stubbornenesse of mine owne heart so adding drunkenesse to thirst the Lord will not be mercifull unto him but the wrath of the Lord and his jelousie shall smoake against that man and every curse that is written in his booke shall light upon him and the Lord shall put out his name from under Heaven c. Doth not our Savour himselfe say that the gate of heaven is so straight that few finde it Mat. 7.13.14 and will he not at his comming to judgement aswell say to the disobedient depart from me ye cursed as to the obedient come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdome c. yes they are his owne words Mat. 25 34.41 In fine he that beleeveth in the sonne hath everlasting life but he that obeyeth not the sunne shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Iohn 3.36 And in all reason if he punished Davids Adultery and Murther so sharpely a man after his owne heart yea and that after his sinne was remitted what will he doe to his enemies but send them to that devowring fire that everlasting burning Isay 33.14 If Gods owne children who are as neere and deare to him as the aple of his eye or the signet on his right hand Zach. 2.8 Duet 32.10 Suffer so many and greivious afflictions here what shall his adversaries suffer in hell If Sampson be thus punished shall the Philistems escape Yea if judgement begin at the house God what shall their end be that obeay not the Gospel 1 Pet. 4.17 If many shall seeke to enter in at the straight gate and shall not be able how shall they be able who seeke not at all Luke 13.24 If the righteous shall scarcely be saved when shall the ungodly and sinner appeaâ—e as the Scripture speakes 1 Pet. 4.18 So that mercy iâ— for vessells of mercy Mat. 5. and not for vessells of wrath And what though Christ in the Gospell hath made many large and precious promises therâ— are none so generall which are not limitted with the condition of faith and the fruit thereof unfained repentance And each of them are so tyed entailed that none can lay claim to them but true beleevers who repent and turne from all their sinnes to serve him in holynesse without which no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 Isay 59 20. So that he must forsake hiâ— sinnes that will have God to forgive them 1 Sam. 2.30 Marke 16.16 Heb. 5.9 Neither was it ever heard that any one ascended into heaven without going up the staires oâ— obedience and good workes that any have attained unto everlasting life without faith repentance and sanctification for even the theife upon the crosse which you ignorantly aleadge beleeved in Christ and shewed the fruits of his faith in acknowledging his owne sinne reproving his fellow in confessing our Saviour Christ even then when his Apostles denied anâ— forsooke him in calling upon his name desiring and confidently trusting by his meanes and merrits to have everlasting life Neither doth his example make any whit for the comfort oâ— procrastinators for he is a foole that makes an ordinary rule of an extraordinary example and such is this of the theifes convertion for it was a miracle Not unlike the Suns standing still in Ioshuas time or its going backe in the dayes of Hezekiah Or rather those other miracleâ— of the graves opening the dead arising the vaile of the temple renting the light of the Sunne failing c. which Christ wrought at the same time with the glory whereof our Saviour would honour the ignominy of his Crosse Besides hee was then to take his leave of the world and to enter into his glory and we know it is usuall with Princes to save some hainous malefactors at their coronation when they enter upon their Kingdomes in tryumph which they are never knowne to doe afterward Besides the Scripture speakes of another even his fellow in that very place and at that very instant which was damned There was one saith St. Austine converted at the last hower that none might dispair there was buâ— one that none should presume Yet every drunken beast swearing Athiest can wrest this scripture to their owne distruction and decoct the mercy of God in pardoning him into ranckâ— poyson taking the same for an encouragement and thinkeing it a sufficient warrant for them to continue in their evill and vicious courses Not once taking notice of other Scriptures which shew that millions who had lesse iniquity have found lesse mercy And that whosoever Christ saveth with his blood he sanctifieth with his spirit and in whom his death taken takes away the guilt and punishment of sinne it is also effectuall for the mortifying of sinne as is plaine by Rom. 6.5 6. Titus 2.14 Ephes 1.4 and many the like Yea the Lord bindeth it with an oath that whomsoever he redeemeth out of the hands of their spirituall enemies they shall worship him in holynesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of their life Luk. 1.70 to 76. Other Scriptures to this purpose are many see only Titus 2.12 1 Pet. 2 24. But to make it yet more cleare what else did thy vow in baptisme which is a seale of the Covenant importe but that there are Articles conditions viz. Certain duties on thy part to be performed as well as promises on Gods part to be fullfiled A Sacrament is a sealing of a league with Covenants between party and party saith Parreus Now as God hath covenanted and bound himselfe by his word and seale to remit thee thy sinnes adopt and regenerate thee his childe give thee the Kingdome of heaven and everlasting life by and for his sons sake so thou diddest for thy part bind thy selfe by Covenant promise and vow that thou wouldest forsake the Divell and all his workes constantly beleeve Gods holy word and obediently keepe his commandements the better thereby to expresse thy thankefulnesse towards him for so great a benefit 1 Pet. 4.1 2 3. Psal 116.12 13.14 And we know that in-Covenants and Indentures if the conditions be not kept the Obligation is not in force Whereby many even Magus like after the water of Baptisme goe to the fire of hell Yea except we repent and beleeve the Gospell we are perjured and that holy Sacrament together with the offer of grace and in stead of sealing to us our salvation will be an obligation under our hand and seale against us and so prove a seale of our greater condemnation Alasse ignorant Worldlings who will beleeve nothing which comes not within the compasse of their five sences thinke that because God strikes not he mindes not Psal 50.21 Because sentence against an evill worke is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set in them to doe evill as Solomon speakes Eccles 8.11 Because God doth not forthwith strike one dead with a Thunder Bolte and raine downe fier and brimestone upon another and cause the earth to swallow downe a
A Hopefull way to Cure that horrid Sinne of SVVEARING Or an helpe to save Swearers if willing to be saved being an Offer or Message from HIM whom they so Daringly and Audatiously provoke Before you lay it by at lest read the Postcript at the End Messenger SIr methinkes you sware and curse as if he that made the eare could not heare Or as if he were neither to be feared nor cared for who for sinne cast the Angells out of heaven Adam out of Paradice drowned the old world rained down fire and brimstone upon Sodome commanded the earth to open her mouth and swallow down quicke Corah and his company he who smote Egypt with so many plagues overthrew Pharoah and his host in the Red Sea destroyed great and mighty Kings giving their land for an inheritance to his people And can as easily with a word of his mouth strike you dead while you are blaspheming him and cast you body and soule into hell for your odious unthankefullnesse Yea it is a mercy beyond expression that he hath spared you so long What because you are displeased with others will you fly in your makers face and tare your Saviours name in peices This is worse then frenzy this is to send challenges into heaven and make love to distruction consider of it least you sweare away your part in that blood which must save you if ever you be saved yea take heed least you be plagued with a witnes and that both here and here after for God who cannot lye hath threatned that his curse shall never depart from the house of the swearer as it is Zach. 5.1 to 5. And I doubt not but you are already cursed though you know it not That either he hath cursed you in your body by sending some foule disease or in your estate by suddainly consuming it or in your name by blemishing and blasting it or in your seed by not prospering it or in your mind by darkning it or in your heart by hardning it or in your conscience by terrifying it or will in your soule by everlastingly damning it if you repent not Wherefore take heed what you doe before it prove too late Or if you regard not your selfe or your owne soules good yet for the Kingdomes good leave your swaring for the Lord as now we find to our smart hath a great controversie with the inhabitants of the land because of swaring Hosea 4.1.2 Yea because of oaths the whole land even the 3. Kingdomes now mourneth or rather lyes a bleeding and that to death as you may see Ier. 23.10 Neither object that ye are so accustoâ—ed to swaring that you cannnot leave it for this defence is worse then the offence as take an instance Shall a Thiefe or Murtherer at the barre aleadge for his defence that it hath beene his use and custome of a long time to rob and kill or if he doe will not the Judge so much the rather send him to the Gallowes Besides the objection is false and frivilus for weare you forced to pay 12. pence for every oath you sweare as the law injoynes or if you were sure to have your tongue cut out which is too light a punishment for this sin damnation being the due penalty thereof as the Apostle sets it downe James 5.12 You both could and would leave it Wherefore I beseech you by the mercies of God who hath removed so many evills and conferred so many good things upon you that they are beyond thought or imagination to leave it especially after this warning which in case you do not will be a sore witnesse rise up in judgment against you another day Swarer Did I sware or curse Messenger Very often as all here present can witnesse and Satan also who stands by to take notice reckon up and set on your score every oath you utter keeping them upon record against the great day of asize at which time every oath will prove as a daggars point stabbing your soule to the heart or as so many waights pressing you downe to hell Revelat. 12.10 As also the searcher of hearts who himselfe will one day be a swift witnesse against swarers Mal. 3.5 For of all other sinners the Lord will not hould him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine as the third commandement tells you Exod. 20.7 But woe is me it fares with common swarers as with persons desperately deseased whose excrements and filth comes from them at unawars for as by much labour the hand is so hardned that it hath no sence of labour so there much swaring causeth such abrawny skin of sencelessenesse to overspread the heart memory and conscienee that the swarer swareth unwittingly and having sworne hath no remembrance of his oath much lesse repentance for his sin Swarer Alasse though I did sware yet I thought no harme Messenger O foole what Prince hearing himselfe abused to his face by the reproachful words of his base and impotent Subject would admit of such an excuse that whatsoever he spake with his mouth yet he thought no ill in his heart And shall God take this for a good answer having told us beforehand Deut. 28.58.59 that if we doe not feare and dread his glorious and fearfull name the Lord our God he will make our plagues wonderfull and of long continuance and the plagues of our posterity Besides how frequently doest thou polute and prophaine Gods name and thy Saviours The Jewes greviously finned in crusifying the Lord of life but once and that of ignorance but the times are innumerable that thou doest it every day in the yeare every hower in the day although thy conscience and the holy spirit of grace hath checkt thee for it a thousand and a thousand times Doest thou expect to have Christ thy Redeemer and Advocate when thy conscience tells thee that thou hast seldome remembred him but to blaspheme him and more often named him in thy oaths and curses then in thy prayers Swarer Surely if I did sweare it was but faith and troth by our lady the masse the roode the light this bread by the crosse of the silver or the like which is no great matter I hope so long as I sweare not by God nor by my Saviour Messenger That 's your grosse ignorance of the Scriptures for God expresly forbids it and that upon paine of damnation James the 5.12 First our Saviour Christ in his owne person forbids it Mat. 5.34 35 36.37 I say unto you sware not at all neither by heaven for it is Gods throne nor by earth for it is his footstoole nor by Jerusalem for it is the City of the great King neither shalt thou sweare by thine head because thou canst not make one haire white or black but let your communication be Yea Yea Nay Nay for whatsoever is more then these commeth of evill and then by his Apostle Above all things my breathren sware not neither by heaven nor by earth â—or by any other oath but let your
third quick while they are blaspheming him though I might give you many examples of Gods vengance upon swearers even here men harden themselves in their sinnes and thinke that God allowes of their doings But O fooles though he comes softly to judgement yet he will come surely and in the end what he wanted in swiftnesse shall be supplied in severenesst Yea such mens very deliverance from judgement is a worse judgement then the judgement from which they are delivered for it argues either Gds utter forsaking them as disperate patients are given over by the Physitian as in Isay 1.5 or else it argues a reservation of them for some more fearfull plagues as it is Levit. 26.18 to 40 and Esay 6.10.11 and the examples of Cham Lots wife Absolom and Pharoah sufficiently prove As what did it availe Pharoah that himselfe was not smitten with many of those judgements wherein others perished it was far from being a mercy yea it was a reservation to the greatest temporall judgement of all here and to that eternall judgement also in the burning lake from which there is no redemption God owes that man a greivious payment whom he suffers to run on so long unquestioned and his punishment shall be the greater when he comes to reckon with him for all his faults together When God will give over men to his iudgements he first gives them over to the iudgement of an hard and impenitent heart Thou hast smitten them saith the Prophet but they have not sorrowed Thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction they have made their faces harder then a stone and have refused to returne Ier. 5 3. Which is now Englands case for though its back be all blew and sore with stripes yet still it persists and presumes no repentance no reformation understand it of the generality nor will wee be warned without our full vengance As filching leaves not the pilâ—â—erer with raw sides but brings him to a broaken necke They will not beleeve that are ordayned to perish As tell me of so many millions of notorious sinners as were in this land how many or where are any who from the beginning of these bloody and unnaturall warrs these sad and calamitus distempâ—â—s have left off their drinking swearing whoreing prophaning of the Lords day cheating and the like can you name tenn yea or two of a thousand which you partly knew no certainly for he that was a drunkard before is a drunkard still he that was a swearer before is a swearer still he that was filthy before is filthy still c. Though such a judgement in a different age wherein religion it selfe and the power of godlynesse was not countemptible as now it is would have caused an universall repentance and reformation as the like only threatned not executed did in the Nine vites Jona 3 But what doe I speake of their repentance and reformation or of their being the better when they are much the worse for this greivious judgement When the greatest number sweare curse even in a presumptious bravery as neither regarding Gods wrath nor waying his heavy displeasure Being like so many mad doggs that fly in their masters face who keepes them Yea when they will scoff at jeere and persecute any that shall refuse to run with them unto the same excesse of riot 1 Pet. 4.4 even living as if they were neither beholding to God nor afraid of him both out of his debt and danger Oh the small hopes that we have of Gods sheathing his sword and the many and woeful symetomes of an universall distruction of our whole Nation whom God hath more honoured with the meanes of grace then any nation under heaven for this we may build upon that God will never leave smiting till we smite that which smiteth at his honour Was it the Lords complant against Ierusalem when he threatned her destruction by Nebuchadnezar I called to weeping and mourning and to baldnesse and girding with sackcloth but behold joy and gladnesse slaying oxen and killing sheepe eating flesh and drinkeing wine Isay 22.12.13 For which he was so highly offended that he tells them this their iniquity should not be purged till death verse 14 what then may wee justly looke for when we drinke and sweare cheate and whore as if there were no God to judge nor hell to punish nor heaven to reward which sinnes at any time were abominable but now and that upon dayes of humiliation they are most execrable Yea what other is this then to imitate the Thraâ—ians who when it lightens and thunders shoot arrowes against heaven thinking by that meanes to daw God to some reason And yet these men professe and call themselves Christians and looke that others should esteeme them so yea they dare call God father and expect that he should give them the Kingdome of heaven and not only shew their faces in the Temple but with their mouthes receive as they thinke the sacred body and blood of the Lord of life But will God owne such wicked and prophane wretches for his children no such matter He will one day if they repent not turne them over to the god of this world Ephes 2.2 2 Tim. 2 26 Iohn 12.31 and 14 30. And say to them as once Christ to the Jewes Iohn 8.44 Yee are of your father the Devill Neither can he be a good God who hath such evill sonnes As the Indians told the Spaniards when they first came amongst them after they had observed their conditions But I need say no more you have heard what God himselfe hath both said and sworne in his word And in case you beleeve not Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles you would never be perswaded although one should be sent unto you from the dead to testifie what a place of torment you are without repentance going unto Luke 16.31 Wherefore doe you beleeve there is a God and that he speakes as he meanes in his word are you a Christian if you be there is an hell in your creed If there be an hell how dare you tare heaven with your blasphemies and bandy the dreadfull name of God in your impure and miry mouth by your bloody oathes and execrations Doe not stifle your conscience nor stop your eares against the mennases and threats of God in his word Flatter not your heart with an opinion that he is all mercy but beleeve peremptorily and fully what the word speakes as well the commands and threats as the promises And not what Satan and his adherents the world and the flesh suggests of meeting with heaven at the last houre when all your life long you have gallowped in the beaten road towards hell Or to use our Saviours owne words Doe not stop your eares and winke with your eyes least you should see with your eyes and heare with your eares and understand with your heart and so should be converted Mat. 13.15 Acts 28.27 Yea if you beare any good