles who propagated this Doctrine had the power of Miracles confer'd on them by this Jesus which proves him to have been in the form of God but because in less than 200 years without force or arms in despite of Sword and Fire and the direst Torments it spread over all the known world That the Mahometan Religion made a stupendous progress after its first rise is not denied but he that shall reflect on the means whereby it enlarged its power viz. by Sword and Violence by depopulating Countries by killing and murthering all that resisted will judge it rose from Hell rather than came down from Heaven But I find the Gospel spread to a Miracle only by innocence and patience by doing good and suffering evil the proper Arms of Heaven I see how in despite of all the Arts and Stratagems the Devil could invent to stop its progress in despite of all the endeavours of Nero Domitian Trajan Decius Dioclesian to root it out it mock'd their rage and fury I find how the blood of Martyrs that was spilt this day brought forth a greater number of Confessors the next and multitudes of Christians that were sacrificed this week were seconded by a greater Army in a few dayes after and men seem'd to glory in being designed for death and serving as Apprentices of Martyrdom and though here and there a Mahometan may die for his Religion yet such a number of Martyrs no Religion can shew and what can I think of so many Myriads of men that being offered Ease Plenty Riches Honours Preferments despised them all and would suffer the most exquisite Tortures Tortures which the Executioners themselves trembled at and which made the very Heathen blush to see such inhumanity rather than deny that Doctrine which they had upon indubitable Testimonies receiv'd as Divine what can I think I say of these men but that they had sufficiently search'd into the truth of this Gospel and were most certainly assured that it was the Word and Will of God and that this Jesus would most certainly fulfill his promises to them and give them eternal life if they could be content to lose their lives on earth for his sake That so many Hundred thousand men many of them learned and wise and of noble blood and ingenious education should throw away their lives in a humor without very good ground that what they believed was really Divine and could not but be so is a thing altogether unaccountable to a rational man I read how in and about Christ's time either just before his coming or shortly after his departing out of this world by confession of the Heathen themselves the Heathen Oracles and the Voices of Devils ceas'd And can I think the Devil would have left deluding the world by his ambiguous Oracles gone off of the Stage voluntarily and quietly except he had been forced and compelled to it by this prodigious person whom God sent into the world to reveal his glory Certainly it could not be one that was meer man whom these evil Spirits would have vailed and bowed to without he had been more than man they would have disputed their power and maintained their possession and defended their universal Empire and made men know that the arm of flesh was a very inconsiderable weapon to controll or dethrone the Rulers of the darkness of this world I find wherever this Gospel came the Devil fled away this destroyed his Service Priests and Altars the gates of Hell could not withstand it nor can I see which way the Gospel could have effected all this without its power and efficacy had been Divine I read what strange alterations it made upon all Peoples tempers dispositions and affections who embrac'd it what should make so many great men so many subtle Philosophers so many learned Men so many Sages men of the greatest wit and judgment and apprehension both in the Eastern and Western Empire yield and submit to it and throw away their vain Philosophical Learning and humble themselves to the Cross of Christ except they had seen the stamp of God upon it I find that the greatest Orators and Logicians and the ablest Disputants that came with an intent to deride it were captivated and conquer'd by it and submitted to its Lawes and Doctrines The change it wrought upon Peoples spirits was wondrous strange the Cholerick the Envious the Drunkard the Fornicator the Adulterer the Worldling the Oppressor the Timorous the Pusillanimous were on a sudden transform'd into Love Meekness Sobriety Chastity Temperance Charity Liberality Fortitude and Magnanimity and they that before trembled at the thoughts of Fire and wild Beasts offered themselves to flames and took it ill if they were put by and deprived of the Honour of riding in such fiery Chariots to Heaven Nay I see at this day how wonderfully it works on the Souls of men makes them act against their natural inclinations without any prospect of temporal interest go against the bias of their corruptions and stop in their career to Hell which they were running to with most eager appetite I see how it makes them hate that evil company they formerly delighted in and how insipid it renders all the jests of their old Associates how it makes them love their Enemies do good to them that hate them pray for them that persecute them and despitefully use them how it makes them live above sense and seek their greatest satisfaction in the wayes and ordinances of God In a word how from Beasts it changes them into men and from men into more than men And what can I ascribe all this to but to a Divine Spirit that by this Gospel subdues the hearts and brings the lusts and affections of men into obedience to Christ Jesus He that shall take such Arguments as these into serious Consideration may easily satisfie himself that in these Volumes is contain'd the true Will of God at least that this of all things extant is most likely to be the Will of God nothing in nature having those circumstances and characters and testimonies of a Divine Original as the Rules contain'd in these Books we call the Bible have whatever seeming Contradictions and Tautologies may be found there to a Considerate man it would appear that as long as the main thing the true way to happiness is secured such accidental things as frequency of the same expressions and Chronological mistakes committed by the various Transcribers may be pass'd by without offence That many things which have seem'd Contradictions upon examination of the Customs and Circumstances of the
Man or can I spend too much time in commemorating so glorious a Favour when God allows me six dayes in the week to follow the business of my lawful Calling cannot I allow one day entire for his service Are the concerns of my Soul so trivial that they do not deserve one day in the week or is Salvation so easy a thing that to spend much time in the contrivance of it is altogether needless I can allow a whole day sometimes two or three for the recreation of my Body and must my Soul have none to feast it self upon God and endless Glory Alas how little do those flashes of contemplating God in the week days which are so often interrupted by worldly businesses warm the Soul how little are mens affections wrought upon by those sits of Devotion except they take a whole day to warm their Souls at the beams of the Sun of Righteousness Alas How little seriousness doe I see in those Families where this day is not Religiously spent where every person is permitted to use their liberty and where the publick Exercises in the Church are not seconded by private Discourses and Prayers and Celebrations of the goodness of God where is my self-denial if I cannot deny my self in my worldly discourses or thoughts one day how can I hope my Spiritual wants and necessities should ever be discover'd to me except I do in my closet apply what I have heard in the House of God and water the incorruptible Seed that is sown in my Heart by self-examination that it may grow and sprout and bear Fruit O the joy the comfort the satisfaction I might reap from the sincere sanctification of this day how quietly might I lye down at night after so sweet a converse with God all day how soft would my rest be having worked in God's Vineyard so many hours how joyfully might I rise next morning and comfort my self with the happy remembrance of the blessings my Soul hath receiv'd the day before Thus to observe and to improve this day would be a Prologue to my everlasting rest a Preface to my Eternal repose in Abraham's bosom a Presage that I should e'r long rest from all Tears and sorrow and pain and anguish and from all the temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil and be admitted into the Quire of Angels to praise him day and night who lives for ever and ever In this manner all other Duties may be compass'd the Beauty Glory usefulness of them thus spread before the Understanding Will and Affections are apt to work upon these Faculties and they being prevail'd upon the Eyes the Ears the Hands the Feet will quickly do their part and shew their readiness to obey the commands of their superior Officers II. It helps men to improve external objects into very comfortable contemplations When I take a view of the Sun and Moon and Stars or reflect on the Air Fire Earth and Water Consideration may furnish me with very excellent Truths and the noblest Lessons of Religion Consideration can metamorphose objects and spiritualize them and find out the secret designs of the Almighty in those Creatures which the sensual man looks upon and like a Beast passes by without any admiration for after this manner it may argue Take wings O my Soul fly up to yonder Heaven where the Almighty hath set a Tabernacle for the Sun which is as a Bridegroom coming out of his Chamber and rejoyces as a Giant to run his race Behold how this glorious Planet when he rises revives every living thing with his kindly beams and will not the increated Sun from whom this bright star borrows his shining rays when he shall rise unto the Spirits of Men made perfect in the last day fill them all with unspeakable joy and gladness and as a dismal uncomfortable darkness succeds when this created Sun doth leave our Hemisphere so think how dreadful how full of horror and disconsolateness that darkness must be which must unavoidably fall on wretched impenitent sinners that would take no warning when the increated Sun shall withdraw from them his beatifical Presence for ever behold this created Sun how many thousand kindnesses it bestowes upon Mankind and doth not this put thee in mind of the Father of Lights from whom every good and perfect Gift descends how much bigger is this shining Body than the whole Earrh and dost not thou remember how before thy God all Mankind are as Grashoppers or rather as the dust of the Ballance nay lighter than nothing and vanity The Sun that he may enlighten the whole World is forced to go from one place to another but thy God at one and the same time without moving his station can fill Heaven and Earth with his Glory Behold O my Soul the next great Light the Moon which the nearer it approaches the Sun the brighter it grows in that part which looks toward Heaven though it becomes darker in that part which looks towards the Earth and when it is opposite to the Sun looses all that brightness it had in its conjunction with the Sun and is only clouded in that part which respects this lower World and dost not thou see a very lively emblem of a converted and an unconverted sinner in this luminary Behold the nearer thou approachest the Sun of Righteousness in purity and holiness the greater luster and the greater happiness thou receivest the Inhabitants of Heaven behold thy brightness and Innocence and applaud it though sensual Men may be think thee all darkness all obscurity because thou dost not wallow in Works of darkness with them they may be look upon thee as mad and distracted because thou art so busy so earnest so zealous to please thy God and spendest so much time in praising and magnifying and glorifying of him but those that dwell in yonder Region of Light and Bliss know that then and not till then thou art master of thy Reason and dost act like a person that 's capable of being made partaker of the Divine Nature On the other side when thou turnest thy back upon God walk'st opposite and contrary to him whatever respect and credit thou may'st have from the World God and his Holy Angels look upon thee as darkness thy understanding which is that part which properly looks towards Heaven looses all its brightness and no marvel for God alone can satisfy it and he being gone that part must needs be perfect night and no marvel if upon this darkness thy love runs altogether for the world and thy affections are altogether carried out after the dross and Dung of this transitory Earth if thy thoughts are all engaged about the World all thy Speeches employ'd about the World and thou becom'st Wise for the World and loosest all thy wisdom for God and for Salvation O my Soul canst thou look upon the Sun and Moon and not remember how differently God deals with Triumphing Saints in Heaven and his militant Church here on
Earth they enjoy a perpetual Sun-shine we are allow'd no more but Moon-light we see as it were through a Glass darkly they face to face their light like that of the Sun never lessens ours like that of the Moon is sometimes greater sometimes less and sometimes we have none at all How often doth the afflicted Beleever walk in darkness God hides the Light of his countenance from him and he is troubled sometime he is all joy by and by all darkness again sometimes he is like St. Paul wrapt up into the third Heaven sometimes like Men that see God's wonders in the deep he goes down again to the depths and his Soul melts because of trouble how cleer are the apprehensions sometimes he hath of the love and mercy of God! and he seems to be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the depth and breadth of the love of God how often on the other side is a vail drawn over all these bright Conceptions and he groveling in the dust What flouds of Consolation doth God sometimes pour out upon his Soul whereas at other times those comforts come down in drops which use to come in showers how great sometimes is his strength against temptations how weak his courage at another how chearfully sometime can he cry out I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me how mournfully is he forced to express himself at another I see a Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into captivity to the Law of Sin Behold O my Soul the vast number of the Stars and Lamps of Heaven how wise how powerful is that God that made them who can look upon those curious Lights without admiring their Creator Behold they rise and goe down at his command and do not fail one minute of their appointed time how should this teach thee obedience how chearfully shouldst thou run at the command of thy God these glorious Stars though their number be vastly great yet they never clash or disagree one with another how should this engage thee to unfeigned charity and peaceableness how should this put thee upon promoting peace and concord and agreement among thy neighbors and doe not these Stars put thee in mind how e're long thou shalt shine as the Stars in the firmament for ever Happy hour Blessed day when thou shalt be cloathed with splendor and immortatity when thou shalt see night no more and shalt need no candle neither light of the Sun but the Lord shall give thee light and thou shalt reign with him for ever Come down lower O my Soul I have not done yet with Gods wonderful Works reflect upon the Air in which all sensitive Creatures breathe without this Air the whole Creation would dye it 's this that keeps Men and Beasts and all Plants and Herbs alive and is not the Holy Spirit of God O my Soul the very same to thee that the Air is to all creatures without this spirit of God to enlighten to move and to direct thee thou hast the name that thou livest but thou art dead it 's this spirit must give thee life it 's he that must warm thee into a practical Love to God it 's he must teach thee how to pray it 's he must help thy infirmities and bear witness with thy Spirit that thou art a Child of God beg this rich gift at the hands of God and thou shalt have it seek it and thou shalt find it knock at Heaven Gate for it and God will open and grant thee thy hearts desire Behold O my Soul how vain and foolish these men are that will not believe the Being of Angels or of Spirits because they never saw any can they see the Air and why do not they question whether there be such a thing as Air or no this Air supports all Creatures so doth thy God much more The Eyes of all do wait upon him and he gives them their meat in due season he opens his hand and fills the desire of every living thing Psal. 145.15 16. When this Air yields to all gross Bodies and lets them pass without opposition how doth it read to thee Lectures of Patience and Humility in that flexibility thou mayst see the sinfulness of thy inexorable temper the odiousness of thy revengeful desires and reviling again when thou art reviled and giving the offender as good as he brings the Air reproves thee when thou art deaf to all entreaties to be reconciled to him that hath injured thee when thou wilt not yield to the humble supplication of distressed creatures and when thou opposest thy own humour to all the rational perswasions of wiser men than thy self Look upon the Fire 0 my Soul and behold how differently it acts upon Bodies it meets withal how it consumes the Hay and Stubble and cleanseth and purifies Gold and Silver doest thou not see here as in a Glass how thy God destroys the workers of iniquity and advances and encreases and purifies the desires and affections of a devout and religious Soul thou seest how hard and black Iron is when it is not near the Fire and how bright and tractable it becomes in the fire and is not this the true picture of a sinner while he is a stranger to the Law of God he hardens his heart as Flint and Adamant no threatenings pierce him no promises prevail with him no judgements fright him no providences move him no mercies melt him he feeds upon Gods Blessings as Swine do upon Acorns without minding the hand that throws them down he hears Sermons but they awake him not he is intreated and he slights the invitation he is reproved and laughs at the reprehension but when that Holy Fire the love of God enters into his heart how flexible how tractable doth he grow how doth the love of God constrain him to avoid sin and to bid defiance to all the works of Darkness he that before scorn'd to hear the glad tidings of the Gospel how doth he now submit to Christs easy yoak he that before thought such a duty unfit and improper for a person of his quality how cheerfully doth he now bow and yield to it he that before had a thousand excuses why he could not do what Christ enjoyns him how doth he now lay all those idle apologies by he that before was churlish becomes now affable and courteous he that before was apt to be very angry at the least affront now bears it more quietly he that before put off the Eternal God with the meanest of his endeavours now is willing to give him the fat and strength of his affections he that before could hear Ministers call to him and call again without effect now cries out Sirs what must I do to be saved he that before could not be perswaded to walk in the strait way now runs in the way of God's Commandments Blessed Fire which consumes not but illuminates never suffers the heart to be harden'd
own Bloud to this end thou eatest of his Bread and drinkest of his Wine and thus thou sealest the Covenant Dost not thou remember O my Soul how the world Was lost by eating of the forbidden Tree Behold by eating of this Tree of Life thou shalt be saved for ever in the breaking of the consecrated Bread thou seest how Christs Body was broke for thee in pouring out of the Hallow'd Wine thou seest how Christs Bloud was spilt for thee when the Holy Bread is reach'd out to thee thou seest Christ reaching out his crucified Body to thee that thou mayest see in his hands the print of the nails and put thy finger into the print of his nails and thrust thine hand into his side and shelter thy self under that wounded and mangled Body against the wrath and indignation of God When the sacred Wine is given thee thou seest how Christ offers thee his Bloud for the remission of thy sins canst thou behold so great a love and not loose thy reason in the admiration of its greatness when thou seest such condescension such kindness such compassion O canst thou forbear crying out O my Lord what do I see what mean these longings of Almighty God after my happiness what means this industry of that incomprehensible Being to be at all this charge and pains to make me blessed God that might sport himself with my everlasting groans what need he have cared whether I were saved or no God Who can be happy without company and needs no society but his own whence is it that this mighty God humbles himself thus to dust and ashes layes aside his Robes of Glory and wooes me to be content to lye for ever in his Arms and Bosom would no other remedy serve turn to recover me but the death of the Son of God God on whose Laws I have trampled Whose Authority I have slighted whose promises and threatenings I have undervalued that he should be thus concern'd for my welfare and contrive how to advance me unto Glory and contrive it by such stupendious means too will God suffer that I may not will the Eternal dye that I may not fall a prey to the second Death will God be crown'd with Thorns that I may wear an incorruptible Crown of Glory will God be affronted abus'd and scorn'd that I may inherit Glory and Honor and immortality what manner of love is this where is the spring of it what 's the impulsive cause of it how full of miracles is every circumstance here how pleasant is this contemplation What! God love a little slime and earth O my God! how wonderful is thy love it is all Ocean here is no shore to set my feet on be astonish'd at it O ye Heavens and tremble O thou Earth the Eternal the Immense Creator of Heaven and Earth stoops to a miserable creature the God who fills Heaven and Earth with his Presence bows down to a poor inconsiderable worm he that sits on the circle of the Earth and before whom all the Inhabitants of the Earth are as Grashoppers humbles himself to take notice of a poor forlorn wretch Here is love indeed Stay me with flaggons comfort me with apples my Head grows giddy with the Precipice here is an abyss of Love which I cannot fathom my head swims at the sight of it Sense can furnish me with nothing like it I am silenc'd here is a love answers all arguments that are brought for going on in sin Help me O thou blessed Spirit Help me O thou who art fairer than the Children of Men Help me thou who art all Love and Life Help me to admire thy Love In this Love are a thousand charms in this Love are omnipotent enforcives to love God above all the world Run O my Soul run into this Banqueting-house the Banner whereof is Love Is it so and must thou have perish'd and been undone for ever if the Son of God had not come in the Flesh and expiated thy crimes and doth not that Almighty love deserve thy Love see how the ambitious love the applause of men and wilt not thou love him who is brighter than the Sun see how the rich man is enamour'd with his stately Pallace and canst not thou love him who hath done that for thee which no Friend no Money no Gold no Silver could have purchas'd viz. reconciled thee to an offended God wilt thou slight this Love and hope to go unpunish'd wilt thou make this Love a refuge for wilful sins and hope for the light of Christs countenance will not he who loved thee beyond all presidents and examples double and treble his indignation upon thee if this Love cannot melt thee into a truly Spiritual life could the Devils but have such an offer of being partakers of the love of Christ how would they rejoyce and triumph and Love and Honour and Obey their God again as once they did when they were inhabitants of Heaven and wilt thou beworse than a Devil and spurn at that Love which Angels stand astonish'd at were it thine own case O my Sou wouldst not thou revenge such ingratitude with all the severity imaginable and doom the wretch that should affront such condescension to the direst Flames Be wise O my Soul and provoke not that God to swear in his wrath that thou shalt never enter into his rest who flees unto thee on the wings of mercy to embrace thee thou canst never have a more glorious sight of Gods love on this side Heaven than is discovered to thee in this Sacrament and if ever thou wouldst be perswaded to resign thy self entirely to thy Blessed Redeemer make his Will thy Will and desire what he desires and hate what he hates and love what he loves O come hither to the cross and see the Son of God weeping for thy sins come hither and see him sweat drops of Bloud for thy iniquities and offering thee pardon and reconciliation and peace with God and access to the Throne of Grace and union and communion with him and if this be not enough a title to Eternal Happiness or a right to that Throne himself doth sit on But why so backward O my Soul to come to the Table of thy Lord where thou mayst drink Wine and Milk without Money and without Price where thou mayst be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and eat of the living Bread whereof whoever eats shall live for ever hast thou forgot the peremptory command of Christ Do this in remembrance of me Is this remembring thy dearest friend to think of him solemnly but once or twice a year shouldst not thou remember him as often as thou hast an opportunity should thy Saviour remember thee no oftner than thou dost his death and passion how fearful would thy condition be canst thou represent his Love too often to thy mind and affections canst thou remember thy sins that brought him to the Cross too often art thou afraid of thinking too much of this
millions lye now roaring under the fears and terrors of their own Consciences in another world that would not be perswaded to part with their Darling bosome sins till death tore them away from them and not testify unto you least you also come into that place of torment Can we see you stand upon the brink of destruction and be so cruel as not to acquaint you with the bottomless gulph that 's underneath Would you have us to be as tyrannical to you as you are to your own Souls Or would you have us leap into everlasting burnings with you for not reclaiming you from venturing into that fire Sirs what is it that doth discourage you from a sincere consideratiori of your Spiritual condition What are you afraid of Why doe you loiter Why doe you deliberate whether ye shall or no Why doe ye dispute the case Why doe ye stand musing What hinders you Is there any impediment that you may not remove if you will Had you been but a quarter of an hour in Hell would not you call all those men sots and fools that now excuse their wilful neglect of this work Would not you see the vanity of their pretences Would not you confess that all those pretended cloggs are meer cobwebs which may be broke through with the greatest ease Would you be frighted from this duty by any temporal losses as now you are Are you afraid men will laugh at you for being serious Had not you better be laugh'd at here than be scorn'd by God and his Holy Angels to all Eternity Had not you better be jeered here than have the great King of Heaven laugh at your endless calamity and mock when your everlasting fears do come upon you If a fool laughs at you do you regard it and why should you regard such mens scorn any more than the laughter of fools Alas they are distempered in their brains they see not the things which belong to their peace they know not what Religion means Will any man give over the study of Divinity or Law or Physick because the ignorant Peasant sneers at him Will a Tradesman leave his Calling because such a man makes Songs and Ballads upon 't if you are perswaded that Consideration and looking after your Spiritual concerns is the way to real happiness Will you be miserable because another man would not have you to be happy Will that man who laughs at you for despising the world save you harmless at the day of Judgement Will he bail you out when Gods thunder shall break out upon all disobedient sinners Will he undertake for you when God will be abused and mocked no longer and the day of his wrath doth come Will he be your Advocate when you shall have your Consciences pleading against you Alas poor forlorn wretches he will not be able to answer for himself how then should he plead your cause and if he can do you no service cannot secure you against the anger of the Almighty why will you be perswaded by the anger or displeasure of a man though never so great and powerful to omit that on which your Eternal welfare doth depend Sinner as light as thou makest now of this serious reflexion on thy Spiritual concerns thou must consider them one time or other if thou wilt not here God will force thee to do it in Hell whether thou wilt or no here consideration may do good but there it will but aggravate thy torments here it may snatch thee like a brand out of the fire there it will increase thy flames here it may be a means to enlighten thee there it will be a means to confound thee forever Proud self-conceited man who canst find no time for serious consideration here in Hell thou wilt have time enough and O how many sad hours will it cause to consider how thou hast mispent thy time how thou hast flung away so many precious hours upon thy unlawful pleasures how thou hast derided such a Sermon harden'd thy Heart upon such a discourse slighted Gods motions to repentance smother'd the checks of thine own conscience preferr'd the World before Heaven obey'd Man more than thy Creator suffer'd every trivial outward respect to call thee away from Devotion mistrusted Gods Providence taken his name in vain laugh'd at the wholsome Counsels of thy Parents and Teachers despised thy neighbors censur'd their actions more than thy own taken thy fill of sin been weary of following Christ backward to any thing that 's good delighted with nothing but vanity and folly dishonoured God disgraced Religion exposed it to contempt and scorn drawn others into vice laugh'd Men into folly dragg'd them into Hell murther'd their Souls as well as thine own neglected thy Prayers disregarded the Poor oppressed the needy been greedy after the World and undervalu'd the pains and cost God did bestow to entice thee to enter into his Rest At this time thou 'lt be forc'd to consider how great a blessing thou hast refus'd what comfort thou hast depriv'd thy self of what a wise course those took that would not be perswaded by the vain careless world to cast Gods Law behind them but alas these considerations will then be too late time was when thou mightst have consider'd the odiousness of sin and turn'd from thy evil ways time was when thou mightst have consider'd the absolute necessity of despising the world and dedicated thy Self thy Children thy Life and Wealth to Gods service time was when thou mightst have considered that Gods Mercy and Patience did lead thee to Repentance and so have turn'd to God with all thy heart and this had been to secure Gods Favour and to enter thy name in the Book of Life but in Hell such thoughts do but gnaw and sting thee more there they doe but augment thy sorrow and indignation against thyself there they do but make thee weary of thy life and the worst of it is that there thou canst not be rid of these considerations they 'l come into thy mind against thy will here thou didst take pains to keep them out there thou canst not hinder them from burthening and oppressing thy Soul here business and mirth diverted them there thou canst not shake them off with all the industry and labour thou canst use thou needst no accuser there these considerations will be sufficient witnesses against thee there there thou 'lt wish O that I had believ'd the Preachers of the Word I find those men were in the right I find they saw more than I did I find they were not mistaken if I had follow'd their advice I had built my House upon a Rock I find they spoke no more but reason I find they exhorted me to nothing but what was safe and beneficial to my Soul Forgive me ye Men of God pardon my contempt of your Zeal and Fervency O send some Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue if your Prayers if your Tears if
thou shalt have it a Crown and it shall be thrown into thy bosom a Kingdom and it shall be thine ask all the Treasures of Glory and they shall not be denied thee from this time forward thy name shall be inrolled among the Favourites of Heaven and in thy Soul as in Jacob's Ladder the Angels shall be continually ascending and descending and thy Head like Gideon's Fleece shall be water'd with the dew of Heaven while the unbelieving World shall be dry and all this shall be thine if my Love my Mercy my Kindness can prevail with thee and engage thee to think seriously what thou must do to please God and to be happy for ever O sinner had those who now lye sweltring under the burning wrath of Almighty God such an offer as this how would they leap and triumph and agree to so reasonable a condition and thank God upon their bended knees day and night and praise him without intermission that he will vouchsafe to receive them on no harder terms than these O sinner is thy heart of stone that it doth not dissolve at this Gracious Message Can the Rock hold out against these bowels of compassion poor stubborn wretch were not thy Heart all steel were not thy Conscience seared how couldst thou forbear being prick'd at the heart hadst thou but the least spark of good nature left in thee what might not these Golden Chains these Silken strings these Cords of Love doe with thy immortal Soul The only reasons that the Servants of Benhadad had to humble themselves to the King of Israel was this We have heard that the Kings of Israel are merciful Kings Sinner hast not thou both heard and seen and seest it to this day that the true King of Israel is a merciful King and will not this prevail with thee to throw thy self down at his feet and kiss his Scepter and consider thy imprudence in deviating so long from the end of thy Creation and Redemption and make thee contented to part with all the strong holds of iniquity within thee and with all imaginations that exalt themselves against the obedience of Christ Jesus O doe not tell me that thou wilt most certainly bethink thy self sometime hereafter when sickness and approaching death shall take thee off from thy worldly businesses Vain foolish man How dost thou know thou shalt live till tomorrow for What is thy life even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away How many thousands are cut off as they are going up the hill in the noon of their days before half their race be run and what Patent hast thou from Heaven that it shall not be thus with thee God laughs at that repentance which men begin when they can keep sin and the world no longer he sees it is forc'd and squeez'd and weak and feeble and will God accept of thy Devotion when thou hast exhausted the cream and marrow of thy Bones in the Devils service How sinner consider thy ways upon thy death-bed Mad man dost thou know what Consideration means the Soul must be in its full strength that considers the sinfulness and sad consequences of her life Doest not thou see how in sickness the Soul sympathizes with the Body how the Mind languishes with the Flesh how weak how feeble the thoughts are upon a Death-bed how the mind is employed with thinking of the pain and anguish and uneasiness of the Body how Mens weakness scarce gives them leave to repeat the Lords Prayer intire without interruption how setling their Estates and disposing of their worldly affairs and sorrow and vexation that they have not managed their secular concerns with greater prudence takes up their cogitations and how transitory and superficial mens thoughts of sin and of another world are except they have gotten a habit of Heavenly-mindedness by a long and constant practice of Holiness in the time of their health and liberty before And doth Salvation deserve no more but a few slight and skin deep reflexions when thou liest a dying Canst thou have such low thoughts of everlasting Glory as to let Consideration of it come behind all the satisfactions of thy flesh Canst thou entertain such pittiful sneaking conceits concerning that mighty Heaven God out of his singular and unparallell'd mercy hath condescended to promise to his Saints as to delay thy contemplations and thy taking a view of it till thy Heart-strings break and thy throat begins to rattle and the House is falling Goe ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Alas when men are a dying the time of working is past that 's the night wherein no man can work that 's the time indeed to reap comfort of our former conscientious practises but not the time to work out our Salvation in that 's the time of rejoycing because our redemption draws nigh not the time of setting out from the Gates of Hell that 's the time to finish our course with joy not the time to begin a Holy life Alas the strength and vigor which must be used in a Heavenly conversation is then gone and men are just upon the point of reckoning with God their accounts must then be ready not to make up so that if thou art not ready now to take thy Spiritual concerns into serious consideration thy heart will be hardened every day more and more and the longer thou livest the less mind thou wilt have to set about it and if thou dost not think it worth thy trouble to spare now and then an hour from thy worldly businesses to mind this one thing necessary thou doest as good as tell God that thou wilt have none of his Heaven and judgest thy self unworthy of Eternal life O Sinner the present time is the day of Salvation this is the acceptable time now strike and thy sins will fall now strive and the Crown will be thine now fall to work and promise thy self Eternal Rest thou canst call no time thine own but the present time that 's only in thine hands make use of that and save thy self from this untoward Generation Extricate thy self from the delusions of the flesh take courage and be gone stay not in Sodom now accept of Mercy now lay up thy Treasure and secure thy right to the Tree of Life now remember thy Creator and God will remember thee when he makes up his Jewels and spare thee as a man would spare his own Son that serves him Hear then this Men Fathers and Brethren the God of your Fathers the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob hath sent us to you to tell you that his Supper is ready and the doors are open and the Guests are come and yet there is room and that you may fill the room which is left is the message we come to acquaint you withal from him who delights not in the death of a sinner but would have him turn and live Hear this ye
the same manner all other exceptions nay be answer'd and the sinner finding that the reasons he formerly thought invincible are so easily dash'd and blown away is most likely to hearken to the far stronger arguments of God and his own Conscience the rather because he retired on purpose to have a clearer sight of his ways than before he had and since God doth vouchsafe him so distinct a prospect of his Folly and preposterous Love he justly thinks that not to yield to God's reasonings is to mock him and savours of such ingratitude as admits of no excuse Indeed without retirement our Thoughts and Considerations flow at large like Water in the Sea and we can make no great observations concerning them but in retirement they are much like Water in a Weather-Glass and by them we may guess what temper our souls are in whether hot or cold more exactly than men do at the warmth or coldness of the weather by the rising and falling of the liquor in those Glasses In such retirements a Holy awe and reverence seizes on the Soul and when I see men can retire to drink to play to sleep and to debauch themselves I see no reason but they may I am sure they have greater reason to do it retire to consider the good and welfare of their immortal Souls I have already proved that Consideration must be frequent and consequently this retirement must be so too not that a man must never reflect on his actions or mind whether they be good or bad but when he retires No Consideration is either occasional or a solemn and set Duty either a habitual guide or an extraordinary remembrancer the former as it is universally useful and a great means to prevent sin in a true Believer to check him when he would commit it to engage him to repentance when he is fallen to direct him what he must do and to encourage him to those Duties which are proclaim'd in his Ears as necessary to Salvation so it is a necessary companion where ever we are or what ever we are doing and these occasional Considerations need no retirement but then where the stream of man's life must be turn'd or the actions of the day reviewed how far they have been agreeable to the will of God how far they have been contrary to it or where a strict mortification of sin must be used or where a long neglected duty must be made a familiar guest in thy Soul in a word where the work to be done is of some more than ordinary difficulty there those occasional reflections will not serve turn but more solemn considerations must be called in and these solemn considerations are properly the things which require retirement and as its fit they should be used once a day at least so he doth truly mind the interest of his Soul that some time every day retires and considers how he hath behaved himself that day towards God and Man whether his heart hath not been too much carried out after the comforts of this world what incroachment they have made upon his love to God and how they will fill the garden of his Soul with weeds if he do not stop their progress betimes and root them up what company he hath been in that day what he hath done in his Closet what his thoughts words desires actions affections have been that day whether he hath not been more concern'd for the trash and perishable riches of this life than the Glory of God and the Salvation of his Soul and how necessary it is for him having had a fall that day to be more careful and cautious and circumspect the next This Consideration is the pulse of the Soul which while it is beating it 's a great sign that there is life in the Soul and a good argument that God will increase and enlarge that life And as edification and progress in goodness ought to be the real design of retiring from the World so it doth necessarily import that men ought to chuse the liveliest hours or the hours when their Spirits are most active and freest from drowziness for so great a work When men are drowzy and sleepy Considerations may often come in but they are so weak and faint that they leave the Soul as cold as they found it and put it into the circumstances of that man in the Gospel who took Men for walking Trees saw something but knew not what to make of it or what name to give it While I am discoursing thus methinks I see the sensual Reader smile retirement thinks he this were to make my self a prisoner in the soft times of Peace and to deprive my self of that freedom which God and Nature have given me This were to goe into a Monastery and submit to the se verities of a Convent this at the best can only befit a Priest but can be no qualification of a Gentleman indeed if Gentlemen had no Heaven to gain no Hell to avoid if God had made them Beasts as too many doe make themselves we should not be displeased at this rambling talk but it 's an old trick where men have an aversion from a Duty to represent it in a dismal dress and to take off the burthen from their own Shoulders and to bind it upon others If they could satisfy God with these shufflings as easily as they doe their own Consciences they were safe but that the great day must decide and when the Archangel shall sound his Trumpet to gather the dead from all parts of the world and God who prescribed to all Men but one way to happiness shall make a strict examination how every one hath observed the Rules and Statutes of that way it will appear that this retirememt in order to a serious pondering of our actions was a duty incumbent on some people else besides Ministers He that retires upon this account doth indeed imprison himself but it is that he may attain to true and perfect liberty triumph over the slavery of sin lead his corruption captive and free himself from the dreggs and dross which corrupted Nature hath brought upon him Little doth the sensual man think what felicity he robs himself of by scorning this retirement Here Heaven would look more beautiful to him than in a croud here he might in a manner with St. Stephen see the Heavens open and his Saviour standing at the right hand of God here he might truly enjoy himself and look with pity on those men who like Spirits which are sometimes seen in Mines with great labour doe nothing at all to any purpose and when they have tired and wearied themselves in the world like Flies burn themselves in that candle about which they have been hovering Come sinner prepare thy Pencil mingle the richest Colours thou canst get Draw thy sinful careless life give it a beautiful Virgins face Draw all the charms that thy fancy can find out here Draw the Adoration the world pays unto her there
the bows and cringes whereby both great and small insinuate into her favour On her Head Draw a Tree whose Fruit is Gold and the Dew whereof hardens into Pearls let her right hand grasp a Crown and her left drop gifts on her Clients and Votaries But then when this proud Peacock is drawn thus in all her dazling circles forget not to Draw her ugly feet I mean an unquiet roaring disturb'd distracted trembling Conscience for into this dismal shape doth that lovely Mermaid end On the other side I 'll paint a Wilderness a Grove which wise Nature made and in it I 'll represent a devout Soul kneeling and with the Publican smiting upon her Breast then will I draw Heaven and out of that Heaven Grace and Mercy in the shape of an Angel flying down with this message Fear not I have redeemed thee thou art mine and holding a bottle under to catch her Tears immediately upon this the Holy Ghost shall be seen descending spreading his beams and warming that Soul and invigorating it to resist the World the Flesh and the Devil by and by the Glory of God shall appear and crown all with Peace and Joy and infinite content and Eternal Hallelujahs And now Sinner which of these Pictures wouldst thou chuse do not the homely feet of the former fright thee can all the Beauty thou seest in that painted Harlot countervail the misery it dies into is an ever-gnawing Conscience matter of sport and laughter when all these painted Gaudes must break into a dismal Dungeon wilt thou laugh awhile that thou mayst mourn and lament for ever But if thou art so fond of this dangerous Garden that nothing can reclaim thee from being delighted with it take thy choice give me the other Landskip I know this world Men are so fond of e're long will have an end and their pleasures will have an end and their sins will have an end and their glory will have an end but where these end Gods Justice and Indignation begins Blessed is the man that hath then the God of Jacob for his refuge the Lord will deliver him in the time of trouble what if I enjoy none of the worlds want on solaces I know where better and stronger Consolations are to be had what if Thorns and Bryars surround my Lillies and Roses I know they are but to preserve them and to hinder the Devil from tearing them to pieces these Thorns are my safeguard which will e're long be done away and when I am out of the reach of all enemies my Lillies will continue fresh and flourishing for ever what need I covet the world when I am made to live above the world what should I love this Earth for when I have a God to love why should I dote on Nature when I am in the state of Grace God hath made me many glorious promises how can I forbear rejoycing under the thoughts of them By Grace I am made partaker of the Divine Nature wonderful Dignity Being advanc'd so high why should I be enamour'd with a little Dust when God hath made me a King why should I debase my self or stoop to the mean employment of a Peasant I know God doth not see as man doth see a Soul that loves him above all is more esteemed in his sight than the proudest Monarch nor do rags fright him from fixing his habitation there where he meets with an humble broken heart let others glory in their great Titles in this I 'll glory that I am a Child of God Who can express the Honour God bestows on those that give their hearts to him To be a Child of God is infinitely greater Honor than to be of Kin to Princes or to have the Bloud of Nobles running in my veins A Father expresses greater endearments to him that participates of his nature and draws his substance from him than to him that 's only like him in the face how far greater love then may I conceive in God to a Child which by grace is a partaker of the Divine Nature than to the blessed Angels themselves The whole Creation in a manner participates of the Divine Nature but all other Creatures are but Pictures painted Images of that Glorious Nature he that is a Child of God is a lively Image of his Father which is in Heaven and he hath Fellowship and communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. What mysteries are these things to a poor Worldling but Oh how comfortable to him that feels the good Spirit bearing witness with his Spirit that he is a Child of God! If God be my Father then all the Riches he hath are mine if he be my Father he cannot but take special care of me for Can a Mother forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Fruit of her womb yea she may forget yet will I not forget thee behold I have engraven thee on the palms of my hand Esay 49.15 16. Fathers sometimes expose their own lives to save their Sons God hath done infinitely more for me for he assumed humane Nature and exposed his life for me who was his Enemy and a Traitor to him that I might become his Son By Grace I am the friend of God if God had not taken me for his Child yet how excellent how incomprehensible would the favour be that he vouchsafes to take me into the number of his friends what a stir do men keep to purchase the friendship of Great Men how little do they esteem the friendship of the Almighty they have not Souls clear enough to admire the Mercy their understandings are too earthy to adore so great a bounty it requires too much Spirit and Mind to be ravished with such compassion A Friend is often loved better than neer Relations What may not I promise my self from this Love and Friendship of God What calamity or misery is there in which this love cannot hold my Head and keep it from aking To be loved of God is to be fed with the richest stream and to live upon Milk and Honey If God laid down his life for his enemies what will not he do for his friends when I was his enemy God seemed to love me more than he did himself and now that I am his friend shall I think he will love me less than an enemy How should I rejoyce to have such a friend as Jonathan was but alas what is this friendship to Gods love All humane friendship is perfect perfidiousness in comparison of Gods friendship God so loves his friends that he knows not how to be separated from them if God had no other place to move in but Heaven he would leave that Heaven and come down and joyn himself to those whom by his Spirit he hath adopted into the number of his friends so great so immense is his love to them He that is a friend of God becomes Gods individual companion What a favour would it have been counted if the
Son of God when he was on Earth would have joyned himself to one particular man and would have never departed from him What a priviledge then must it be for one who is Gods friend to have the Divinity always present with him not only as a companion but as an inhabitant for he dwells in us by his spirit Did ever any Father love his Son so as never to part company did ever any Mother love her Child as never to suffer it to goe from her Arms But God is continually embracing his friends Among Men a Father cannot be always there where his Son is but God knows not how to be from him that is his friend and though God be in all creatures by his Essence Presence and Power yet that is because he is God with a Gracious Soul he is because that Soul is his friend and if God were not immense and infinite and could not be with his other creatures yet he would be with such a Soul with whom he is one Spirit and if he could forget things yet he could not forget such a Soul or lay aside the thoughts of his prosperity and welfare and if he could forsake his other creatures yet he could not forsake such a Soul but would work always some good or other in her for Gods love being strong it s always active and where God bears a good Will to a Soul he cannot but communicate goodness to her And shall I after all this repine because I am not a Favourite of Kings and Princes when I have God for my constant guide and associate How should I stand amazed at the strangeness of the favour if God should charge all the Angels of Heaven all the ten thousand times ten thousand Spirits which wait upon him to goe and attend such a man with all the Grandeur and Majesty imaginable yet what is all this but a desart to Gods society in having him for my associate I enjoy more Dignity more Majesty more Pomp and Glory than if I had all the Armies of Heaven waiting upon me and can I think God is always with me and will not provide for me If I should neglect all things in the world and mind nothing but the things of God and my Fathers business I might he confident that he would feed me and support me because so Great so Good so Almighty so kind a friend could not see me perish The Son of God hath not honoured any Angel with the name of Brother and yet if I am united to him by Grace and by his Spirit I enjoy this priviledge and as Mothers love those Children most for which they have suffered and endured most so I may be confident that God loves me most fervently because he hath suffered for me on the Cross and endured most bitter tortures and agonies for me How may I exult how may I triumph in this love O my God! the Angels for the least drop of that Grace thou hast bestowed on them are more beholding to thee than all other creatures for all their natural gifts and for the creation of the whole world but for the least degree of Grace thou hast conferred on me I am more beholding to thee than all the Angels in Heaven for that I might live by Grace thou delivered thine own Son the Son of thy Bosom the brightness of his Fathers Glory to be crucified and to dye for me which is more than thou hast done for all the Angels in Heaven and thus thou hast obliged me more than thou hast done the Heavenly Cherubins and Seraphins Farewel ungrateful treacherous World I have seen enough of thy deceitful Presents I 'll follow thy weak judgement no longer I 'll esteem no Riches but what my Saviour hath counted so In following him I cannot erre self-denial and doing the Will of God were the Treasures he studied to be master of why should not I judge that to be Riches which God hath judged so why should not my mind agree with the verdict of the Most High Nay when God doth love me so entirely why should not I for love of him conform my understanding to his judgement I see those that love the world at the same time confess that they ought to love the everlasting Riches more for if the fading things deserve their love things permanent and solid and eternal ought to be loved much more I will not think much of afflictions now for I find that God by them would make me weary of my fondness to perishable trash and elevate and raise my Soul to embrace those Treasures which neither Men nor Devils can steal away Physitians I see when they would cure a sick man make him sicker than he is by enjoyning him abstinence by adustions by vomitives by putting him to greater torments I know my Soul is sick God would make it perfectly well but such is my sickness that God must put me to pain and anguish and great trouble before I can be well my Heart is all Flint but when this stone is struck sufficiently it will then send forth Holy Fire when my Flesh is weak my Strength will retire more to my Mind and Understanding and I shall be fitter for Heaven The glorified Bodies of Saints in the last day will be the more splendid and illustrious the more they have been afflicted and tortured here and shine the more the more dismal the Dungeon was they were kept in during their abode in this valley of Tears Why should I weep when God takes away from me the cause of weeping How many thousands are now weeping in Hell because they enjoyâ—d so much of the worlds comforts and made them occasions of affronting their Creator Shall I count that loss which is my gain and call my want of Riches a misfortune when it is the greatest remedy to fit my Soul for Heaven what is impudence is it in me to desire that of God which I ought to hate at the most love but with fear and trembling What inhumanity to my self is it to beg poison of the Father of Lights and to murmure that he gives me not that Viper which will sting me into endless tortures My love of the world is Adultery and shall I desire that wherewith I have committed Adultery Is it not all one as if a woman should entreat her Husband to let her enjoy the pleasure of an unlawful Bed the Husband doth shew great mercy to her in that when he might punish her more severely he only removes the Adulterer and shall I count that mercy an injury In wishing for the Riches and Greatnesses of this world I do as much desire God to give me that whereby I may offend him Shall I be angry with a Chirurgeon who to prevent the spreading of my Cancer cuts off a Member to preserve my life and shall I take it ill of God for wounding my Flesh to draw out the Arrows that stick in my heart and would fester and kill me if not