put upon the serious consideration of their dying day and having a dissolution made between soul and body Whence is this but either from the total want or a very great weakness that is in their Faith either their want that they have none at all and then no marvel that the thoughts of Death be terrible to them why they are under the guilt of sin and they must go to Hell when they dye O it 's a sad thing and I would there might be a fixedness of heart upon this it is a sad thing to think of it that there should be nothing but a little breath between a poor creature and eternal destruction and if that be but with-held for a quarter of an hour the soul goes down to eternity if God take away their breath they dye and return to dust and when they dye they dye in a state of guilt and so damn to eternity Now no marvel that such persons cannot indure to meditate such terror And then others that are weak in their Faith and are not comfortably setled in their confidence concerning the Grace of Christ in them and their reconciled state No marvel if they be shaken and perplexed about it when they come to have the thoughts of death Now Faith improved to a good degree will inable a soul to meditate this terror to think of it I with a holy rejoycing and content to think that a day will come that will make a dissolution between the soul and body that so upon that dissolution there may be a more full injoyment of the Lord Jesus according to what the Apostle speaks in Phil. 1. having a desire I desire to depart when a mans Faith will inable the soul to this to look upon death as a thing to be desired not only as that which there is a necessity lying upon the creature to undergo not only so there is a necessity lies upon me it being enacted so that a soul dies out of a necessity he cannot help it if he could help it he would be glad with all his heart to keep off the stroke of death but he dyes out of choice this is the Faith that we should press after and this is that that Faith well improved will inable to meditate this terror and to bear up under the apprehensions of it reckoning upon this That as to live is Christ so to dye it will be gain as the Apostle speaks and therefore he professeth that he has a desire rather to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all And then again there is a terribleness in judgement so it is called in 2 Car. 5. The terror of the Lord the day which is appointed wherein God will judge the World in Righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained even the Lord Jesus And all the Sons and Daughters of Adam that ever were from the beginning of the Creation to the time of that appearing of his shall all be convented and made to stand before his Judgement-seat and we that are here this morning shall all stand before this Judgement and shall give an account to God of our preaching and bearing and how we have carried our selves in the Assemblies and under the dispensations of the Ordinances when there shall be an appearing before the great Judge of all the World Truly this day is a terrible thing and it is called as I said The terror of the Lord. Now I say this is a terror that a Faith-less soul will not be able to meditate he is not able to bear up under the thoughts of it and therefore doth all that it can to drive them away black melancholy thoughts thoughts of death and of judgement Such thoughts as these cannot be indured to set a foot over the threshold nor to come under the roof of the house no we will have nothing to do with such black thoughts And then those that are weak in Faith they are ready to be startled at the apprehensions of this It 's a terror to them to think of a day of Judgement I but I say that a well-improved Faith a Faith that is of a good growth it will inable to meditate this terror and to bring the soul to the free usage and possession of this blessed priviledge that belongs unto Beleevers A person of a well-grown Faith will be able to think of this with joy and gladness be glad to think of the day wherein the Lord Jesus shall appear in flaming fire to render vengeance to them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ A man of a well-grown Faith will be able to meditate this terror and to rejoyce at the thoughts of it It is the day of his gladness therefore to this purpose our Saviour saith when these and these things shall come do you lift up your â—…eads When mens hearts shall fail them with looking after those things that shall come upon the earth and when others shall cry out with Balaam Alas who shall live what will become of us now It is an amazing thing to think when the Heavens shall be raised and the Lord shall appear with his mighty Angels to think what startling there will be and running this way and that way O! what a dreadful day is this I am not able to stand before this Judge of all the World O it 's an amazing thing to think what skreeking and crying there will be on the part of ungodly sinners that are strangers to Christ and Grace But a poor soul that is well improved in Faith and Grace he will be able to bear up with boldness and our Saviour speaks to that purpose when mens hearts shall fail them and grow dead as a stone within them and they shall be fall of astonishment upon the appearing of the Lord Jesus Then lift up your heads with joy the day of your Redemption draweth nigh So that this is another thing that a well-grown Faith will inable to To meditate terror the terror of God The terror of the Law The terror of Death The terror of Judgement O beloved this is the Faith that we should press to and this growth in Faith that you may be inabled to have the free usage of this blessed priviledge and that when others shall be over-whelmed in their spirits you may be able to bear up with comfort You hear of this as that wherein we are to evidence a growth in Faith when we are able to meditate Terror Lastly This I would only say such a Faith we should press to such a growth in Faith and that we may be aâ—… not only to look for but to long after the serious appearing of Christ which follows upon the former O it is not every Faith that will inable to this to be in holy longings after the coming of the Lord Jesus Yâ—…u come behind saith the Apostle in no gift waiting for that coming of Christ waiting for it and hastening to it It is that
of those Laws and Statutes and Testimonies which were given them they should be acknowledged to be a wise and an understanding People Why Truly they were of high accomplishment as touching their wisdom and understanding and judgment and that upon the account of those Revelations that God did make to them O but how much higher will the advance be of a People in wisdom and understanding and judgment that are well instructed in and acquainted with the Mysteries of Christ and the things that are to be known concerning him Consider now What was the teaching of the Old Testament to the teaching that was to be had under the New Testament the Gospel-teaching when the time came that the Mysterie which had been kept secret from Ages and Generations should be broken open and laid out to the full of it Oh what an advantage was there then for a People to come to good judgment and understanding No Knowledge in all the World I say contributes so much to the purpose of making Men and Women wise and judicious as doth the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. By this Knowledge well improved for I speak of that I speak of the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ considered as well improved when there is a considerable growth and increase in it I speak of this Knowledge in the improvement and increase in it as the most pretious Knowledge most beneficial to such a purpose for to accomplish men and women for being a judicious understanding People of discerning spirits Consider First of all By the means of this Knowledge we shall be the better able to make a judgment of ourselves our persons and conditions and states Alas beloved What woful mistakes are we apt to run upon concerning our conditions God-ward How many are there that think themselves to be something when they are nothing at all judge themselves to be of a right Gospel-spirit when they are nothing so at all How many are there that account themselves to be right in point of Religion and Godliness well accomplisht and that they are such as will pass in account with God for good and sound and upright men right in the Mysterie of the Gospel whom God will reject and protest against and profess of them that he hath no pleasure in them Then on the other hand There are many poor souls that pass a very sad judgment upon themselves and are apt to give themselves for stark naught that they are not to be accounted of with God that have deserved rather to be rejected of him when yet for all that they are in his account no other than noble Vines a holy a right seed as the Prophet Jeremiah useth the expression Now the reason of these mistakes in point of Judgment concerning our selves and Estates it must needs arise eâ—…pecially either from the total want or from a great deficiency in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For mark you You must know that we are never so well able to judge of the Writing as when we are well knowing of the Copy after which the Writing is to be drawn We can never so well make a Judgment of the fashion of a thing unless we know the due pattern after which it is to be cast they that see the Copy will be the better able to judge of the Writing that is to be drawn after the Copy they that understand the state of the Mold will be the better able to judge of the Vessel whether it be right cast and fashioned sutable to the Mold Now consider thus Our Lord Jesus Christ he is the Copy after which a Believer a Christian is to be drawn up He is the Mold into which a Christian is to be fashioned The Apostle tells us in Rom. 8. That those whom God hath predestinated he hath predestinated to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first-born among many brethren Thus it is it is the great design of God concerning all his People that he will own that they be conformed and fashioned according to Christ And such as is the constitution of Christ such must be the constitution of a Christian Now when we come to know and to know to good purpose the things that concern Christ when we come to be made able to answer the Mysteries of the Gospel concerning Christ what a Christ he is of what a make and constitution Pray consider well The more we know of this Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the better able shall we be to make a Judgment of our selves and to escape those dangerous mistakes concerning our condition and state which we are apt to run upon when we come to know and to know to some good degree what Christ is what he is for his Nature and Disposition and Qualifications and Constitution and that he is not made after the Law of a carnal Commandment but after the power of an endless Life That he is constituted a Priest after such a manner and so a Prophet a King When we come to know this to some purpose the Constitution of Christ what make he is of how God hath ordered him who is the Pattern and the Copy after which a Christian is to be drawn up the more we understand and know of this the better able shall we be to make a Judgment of our selves and states when we come to compare our selves with our Saviour Jesus Christ when we can find that as in the Print there is letter for letter there is Grace for Grace there is stamp for stamp Impression for Impression when we can find this when we come to know the original Copy and then come to compare our selves with the Copy the Writing that is drawn up in our own hearts when we come to understand what Constitution Christ is of and understand that to some purpose and then come to consider how it is vvith our selves then shall vve be the better able to make a Judgment of our condition and state and to say I knovv that my heart is right I knovv that my state is good I am able to avouch it I can give a Judgment of my self upon this account because I find the conformity to Christ my Head I see there is an ansvvering to the Copy and that I am dravvn up according to the Pattern O Brethren consider vvell of this We are said to be made Kings and Priests unto God our Father Why novv Kings and Priests vve are such as Christ vvho vvas a King and a Priest not after the Lavv as I said before of a carnal Commandment but after the power of an endless Life when we come to find the power of an endless Life in us a sutableness unto Christ when it 's otherwise it is but a pretence As it may be said according to that in Rev. 2. They say they are Iews and are not they are of the Synagogue of Satan and so will many be found
to be so that do not correspond to Christ and do not answer Christ as the Pattern This is that therefore that we are to know and consider That it is necessary that Believers and Saints should be well acquainted with the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ because by that Knowledge we are to regulate our Judgments concerning our own persons And so the Church as in Rev. 2. before-mentioned And so again The like is to be said concerning Doctrines and concerning Worships concerning the Doctrines that are held forth and concerning the Worships that are performed Why Brethren there are many Doctrines preach'd in the World that are no better than chaff to the Wheat and no other than dross to the Gold What is the chaff to the wheat as the Prophet Ieremiah speaks And what is the dross to the Gold Now how should we judge but by the help of the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ The more we improve in that Knowledge the better able shall we be to make a Judgment of Doctrines And so likewise of Worships Such Worships as shall have acceptance vvith God Why they must be Worships that are according to Christ and the more vve improve in the Knovvledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the more able shall vve be to make a Judgment of these things O! Christ he is a spiritual Christ Though we have known him saith the Apostle after the flesh yet henceforth know we him so no more He was made after the power of an endless Life and not after the Law of a carnal Commandment and his Worship is drawn up not after the Law of a carnal Commandment but after the power of an endless Life sutable to himself O consider of this and take heed of carnal hearts and of carnal Services that hold no correspondency with our Lord Jesus Christ so that upon this account you may see and stand convinc'd of it That it concerns us very much to endeavour a growth and increase in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ because by the means of that Knowledge we are inabled to make a Judgment of Churches and their Constitutions we are inabled to make a Judgment of Doctrines and of Worships which are to be performed 〈◊〉 Yet further The Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ is a Knowledge that Christians and Believers should endeavour a growth in and that as with respect unto their Judgments that they may come to be well accomplisht and to become a judicious People So likewise 2ly In regard of their Conscience Conscience truly it is a great word and I wish that the interpretation of it were better known The interpretation of Conscience I tell you Brethren That every man and woman hath a Conscience within them and this Conscience is either his cordial Friend or it will be his dreadful Enemy it will either be a Friend or a Fury either his best Friend on earth or his greatest Enemy on earth Conscience will be a Friend if it be right but God is a greater Friend Conscience will be an Enemy I but God is a greater Enemy If our heart condemn us faith the Apostle God is greater than our heart and he knows all things But on earth there is not a greater Friend nor is there a greater Enemy than a man's Conscience I tell you this That your Consciences when you come to know them and to be acquainted with them and when they come to be awakened and set on work your Consciences will either create a Heaven within you or else they will create a Hell within you Truly Conscience will do thus It will either make your life to be a Heaven or else it will make it to be a Hell I 'le give you two Instances and I think that more remarkable Instances cannot be given To instance in Paul and Iudas There was never man I think in the World that was able to speak more from experience concerning his Conscience and how it befriended him than Paul was never man better studied in Conscience never man more befriended by Conscience and he knew the benefit of it and was exceedingly rejoyced in it And there was never man that was more terrified by his Conscience I think than Iudas was and no man more able to speak to the terror of his Conscience than he was Paul makes his boast of his Conscience This is our rejoycing The testimony of our Conscience And Men and brethren I have lived in all good Conscience And still upon every occasion My Conscience bears me witness O this Conscience of Paul it sung within his bosom like a bird of Paradise O this good Conscience of Paul notwithstanding all the troubles and persecutions he meets with his Conscience befriends him and doth keep him up in heart and he is cheered with it under all the troubles and disquietments that he meets with in this World Thus it was with him as to his Conscience And as for Iudas his Conscience was a Fury within him when he came to be awakened and had the guilt of blood upon him O how Conscience rages it creates a Hell within him and he is in Hell before he comes there as many are and will be when God comes to awake their Consciences Now thus it was with Iudas and he was so hurried and agaster'd and amazed and afrighted that he was a Magor-missabib a terror to himself Thus it was with Iudas and that by reason of his awakened Conscience labouring under the guilt of his iniquities and impieties that he had committed Well this is Conscience the best friend on Earth or the greatest and dreadfullest enemy on Earth A man had better have all the World against him than have his Conscience against him and if all the World be against a man yet if his Conscience be for him if his Conscience will befriend him it will inable him to bear up with comfort notwithstanding I but now consider that it is by the well-improvement of the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ it is by the well-improvement of that knowledge and by endeavouring an advance and a growth and increase in that this is the thing that I drive at it is by this means and upon this account that the Conscience comes to be set to rights and is inabled to do the part of a dear and cordial Friend which it will never do upon other tearms I 'll tell you what your Consciences will never do the part of a friend to you to any purpose but rather storm against you and make you to become as Magor-missabibs terrors to your selves unless you be well instructed in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ. Men and women may daub with their Consciences and sooth up themselves and lay their Conscience upon a pillow when it 's sick and distemper'd and ill at ease and would be breaking out men may take this and that course to still their Conscience for