TWO TREATISES Tending to awaken Secure Sinners Viz. 1. The Terror of the Day of Judgment from 2 Cor. 5. 10. 2. The Danger of slighting Christ and his Gospel from Matth. 22. 5. By RICHARD BAXTER The Gift of the Author LONDON Printed for Jonas Luntley at the Three Bibles in Little Lincolns-Inn-fields 1696. To the Ignorant or Careless Reader SEeing the Providence of God hath commanded forth these plain Discourses I shall hope upon Experience of his dealing in the like Cases with me that he hath some work for them to do in the World Who knows but they were intended for the saving of thy Soul by opening thine Eyes and awaking thee from thy Sin who art now in reading of them Be it known to thee it is the certain Truth of God and of high Concernment to thy Soul that they treat of and therefore require thy most sober Consideration Thou hast in them how weakly soever managed by me an Advantage put into thy Hand from God to help thee in the greatest Work in the World even to prepare for the great approaching Judgment and not to slight Christ and his Gospel In the Name of God I require thee cast not away this Advantage Turn not away thine Ears or Heart from this warning that is sent to thee from the living God! Seeing all the World cannot keep thee from Judgment let not all the World be able to keep thee from a speedy and serious Preparation for it Do it presently lest God come before thou art ready Do it seriously lest the Tempter over-reach thee and thou shouldst found among the foolish Self-deceivers when it is too late to do it better I intreat this of thee on the behalf of thy Soul and as thâ— undâ—â—â—st thy everlasting Peace with God that 〈◊〉 wouldest afford these Matters thy deepest Considerà tion Think on them whether they are not true and weighty Think of them lying down and rising up And seeing this small Book is faln into thy hands all that I would beg of thee concerning it is that thou wouldst bestow now and then an Hour to read it and read it to thy Family or Friends as well as to thy self and as you go consider what you read and pray to the Lord to help it to thy Heart and to assist thee in the Practice that it may not rise up in Judgment against thee If thou have not leisure at other take now and then an Hour on the Lord's Days or at Night to that purpose and if any Passage through brevity specially near thâ— Beginning seem dark to thee read it again and again and ask the help of an Instructer that thou mayest understand it May it but help thee out of the Snares of Sin and promote the saving of thy Immortal Soul and thy Comfortable Appearance at the great Day of Christ I have the thing which I intended and desired The Lord open thy Heart and accompany his Truth with the Blessing of his Spirit Amen A Discourse of the Terror of the Day of Judgment 2 Cor. 5. 10 11. For we must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad Knowing therefore the Terrors of the Lord we perswade Men. IT is not unlikely that some of those Wits that are taken more with things new than with things necessary will marvel that I choose so common a Subject and tell me that they all know this already But I do it purposely upon these following Considerations 1. Because I well know it is these common Truths that are the great and necessary things which Mens everlasting Happiness or Misery doth most depend upon You may be ignorant of many Controversies and inâ—eriour Points without the Danger of your â—ouls but so you cannot of these Fundamentals â— Because it 's apparent by the Lives of Men that few know these common Truths savingly that think they know them 3. Because there are several Degrees of knowing the same Truths and the best are imperfect in Degree the principal Growth in Knowledg that we should look after is not to know more Matters than 〈◊〉 knew before but to know that better and with a clearer Light and firmer Apprehension which we daâ—kly and slightly knew before You may more safely be without any Knowledg at all of many lower Truths than without some â—arther Degree of the Knowledg of those which you already know 4. Besides it is known by sad Experience that many perish who know the Truth for want of the Consideration of it and making use of what they know and so their Knowledg doth but condemn them We have as much need therefore to teach and help you to get these Truths which you know into your Hearts and Lives as to tell you more 5. And indeed it is the Impression of these great and Master-Truths wherein the Vitals and Essentials of God's Image upon the Soul of Man doth consist and it is these Truths that are the very Instruments of the great Works that are to be done upon the Heart by the Spirit and our selves In the right use of these it is that the principal Part of the Skill and holy Wisdom of a Christian doth consist and in the diligent and constant Use of these lieth the Life and Trade of Christianity There is nothing amiss in Mens Hearts or Lives but is for want of sound Knowing and Believing or well using these Fundamentals 6. And moreover methinks in this Choice of my Subject I may expect this Advantage with the Hearers that I may spare that Labour that else would be necessary for the Proof of my Doctrine and that I may also have easier Access to your Hearts and have a suller Stroak at them and with less Resistance If I came to tell you of any thing not Common I know not how far I might expect Belief from you You might say These things are uncertain to us or all Men are not of this Mind But when every Hearer confesseth the Truth of my Doctrine and no Man can deny it without denying Christianity it self I hope I may expect that your Hearts should the sooner receive the Impression of this Doctrine and the sooner yield to the Duties it directs you to and the easier let go the Sins which from so certain a Truth shall be discovered The Words of my Text are the Reason which the Apostle giveth both of his perswading other Men to the Fear of God and his Care to approve to God his own Heart and Life They contain the Assertion and Description of the Great Judgment and one Use which he makes of it It assureth us that judged we must be and who must be so judged and by whom and about what and on what Terms and to what End The meaning of the Words so far as is necessary I shall give you briefly We all both we Apostles that preach the Gospel and you that hear it
must willing or unwilling there is no avoiding it appear stand forth or make your appearance and there have your Hearts and Ways laid open and appear as well as we Before the Judgment-seat of Christ i. e. before the Redeemer of the World to be judged by him as our Rightful Lord. That every one even of all Mankind which are were or shall be without Exception may receive that is may receive his Sentence adjudging him to his due and then may receive the Execution of the Sentence and may go from the Bar with that Reward or Punishment that is his due according to the Law by which he is judged The things done in his Body that is the due Reward of the Works done in his Body or as some Copies read it The things proper to the Body i. e. due to the Man even Body as well as Soul according to what he hath done whether it be Good or Bad i. e. this is the Cause to be tried and judged whether Men have done well or ill whilst they were in the Flesh and what is due to them according to their Deeds Knowing therefore c. i. e. being certain therefore that these Things are so and that such a terrible Judgment of Christ will come we perswade Men to become Christians and live as such that they may then speed well when others shall be destroyed or as others Knowing the Fear of the Lord that is the true Religion we perswade Men. Doct. 1. There will be a Judgment Doct. 2. Christ will be the Judg. Doct. 3. All Men shall there appear Doct. 4. Men shall be then judged according to the Works that they did in the Flesh whether Good or Evil. Doct. 5. The End of Judgment is that Men may receive their final Due by Sentence and Execution Doct. 6. The Knowledg and Consideration of the terrible Judgment of God should move us to perswade and Men to be perswaded to careful Preparation The ordinary Method for the handling of this Subject of Judgment should be this 1 st To shew you what Judgment is in the General and what it doth contain and that is 1. The Persons 2. The Cause 3. The Actions 1. The Parties are 1. The Accuser 2. The Defendant 3. Sometime Assistants 4. The Judg. 2. The Cause contains 1. The Accusation 2. The Defence 3. With the Evidence of both 4. And the Merit The Merit of the Cause is as it agreeth with the Law and Equity 3. The judicial Actions are I. Introductory 1. Citation 2. Compulsion if need be 3. Appearance of the Accused II. Of the Essence of Judgment 1. Debate by 1. The Accuser 2. Defendant called the Disceptation of the Cause 2. By the Judg. 1. Exploration 2. Sentence 3. To see to the Execution But because this Method is less sutable to your Capacities and hath something humane I will reduce all to these following Heads 1. I will shew what Judgment is 2. Who is the Judg and why 3. Who must be judg'd 4. Who is the Accuser 5. How the Citation Constraint and Appearance will be 6. What is the Law by which Men shall be judged 7. What will be the Cause of the Day what the Accusation and what must be the just Defence 8. What will be the Evidence 9. What are thosâ— frivolous insufficient Excuses by which the Unrighteous may think to escape 10. What will be the Sentence who shall die and who shall live and what the Reward and Punishment â—s 11. What are the Properties of the Sentence 12. What and by whom the Execution will be In â—hese particular Heads we contain the whole Doctrine of â—his Judgment and in this more familiar Method shall â—andle it I. For the first Judgment as taken largely comprehendeth all the sorementioned Particulars as taken more strictly for the Act of the Judg it is the Trial of a controverted Case In our Case note these things following 1. God's Judgment is not intended for any Discovery to himself of what he knows not already he knows already that all Men are and what they have done and what is their Due But it is to discover to others and to Men themselves the ground of his Sentence that so his Judgment may attain its End for the glorifying â—his Grace on the Righteous and for the convincing the Wicked of their Sin and Desert and to shew to all the World the Righteousness of the Judg and of his Sentence and Execution Rom. 3. 4 26. and Rom. 2. 2. 2. It is not a Controversy therefore undecided â—in the Mind of God that is there to be decided but only one that is undecided as to the Knowledg and Mind of Creatures 3. Yet iâ— not this Judgment a bare Declaration but a Decision and so a Declaration thereupon the Cause will be then put out of Controversy and all farther Expectation of Decision be at an End and with the Justified there will be no more Accusation and with the Condemned no more Hope for ever II. For the second Thing who shall be the Judg I answer The Judg is God himself by Jesus Christ 1. Principally God as Creator 2. As also God as Redeemer the humane Nature of Jesus Christ having a derived subordinate Power God lost not his Right to his Creature either by Man's Fall or the Redemption by Christ but by the latter hath a new farther Right but it is in and by Christ that God judgeth For as meer Creator of innocent Man God judgeth none but hath committed all Judgment to the Son who hath procured this Right by the redeeming of fallen Man Joh. 5. 22. But as the Son only doth it in the nearest Sense so the Father as Creator doth it remotely and principally 1. In that the Power of the Son is derived from the Father and so standeth in Subordination to him as Fountain or Efficient 2. In that the Judgment of the Son as also his whole Mediatorship is to bring Men to God their Maker as their ultimate End and recover them to him from whom they are faln and so as a Means to that End the Judgment of the Son is subordinate to the Father From hence you may see these following Truths worthy your Consideration 1. That all Men are God's Creatures and none are the Workmanship of themselves or any other or else the Creator should not judg them on that Right 2. That Christ died for All and is the Redeemer of the World and a Sacrifice for All or else he should not judg them on that Right For he will not judg Wicked Men as he will do the Devils as the meer Enemies of his Redeemed Ones but as being themselves his Subjects in the World and being bought by him and therefore become his own who ought to have glorified him that bought them 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. 2 Pet. 2. 1. 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. 1 John 2. 2. Heb. 2. 9. 1 Tim. 2. 6 7. 3. Hence it appeareth that all Men were under some Law of
neglect and abuse of this they shall be judged and not meerly for sinning against the Law that was given us in pure Innocency so that Christ as Redeemer shall judg them as well as others though they had but one Talent yet must they give an account of that to the Redeemer from whom they received it But if any be unsatisfied in this let them remember that as God hath left the State of such more dark to us and the Terms on which he will judg them so doth it much more concern us to look to the Terms of our own Judgment Obj. But how shall Insants be judged by the Gospel that were uncapable of it Answ For ought I find in Scripture they stand or fall with their Parents and on the same Terms but I leave each to their own Thoughts VII For the seventh Head What will be the Cause of the Day to be enquâ—ed after what the Accusation and what the Defence Answ This may be gathered from what was last said The great Cause of the Day will be to enquire and determine who shall die and who shall live who ought to go to Heaven and who to Hell for ever according to the Law by which they must then be judged 1. As there is a twofold Law by which they must be judged so will there then be a twofold Accusation The first will be that they were Sinners and so having violated the Law of God they deserve everlasting Death according to that Law If no Defence could be made this one Accusation would condemn all the World for it is most certain that all are Sinners and as certain that all Sin deserveth Death The only Defence against this Accusation â—ieth in this Plea confessing the Charge we must plead that Christ hath satisfied for Sins and upon that Consideration God hath forgiven us and therefore being forgiven we ought not to be punished To prove this we must shew the Pardon under God's Hand in the Gospel But because this pardoning doning Act of the Gospel doth forgive none but those that repent and believe and so return to God and to sincere Obedience for the time to come therefore the next Accusation will be that we did not perform these Conditions of Forgiveness and therefore being Vnbelievers Impenitent and Rebels against the Redeemer we have no right to Pardon but by the Sentence of the Gospel are liable to a greater Punishment for this Contempt of Christ and Grace This Accusation is either true or false where it is true God and Conscience who speak the Truth may well be said to be the Accusers Where it is false it can be only the Work of Satan the malicious Adversary who as we may see in Job's Case will not stick to bring a false Accusation If any think that the Accuser will not do so vain a Work at least they may see that potentially this is the Accusation that lieth against us and which we must be justified against For all Justification implieth an actual or potential Accusation He that is truly accused of final Impenitency or Unbelief or Rebellion hath no other Defence to make but must needs be condemned He that is falsly accused of such Non-performance of the Condition of Grace must deny the Accusation and plead his own personal Righteousness as against that Accusation and produce that Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience and Perseverance by which he fulfilled that Condition and so is Evangilically Righteous in himself and therefore hath part in the Blood of Christ which is instead of a Legal Righteousness to him in all things else as having procured him a Pardon of all his Sins and a Right to everlasting Glory And thus we must then be justified by Christ's Satisfaction only against the Accusation of being Sinners in general and of deserving God's Wrath for the Breach of the Law of Works but we must be justified by our Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience it self against the Accusation of being Impenitent Vnbelievers and Rebels against Christ and having not performed the Condition of the Promise and so having no part in Christ and his Benefits So that in sum you see that the Cause of the Day will be to enquire whether being all known Sinners we have accepted of Christ upon his Terms and so have Right in him and his Benefits or not whether they have forsaken this vain World for him and loved him so faithfully that they have manifested it in parting with these things at his Command And this is the meaning of Mat. 25. where the Enquiry is made to be whether they have sed and visited him in his Members or not that is whether they have so far loved him as their Redeemer and God by him as that they have manifested this to his Members according to Opportunity though it cost them the Hazard or Loss of all seeing Danger and Labour and Cost are fitter to express Love by than empty Compliments and bare Professions Whether it be particularly enquired after or only taken for granted that Men are Sinners and have deserved Death according to the Law of Works and that Christ hath satisfied by his Death is all one as to the matter in hand seeing God's Enquiry is but the Discovery and Conviction of us But the last Question which must decide the Controversy will be whether we have performed the Condition of the Gospel I have the rather also said all this to shew you in what sense these Words are taken in the Text that every Man shall be judged according to what he hath done in the Flesh whether it be good or bad Though every Man be judged worthy of Death for sinning yet every Man shall not be judged to die for it and no Man shall be judged worthy of Life for his good Works It is therefore according to the Gospel as the Rule of Judgment that this is meant They that have repented and believed and returned to true though imperfect Obedience shall be judged to everlasting Life according to these Works not because these Works deserve it but because the free Gift in the Gospel through the Blood of Christ doth make these things the Condition of our possessing it They that have lived and died Impenitent Unbelievers and Rebels against Christ shall be judged to everlasting Punishment because they have deserved it both by their Sin in general against the the Law and by these Sins in special against the Gospel This is called the Merit of the Cause that is what is a Man's Due according to the true meaning of the Law though the Due may be by free Gift And thus you see what will be the Cause of the Day and the Matter to be enquired after and decided as to our Life or Death VIII The next Point in our Method is to shew you What will be the Evidence of the Cause Answ There is a fivefold Evidence among Men. 1. When the Fact is notorious 2. The Knowledg of an unsuspected competent Judg.
could not prevail We intreated them to lay all other Businesses aside a little while in the World and to enquire by the Direction of the Word of God what would become of them in the World to come and judg themselves before God came to judg them seeing they had the Law and Rule of Judgment before them but their Minds were blinded and their Hearts were hardned and the Profit and Pleasure and Honour of thâ— World did either stop their Ears for quickly steal away the Hearts so that we could never get them to a sober Consideration nor ever win their Hearts to God This will be the Witness that many a hundred Ministers of the Gospel must give in against the Souls oâ— their People at that Day Alas that ever you shoulâ— cast this upon us For the Lord's sake Sirs pity youâ— poor Teachers if you pity not your selves We haâ— rather go 1000 Miles for you we had rather be scorneâ— and abused for your sakes we had rather lay our Hands under your Feet and beseech you on our Knees with Tears were we able than be put on such Work as this It iâ— you that will do it if it be done We had rather follow you from House to House and teach and exhort youâ— if you will but hear us and accept of our Exhortation Your Souls are pretious in our Eyes for we know they were so in the Eyes of Christ and therefore we arâ— loth to see this Day we were once in your Case and therefore know what it is to be blind and careless and carnal as you are and therefore would fain obtain your Deliverance But if you will not hear but we must accuse you and we must condemn you the Lord judg between you and us For we can witness that iâ— was full sore against our Wills We have been faulty indeed in doing no more for you and not following you with restless Importunity the Good Lord forgive us but yet we have not betrayed you by silence 2. All those that fear God that have lived amongâ—â— ungodly Men will also be sufficient Witnesses against them Alas they must be put upon the same Work which is very unpleasant to their Thoughts as Ministerâ— are They must witness before the Lord that they did as Friends and Neighbours admonish them thaâ— they gave them a good Example and endeavoured to walk in Holiness before them But alas the most did but mock them and call them Puritans and precise Fools and they made more ado than needs for theiâ— â—â—lvation They must be forced to restify Lord we â—ould fain have drawn them with us to hear the Word â—nd to read it and to pray in their Families and to â—â—nctify the holy Day and take such happy Opportuâ—ities for their Souls but we could not get them to 〈◊〉 we did in our Places what we were able to â—â—ve them the Example of a godly Conversatiâ—n and they did but deride us they were reaâ—â—er to mark every slip of our Lives and to observe â—ll our Infirmities and catch at any Accusation that was against us than to follow us in any Work of holy â—bedience or Care for their everlasting Peace The â—ord knows it is a most heavy thing to consider now that â—oor Neighbours must be fain to come in against those â—hey love so dearly and by their Testimony to judg â—hem to Perdition O heavy Case to think of that Master must witness against his own Servant Yea Husband against his own Wife and a Wife against â—er Husband yea Parents against their own Children â—nd say Lord I taught them thy Word but they would â—ot learn I told them what would come on it if they â—eturned not to thee I brought them to Sermons and 〈◊〉 prayed with them and for them I frequently â—inded them of these everlasting Things and of â—his dreadful Day which they now see But youthâ—ul Lusts and the Temptations of the Flesh and the Devil led them away and I could never get them â—hroughly and soundly to lay it to their Hearts O â—ou that are Parents and Friends and Neighbours â—n the Fear of God bestir you now that you may not â—e put to this at that Day of Judgment O give them â—o rest take no nay of them till you have perswaded â—heir Hearts from this World to God lest you be put â—o be their Condemners It must be now that you must prevent it or else never now while you are with them while you and they are in the Flesh together which will be but a little while Can you but now prevail with them all will be well and you may meet them â—oyfully before the Lord. 3. Another Witness that will testify against the Ungodly at that Day will be their sinful Companions those that drew them into Sin or were drawn by them or joined with them in it O little do poor Drunkards think when they sit merrily in an Ale-house that one of them must bear witness against another and condemn one another If they thought of this methinks it should make them have less Delight in that Company those that now join with you in Wickedness shall then be forced to witness I confess Lord I did hear him sweat and curse I heard him deride those that feared the Lord and make a Jest of a holy Life I saw him in the Ale-house when he should be hearing the Word of God or reading or calling upon God and preparing for this Day I joined with him in fleshly Delights in abusing thy Creature and our own Bodies Sinners look your Companions in the Face the next time you are with them and remember this that I now say that those Men shall give in Evidence against you that now are your Associates in all your Mirth Little thinketh the Fornicator and lustful Wanton that their sinful Mates must then bear Witness of that which they thought the Dark had concealed and tell their Shame before all the World But this must be the Fruit of Sin It 's meet that they who encouraged one another in Sin should condemn one another for it And marvel not at it for they shall be forced to it whether they will or no Light will not then be hid They may think to have some case to their Consciences by accusing and condemning others When Adam is questioned for his Sin he presently accuseth the Woman Gen. 3. 12. when Judas his Conscience was awakned he runs to the Pharisees with the Money that drew him to it and they cast it back in his own Face See thou to il what is that to us Mat. 27. 4 5 6. O the cold Comfort that Sinners will have at that Day and the little I leasure that they will find in remembring their evil Ways Now when a Foruicator or a Worldling or a merry voluptuous Man is grown old and cannot act all his Sin again he takes Pleasure in remembring and telling others of his former Folly what he once was and what he
to him that died for them and rose again Rom. 14. 9. 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. Mat. 28. 18 19 20. 1 Pet. 1. 17 18. You will then understand that you were not your own but were bought with a Price and therefore should have glorified him that bought you with your Bodies and Spirits because they were his 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. This one Aggravation of your Sin will make you doubly and remedilesly miserable that you trod under foot the Son of God and counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith you were sanctified an unholy thing Heb. 10. 26 27 28 29. and crucified to your selves the Son of God afresh and put him to open Shame Heb. 6. 5 6. 3. Moreover all the personal Mercies which they received will be so many Evidences for the Condemnation of the Ungodly The very Earth that bore them and yielded them its Fruits while they themselves are unfruitful to God The Air which they breathed in the Food which nourish'd them the Clothes which cover'd them the Houses which they dwelt in the Beasts that laboured for them and all the Creatures that died for their Use All these may rise up against them to their Condemnation And the Judg may thus expostulate with them Did all these Mercies deserve no more Thanks Should you not have served him that so liberally maintained you God thought not all these too good for you and did you think your Hearts and Services too good for him He served yours with the weary Labours of your fellow-Creatures and should you have grudged to bear his easy Yoak They were your Slaves and Drudges and you refused to be his free Servants and his Sons They suffered Death to feed your Bodies and you would not suffer the short Forbearance of a little forbidden fleshly Pleasure for the sake of him that made you and redeemed you O how many thousand Mercies of God will then be reviewed by those that neglected them to the Horror of their Souls when they shall be upbraided by the Judg with their base Requital All the Deliverances from Sickness and from Danger all the Honours and Privileges and other Commodities which so much contented them will then be God's Evidences to shame them and confound them On this Supposition doth the Apostle reprove such Rom. 2. 4 5 6. Despisest thou the Riches of his Goodness and Forbearance and Long-suffering not knowing that the Goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance But after thy hardness and impenitent Heart treasurest up unto thy self Wrath against the Day of Wrath and Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God who will render to every Man according to his Deeds 4. Moreover all the Means which God used for the Recovery of Sinners in the Day of their Visitation will rise up against impenitent Souls in Judgment to their Condemnation You can hear Sermons carelesly and sleepily now but O that you would consider how the Review of them will then awake you You now make light of the Warnings of God and Man and of all the wholesom Advice that is given you but God will not then make light of your Contempt O what cutting Questions will they be to the Hearts of the Ungodly when all the means that were used for their Good are brought to their Remembrance on one side and the Temprations that drew them to Sin on the other Side and the Lord shall plead his Cause with their Consciences and say Was I so hard a Master or was my Work so unreasonable or was my Wages so contemptible that no Perswasions could draw you into my Service Was Satan so good a Master or was his Work so honest and profitable or was his Wages so desirable that you would be so easily perswaded to do as he would have you Was there more perswading Reason in his Allurements and Deceits than in all my holy Words and all the powerful Sermons that you heard or all the faithful Admonitions you received or all the good Examples of the Righteous or in all the Works of God which you beheld Was not a Reason fetch'd from the Love of God from the Evil of Sin the Blood of Christ the Judgment to come the Glory promised the Torments threatned as forcible with you and as good in your Eyes to draw you to Holiness as a Reason from a little fleshly Delight or worldly Gain to draw you to be unholy In the Name of God Sinners I intreat you to bethink your selves in time how you will sufficiently answer such Questions as these You should have seen God in every Creature that you beheld and have read your Duty in all his Works what can you look upon above you or below you or round about you which might not have shewed you so much of the Wisdom and Goodness and Greatness of your Maker as should have convinced you that it was your Duty to be devoted to his Will and yet you have his written Word that speaks plainer than all these and will you despise them all will you not see so great a Light will you not hear so loud and constant Calls shall God and his Ministers speak in vain And can you think that you shall not hear of this again and pay for it one Day you have the Bible and other good Books by you why do you not read them You have Ministers at hand why do you not go to them and earnestly ask them Sirs What must I do to be saved and intreat them to teach you the Way to Life You have some Neighbours that fear God why do you not go to them and take their good Advice and imitate them in the Fear of God and in a holy Diligence for your Souls Now is the time for you to bestir your selves Life and Death are before you You have Gales of Grace to further your Voyage There are more for you than against you God will help you his Spirit will help you his Ministers will help you every good Christian will help you the Angels themselves will help you if you will resolvedly set your selves to the Work and yet will you not stir Patience is waiting on you Mercies are enticing you Scourges are driving you Judgment stayeth for you The Lights of God stand burning by you to direct you And yet will you not stir but lie in â—â—arkness And do you think you shall not hear of this Do you think this will not one Day cost you dear IX The ninth part of our Work is to shew you â—hat are those frivolous Excuses by which the Vnrighteous may then indeavour their Defence Having already shewed you what the Defence must be that must be sufficient to our Justification If any first demand Whether the Evidence of their Sin will not so overwhelm the Sinner that he will be speechless and past excuse I answer Before God hath done with him he will be so but it seems at first his clark Understanding and partial corrupted Conscience will set him upon a vain Defence
〈◊〉 Governour When it tendeth to Infidelity the evil will teach you to debase Man even lower than 〈◊〉 would do The two and thirtieth Excuse Sin is no Being and â—ll Men be damned for that which is nothing Answ 1. It is such a Mode as deformeth God's Create It is a moral Being It is a Relation of our â—â—tions and Hearts to God's Will and Law 2. They that say Sin is nothing say Pain and Loss 〈◊〉 nothing too You shall therefore be paid with one â—â—thing for another Make light of your Misery and 〈◊〉 it is nothing as you did of your Sin 3. Will you take this for a good Excuse from your â—hildren or Servants if they abuse you or from a â—hief or a Murderer shall he escape by telling the â—dg that his Sin was nothing Or rather have Death â—ich is nothing as the iust Reward of it The three and thirtieth Excuse But Sin is a transtâ— Thing At least it doth God no harm and therefore why â—uld he do us so much harm for it Answ 1. It hurts not God because he is above â—rt No thanks to you if he be out of your reach You may wrong him when you cannot hurt him â—nd the Wrong deserves as much as you can bear If a â—aitor endeavour the Death of the Prince in vain 〈◊〉 Endeavour deserves Death though he never hurt him You despise God's Law and Authority you cause the Blaspheming of his Name Rom. 2. 24. He calls it a Pressing him as a Cart is pressed with Sheaves â—â—os 2. 13. and a Grieving of him 3. And you wrong his Image his Church the pubâ—â—ck Good and the Souls of others The four and thirtieth Excuse But God's Nature is so â—â—od and merciful that sure he will not damn his own Creaâ—â—re Answ 1. A merciful Judg will hang a Man for a Fault against Man By proportion then what is due for Sin against God 2. All the Death and Calamity which you see in the World comes from the Anger of this merciful God why then may not future Misery come from it 3. God knoweth his own Mercy better than you do and he hath told you how far it shall extend 4. He is infinitely merciful but it is to the Heirs of Mercy not to the final Rejecters of his Mercy 5. Hath not God been merciful to thee in bearing with thee so long and offering thee Grace in the Blood of Christ till thou didst wilfully reject it Thou wiâ—â— confess to thy everlasting Wo that God was merciful had he not been so merciful thou wouldst not have been so miserable for rejecting it The five and thirtieth Excuse I would not so torment mine Enemy my self Answ No reason you should Is it all one to wrong you and to wrong the God of Heaven God is the only Judg of his own Wrongs The sixth and thirtieth Excuse All Men are Sinners and I was but a Sinner Answ All were not impenitent unbelieving rebelious Sinners and therefore all are not unpardoned condemned Sinners All did not live after the Flesh and refuse to the last to be converted as you did God will teach you better to difference between Sinners and Sinners The seven and thirtieth Excuse But if Christ have satisfied for my Sins and died for me then how can I justly suffer for the same Sins will God punish one Sin twice Answ 1. Christ suffered for Man in the Christ of Man but not in your Person nor you in him It was not you that provided the Price but God himself Christ was not Man's Delegate in satisfying and therefore received not his Instructions from us nor did on our Terms but his own It was not the same thing which the Law threatned that Christ underwent for that was the Damnation of the Sinner himself and not the Suffering of another for him it cannot therefore be yours but on Christ's own Terms He died for thy Sin but with this intent that for all that if thou refuse him thou shalt die thy self It is therefore no wrong to thee to die for it was not thou that diedst before and Christ will take it for no wrong to him for he will judg thee to that Death It is for refusing a Christ that died for thee that thou must perish for ever The eight and thirtieth Excuse But I did not refuse Christ I believed and trusted in him to the last and repented of my Sins though I sometime was overtaken with them Answ Had this been true thy Sin would not have condemned thee But there is no mocking God He will shew thee then thy naked Heart and convince thousands that thought they believed and repented that indeed they did not By thy Works also will this be discovered that is by the main bent and scope of thy Life as Mat. 25. throughout and Jam. 2. The nine and thirtieth Excuse I did many good Works and I hope God will set those against my evil Works Answ Thy good Works were thy Sins because indeed they were not good being not done in sincerity of Heart for God The best Man's Works have some Infirmity which nothing can cleanse but the Blood of Christ which thou hast made light of and therefore hast no part in If all thy Life had been spent in perfect Works except one day they would not make satisfaction for the Sins of that Day For they are but part of thy Duty Wo to him that hath no better a Saviour at Judgment than his own good Works The fortieth Excuse I lived in Poverty and Misery on Earth and therefore I hope I have had my Suffering here and shall not suffer in this World and another too 1. By that Rule all poor Men and Murderers and Thieves that are tormented and hanged should be saved But as Godliness hath the Promise of this Life and that to come so Impenitency and Wickedness hath the Threatning of this Life and that to come 2. The Devils and the damned have suffered much more than you already and yet they are never the nearer a Deliverance When thou hast suffered ten thousand Years thy Pain will be never the nearer an end How then can a little Misery on Earth prevent it Alas poor Soul these are but the Foretasts and Beginnings of thy Sorrow Nothing but Pardon through the Blood of Christ could have prevented thy Condemnation and that thou rejectedst by Infidelity and Impenitency His Sufferings would have saved thee if thou hadst not refused him but all thy own Sufferings will yield thee no Relief So much for the answering of the vain Excuses which poor Sinners are ready to make for themselves wherein I have been so large as that this part I confess is disproportionable to the rest but it was for these two Reasons 1. That poor careless Souls might see the Vanity of such Defences and consider if such a Worm as I can easily confute them how easily and how terribly will they be all answered by their Judg 2. I did it the
with the Mammon of Unrighteousness and ventured all his Hope in this Vessel And now he findeth the Wisdom of that Choice in a rich Return God made him so wise a Merchant as to sell all for this Pearl of greatest Price and therefore now he shall find the Gain As there is no other true Happiness but God in Glory so is there nothing more sutable and welcome to the true Believer O how welcome will the Face of that God be whom he loved sought longed and waited for How welcome will that Kingdom be which he lived in hope of which he parted with all for and suffered for in the Flesh How glad will he be to see the blessed Face of his Redeemer who by his manifold Grace hath brought him unto this I leave the believing Soul to think of it and to make it the daily matter of his delightful Meditation what an unconceivable Joy in one Moment will this Sentence of Christ will fill his Soul with Undoubtedly it is now quite past our Comprehension though our imperfect Forethoughts of it may well make our Lives a continual Feast Were it but our Justification from the Accusations of Satan who would have us condemned either as Sinners in general or as impenitent unbelieving Rebels against him that redeemed us in special it would lift up the Heads of the Saints in that Day After all the Fears of our own Hearts and the slanderous Accusations of Satan and the World That we were either impenitent Infidels or Hypocrites Christ will then justify us and pronounce us righteous So much for the Condition to which they are judged 2. The Reason or Cause of this Justification of the Saints is given us both 1. In a general Denomination and 2. In a particular Description 1. In general it is because they were righteous as is evident Mat. 25. 6. The Righteous shall go into Life everlasting And indeed it is the Business of every just Judg to justify the Righteous and condemn the Unrighteous And shall not the Judg of all the Earth judg righteously Gen. 18. 25. God makes Men righteous before he judges them so and judgeth them righteous because they are so He that abominateth that Man who saith to the Righteous Thou art wicked or to the Wicked Thou art righteous who justifieth the Wicked and condemneth the Righteous will certainly never do so himself Indeed he will justify them that are Sinners but not against the Accusation that they are Sinners but against the Accusation that they are guilty of Punishment for Sin but that is because he first made them just and so justifiable by pardoning their Sin through the Blood of Christ And it 's true also that he will justify those that were wicked but not those that are wicked but Judgment findeth them as Death leaveth them and he will not take them for wicked that are sanctified and cleansed of their former Wickedness So that Christ will first pardon them before he justify them against the Charge of being Sinners in general and he will first give Men Faith Repentance and new Obedience before he will justify them against the Charge of being Impenitent Infidels or Hypocrites and consequently â—mpardoned and doubly guilty of Damnation This twofold Righteousness he will first give Men and so constiture them just before he will declare it and sentence them just 2. The Reason of the Sentence particularly described is from their Faith and Love to Christ expressed in their Obedience Self-denial and forsaking all for him For I was hungry and ye fed me I was thirsty and ye gave me daink I was a Stranger and ye took me in naked and ye clothed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in Prison and ye came to me Verily I say unto you inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me Mat. 25. 35 to 41. Here is 1. The causal Conjuction for 2. And the Cause or Reason it self Concerning both which observe 1. How it is that Man's Obedience and Self-denial is the Reason and Cause of his Justification 2. Why it is that God will have the Reason or Cause thus declared in the Sentence For the first observe that it 's one thing to give a Reason of the Sentence and another thing to express the Cause of the Benefit given us by the Promise and judged to us by the Sentence Man's Obedience was no proper Cause why God did in this Life give Pardon of Sin to us or a Right to Glory much less of his giving Christ to die for us And therefore as to our constitutive Justification at our Conversion we must not say or think that God doth justify us for or because of any Works of our Obedience legal or evangelical But when God hath so justified us when he comes to give a Reason of his Sentence in Judgment he may and will fetch that Reason partly from our Obedience or our Performance of the Conditions of the new Covenant For as in this Life we had a Righteousness consisting in free Pardon of all Sin through the Blood of Christ and a Righteousness consisting in our personal Performance of the Conditions of the Promise which giveth that Pardon and continueth it to us so at Judgment we shall accordingly be justified And as our evangelical personal Righteousness commonly called inherent was at first only in our Faith and Repentance and Disposition to obey but afterward in our actual sincere Obedience in which Sense we are constitutively justified or made righteous here by our Works in James his sense James 2. 24. so accordingly a double Reason will be assigned of our sentential Justification one from our Pardon by Christ's Blood and Merits which will prove our Right to Impunity and to Glory the other from our own Faith and holy Obedience which will prove our Right to that Pardon through Christ and to the free Gift of a Right to Glory and To this last is to be pleaded in Subordination to the former For Christ is become the Author of eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5. 9. He therefore that will be saved must have a Christ to save him as the Author and an Obedience to that Christ as the Condition of that Salvation and consequently both must be declared in the Judgment The Reason why the Judg doth mention our good Works rather than our believing may be because those holy self-denying Expressions of Faith and Love to Christ do contain or certainly imply Faith in them as the Life of the Tree is in the Fruit but Faith doth contain our Works of Obedience but only as their Cause The Works also are a Part of the personal Righteousness which is to be enquired after that is we shall not be judged righteous meerly because we have believed but also because we have added to our Faith Vertue and have improved our Talents and have loved Christ to the hazard of all for his
Sin and that there is no way but by Christ to obtain Deliverance But because all this must be acknowledged by the Righteous themselves as well as by the Wicked therefore Christ doth not mention this but that only which is the turning Point or Cause in the Judgment For it is not all Sinners that shall be finally condemned but all impenitent unbelieving Sinners who have rebelled finally against their Redeemer 2. And the Reason why Faith itself is not expressed is 1. Because it is clearly implied and so is Love to Christ as Redeemer in that they should have relieved Christ himself in his Members That is as it 's expressed Mat. 10. 42. they should have received a Prophet in the Name of a Prophet and a Disciple in the Name of a Disciple all should be done for Christ's sake which could not be unless they believed in him and loved him 2. Also because that the bare Act of Believing is not all that Christ requireth to a Man's final Justification and Salvation but holy self-denying Obedience must be added And therefore this is given as the Reason of their Condemnation that they did not so obey We must observe also that Christ here putteth the special for the general that is one way of self-denying Obedience and Expression of Love instead of such Obedience in general For all Men have not Ability to relieve those in misery being perhaps some of them poor themselves But all have that Love and Self-denial which will some way express it self And all have Hearts and a Disposition to do thus if they had Ability without such a Disposition none can be saved It is the fond Conceit of some that if they have any Love to the Godly or wish them well it is enough to prove them happy But Christ here purposely lets us know that whoever doth not love him at so high a rate as that he can part with his Substance or any thing in the World to those Uses which he shall require them even to relieve his Servants in want and Sufferings for the Master's sake that Man is none of Christ's Disciple nor will be owned by him at the last XI The next Point that we come to is to shew you the Properties of this Sentence at Judgment When Man had broken the Law of his Creator at the first he was liable to the Sentence of Death and God presently sat in Judgment on him and sentenced him to some part of the Punishment which he had deserved but upon the Interposition of the Son he before the rest resolved on a Way that might tend to his Recovery and Death is due yet to every Sinner for every Sin which he commits till a Pardon do acquit him But this Sentence which will pass on Sinners at the last Judgment doth much differ from that which was passed on the first Sin or which is due according to the Law of Works alone For 1. As to the Penalty called the Pain of Loss the first Judgment did deprive Man of the Favour of his Creator but the second will deprive him of the Favour both of the Creator and Redeemer the first Judgment deprived him of the Benefits of Innocency the second deprives him of the Benefits of Redemption the loss of his hopes and possibility of Pardon of the Spirit of Justification and Adoption and of the Benefits which conditionally were promised and offered him these are the Punishments of the last Judgment which the Law of Works did never threaten to the first Man or to any as it stood alone Also the loss of Glory as recovered is the proper Penalty of the violated Law of Grace which is more than the first loss As if a Man should lose his Purse the second time when another hath once found it for him or rather as if a Traitor redeemed by another and having his Life and Honours offered him if he will thankfully accept it and come in should by his Refusal and Obstinacy lose this recovered Life which is offered him which is an Addition to his former Penalty Besides that the higher Degree of Glory will be lost which Christ would bestow on him more than was lost at first The very Work of the Saints in Heaven will to praise and glorify him that redeemed them and the Father in him which would not have been the Work of Man if he had been innocent 2. As to the Pain of Sense the last Judgment by the Redeemer will sentence them to a far sorer Punishment than would have befaln them if no Saviour had been offered them Heb. 10. 29. The Conscience of Adam if he had not been redeemed would never have tormented him for rejecting a Redeemer nor for refusing or abusing his gracious Offers and his Mercies nor for the forfeiting of a recovered Happiness nor for refusing of the easy Terms of the Gospel which would have given him Christ and Salvation for the accepting nor for neglecting any Means that tended to Recovery no nor for refusing Repentance unto Life nor for disobeying a Redeemer that bought him by his Blood As all these are the Penalties of the Redeemer's Law and Judgment so is it a sorer Penalty than Conscience would have inflicted meerly for not being perfectly innocent and they will be far soarer Gripings and Gnawings of the never-dying Worm for the abuse of these Talents than if we had been never trusted with any after our first Forfeiture Yea and God himself will accordingly proportion his Punishments So that you see that privatively and positively or as to their Loss and their Feeling the Redeemer will pass on them a heavier Doom than the Creator did or would have done according to the first Law to perfect Man 3. Another Property of the Judgment of Christ is that it will be final peremptory and excluding all farther Hopes or Possibilities of a Remedy So was not the first Judgment of the Creator upon faln Man Though the Law of pure Nature knew no Remedy nor gave Man any Hope of a Redeemer yet did it not exclude a Remedy nor put in any Bar against one but God was free to recover his Creature if he pleased But in the Law of Grace he hath resolved that there shall be no more Sacrifice for Sin but a fearful looking for of Judgment and Fire which shall devour the Adversary Heb. 10. 26 27. and that the Fire shall be everlasting the Worm shall not die and the Fire shall not be quenched Mat. 25. ult Mat. 13. 42 50. John 5. 27. Mat. 5. 26. Mat. 3. 12. and Luke 3. 17. Mark 9. 43 44 45 46 48. He that now breaketh that pure Law that requireth perfect Innocency as we have all done may fly to the Promise of Grace in Christ and appeal to the Law of Liberty or Deliverance to be judged by that But he that falls under the Penalty of that Law which should have saved him as all final Unbelievers and impenitent ungodly Persons do hath no other to appeal
is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works Mat. 12. 36 37. But I say unto you that every idle Word that Men shall speak they shall give account thereof at the Day of Judgment For by thy Words thou shalt be justified and by thy Words thou shalt be condemned Many more most express Texts of Scripture do put the Truth of this Judgment out of all question to all that believe the Scripture and will understand it There is no place left for a Controversy in the Point It is made as sure to us as the Word of the living God can make it And he that will question that what will he believe What say you Sirs Dare you doubt of this which the God of Heaven hath so positively affirmed I hope you dare not 2. Consider it is a Master-part of your Faith if you are Christians and a fundamental Article of your Creed that Christ shall come again to judg the quick â—nd the dead So that you must believe it or renounce your Christianity and then you renounce Christ and all the Hopes of Mercy that you have in him It 's impossible that you should soundly believe in Christ and not believe his Judgment and Life everlasting because as he came to bring Life and Immortality to Light in the Gospel 2 Tim. 1. 10. so it was the End of his Incarnation Death and Resurrection to bring you thither and it 's part of his Honour and Office which he purchased with his Blood to be the Lord and Judg of all the World Rom. 14. 9. Joh. 5. 22. If therefore you believe not heartily this Judgment deal plainly and openly and say you are Infidels and cast away the hypocritical Vizor of Christianity and leâ— us know you and take you as you are 3. Consider that it is a Truth that is known by the very Light of Nature that there shall be a Happiness for the Righteous and a Misery for the Wicked after this Life which is evident 1. In that we have undeniable natural Reason for it 1. God is the Righteous Governour of the World and therefore must make a difference among his Subjcts according to the Nature of their Ways which ane see is not done here where the Wicked prosper and we Good are afflicted therefore it must be hereafter 2. We see there is a Necessity that God should make Promises and Threatnings of everlasting Happiness or Misery for the right Governing of the World for we certainly perceive that no lower things will keep Men from destroying all humane Society and living worse than brute Beasts and if there be a Necessity of making such Threats and Promises then there is certainly a Necessity of fulfilling them For God needeth no Lie or Means of deceiving to rule the World 2. And as we see it by Reason so by certain Expeâ—rience that this is discernable by the Light of Nature for all the World or almost all do believe it Evâ— those Nations where the Gospel never came and have nothing but what they have by Nature even the most barbarous Indians acknowledg some Life after this and a Difference of Men according as they are here therefore you must believe thus much or renouncâ— your common Reason and Humanity as well as your Christianity Let me therefore perswade you alâ— in the Fear of God to confirm your Souls in the Belief of this as if you had heard Christ or an Angel from Heaven say to you O Man thou art hasting to Judgment Qu. 2. My next Question is Whether you do ever soberly consider of this great Day Sirs do you use when you are alone to think with your selves how certain and how dreadful it will be how fast it is coming on and what you shall do and what Answer you mean to make at that Day Are your Minds taken up with these Considerations Tell me is it so or not Alas Sirs Is this a Matter to be forgotten Is not that Man even worse than mad that is going to God's Judgment and never thinks of it when if they were to be tried for their Lives at the next Assize they would think of it and think again and cast 100 times which way to escape Methinks you should rather forget to go to Bed at Night or to eat your Meat or do your Work than forget so great a Matter as this Truly I have often in my serious Thoughts been ready to wonder that Men can think of almost any thing else when they have so great a thing to think of What forget that which you must remember for ever forget that which should force Remembrance yea and doth force it with some whether they will or not A poor despairing Soul cannot forget it He thinks which way ever he goes he is ready to be judged O therefore Beloved fix these Thoughts as deep in your Hearts as Thoughts can go O be like that holy Man that thought which way ever he went he heard the Trumpet sound and the Voice of the Angel calling to the World Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment You have warning of it from God and Man to cause you to remember it do not then forget it It will be a cold Excuse another Day Lord I forgat this Day or else I â—ight have been ready you dare not sure trust to such Excuses Qu. 3. My next Question to you is How are you â—ffected with the Consideration of this Day Barely to think of it will not serve to think of such a Day as this with a dull and sensless Heart is a Sign of fearful Stupidity Did the Knees of King Belshazzar knock together with trembling when he saw the Hand-writing on the Wall Dan. 5. 6. How then should thy Heart be afffected that seeth the Hand-writing of God as a Summons to his Bar When I began to preach of these things long ago confess the Matters seemed to me so terrible that I was afraid that People would have run out of their Wits with Fear but a little Experience shewed me that many are like a Dog that is bred up in a Forge or Furnace that being used to it can sleep though the Hmmers are beating and the Fire and hot Iron flaming about him when another that had never seen it would be amazed at the sight When Men have heard us 7 Years together yea 20 Years to talk of a Day of Judgment and they see it not nor feel any hurt they think it is but talk and begin to make nothing of it This is their Thanks to God for his Patience Because his Sentence is not executed speedily therefore their Hearts are set in them to do evil Eccles 8. 11. As if God were slack of his Promise as some Men accounâ— Slackness 2 Pet. 3. 9. when one Day with him is as 〈◊〉 1000 Years and a 1000 Years as one Day What 〈◊〉 we tell you 20 Years together that you
Soul and thou be truly broken off from thy former sinsul Course and from all things in this World and art dedicated devoted and resigned unto God Seeing this Change must be made and these Graces must be had or thou must certainly perish in the Fear of God see that thou give no ease to thy Mind till thou art thus changed Be content with nothing till this be done Delay not another Day How canst thou live merrily or sleep quietly in such a Condition as if thou shouldst die in it thou shouldst perish for ever Especially when thou art every Hour uncertain whether thou shalt see another Hour and not be presently snatch'd away by Death Methinks while thou art in so sad a Case which way ever thou art going or whatever thou art doing it should still come into thy Thoughts O what if I should die before I be regenerate and have part in Christ The ninth Direction Let it be the daily Care of thy Soul to mortify thy fleshly Desires and overcome this World and live as in a continual Conflict with Satan which will not be ended till thy Life do end If any thing destroy thee by drawing away thy Heart from God it will be thy carnal Self thy fleshly Desires and the Allurements of this World which is the Matter that they feed upon This therefore must be the earnest Work of thy Life to subdue this Flesh and set light by this World and resist the Devil that by these would destroy thee It is the common Case of miserable Hypocrites that at first they list themselves under Christ as for a Fight but they presently forget their State and Work and when they are once in their own Conceit regenerate they think themselves so safe that there is no farther Danger and thereupon they do lay down their Arms and take that which they miscall their Christian Liberty and indulge and please that Flesh whch they promised to mortify and close with the World which they promised to contemn and so give up themselves to the Devil whom they promised to fight against If once you apprehend that all your Religion lieth in meer Believing that all shall go well with you and that the Bitterness of Death is past and in a forbearance of some disgraceful Sins and being much in the Exercise of your Gifts and in external Ways of Duty and giving God a cheap and plausible Obedience in those things only which the Flesh can spare you are then faln into that deceitful Hypocrisy which will as surely condemn you as open Profaneness if you get not out of it You must live as in a Fight or you cannot overcome You must live loose from all things in this World if you will be ready for another You must not live after the Flesh but mortify it by the Spirit if you would not die but live for ever Rom. 8. 13. These things are not indifferent but of flat Necessity The tenth Direction Do all your Works as Men that must be judged for them It is not enough at least in point of Duty and Comfort that you judg this Preparation in general to be the main Business of your Lives but you should also order your particular Actions by these Thoughts and measure them by their Respects to this approaching Day Before you venture on them enquire whether they will bear weight in Judgment and be sweet or bitter when they are brought to Trial both for Matter and Manner this must be observed O that you would remember this when Temptations are upon you when you are tempted to give up your Minds to the World and drown your selves in earthly Cares Will you bethink you soberly whether you would hear of this at Judgment and whether the World will be then as sweet as now and whether this be the best Preparation for your Trial When you are tempted to be drunk or to spend your precious time in Ale-houses or vain unprofitable Company or at Cards or Dice or any sinful or needless Sports bethink you then whether this will be comfortable at the reckoning and whether time be no more worth to one that is so near Eternity and must make so strict an Account of his Hours and whether there be not many better Works before you in which you might spend your time to your greater Advantage and to your greater Comfort when it comes to a review When you are tempted to Wantonness Fernication or any other fleshly Intemperance bethink you soberly with what Face these Actions will appear at Judgment and whether they will be then pleasant or displeasant to you So when you are tempted to neglect the daily Worshipping of God in your Families and the catechising and teaching of your Children or Servants especially on the Lord's Day bethink your selves then what account you will give of this to Christ when he that entrusted you with the Care of your Children and Servants shall call you to a reckoning for the Performance of that Trust The like must be remembred in the very manner of our Duties How diligently should a Minister study how earnestly should he perswade how unweariedly should he bear all Oppositions and ungrateful Returns and how carefully should he watch over each particular Soul of his Charge as far as is possible when he remember that he must shortly be accountable for all in Judgment and how importunate should we all be with Sinners for their Conversion when we consider that we our selves also must shortly be judged Can a Man be cold and dead in Prayer that hath any true Apprehension of that Judgment upon his Mind where he must be accountable for all his Prayers and Performances O remember and seriously remember when you stand before the Minister to hear the Word and when you are on your Knees to God in Prayer in what a manner that same Person even your selves must shortly stand at the Bar of the dreadful God! Did these Thoughts get throughly to Mens Hearts they would awaken them out of their sleepy Devotions and acquaint them that it is a serious Business to be a Christian How careful should we be of our Thoughts and Words if we believingly remembred that we must be accountable for them all How carefully should we consider what we do with our Riches and with all that God giveth us and how much more largely should we expend it for his Service in Works of Piety and Charity if we believingly remembred that we must be judged according to what we have done and give account of every Talent that we receive Certainly the believing Consideration of Judgment might make us all better Christians than we are and keep our Lives in a more innocent and profitable Frame The eleventh Direction As you will certainly renew your Failings in this Life so be sure that you daily renew your Repentance and fly daily to Christ for a renewed Pardon that no Sin may leave its sting in your Souls It is not your first Pardon that
their Condemnation Ah Lord with what a Heart must a poor Minister study when he considereth this that all the Words that he is studying must be brought in for a Witness against many of his Hearers with what an Heart must a Minister preach when he remembreth that all the Words that he is speaking must condemn many if not most of his Hearers Do we desire this sad Fruit of our Labours No we may say with the Prophet Jer. 17. 16. I have not desired the woful Day thou knowest No if we desired it we would not do so much to prevent it we would not study and preach and pray and intreat Men that if it were possible we might not be put on such a Task And doubtless it should make every honest Minister study hard and pray hard and intreat hard and stoop low to Men and be earnest with Men in season and out of season that if it may be they may not be the Condemners of their Peoples Souls But if Men will not hear and there be no remedy who can help it Christ himself came not into the World to condemn Men but to save them and yet he will condemn those that will not yield to his saving Work God takes no Pleasure in the Death of a Sinner but rather that he repent and return and live Ezek. 18. 23 32. and yet he will rejoice over those to do them hurt and destroy them that will not return Deut. 28. 63. And if we must be put on such a Work he will make us like-minded The Holy Ghost tells us that the Saints shall judg the World 1 Cor. 6. 2 3. and if they must judg they will judg as God judgeth you cannot blame us for it Sinners we now warn you of it before-hand and if you will not prevent it blame not us but your selves Alas we are not our own Masters As we now speak not to you in our own Names so then we may not do what we list our selves or if we might our Wills will be as God's Will God will make us judg you and witness against you Can we absolve you when the righteous God will condemn you when God is against you whose side would you have us be of we must be either against God or you and can you think that we should be for any one against our Maker and Redeemer we must either condemn the Sentence of Jesus Christ or condemn you and is not there more reason to condemn you than him Can we have any Mercy on you when he that made you will not save you and he that formed you will shew you no Mercy Isa 27. 11. yea when he that died for you will condemn you shall we be more merciful than God But alas if we should be so foolish and unjust what good would it do you If we would be False-witnesses and partial Judges it would not save you we are not justified if we absolve our selves 1 Cor. 4. 4. how unable then shall we be against God's Sentence to justify you If all the World should say you were holy and penitent when God knows you were unholy and impenitent it will do you no good You pray every Day that his Will may be done and it will be done It will be done upon you because it was not done by you What would you have us say if God ask us Did you tell this Sinner of the need of Christ of the Glory of the World to come and the Vanity of this Should we lie and say we did not What should we say if he ask us Did not you tell them the Misery of their natural State and what would become of them if they were not made new Would you have us lie to God and say we did not Why if we did not your Blood will be required at our hands Ezek. 33. 6. and 3. 18. and would you have us bring your Blood upon our own Heads by a â—ie yea and to do you no good when we know that Lies will not prevail with God No no Sinners we must unavoidably testify to the Confusion of your Faces if God ask us we must bear Witness against you and say Lord we did what we could according to our weak Abilities to reclaim them indeed our own Thoughts of everlasting Things were so low and our Hearts so dull that we must confess we did not follow them so close nor speak so earnestly as we should have done we did not cry so loud or lift up our Voice as a Trumpet to awaken them Isa 58. 1. we confess we did not speak to them with such melting Compassion and with such Streams of Tears beseech them to regard as a Matter of such great Concernment should have been spoken with we did not fall on our Knees to them and so earnestly beg of them for the Lord's sake to have Mercy upon their own Souls as we should have done But yet we told them the Message of God and we studied to speak it to them as plainly and as piercingly as we could Fain we would have convinced them of their Sin and Misery but we could not fain we would have drawn them to the Admiration of Christ but they made light of it Mat. 22. 5. we would fain have brought them to the Contempt of this vain World and to set their Mind on the World to come but we could not Some Compassion thou knowest Lord we had to their Souls many a weeping and groaning Hour we have had in secret because they would not hear and obey and some sad Complainâ—s we have made over them in publick we toâ—d them that they must shortly die and come to Judgment and that this World would deceive them and leave them in the Dust we told them that the time was at hand when nothing but Christ would do them good and nothing but the Favour of God would be sufficient for their Happiness but we could never get them to lay it to heart Many a time did we intreat them to think soberly of this Life and the Life to come and to compare them together with the Faith of Christians and the Reason of Men but they would not do it many a time did we intreat them but to take now and then an Hour in secret to consider who made them and for what he had made them and why they were sent into this World and what their Business here is and whither they are going and bow it will go with them at their latter End but we could never get most of them to spend one Hour in serious Thoughts of these weighty Matters Many a time did we intreat them to try whether they were Regenerate or not whether Christ and his Spirit were in them or not whether their Souls were brought back to God by Sanctification but they would not try we did beseech them to make sure Work and not leave such a Matter as everlasting Joy or Torment to a bold and mad Adventure but we