and to honour his own Ordinance When he hath begun the work of conversion himself immediately he will not perfect it without the ministry of his Word He sendeth Paul to Ananias Acts 9.21 to learn what he should doe and biddeth Cornelius by an Angel for an Angel must not doe that work to send for Peter and from him to hear words whereby he and his house should be saved Acts 10.5 6. David who was wiser then the ancients then his enemies then his teachers lyeth many months asleep on the bed of security in a most filthy pickle till a Prophet is sent to call him up and awake him then and not till then he mindeth cleansing as appeareth plainly by the title and body of the 51. Psalm So Davids heart smote him for numbring the people but mark the means of it For saith the Text when David was up in the morning the word of the Lord came to Gad and commanded him to goe to David 2 Sam. 24.10 11 12. Yea the very honour of saving souls the most High ascribeth to the ministry of his Word 1 Tim. 4.16 Timothy is spoken of as saving himself and them that hear him i. e instrumentally thus highly God doth magnifie his Ordinances though many men vilifie them Doe not thou therefore forsake the assemblies of the Saints as the manner of some is Heb. 10.25 but lie constantly at the pool Some that have come to church to sleep as Mr. Latimer saith have been taken napping praying and waiting for the troubling of the waters of the Sanctuary The Angel of the Covenant may move there and thy diseased soul thereby be healed As thou wouldst learn that lesson whereby thou mayst be wise to salvation do not play the truant but frequent that School where the Prophet of the Church teacheth As thou wouldst not quench the Spirit despise not prophesying 1 Thess 5.19 20. They that came to catch the Preacher have been caught by the Sermon as Austin by Ambrose Aust Confess 5. lib. 14. And they that come to see fashions as Moses came to the Bush maybe called as he was The Souldiers or Officers that went to apprehend Christ were probably apprehended by Christ John 7.46 Wh n Henry Zatphen was Preacher at Breme the Papists sent theâ—r Chaplains to hear that they might intrap him but God converted by his ministry many of them Sleid. Comment If thou wouldst have thy heart throughly humbled make use of the Word you may read of a bad hard cursed heart indeed humbled by this 2 Chron. 33.12 and 18. v. Manasses in his affliction humbled himself greatly for God sent unto him Prophets and Seers that spake unto him in the name of the Lord so 2 Sam. 24.10 11 12. Wouldst thou rest upon Jesus Christ for salvation Mind the Word Every one that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me John 6.45 Wouldst thou have thine inward man renewed and changed This may be done by the blessing of God accompanying his Word therefore it is called the engraffed Word Jam. 1.21 To teach us that as the sciences of a good apple graffed into a crab-tree stock hath vertue to change the nature of it so hath the word preached for of that he speaketh as is manifest v 19 22 23. vertue to change the heart of man Reader let me perswade thee to have a reverent esteem of and to be very familiar with the Word of God reading it constantly and hearing it frequently as the Lord shall give thee opportunities but take heed how thou hearest Luke 8.18 how thou readest Attend on the Word having first laid aside all superfluity of naughtinesse weeds must be rooted up before the ground of mans heart is fit to receive the seed of the Word 1. With meeknesse of spirit Jam. 1.21 The humble sinner is fittest to be Christs Schollar The meek he will teach his way the meek he will guide in judgement Psal 25.8 9. When the heart is tender it is most teachable it is like white paper for any inscription like soft wax for any impression A proud person is too good in his own conceit to be taught he quarrelleth and rageth either at the person that preacheth or at the plainnesse of the sermon but to his own ruine He rejecteth the counsel of God but it is against himself to his own hurt Luke 7.30 The weak corn which yeilds to the wind receiveth no dammage by it but the proud sturdy oak which resisteth it is often broken in pieces 2. Attend on the Word with a resolution to obey whatever the Lord shall in his Word command thee O 't is excellent to sit at Gods feet hearing his voice purposely that thou mightest doe his will like a servant to goe to thy master and know his mind that thou mayst fulfill it when thou canst say I am here present before the Lord to hear and doe the things that are commanded me of God Acts 10.33 like the Romans deliver up thy self wholly to that form of doctrine which God hath delivered down unto thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as mettal for any stamp and mould Rom. 6.17 3. Plato as he walked in the streets if he saw any dissolute or disordered would reflect on himself with Num ego talis Am I such a one as â—his man is Diogen Laert. in vita With self application doe not think this concerneth such a man and now the minister hitteth such a one but consider now God speaketh to my soul and this truth doth nearly concern me If the word be not mixed with faith it will not be profitable to them that hear it Hebr. 4.2 Whilst truths rest in generals little good will be done but when they come to be particularly applied and to sink down into the heart then they work effectually for the souls salvation Truths generally received are like the charging a piece but the particular application of them doth the execution upon sin 4. With supplication before and after reading or hearing begin with God Lord open mine eyes that I may see the wonderful things of thy Law Psal 119.18 Begin duty with duty The preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord Prov. 16.1 And after thou hast heard or read pray as the Disciples after they had heard Lord open to us this parable Matth. 15 15. This Scripture Write thy law in my heart and thy truth in mine inward parts teach me thy way lead me in thy righteousness give me understanding and I shall keep thy law yea I shall observe it with my whole heart Psal 119.34 Urge thy soul with the necessity of this duty that thou must be converted or condemned and it is the law of the Lord that is perfect converting the soul Psal 19.7 That thou must know thy misery or feel it eternally and it is the preiept of the Lord that is pure enlightning the mind Psa 19.8 That thou must repent or be ruined and it is by hearing that
the person that had but gained this good and the first could not have been without this The eternal death of the soul consisteth in its farthest separation from that God whose favour is far better than life This is the lowest round in that ladder by which thou shalt descend into the bottomless pit This is the foot of this black bloody account the head of that arrow which pierceth the hearts of the damned This is the worst effect and fruit of sin that it is privative of our union with and fruition of God Vines on James 4.8 pag. 23. Depart from me is as terrible a word as everlasting fire Ah whether do they go that go from him when he alone hath the power of eternal life how dismal how dark must that dungeon be where this Sun will not shine in the least degree with the light of his countenance well may it be called blacknesse of darknesse for ever Jude 15. the hell of the hypocrites which will be hottest of all is set out by this Job 13.16 the hypocrite shall not come before God Couldst thou have all the mercies that the world can give yet in this want of God thou wouldest be compleatly miserable Ten thousand words cannot speak a soul more unhappy than those two words Without God Ephes 2.12 Thou mayest be without riches without friends without health without liberty nay without all outward blessings and yet blessed but if without God thou art cursed with a curse When God would couch all arguments in one to perswade to duty this is instead of all Obey my voice and I will be your God Jer. 7.23 when he would disswade and drive them from iniquity Sicut Sole recedente succedunt densae tene brae sic Deo recedente succedit horribilis maledictio Paraeus in â— Hos this is the stinging whip Be instructed O Jerusalem lest my soul depart from thee Jer. 6.8 When he would strike Israel dead with a blow this is it Wo unto them when I depart from them Hos 9.12 How sad a saying is that of Saul I am sore distressed and well he might the Philistines are upon me and God is departed from me 1 Sam. 28.15 If a partial Eclipse of the Sun cause such a drooping in the whole Creation what will a total Eclipse of this Sun cause how mournfully doth Micah bemoan the losse of of his dunghil deity Ye have taken away my gods and what have I morâ—e and what is this that ye say unto me what aileth thee Judg. 18.24 surely the damned as they will have infinitely more cause so they will with more horrour and anguish bewail the losse of the true God though all the tears in hell are not sufficient to bewail the losse of this heaven If the body from which the soul is parted be such a deformed sad spectacle what shall the condition of that soul be from which God is parted for ever How unable are the children of God to bear the absence of God in this life though it be but in part and for a short time take Heman Psal 88.14 15. Lord why castest thou off my soul why hidest thou thy face from me I am afflicted and ready to die while I suffer thy terrours I am distracted Observe the good man is at deaths door and no wonder when as to his apprehension the life of his soul had left him for though no man can see the essential face of God and live yet no Saint can live unlesse he see the providential face of God Consider Job a man of courage one that had entered the list against Satan and foild him The Sabeans and Chaldeans were too hard for his servants and captivated his cattel but Job was too hard for them he conquered them the winde that blew down the house on his children could not blow down the tower of his confidence his hold on Christ yet when this valiant Warriour comes to encounter with the withdrawings of God how exceedingly is his courage withdrawn Job 13.24 wherefore hidest thou thy face and holdest me for thine enemy Why Lord are all the appearances from heaven so black and lowring Why is it that I see not the former smiles of thy face O what is the cloud that hindereth the light of thy countenance from shining on me What sin is the mist which is gathered about the true Sun impeding my fight of thee Behold our Lord Jesus himself that could bear the spiteful buffetings of some the bloody scourgings of others the scorn and derisions of many that could suffer the treason of one Apostle the denial of another and the unkindnesse of them all without complaining yet when the Deity did but withdraw it self for a time that the humanity might suffer for our sins how mournfully doth he sigh out that expression My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matth 27.46 It was not his torturing from men nor the terrours of devils not the presence of all the powers of darkness that Christ complained so much of as the absence of God Now meditate O sinner if the departure of God though partial and temporal were so terrible to his Saints to his Son how intolerable will the losse of God be to thee when it shall be total and eternal Do they mourn so bitterly when for a small moment he forsaketh them though with great mercies he gathereth them when in a little wrath he hides his face from them though with everlasting kindnesse he hath mercy on them Isa 54.7 8. How bitterly wilt thou complain when he shall forsake thee to eternity when he shall hide his face from thee for ever and not bestow on thee the least mercy or the smallest kindnesse This will be a woe with a witnesse Suffering may be the portion of Saints but separation from God the punishment of Devils As the face and comfortable presence of God is the greatest felicity of the saved Summa mors animae est alienatio à vita Dei in aeternitate supplicii Aug. de civit Dei lib. 6. so the full withdrawings or absence of God will be the greatest misery of the damned Now thou doest not value the enjoyment of God thou thinkest often that he is too neer thee the coming of God to thee is as to the Devils a torment Matth. 8.29 If he draw nigh to thee sometime in a Sermon in a private Instruction in a motion of his spirit or in a conviction of thy conscience thou wishest him farther off with his precise laws that thou mighst have more liberty for thy fleshly lusts The voice of thine hellish heart unto God is Depart from me I desire not the knowledge of thy wayes Job 21.14 Well thy petition shall be granted to thy destruction and God will take thee at thy word and give thee thy wish to thy woe when thy doom shall be to depart from him Luke 13.27 Matth. 25.41 and then thou shalt know the incomparable worth of him thy understanding shall
dayes 1 Kings 21 29. A pitiful humiliation it was God knew he lookt sadly like a Fox in a trap meerly to get out yet God takes notice of it and deferreth the judgement upon it If God set such a price upon counterfeit what will he upon true gold Fierce Esau relenteth towards submitting Jacob though he came against him ready and resolved to destroy him Surely then the God of compassions to whose pity and mercy the bowels of all the creatures are but as a drop to the Ocean who calleth those that goe from him will not cast away those that come to him Reader little dost thou think how much he longeth for thy conversion and humiliation Little dost thou know what kisses and embraces what robes and rings what mercies and merits what an heaven and happinesse what a God and Christ and Grace and Glory are all ready for thee and wait only for thy readinesse and preparednesse for them by thy humiliation for an aversion from thy deceitful corruptions Alexanders Macedonians having offended him laid by their Armes Plut. in vit Alex. put on mourning apparel came running in troops to his tent where for almost three dayes together they remained with loud cries and tears to testifie their remorse for offending him and wilt not thou do as much for offending God As thou therefore lovest the life of thy soul endeavor to get thy heart throughly humbled for thy sins take a view of thy sins in the word of God in the glasse of his law how in its nature it is contrary to his blessed nature and perfect law and for its effects it maketh thee obnoxious to all the threatnings of the word to all the vials of â—ods wrath to all the miseries of this life and to all the torments of hell for ever Consider while thou livest in thy estate of impenitency thou art a cursed sinner and if thou diest in it thou art a damned creature the hand of God which is lifted up in the commination and threatning will fall down in execution If the wrath of a King be as a messenger of death O what then will will the wrath of a God be As that Christian King of Hungary told his brother that sprang into his presence pale and trembling because of the Executioner and Deaths-man that had sounded his trumpet at his chamber door in the dead time of the night to call him away to execution O Brother thou hast loved me and never offended me and is the sight of my Executioner so dreadful to thee how then should I a greivous sinner fear to be brought to judgement before Jesus Christ Consider the day of the Lords wrath is coming and who shall abide it This terrible fire is kindled this horrible tempest is gathered and ready to fall on thy head every moment Do not put these things farre off as many do who thereby deprive themselves of the happy effects which these thoughts might produce A Cannon afarre off though never so great doth no execution men will not tremble and fall down for fear of it when once they apprehend it many miles off Things afarre off though very big will seem very small A Starre that is bigger than the whole earth seems no bigger than a Torch being many miles from us Look therefore on all that misery that is treated of in the first use as thy portion and as nigh to thee even at the very door like a Serjeant it waiteth continually to arrest thee and hale thee to the prison of hell There is not a night in which thou lyest down to sleep but this roaring Lion of the wrath of God lyeth down beside thee and is ready when thou art asleep little dreaming of it to rend thee asunder and tear thy soul in pieces In the morning when thou risest it waiteth upon thee dogging thee all the day long whatsoever thou dost and following thee like a blood-hound wheresoever thou goest thou mayest as soon flie from thy self as from it till thou art effectually humbled for thy sins the cause of it And be not insensible of it because it is invisible to thee The influences of the Sun are hottest among the minerals in the bowels of the earth where it is not at all visible not they sensible So the fire of divine fury is hottest where it is not visible nor the person sensible Though thou mayst see it as plainly in the Scripture as the Sun at noon day God is angry with the wicked every day Psalm 7.12 There is wrath prepared for the workers of iniquity and it will assuredly and speedily be inflicted if thou art not timely and truly humbled and converted I would also desire thee to ponder much the free grace of God which is discovered in the Gospel what bowels of compassion in the Father to give his Son what infinite affection in the Son to give himself for the reconciliation and salvation of his enemies It is probable the heat of this unknown love may melt thy frozen spirit This is the most ingenuous sorrow which is never to be sorrowed for which springeth from the consideration that thou hast sinned against so good so pure so perfect a God in conformity to whom and communion with whom all thy happinesse consisteth The Law indeed is of excellent use to open the sore to search the wound to make the Patient feel his need of and set a price upon his Physitian thus it is a Schoolmaster to drive the soul to Christ but winter fruits are more harsh and sowre when summer fruits are sweet and pleasant God taketh most delight in those tears and sorrow which are the fruits of hot love to his blessed Majesty And could I see them once in thee I durst joy thee of thy Babe of Grace the new Creation They are at least the kindly bearing throws of one in travail very near her hour of delivery as also often the after-paines A stroak from guilt from wrath broke Judas heart into despair A look from love from Christ broke Peters into teares Aspexit Christus flevit Petrus Ambr. That sap and moisture which in frost and snow lyeth hid and buried in the earth sheweth it self pleasantly in the fruits of the trees when it is called forth by the warmth of the Sun Even Saul himself will lift up his voice and weep when he seeth a clear testimony of the love and undeserved kindnesse of David Hast thou never beheld a condemned prisoner dissolved into tears upon the unexpected and unmerited receit of a pardon who all the time before was as hard as a flint The hammer of the Law may break the icie heart of man with terrors and horror and yet it may remain ice still unchanged But when the fire of love kindly thaweth this ice it is changed and dissolved into water it is no longer ice but of another nature Where the Sun is most ptedominant there are the sweetest Spices the richest Mines and the costliest Jewels Do
by his Lord Gen. 24. to provide a Wife for my Masters son I do here in the presence of the living God by commission from his Majesty tender thee the most honourable profitable delightful match that was ever offered to mortals It is the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of life and glory the onely begotten of the Father the fairest of ten thousands to be thy head and husband hereby thou shalt have the King of Kings the Lord of heaven and earth for thy Father a Queen the Church for thy Mother the Saints those truly excellent noble illustrious ones higher then the Kings of the earth for thy brethren and sisters the Covenant of Grace in comparison of which all the gold of the Indies is but dirt and dung for thy treasure glorious Angels for thy servants the flesh of the Son of God for thy meat and his precious blood for thy drink perfect Righteousness which is more beautiful then the unspotted innocency of Adam or Angels for thy rayment a palace of pleasures a place of glory a building of God an house not made with hands but eternal in the heavens for thy habitation And all this only upon these termes that thou wilt be a loving faithful and obedient Wife which the poorest beggar in the country expects from his wife that thou wilt heartily give up thy self and all thou hast to his service and glory and this he desireth also for thy good and benefit that he may make thee a more excellent creature and render thee more acceptable to God and more capable of his dearest love and eternal embraces as the rain is sent up from the earth in thick and foggy vapours but the heavens return it in pure and silver showers so though thou givest an unbelieving hard earthly heart unto Christ he will return it unto thee again believing tender heavenly such an heart as shall be more pleasing both to God and thy self and for this he is pleased though ten thousand Suns united into one are but darkness to him so great is his glory to condescend to become a Suiter to thee to beseech thee to accept of him who knoweth thy portion to be misery and beggery who seeth thy person to be full of ugliness and deformity who gaineth no addition to his happiness by thine acceptance of his love nor suffereth the least diminution by thy refusal Well what sayest thou to this match Art thou heartily willing to take Jesus Christ for thy wedded Husband to protect and direct thee to purifie and pardon thee to sanctifie and save thee to guide thee by his counsel and afterwards to receive thee to glory And wilt thou here in the presence of the Lord and before thy conscience which is as ten thousand witnesses promise and covenant to obey him universally to love him unfainedly to resign up thy self and all thou hast to his disposal unreservedly What sayest thou Art thou willing or no Take heed of dallying in a match that is so unquestionably and infinitely for thy advantage Believe it thou shalt not have such offers every day Doe not stick at any of his Precepts for he can require nothing but what is equal excellent and honorable doe not trifle or defer it if thou lovest thy soul for this may be the very last time of asking If thou wilt deal kindly and truly with my Master tell me or if not tell me that I may return an answer to him that sent me Gen. 24.49 These four directions which I have laid down already are without question the whole of Christianity and that soul shall be certainly saved by whom they are uprightly practised yet there are two special means which God hath appointed for the enabling the soul to perform them which I shall speak briefly to and for method sake joyn them altogether Five Directions Attendance on the Word Fifthly If thou wouldst attain this spiritual life be much conversant with the Word of God be often reading it meditating on it but especiall frequent it in publick where it is preached by losing one Sermon for â—ought thou knowest thou mayst lose one soul Death at first entred into the world by the ear Gen. 3. and so doth life Faith comes by hearing Rom. 10.17 thou seest in the Gospel that Faith and Repentance are this spiritual life Mark 16.16 Gal. 2.20 and thou mayest see as clearly that they are both the fruits of the ministery of the Word For Faith that fore quoted place Rom. 10.17 is full and for Repentance that of Acts 2.37 speaketh home When they heard these things they were pricked to the heart mark When they heard these things The Word of God is an hammer with which God is pleased to break the stony heart and a fire wherewith he melteth the hard mettal Jerem. 23.29 In this respect it is that the Minister is called the Father of some Converts namely those whom he begetteth through the Gospel 1 Cor. 4.15 Joâ— Isaac a Jew was converted by reading the 53. of Isaiah Junius by the first of Johns Gospel Augustine by the 13. of Romans I will never forget thy precepts for by them thou hast quickened me David Psal 119.93 There is a resurrection of souls at this day when Ministers lift up their voice like a trumpet Isai 58.1 Acts 2.37 as well as there shall be a resurrection of bodies at the last day by the Trump of the Archangel This is the net which God is pleased to cast into the sea of the world and wherewith he harh caught many a soul three thousand at one draught Acts 2.41 Spiritual life is the gift of God as well as eternal the gift of all grace is of grace but ordinarily of his own will he begetteth souls by the word of truth Jam. 1 18. If thou wilt have Wisdomes dole thou must wait at Wisdomes gate for there it is given Prov. 8.34 Grace is the law written in the heart and usually the ministry of the Word is the pen wherewith the Spirit of God writes it That is the bed wherein the children of God are begotten Cantic 1.16 That is the school wherein the Disciples are taught of God and learn the truth as it is in Jesus The Ministers Commission doth abundantly evince this I send thee saith God to Paul to open the eyes of the blind and to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the living God God indeed is a most free Agent and can work when and how he pleaseth but it hath pleased him to make the Gospel of Christ his own power unto salvation Rom. 1.16 and it pleaseth him by the foolishnesse of preaching to save them that believe 1 Cor. 1.21 Abana and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus to the eye of sense may seem better then all the waters of Israel but Jordan can cleanse and heal when those cannot because it hath a divine precept and promise annexed to it Nay observe how God is pleased to dignifie his Word
Kings 1â— 17 18. Did not my Lord promise thus thus is it thy mind that thy word should go unfulfilled Lord are not these thy own words thine own hand writing whose staffe and bracelet is this If thou hadst not promised I should not have found in my heart to pray And if thou shouldst not perform where would be the glory of thy truth Thy mercy O Lord is great unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds Psal 57.10 My soul cleaveth unto the dust quicken thou me according to thy word Psal 119.25 Remember thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope Psa 119.49 Beseech him to consider thy misery like a beggar uncover thy nakednesse shew thy sores and wounds to move him to pity Tell him that in regard of thy spiritual condition Rev. 3.17 thou art at present wretched miserable poor blind and naked without God without Christ without hope an alien from the Common-wealth of Israel and a stranger from the Covenants of promise and that thine eternal state is like to be the worm that never dieth the fire that never goeth out amongst devils and damned ones in blacknesse of darknesse for ever Say Lord open thine eyes and see thy poor creature weltring Ezek. 16. wallowing polluted in his own soul blood and now I am in my blood open thy mouth and say unto me Live yea now I am in my blood say unto me Live Since no eye pitieth me to do any good unto me open thine heart let thy bowels yearn towards me Let this time be my time of love spread thy skirt over me and cover all my nakednesse Enter into a covenant with me and enable me to become thine for ever Since thou beholdest all the wants and necessities of my poor soul open thine hand and supply all my spiritual need There is bread enough and to spare in the Fathers house O let not my dying soul perish for hunger Open thine eares and hear the prayers and supplications which thy servant poureth out before thee night and day Thou hast the key of David and openest and no man shutteth Open the iron gate of my heart which will never open of its own accord that the King of glory may enter in Thou didst open the rock and cause it to send forth water Bow the heavens and come down Break open this rockie heart and come in and take an effectual universal eternal possession of my soul Consider thy bottomless mercie Christs infinite merits my unspeakable misery and let thine heart be opened in pitie and thine hand in bounty that my lips may be opened and my mouth may everlastingly shew forth thy praise Only in thy prayers be instant constant and look up to Jesus Christ Beg hard though humbly when thou art begging for heaven Hast thov never heard a Malefactor condemned to be hanged begging for a reprieve or pardon with what tears and prayers what bended knees watered cheeks strained joynts he intreateth for his mortal life Thou hast much more cause to be earnest when thou art begging for spiritual life Think of it thy soul thy eternal condition are engaged and at stake in thy prayer O how should all the parts and faculties of thy body and soul work and unite in prayers that are of such concernment What fervencie shouldst thou use considering that if thou art denied thou art undone if thy prayers be lost thy God is lost thy soul is lost thy happinesse is lost for ever Pray constantlie resolve to give God no rest day nor night till he give thee rest in his Son Besides set times every day for which thou canst not offer so little as two hours a day it being soul-work God-work eternitie-work and in which I would desire thee to be as serious and solemn as is possible thou mayst often in the shop or in the field in thy journying on thy bed thou mayst turn up thy heart to heaven in some ejaculations it is thy great priviledge where ever thou art thou mayst find â—od out such as these O when wilt thou come unto me Psa 101.2 Hear me speedilie O my God make no tarrying Ps 40.17 Shall I never be made clean good Lord when shall it once be Save me Master or I perish But be sure in all thy addresses to God thou look up to Jesus Christ as thine Advocate with the Father as the only Master of requests to present and perfume all thy prayers and thereby make them prevalent Through him we have access with confidence unto the Father Eph. 2.18 It is possible thou mayst have seen a Child going to be scourged for its faults by a stern Mother the tender Father sitting by and how the Child seeing the rod taken down and the Mother in earnest casteth a pitiful lamentable look upon its Father both longing and expecting to be saved by his mediation Go thou and do likewise and know for thy encouragement that if David heard Joah whom he loved but little for rebellious Absalom and if Herod heard Blastus a servant for those of Tyre and Sidon who had offended him then without doubt God will hear the Son of his infinite love for thee And if thou art but sensible of thy soul-sicknesse thou mayst be confident that thy spiritual Physitian who is authorized by his Father to practice and delighteth exceedinglie in the imployment will come and heal thee thy sicknesse shall not be unto death but for the glorie of God and thine eternal good I shall in the next place only annex three properties of this spiritual life as motives to encourage thee to a laborious endeavouring after it Si daretur mihi optio eligerem Christiani rustici agreste opus praeomnibus victoriis Alexandri Magni â—ulii Caesaris Luth. in Gen. 39. and then leave both thee and this exhortation to the blessing of God First This spiritual life is the most honorable life No life hath so much excellencie in it as the life of godlinesse If I had my wish saith Luther I would choose the homely work of a rustical Christian before all the victories of Alexander the great and Julius Caesar The excellencie and dignitie of every life dependeth upon the form which is its principle and its specificating difference Therefore the life of a man is more noble than the life of a beast because it hath a more noble form a rational soul which distinguisheth it specifically from and enableth it to act more nobly and highly than a beast And truly therefore the life of a Christian is more honorable and excellent than the life of any other man because he hath a more noble form which is the principle of it and differenceth it specificallie from the life of gracelesse men Jesus Christ the Lord of life and glory dwelling in his heart by his Spirit as the principle of his spiritual life If there be an excellencie in that body which is united to a soul what
men come to be prickt at the heart Acts 2.37 That thou must believe or perish and how shalt thou believe on him of whom thou hast not heard Rom. 10. As ships will ride a long time in a road-steed when they might be in the haven for this end that they may be in the winds way to take the first opportunity that shall be offered for their intended voyage So do thou ride in the road of Gods Ordinances waiting for the gales of the Spirit thou knowst not how soon that wind may blow on the waters of the Sanctuary and drive the vessel of thy soul swiftly and land it safely at the haven of happinesse of Heaven Direction If thou wouldst attain this spiritual life be frequent and fervent at the throne of grace Prayer that the God of all grace would infuse grace into thee and breath into thy soul the breath of this spiritual life As Abram pleaded for Ishmael Gen. 17.18 O that Ishmael might live before thee so do thou for thy soul O that my soul might live before thee And â—s the Ruler for his son Lord come down quickly ere my soul die yea ere it die eternally Go to God with a sense of thy own unworthiness and iniquities that though thou comest to his Majesty for the greatest favours yet thou art lesse than the least of all his mercies acknowledging that thou hast sinned hainously against heaven and before him and art unworthy to be called his son Confesse thy original actual heart life sins with their bloody aggravations and intreat him to pardon and purifie thee O with what humility reverence and self-abhorrency should such a guilty prisoner approach the Judge of the whole earth Arraign accuse and condemn thy self and thy sins if ever thou wouldst have God to acquit thee Pray also with a sense of thy own impotency and weaknesse That though there be a necessity of humiliation if ever thou wouldst escape damnation yet thou canst as soon fetch water out of a rock as teares from thine eyes or sorrow from thine heart for thy sins till the wind of the Spirit bloweth those waters will never flow It is God that must give to thee a poor Gentile repentance unto life Non minus difficile est nobis velle credere quam cadaveri volare Beza Confess p. 22. Acts 11.18 That thou must believe or thou canst not be saved yet thou canst as easily cause iron to swim as thy soul to believe in the Son of God Faith is the gift of God Phil. 1.29 Zeph. 8. It is as hard a work to believe the Gospel as to keep the Law perfectly Nothing lesse than omnipotency can enable the soul to either As thy first birth and generation so is thy second birth and regeneration from the Lord. Men and meanes may be instrumental and subservient but their efficacy and successe dependeth on God As Protogenes when he saw a line curiously drawn in a Painters shop cried out None but Apelles could draw that line so when thou seest the new Creation thou mayst say None but a God could doe that When thou hast through the strength of Christ wrought thy heart to some sense of thy weakness and unworthiness then look into the Scriptures and fetch arguments from Gods own mouth weapons from his own Armory whereby thou mayst prevail with him and overcome him Beseech him to consult his glorious Name and gracious Nature mind him that he is the Lord the Lord God gracious merciful long-suffering abundant in goodness and truth forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Exod. 34.6 Tell him that he delighteth not in the death of sinners that he taketh more pleasure in unbloody conquests in the chearful services than in the painful sufferings of his Creatures That he had much rather have trees for fruit than for the fire Say Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving kindness and after the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out mine offences Psal 51.1 O thou that art rich in mercy for the great love wherewith thou lovest souls quicken me in Christ that by grace I may be sanctified and saved Since thou delightest in mercy be pleased Lord to delight both thy self and thy servant by extending thine hand of mercy to pluck me out of this bottomlesse depth of misery Intreat God to consult his own Honor as well as his gracious Nature Mind him that if he condescend to convert and save thee he shall have the glory of his patience in waiting thus long to be gracious the glory of his providence in causing all things to work together for thy good the glory of mercy in pitying and pardoning such a greivous sinner the glory of his justice in that noble satisfaction it shall have from the death of his Son the glory of his power in bringing such a rebellious heart into subjection unto Jesus Christ Intreat his Majesty to consider that he may pardon and cleanse thee through Christ without the least diminution to his glory nay that far more revenues will come to his crown from thy salvation then from thy damnation That the forced confessions of them that perish as of Malefactors upon a wrack do not sound forth his praises so much nor so well as the joyful hearty acclamations of his saved ones Say Lord if thou suffer me to continue in my filth and pollution and never wash me by the blood and spirit of thy Son and suffer me to perish eternally thou art righteous but Lord if I perish I shall not praise thee thy glory will rather be forced out of me with blows as fire out of a flint thou delightest to see poor creatures volunteers in thy service The damned do not celebrate thy praise Psal 30.9 they that go into the infernal pit give thee no thanks The living Psal 88.10 11. Isa 38.19 the living they shall praise thee they that live spiritually and they that live with thee eternally O what Hosanna's and Halelujah's what honor and glory and blessing and praise do they give to the Lord and to the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne for ever O let my soul live and it shall praise thee Thine is the kingdom and power do thou work within me by thy grace and thine shall be the glory Desire God to consider his own promise as well as his praise Urge his own word That they that ask shall receive that seek shall find that knock shall have heaven opened That if men know how to give good gifts to them that ask how much more will the Father in heaven give his holy Spirit to them that ask That he will circumcise the hearts of men and women to love him Deut. 30.6 That he will put his fear into their hearts and they shall never depart away from him Jer. 32.40 That he will write his Law in their hearts Ezek. 31.33 Go in to him when thou art full of heaviness as Bathsheba did to David and say 1