Terrors of Conscience because of its Guiltiness its former guilt of Sin let the Sin be what and of what Nature it will Oh let it remember that Christ was given for a Covenant for the People he was by his Father called in Righteousness and his Hand was held and he was kept and given for a Covenant of the People for a Light of the Gentles to open the blind Eyes to to bring the Prisoners from the Prison and them that sit in Darkness out of the Prison House Isaiah 42. 6 7. Let him remember that he is to say Isaiah 45. 24. Surely in the Lord I have Righteousness and Strength That if he had never committed those Sins which now so lie upon and load his Conscience yet he could never have stood before God in his own Works and in a legal Righteousness but what the Law could not do because it was weak through our Flesh that God himself hath done sending his Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh and for Sin condemning Sin in the Flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us Rom. 8. 3. And let him consider that being he must be saved by Christ and stand before God as found in him not having his own Righteousness though his Nakedness hath been more than the Nakedness of some other Men yet that long white Robe is large enough to cover it for the Righteousness of Christ his Merits are of vast and infinite Vertue as the Schoolmen say of Gods Essence that it filleth Heaven and Earth and an infinite space beyond both So the Merits of Christ have expiated for the Sins of all that shall be saved and have an infinite Vertue beyond Therefore there is no reason for a Soul to concluds its Sins shall not be forgiven or its Horrors of Conscience for them never cease those cease of course upon the sense of pardon or a good hope through Grace It is but a Relique of Popery that tortureth Mens Consciences past cure I mean an Opinion lurking in us that we must our selves satisfie the Justice of God and that upon the price paid and satisfaction given by Christ pardon doth not proceed freely for all Sin and all Blasphemy to a Soul seeking for it by earnest Prayer true Sorrow for Sin and resolution against it and a true adherence to the Lord Jesus Christ 3. Again Study the Sureness of this Covenant It is a Covenant of Salt as well as a Covenant of Peace Gods Covenant with Day and Night shall sooner cease it containeth the sure Mercies of David It cannot fail God cannot suffer his Faithfulness to fail he cannot alter the thing that hath gone out of his Lips The failure of Covenants amongst Men is rooted in their Variableness and Mutability their want of Fore-sight and Knowledge of future Contingencies c. no such thing can be as to this Covenant He is the Lord that changeth not his Name is I am he had a perfect and certain Prospect and Fore-sight of all that could happen 4. Finally Meditate of it as a well ordered Covenant It is true The Covenant of Grace hath its Conditions to be fulfilled on our part Such as are the taking hold of it mentioned Is 56. 6. which cannot be without seeking the Lord while he may be found calling upon him while he is near the wicked Man forsaking his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and his returning to the Lord Isaiah 55. 6 7. and perseverance in the ways of God is another condition to be performed But as to those it is in this well ordered That there are Branches in the same Covenant wherein God hath promised 1. To work those Conditions in us that is we doing what in us lies by Vertue of that Common Grace which he denieth to none or by Vertue of those special Habits which he will please to work in us not to be wanting in those further Aids and Assistances of his Grace by which we shall be inabled to do whatsoever he hath required of us in order to the obtaining the promised end of our Hopes in the Salvation of our Souls 2. That that those Failings which we shall be guilty of through Humane Infirmity though they may cause us sorrow in the Flesh yet they shall not frustrate the Promise and Covenant of God he will yet heal our Backslidings and love us freely Now the Covenant of Grace being thus rightly understood and apprehended I would fain understand what room can possibly be left in a Sinner for Satan to fasten this fiery Dart with any effect upon the Soul I will suppose a Soul under the greatest Terror imaginable for Sins of the highest nature Why should he destroy himself if there be hope in the God of Heaven concerning such Sinners If all Sin and Blasphemy whereby a Man shall Blaspheme may be forgiven him Is God a Righteous God that loveth Righteousness and can by no means clear the guilty Why yet should he do it if he hath provided the Soul a Righteousness whereby it may stand Righteous before God acquitted form all manner of Guilt and out of all danger of Condemnation What if it hath formerly been without Righteousness and be yet without Strength or Ability to any Act of Righteousness if the Righteousness wherein it must stand before God be not any personal Righteousness of its own but the Righteousness of Christ reckoned to it for Righteousness Is it tormented through fear of future Sinnings the prevailings of Temptations or its own Corruptions Yet why should the poor Creature run himself out of the World upon this fright when the Covenant of Grace is so well ordered as there is in it a sufficient Provision made for it both for Assistance against the prevailings and dominion of Sin to that degree as to ruin the Soul to Eternity and as to that degree of Guilt which every Soul through Ignorance Infirmity pure or mixt runs into for the healings of its Backslidings What is here left for a sinful Soul to do but to use the means of Grace to apply it self unto God by Fasting and Prayer to consider its ways and what in it lies to turn to the Lord to be sensible of its Sins and to trust in the Lords Mercies taking heed to it self that it sin no more presumptuously abstaining from all appearances of Evil studying to perfect Holiness in the fear of God and daily to renew its Repentance and Faith in Christ as it discerneth its Sins are renewing every day To what purpose doth a Soul under such gracious and hopeful Circumstances think of destroying it self and asserting its own Eternal Condemnation or at least making its Salvation very uncertain which it should rather design to make sure by an Holy Life and Conversation So that I say admit Horror of Conscience for Sin to be the Argument Satan makes use of to inforce this Temptation nothing can be more proper for a Soul exercised under the Temptation than to study understand
Soul think of these great instances and of those who Crucified the Lord Jesus Christ Acts 2. 36 37 38. yet at Peters Sermon were pricked at the Heart encouraged by the great Apostle to Repent and be Baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the Remission of their Sins and had the Promise of receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost 4. O let no such Soul neglect the Reading or Hearing of the Word of God that is the Proximate Object of our Hope God is indeed the primary and proper Object none can give Remission of Sin or Eternal Life but God but by the Word and from the Revelation of the good will of God in his Word we come to Hope in God I look therefore upon that as a great Conquest which the Devil hath gotten over a Soul Despairing when he hath perswaded it not to hear not to read the Word that is indeed to omit the Means by which its Darkness should be dispelled and a true and lively Hope should be begotten in it 5. To all these should be added Fasting and Prayer the Efficacy of which depends on this That it is Gods Work to beget the Soul to a lively Hope through the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 3. It is true a Soul in these Fits is not very fit for Prayer how shall it Pray in Faith But yet I would not have it wholly to neglect Prayer But let it call in the Help of godly Ministers and Christians let it send for the Elders of the Church and let them pray for it 6. I should have added before I shall now close this Discourse with it Let such a Soul be often whetting upon it self and let others be suggesting to it the most liberal Promises of Free Grace and Pardon and the greatest Presidents of Forgiving Mercy which the Scripture affordeth And let there be frequent Repetitions of them upon and to the Soul possibly though at the first or second offer they may not stick to the Soul nor the Soul take any Comfort from them yet at last they may But so much shall serve to have spoken to this Black and exceeding Dangerous Temptation FINIS Concerning TEMPTATIONS TO Presumption CHAP. I. The Text Deut. 29. 18 19 20. opened The fitness of it to the intended Discourse The Proposition founded in it The Method of handling it proposed What it is to presume The Nature of Presumption opened MOses the Servant of God when he had a second time repeated the Law of God to the Israelites as you shall find in that Book which from that Second Repetition hath its Name Deuteronomy commandeth the People that having passed over Jordan into the Land of Canaan they should set up Stones and Plaister them with Plaister and write the Law upon them and set up these Stones in Mount Ebal Deut. 27. 4. and six of the Tribes were to stand upon Mount Ebal six upon Mount Gerizzim v. 12 13. who were to say Amen to the Levites pronouncing the Blessings or Cursings following after Chap. 27. 28. promised to those that observed the Laws or denounced against those that presumed to violate it after this Moses exhorteth them to Obedience from the great Works of God which they had seen him doing for them Chap. 29. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. and from thence to the 15 verse he ingageth them in a Covenant with God for the observation of his Law And v. 16 17. shortly again mindeth them of what God had done for them both in bringing them out of Egypt and through the Nations of their Enemies After all this that great Man of God from the general Corruption of Humane Nature fore-saw there would be some bâ—ld prâ—fane Persons that would venture obsequiousness to their Sensual Appetite to break this Holy Law and notwithstanding all the Blessings annexed to the Observation of it and all the Curses entailed to the Violation of it would adventure upon their Sensual Satisfactions and yet promise to themselves not onely Impunity and Freedom from the threatned Evils but also the obtaining those good Things for the obtaining of which the Observation of the Divine Law was made a Condition he therefore adds v. 18 19 20 21. Lâ—st there should be amongst you Man or Woman or Family or Tribe whose Heart turneth away from the Lord his God to go and serve the Gods of these Nations lest there should be amongst you a Root that beareth Gall and Wormwood v. 19. and when he heareth the words of this Curse that he blesseth himself in his Heart saying I shall have Peace though I walk in the Imagination of mine Heart and add Drunkenness to Thirst v. 20. The Lord will not spare him but then the Anger of the Lord and his Jealousie shall smoke against that Man and all the Curses of this Book shall lie upon him and the Lord shall blot out his Name from under Heaven v. 21. And the Lord shall seperate him to Evil out of all the Tribes of Israel according to all the Curses of the Covenant that are written in this Book of the Law It is true these Words are in the Old Testament but Augustine said true That the Old Testament is Occultatio Novi The New Testament in a Mystery the New Testament Revelatio Veteris the Old Testament explained both of them the Revealed Will of God the later onely the more clear Revelation of it And it is as true That as Face answereth Face in a Glass so the Hearts of Men in one Age and Period in the World answer the Hearts of Men in another Period of it Moses in the Text afore-mentioned describeth to you 1. A Sinner one who turneth away his Heart from the Lord his God that walketh according to the imagination of his own Heart that addeth Drunkenness to Thirst and all this after he hath heard the Words of the Law and the Blessing to them that keep the Law and the Curse to them that violate this Law 2. The bold Presumption of this Sinner when he hath heard the Law the Blâ—ssings promised to them that observe it and the Curses denounced against them that violate it yet he will flatter himself he shall have Peace though he walks according to the imagination of his Heart and addeth Sin to Sin Drunkenness to Thirst 3. The Fate of such a Sinner or the Issue of that Presumption The Lord will not spare him but the Anger of the Lord and his Jealousie shall smoke against that Man and all the Curses in Scripture shall lie upon bim and the Lord shall blot out his Name from under Heaven The Lord shall seperate him to Evil out of all the Tribes of Israel according to all the Curses of the Covenant that are written in the Book of the Law God hath also made a Covenant with People under the New Testament even the same for Substance as with the Jews He then gave them a Law A Law for Worship called the Ceremonial Law A
and yet not eying the Command of God be carried out to it from other Motives Now this is no Obedience no keeping of the Commandements of God 4. That no Obedience is true but what is Universal I do not say perfect for who liveth and sinneth not but Universal There is an equal respect to the whole Law of God Psal 119. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed saith David when I have respect to all thy Commandements The Reason is plain because who so doth or avoideth an Action purely upon this Reason because God hath commanded or God hath forbidden it will find himself under the same Obligation to do whatever God hath commanded and to avoid whatsoever God hath forbidden yet is not a Christian to measure his Obedience from his performance but from the regard which he hath in his Heart to the whole Law of God conjoyned with a proportionable endeavour tho our Corruption will sometimes be too hard for us 5. If a Man or Woman hath built up his Hopes as to the remission of Sins of which he as yet hath no Assurance and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eternal Life upon this that God having in the Gospel made a Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ as he upon whom he hath laid the Salvation of Men and having wrought in his Heart a firm and steady Assent to what God hath there revealed and inabled him to accept of this Salvation and to close with Gods way of Salvation casting all the Concerns of his Soul for Pardon and Salvation upon Jesus Christ and that he hath by his Spirit made a change in his Heart that he now hateth all Sin and loveth God and the Commandments of God and hath a regard to them all desiring to do whatsoever God hath commanded and to avoid whatsoover he hath forbidden and that because he hath commanded the one and forbidden the other and accordingly endeavoureth in his whole Conversation though he be many times over born with Temptations and finds a Law in his Members rebelling against and prevailing against the Law of his Mind and bringing him into Captivity to the Law of Sin This Man now builds his Hopes not presumptuously but upon the clear Revelation of the Will of God in his Word But less than this is no better than Presumption from false Notions taken up of Regeneration Conversion Repentance Saving Faith and True Holiness Yet further In order to the avoiding of this Temptation take heed of taking up scanty and narrow Notions of the Law of God It is indeed a snare unto a Soul so to interpret the Divine Law so as to doubt and fear Actions that are lawful as if they were forbidden But it is a more dangerous Rock for a Man to dash upon so to interpret Gods Law as to make those things lawful which God hath forbidden or to undeestand those things as unlawful or at least indifferent which God hath commandeded but I hinted it before to you and I now tell it you again There is none that is but moderately acquainted with the Srriptnres and with the Writings of the Popish Casuists but will plainly see that it hath been the great Design of their Divines for a long time to interterpret the Law of God so as Men might keep their Lusts and yet keep the Commandments of God according to the sense they have put upon them In short Obedience to the Church is almost with them The whole Duty of Man There are some others that came too near them making strange loose Interpretations of the Law of God The precept for not taking Gods Name in vain they say is onely to be understood against Perjury The 4th Commandement onely commandeth the keeping such days holy as the Church appoints These and such like Interpretations serve for nothing but to help a Soul to presume And indeed this loose Interpretation of the Law of God is necessary to all such as maintain the Justification of the Soul not by the Righteousness of Christ but by a Righteousness of our own And that Man hath a Power in himself to do all that God requireth of him I say it is necessary for those Men to interpret Gods Law into a consistancy with Mans Power But let all good Christians that value their Souls take heed of those Interpretations Let them but Interpret the Commandements so as by them shall be commanded and forbidden whatsoever is commanded and forbidden in the Word of God and then they will easily discern these fallacies and so they must interpret them or they cannot conclude that the Ten Commandements contain the sum of all that God hath commanded us to do and avoid for it is most certain that the whole Scripture is as much the Revealed Will of God as the Ten Commandments and hath equal Authority with us Be acquainted therefore with the Scriptures and call that Obedience and Holiness which that calleth so and be assured that let Men tell you what they will without that Holiness that Obedience no Man shall see God I have dwelt a little the longer upon this head because indeed the great mistakes of Men are upon these points that Men fancy that their case is good that they believe enough and are holy enough to go to Heaven nay to plead their Holiness as a Righteousness in which they shall adventure to appear before God 6. A Sixth Notion which I instanced in of this mischievous tendency Is the Power of a Priest or Minister to give Absolution So as if while they live the Minister hath absolved them or if when they come to die they can but Receive the Sacrement be absolved they conclude their Case is good enough The Opinion is in its Original perfectly Popish but founded on that Text Whose Sins soever you remit they are remitted and whose Sins soever you retain they are retained John 20. 23. The words are spoken to Christs Disciples upon whom he breathed v. 22. and said Receive you the Holy Ghost then he adds Whose Sins soever you remit they are remitted and whose Sins soever you retain they are retained And this Power saith the Papist every Priest hath he deriveth from the Apostles and hath the same Power given to him which Christ gave them And there is a Tincture of this Doctrine upon the Spirits of some that are no professed Papists and I perswade my self that many less knowing People peniciously rest upon it I shall therefore a little inlarge upon it 1. In the first place That God onely can forgive Sins is a Principle so consonant to Reason and so abundantly Confirmed in Holy Writ that certainly none can make the least doubt of it Sin is a debt a debt to the Justice of God Christ hath taught us to pray with Reference to it Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors Now Reason tells us that none can discharge a debt but he onely to whom it is owing it is an injury done to God and who can forgive it but
10 11. They received the Word with readiness of Mind and searched the Scriptures whether thâ—se things were so yet St. Paul himself was the Preacher and good Reason for the same Paul hath commanded That if he or an Angel from Heaven should bring any other Doctrine then what they had received what was according to the Gospel they should be Accursed Gal 1. 8. in doing this you will take heed what you hear and whom you hear too The Influence of Notions upon the Mind is very great our Hopes will be built upon the Notions which we receive Takeheed therefore what Notions you receive see them solidly founded in and proved by the Word of God be assured else there is no light in them 7. A Seventh Notion I shall but name for it is perfectly Popish concerning a Satisfaction for Sin after this life by Purgatory out of which too men may get by the Prayers of the Saints or by Masses said for them or by an Indulgence or Pardon This is that which they say That if any die in Venial Sin or under the debt of Punishment when the guilt is acquitted that is when the Priest hath Absolved them but they have not performed the Penance and given the Satisfaction which the Priest hath enjoyned all such go not into Heaven but go into a place they know not where which they call Purgatory where till they come out which also shall be they know not when for they are not agreed in the time of Souls lying there they shall be Tormented they know not how some say by a material Fire some say by a metaphorical Fire some say by Water and Fire too but by giving so much money for so many Masses or by a Pardon from the Pope or many other ways they may get out sooner And this Doctrine doubtless destroyeth thousands of Souls amongst them they love their Lusts better than their Moneys and venture to live and die in their sinful Courses and then bequeath a good part of their Estates for saying Masses c. to get them out of Purgatory when alas poor wretches they are in the bottomless Pit from which is no Redemption for ever But it is enough to have named these horrible things this Ridiculous Fire serves now for nothing but to keep the Popes Kitchin warm and the Priests pot boyling and to damn poor silly Papists by Presumption it hardly hurteth a very ordinary Protestants Conscience But I shall enlarge no further upon this first Direction for avoiding a Temptation to Presumption by taking heed of Notions which lead the Soul right on upon it and indeed serve for little else I proceed to a Second Direction CHAP. VI. Further Directions for the avoiding Presumption considering the greatness of the guilt of the danger how many miscary by it To be possessed of the difficulty of being Saved the paâ—city of those who shall be saved Self Examination Rules for it Takeing heed of Sinning against Light Prayer to God Working out our Salvation with Fear 2. POssess your Souls Secondly if you would avoid this great Temptation with the greatness of Sin and danger of Presumption and the great multitudes which split eternally on this Rock Here are three things offered to your Consideration 1. The greatness of the Sin of Presumption This will be understood partly by considering the Nature of it partly by considering the Revelation of Gods wraih against it as to the Nature of it 1. It Robbeth God of the Glory of his Justice it indeed seemeth to give God the honour of his Goodness and Mercy but it makes him an Idol of Mercy and despoileth him of his Justice and Purity and Holiness God indeed is Gracious and Merciful but he is also a God of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity a God before whom Sinners shall not stand in Judgment a God that cannot clear the Guilty Now that Soul that goes on in its sinful Courses and yet hopes to find Favour with God and to go to Heaven at last doth think that God is not so holy and pure a God as indeed he is or that he is not so Just as he is either that he hath not Power to be Revenged upon Sinners or not so just a Will and steady a resolution to be revenged upon such as go on in their Courses of Ungodliness as indeed he hath Now consider with they self how great a sin it must be either to deny the Purity and Holiness of God or the Power and Justice of God The Presumptuous Sinner saith God is not of so pure Eyes but he can abide Iniquity a Sinner may dwell in his sight whereas God could not be God if he could not be Just or not be Holy and Pure Holiness is a piece of Gods Glory he is not only Glorious in Majesty but he is also Glorious in Holiness 2. And as the Justice and Purity of God is Impeached by Presumption so his Truth is also Impeached The Presumptuous Sinner doth in effect say The Scripture is a Lie and a Romance for the language of his heart is directly contrary to the language of Scripture that saith such and such Sinners shall never enter into the Kingdom of God but shall have their portion in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone He saith I am such a one yet I shall enter into the Kingdom of God I shall not have my portion in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone What is this but either to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God or to deny that which is contained in them to be truth and so to make God a liar who is a God that cannot lie Judge you how great an Iniquity this must be And if the Impeachment of a Mans truth be counted such a violation of his honour that he knoweth not how to put it up but is ready to revenge it with a Stab what shall God do who cannot lie So that three eminent Attributes of God Purity Justice and Truth are all of them questioned impeached or denyed by the Presumption of a Sinner And Presumption is not only a Transgression of the Law of God but containeth in it a secret Impugning of the Divine Nature and transformeth God into a being that is not Pure and Holy at least not so Pure and Holy but it can abide Sin well enough that either cannot or will not be revenged upon Sinners that can declare one thing and do another 2. Secondly The magnitude of any Sin is well taken and judged from the Revelation of Divine Wrath against it And it is but just and equal to judge that the greatest Sin against which God doth most severely reveal his Wrath. As to this we shall need look no further then the Text which I have made the foundation of this Discourse Deut. 29. It is the Presumptuous Sinner that is spoken of v. 19. That heareth the words of the Law and the words of the Curse annexed to the violation of the Law
and yet blesseth himself in his heart and saith I shall have peace though I walk in the Imagination of my Heart and add drunkenness to thirst Now what shall the Righteous God do to such a Man v. 20. The Lord will not spare him but then the Anger of the Lord and his Jealousy shall smoke against that Man and all the Curses that are written in this Book shall be upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under Heaven v. 21. And the Lord shall seperate him to Evil out of all the Tribes of Israel according to all the Curses of the Covenant that are written in this Book of the Law What is possible to be added to that Commination What can be more severely spoken So as if we may judge of the greatness of a Sin by the greatness of the Curses that are annexed to him that committeth it we have all the reason imaginable to judge Presumption one of the greatest degrees of sinning by which it is possible that a Sinner should provoke God 2. A Second thing which I offered to your consideration was the danger of Presumption as to these things Presumptions as your reason will tell you in other things are very dangerous in three Cases and such all wise Men will take heed of 1. Where the Good expected or the Evil we expect an immunity from are of a very high and important Nature A Man may venture to Presume of a Victory in a Case at Law where if he be overthrown he may lose 40 50 100 l. in such Cases he will say he knows the worst of it if he be mistaken it is but a money matter it is but the loss of such and such a sum of money but a man will not do so where his life is in danger he will there look for sufficient grounds to hope he shall escape his Enemies charge Christian the concern we are speaking of is not the concern of thy Estate 't is not the concern of thy Life it is the concern of thy Body and Soul to all Eternity it becomes thee as thou art a Reasonable Creature here to beware of presuming or building upon the sand of insufficient grounds Thy Soul thy Eternal well or ill Being is the concern of thy hopes here if they be wâ—ll bottomed thou art happy for ever if they be ill bottomed thou art undone for ever It is not triffling nor flattering thy self here Eternity depends upon it thou art a Creature ordained to an Eternity of Bliss or Misery it is about this thy hopes is exercised O Consider of what import this good or evil is 2. Presumptions are very pernicious when a due care might in time be taken to prevent the Evil or obtain the Good Only Presumption of the needlessness of care hindreth In Law Presumptions are never admitted for proof if more positive proof can be had a man in pleading might speak for a Sinner building upon Presumptuous Hopes if he could come to no other but this is not the Case of any Soul We indeed cannot come to one Soul in our Congregations and say to him or to her Thou art Elected and shalt certainly be saved but neither can we come to any one Soul and say Thou art a Reprobate and shalt certainly be damned Any Soul for ought we know lies fair for Heaven especially such I mean as are within the bosome of the Church and in whose streets Christ is Preached We indeed considering the courses of Sin in which many live can come to them and tell them In this state wherein you live at present and according to that course of life which you at present follow you can have no good hope that God hath forgiven your Sins or that you shall ever come into the Kingdom of God But what you may do what change may be made in your hearts what alteration or reformation in your life that we cannot tell Now Men and Womens Presumptions hinder the use of those means by which they might make their Calling and Election sure they say They have their life in their hands therefore they are not grieved as the Prophet speaketh though in another case Isaiah 57. 10. They say with the Church of Laodicea Rev. 3. 17. That they have need of nothing when in the mean time they are Wretched and Miserable and Poor and Blind and Naked and therefore it is they look no further after the Eternal Concerns of their Souls they do not buy of Christ Gold tryed in the fire that they may be rich and white Rayment that they may be Cloathed and that the shame of their Nakedness may not appear 3. Thirdly those presumptions are dangerous which lead into a destructive error which cannot be amended when discovered If a man hopes without ground that he may get an Estate by some way by which it is not to be got he may by his presumption be a loser of time and a loser in some part of his Estate but yet when he seeth his error he may correct it he may redeem his time he may recover his Estate But to presume for a good as to which if our expectations fail they fail for ever and of a deliverance or immunity from some evil wherein if our expectations fail we shall be irrecoverably immerced in that evil This no Wise Man will do It is true in our present case it is not so While there is life there is hope That man or Woman that hath hatched up presumptuous hopes that he is in favour with God that his Sins are pardoned and he Eternally saved may examine the grounds of his hopes if he finds them insufficient he may acquit them and use means to obtain a good hope through Grace But dying presumptions they are desperate for saith Solomon Eccles 9. 10. There is no device no work no knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither we are going Psal 49. 8. For the Redemption of the Soul is precious and it ceaseth for ever As the Soul leaves the Body so it shall be with it as to Eternity It was a desperate presumption of the foolish Virgins to come knocking and crying Lord open to us when the door was shut Matth. 25. and for those mentioned Matth. 7. 12. that will in the Great Day say unto him Lord Lord have we not prophecyed in thy Name and in thy Name have cast our Devil and in thy Name done many wonderful workâ— To whom he will say v. 13. I never knâ—w you depart from me you workers of Iniquity Take heed of carrying on presumptuous hopes to a dying hour 3. The Third Thing which I under this Head offered to your Consideration was the multitude of those Souls that so far as we can judge split upon this Rock It is a great piece of Wisdom to take warning by the harms of others The Scripture tells us that Without Faith and Holiness none shall see God Heb. 12. 14. It telleth us 21. Rev. 8. That the fearful and