2.12 15. Rev. 16. ver 19. Joh. 12.48 Then shall he separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats and shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left Matth. 25.30 31 32. And shall say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed ver 34. But to the other go or depart ye cursed ver 41. Yet notwithstanding the Scriptures do so plainly and plentifully speak of these things alas who is there that is so weaned from the world and from their sins and pleasures as to fly from the wrath to come Mat. 3.7 notwithstanding the Scripture saith also That heaven and earth shall pass away rather than one jot or one tittle of the word shall fail till all be fulfilled they are so certain Luke 21.37 But leaving the threatnings let us come to the promises and speak somewhat of them and you may see how light men make of them and how little they set by them notwithstanding the mouth of the Lord hath spoken them As first Turn ye fools ye scorners ye simple ones at my reproof and behold I will pour out my spirit upon you Prov. 1.24 And yet persons had rather be in their foolishness and scorning still and had rather embrace some filthy lust then the holy undefiled and blessed Spirit of Christ thorow the promise though by it as many as receive it are sealed unto the day of redemption Eph. 4.30 And although he that lives and dies without it is none of Christs Rom. 8.9 2. God hath said If thou do but come to him in Christ though your sins be as red as scarlet they shall be as white as snow and he will by no means cast thee away compare Isa 1.18 with Job 6.37 And yet poor souls will not come to Christ that they might have life Joh. 5.41 but rather after their hardness and impenitent heart treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God Rom. 2.4 5 6. 3. Christ Jesus hath said in the word of truth That if any man will serve and follow him Where he is there shall also his servant be Joh. 12.26 but yet poor souls choose rather to follow sin Satan and the world though their companions be the devills and damned souls for ever Mat. 25.41 4. He hath also said Luke 12.31 Seek first the kingdom of God and all other things shall be added But let whoso will seek after the kingdom of heaven in the first place for them For they will take time while time serves to get the things of this life for them and their seed while it is to be had And if it be so that they must needs seek after heaven or else be damned in hell they will stay till they have more leisure till they can better attend to it till they have other things handsome about them till they are older when they have little else to do or when they come to be sick and to die Then Lord have mercy upon them though it be ten thousand to one but they perish for ever For commonly the Lord hath this way to deal with such sinners who put him off when he is striving with them tenders his Son his Gospel to them either to laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh Prov. 1 26.27 28. or else send them to the gods they have served which are the devils Judg. 10.13 14. Go to the gods you have served and let them deliver you saith he compare this with Joh. 8.44 5. He hath said There is no man that forsaketh father or mother wife or children or lands for his sake and the Gospels but shall have an hundred fold in this world with persecution and in the world to come life everlasting Mark 10.29 30. But men for the most part are so far off from believing the certainty of this that the will scarce lose the earning of a penny to hear the word of God the Gospel of salvation Nay they will neither go themselves nor suffer others to go if they can help it without threatning to do them a mischief if it lie in their way Nay further many are so far from parting from any worldly gain for Christs sake and the Gospels that they are still striving by hook and by crook as we say by swearing lying cousening stealing covetousness extortion oppression forgery bribery flattery or any other way to get more though they get together with these worldly gains death wrath damnation hell the devil and all the plagues that God can powr upon them Now if any do not run with them to the same excess of riot but rather for all their threats will be so bold and careless as they call it as to follow the wayes of God if they can do no more yet they will whet their tongues like a sword to wound them and do them the greatest mischief they can both in speaking against them to neighbours to wives to husbands to landlords and raising false reports of them But let such take heed lest they be in such a state and woful condition as he was in who said in vexation and anguish of soul One drop of cold water to cool my tongue Thus might I adde many things out the holy Writ both threatnings and promises besides those heavenly counsels loving reproofs free invitations to all sorts of sinners both old and young rich and poor bond and free wise and unwise All which have been now are and it is to be feared as long as this world lasts will be trampled under the feet of those swine I call them not men who will continue in the same But take a review of some of them 1. Counsel What heavenly counsel is that where Christ saith Buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white rayment that thou mayest be clothed that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear Rev. 3.17 18. Also that Ho every one that thirsteth come to the waters Yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price Isa 55.1 Hear and your souls shall live ver 3. Lay hold of my strength that you may make peace with me and you shall make peace with me Isa 27.5 2. Instruction What instruction is here Hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not Why what is it Blessed is the man that heareth me saith Christ watching daily at my gates waiting at the posts of my doors For who so findeth me findeth life and shall obtain favour of the Lord. Prov. 8.32 33 34 35. Take heed that no man deceive you by any means Labour not for the meat that perisheth but for that which endureth unto everlasting life Joh. 6.27 Strive to enter in at the strait gate Luke 13.24 Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved Act. 16.31 Believe not every spirit but try the spirits Quench not the spirit Lay hold on eternal life
the law really they do not also believe really and effectually the law that doth condemn them For as men have but a notion of the one that is their condemnation because of sins against the law Verse 3 so they have but a notion of the condemning killing and destroying power of the law for as the one is so in these things alwayes is the other there is no man that doth really believe the law or Gospel further then they do feel the power and authority of them in their hearts Ye erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God Now this letter or law is not to be taken in the largest sense but is strictly to be tyed to the ten Commandments whose proper work is onely by shewing the soul its sins against this law to kill and there leaves him stark dead not giving him the least life or support or comfort but leaves the soul in an helpless and hopeless condition as from it self or any other meer creature 'T is true the law hath laid all men for dead as they come into the world but all men do not see themselves dead untill they see that law that struck them dead sticking in their souls and having struck them that fatall blow As a man that is fast asleep in an house and that on fire about his ears and he not knowing of it because he is asleep even so because poor souls are asleep in sin though the wrath of God Verse 31. the curse of his law and the flames of hell have beset them round about yet they do not believe it because they are asleep in sin Now he that is awakened and sees this sees that through this he is a dead man Even so they that do see their state by nature being such a sad condition do also see themselves by that law to be dead men naturally But now when didst thou feel the power of this first part of the Scripture the law so mighty as to strike thee dead if not thou dost not so much as verily believe that part of Scripture that doth contain the law in it to be the truth of God Yet if thou shouldest have felt something I say something of the killing power of the law of God in thine heart this is not an argument to prove that thou believest all the things contained in Scripture for there is Gospel as well as Law and therefore I shall speak to that also That is whether thou hast felt the power of the Gospel as well as something of the power of the Law 2. Then if thou hast found the power of the Gospel and so believed it thou hast found it thus with thy soul 1. Thou hast been shewed by the word or truth of the Gospel in the light of the Spirit of Christ that by nature thou wert without the true faith of the Son of God in thy soul For when He the Spirit is come he shall shew men that they believe not in me saith Christ Joh. 16.9 For mark though thou hast as I said before felt somewhat of the power of the Law Letter or ten Commandments yet if thou hast not been brought to this to see by the spirit in the Gospel that thou art without faith by nature thou hast not yet tasted much less believed any part of the Gospel For the Gospel and the Law are two distinct covenants as I have before shewed And they that are under the law maybe convinced by it and so believe the law or first covenant and yet in the mean time to be a stranger to the covenant of promise that is the Gospel so have no hope in them Eph. 2.12 There is not any promise that can be savingly believed untill the soul be by the Gospel converted to Jesus Christ For though men do think never so much that they believe the things of the Gospel or the word of the Gospel of our salvation yet unless they have the work of grace in their souls they do not cannot rightly believe the things contained in the Scriptures Again as the law killeth those that believe it even so the promises contained in the Gospel do through faith administer comfort to those that believe it aright My words saith Christ my words they are spirit and they Mark and they are life Joh. 6.63 As if he had said The words contained in in the law as a covenant of works they wound they kill they strike dead those that are under them But as for me the words that I speake unto you they are spirit and they are life That is whosoever doth receive them believingly shall find them full of operation to comfort quicken and revive their soul For as I did not come into the world to destroy mens lives so the words that I speak as I am sent to preach the Gospel they have no such tendency unto those that believe them The promises that are in the Gospel Oh how do they comfort them such a promise and such a promise O how sweet is it O how comfortable to those that believe them Alas there are many poor souls that think they believe the Scriptures that they believe the word of God and yet poor souls that they are they never enjoyed any thing of the life and power of the promises to comfort them after they were killed by the law For mark If thy comfort be indeed by the promises they come in upon thy heart to quicken to revive thee to raise thee from the sentence of death that is passed on thee by the law And through the faith that is wrought in thy soul by the operation of Gods holy Spirit though once killed by the Law or Letter thou art made alive in the Lord Jesus Christ presented to thy soul in the promises 3. Dost thou indeed and in truth believe the Scriptures to be the word of God then the things contained in them especially the things of the Gospel are very excellent to thy soul as the birth of Christ the death resurrection intercession and second coming of Christ O how precious and excellent are they to thy soul insomuch that thou regardest nothing in comparison of them O! it is Christs birth death blood resurrection c. according to the Scriptures that thou doest rejoyce in exceedingly and abundantly desire after 1 Cor. 15.1 2 3 4 5 6. compare with Phil. 3.6 7 8. 4. Doest thou believe the Scriptures to be the word of God Then thou standest in aw of and dost much reverence them Why they are the word of God the true sayings of God they are the counsel of God they are his promises and his threatnings 'T is like poor souls are apt to think If I could hear God speak to me from heaven with an audible voice then sure say they I should be serious and sure I should believe it But truly if God should speak to thee from heaven except thou wert converted thou wouldest not regard nor really believe him But if thou
A FEW Sighs from Hell OR The Groans of a damned Soul OR An Exposition of those Words in the sixteenth of Luke Concerning the Rich Man and the Beggar Wherein is discovered the Lamentable State of the damned their cries their desires in their distresses with the determination of God upon them A good warning Word to Sinners both Old and Young to take into Consideration betimes and to seek by Faith in Jesus Christ to avoid lest they come into the same place of torment ALSO A brief Discourse touching the profitableness of the Scriptures for our Instruction in the way of Righteousness according to the tendancy of the said Parable By that Poor and Contemptible Servant of Jesus Christ JOHN BUNYAN The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God Psal 9.17 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire Revel 20.15 London Printed by Ralph Wood for M. Wright at the Kings Head in the Old Bailey 1658. To the Reader IT is sad to see how the most of men neglect their precious souls turning their backs upon the glorious Gospel and little minding a crucified Jesus when in the mean while their bodies are well provided for their estates much regarded and the things of this present life are highly prized as if the darling was of less value then a clod of earth an immortal soul then a perishing body a precious Savior then unsatisfying creatures Yea though they have been often wooed with gracious intreaties glorious promises and fresh bleeding wounds to make choice of the better part that shall never be taken from them yet alas such influence hath this world and the pleasures of it and such is the blindness of their understandings that they continue still to hunt after those things which cannot profit nor be a help to them in the worst hour yea that will prove no better then poyson to their souls and refuse that would be if embraced their happiness here and their glory hereafter such a strange stupidity hath seized upon the hearts of men that they will venture the loss of their immortall souls for a few dying comforts and will expose themselves to endless misery for a moments mirth and short-liv'd pleasures But certainly a barn well fraught a bag well fill'd a back well cloathed and a body well fed will prove but poor comforts when men come to dye when death shall not onely separate their souls from their bodies but both from their comforts What will it then avail them that they have gained much Or what will they give in exchange for their souls Be wise then O Reader to whose sight this may come before it be too late and thou repent when repentance shall be hid from thine eyes else it will be as a dagger to thine heart one day to remember what a Christ what a soul what a heaven thou hast lost for a few pleasures a little mirth a short enjoyment of this present world yea and that after many warnings against many reproofs and notwithstanding the many tenders of a full Christ instead of those empty vanities which thy soul closed with hunted after and would by no means be perswaded to part withall No but thou wouldest take thy time and swim in this worlds delights though thy soul thereby was drowned in perdition and destruction 1 Tim. 6.9 True few there are that will be perswaded that this course they take though their daily conversations do bear witness to it for how much time is spent and how much care is the hearts of men fill'd withall after attaining keeping and increasing these things And how seldom do they trouble their heads to have their mindes taken up with thoughts of the better Cumbring themselves with many things but wholly neglecting the one thing necessary yea whereby do they measure their own or other mens happiness but by the large incomes of this worlds good accounting this the greatest if not the onely blessedness to have their corn wine and oyl increase in abundance and reckoning those that are most serious about and earnest after the world to come men of foolish spirits giddy brains and worthy to be branded in the forehead for simple deluded ones But surely he is the most fool that will be one at last and he that God calls so Luke 12.20 will pass for one in the end yea within a short time they themselves shall change their notes Ask the rich man spoken of in the ensuing Treatise who was the fool he or Lazarus and he will soon resolve the question that he now sees and by wofull experience finds whatsoever his former thoughts were that he not Lazarus was the silly deluded one for he fool like preferred the worse things before the better and refused that which once might have been had but now he hath slipt the time it cannot be gained when this poor man knowing the day of his visitation was making sure of that glory which he now enjoyes and shall enjoy for evermore So that in this Parable if I may so call it thou shalt finde that Scripture confirmed That the triumphing of the wicked is short Job 20.5 Together with that That the temptations or afflictions of the righteous which cause heaviness are but for a season 1 Pet. 1.6 And in this treatise both of those are largely opened and explained Behold here a rich man cloathed in silks fed with delicates and faring deliciously every day but look a little further and so this man cloathed with vengeance roaring under torments and earnestly begging for a drop of water to cool his tongue a sad change On the other hand here thou shalt see a poor but a gracious man with a pinched belly naked back and running soars beging at the rich mans gate for a morsell to feed his belly a sad state yet but short for look again and behold this beggar gloriously carried as in a Chariot of triumph by the Angels into Abrahams bosome shining in glory cloathed with beautiful garments and his soul sat down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the Father his rags are gone his soars healed and his soul filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory the one carried not his costly fare and his gorgeous apparel with him into hell nor the other his course diet mouldy bread filthy rags and ulcerous body into heaven but the happiness of the one and the misery of the other took their leaves at the grave the worldly mans portion was but for his life and the godly mans afflictions lasted no longer For mark the perfect and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace but the end of the wicked shall be cut off Psal 37.37 38. His present comforts his future hopes and his cursed soul together yea though he lives many dayes and rejoyces in them all yet the dayes of darkness will overtake him and his eye shall see no more good in
them who are the excellent in the earth in whom his soul delights although he hath made them heirs of the Kingdom Jam. 2.5 Yet doth he bestow but a small portion of these worldly things upon them hereby declaring to all how little he sets by those things which most set so much by and to draw up our hearts mindes and affections to the things above yea His own Son that he appointed heir of all things Heb. 1.2 shall come forth neither of rich kindred nor attended with gallants nor yet accoutred with the worlds glory but in a low mean and abject condition at whose birth a manger received him and through his life sorrows wants and sufferings did attend and at the end a shameful death in the worlds esteem befals him and by all this he shews his contempt of the worldly mans darling Cast not away thy soul then O man in seeking after solacing thy self in and contenting thy self with this present world for though thou mayest make gold thy hope and put thy confidence in thy wealth yet when this thy hope shall fail and thy confidence slip from thee as sure it will ere long glad wouldest thou be of the least drop of the water of life and the least filing of that precious gold that thou art now called upon to drink of and to buy for thy self but alas they shall not be had then O then what profit will thy treasures of wickedness yield thee and whereto will thy thick clay that thou hast hoorded up and thy carnal pleasures which thou hast drunk down as the fish drinks down water whereto I say will they serve unless to weigh thee the deeper into hell and increase the fire when it shall be kindled upon thee Thirdly look upon thy loss too which is such that ten thousand worlds cannot repair thy soul thy body thy comforts thy hopes thy share in a crucified Jesus the crown of life and everlasting Communion with the Father Son and Spirit blessed Angels and glorified Saints and a soul-satisfying soul-saving Christ who came from the bosome of love and gave himself to open a way to everlasting glory by the sacrifice of himself to whom thou art called invited and perswaded to come whose heart is open arms spread and who hath room enough in his bosome to receive thee grace enough to pardon thee blood enough to justifie thee treasures enough to enrich thee pleasures enough to delight thee Psal 36.8 And glory enough to crown thee In whom it hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell Colos 1.19 to make them perfectly blessed that come to him so that there is no need to seek happiness among the creatures which most do and thereby lose true happiness and their souls too turn in hither and thou shalt eat of his bread and drink of the wine which he hath mingled Prov. 9.4 5. Wouldest thou fare deliciously every day and have thy soul delight it self in fatness Isa 55.2 Hearken diligently and come to the wedding the oxen and fatlings are killed and all things are ready Mat. 22.5 I tell thee whatsoever food thou feedest upon else will prove no better to thee then the Prodigals husks Luke 15.16 That will starve thee whilest thou feedest on them if thou drinkest of other wine it will prove as a cup of wine mixed with poison which though it be pleasant to the taste it will be the death of thy soul Wilt thou then lose this Christ this food this pleasure this heaven this happiness for a thing of nought Wilt thou drink out of a puddle a broken Cistern which leaks out the water and holds nothing but mud and refuse the fountain of living water which whosoever tastes of shall live for ever Fourthly beware of perswading thy self into a conceit of the poor mans end if thou livest the rich mans life and dyest his death It is strange to see how many run swiftly the very way to hell yet are full of confidence of going to heaven though Scripture every where shuts them out and Christ at last will certainly shut them out for ever hereafter living and dying in their present state let none therefore deceive you neither deceive your selves for none such can enter into the kingdom of heaven But for these things sake cometh the wrath of God on the children of disobedience 1 Cor. 6.9 Ephes 5.5 6. And how sad will thy disappointment be that goest on securely fearing nothing being fully yet falsely perswaded of eternal life at last and then drop down into the bottomless pit Like wicked Haman that dreamed of greater honour but behold a gallows or our mother Eve who conceited to be as God but became a cursed creature Though the devil may perswade thee thou mayest live as in hell here yet in heaven hereafter believe him not for he endeavours to keep thee in his snares that he may drag thee to hell with him and the better to effect his devilish design upon thee he will present and through his cursed subtlety knows how to do it thy sins and this world in as lovely and taking a guise as may be but will hide the evil consequences from thine eyes that thou mightest be inveigled by gazing on the one and not be afrighted by beholding the other his bait shall be pleasant but his hook hid like the strumpet in Proverbs 7. That intices the simple with fair words but conceals that the way to her house leads to the chambers of death nothing appears but a bed richly furnished and a promise of solacing him with loves but he that followeth after her goeth as an ox to the slaughter and as a fool to the correction of the stocks Fifthly this is thy day to prevent the loss of the one and to get an interest in the other this is the day of salvation the accepted day of the Lord 2 Cor. 6.2 Let the sun of this day be set before this work be done and an everlasting night of darkness will close thee in wherein thou thou shalt have time enough indeed to bemoan thy folly but none to learn to grow wiser It is a sad thing especially in soul concernments to be wise too late and to cry out when time is past Oh that I had improved it when it was present then will the Remembrance of thy former mispent time and thy despair of ever gaining more be like poisoned arrows drinking up thy spirit Amongst all the talents God hath entrusted man withal this is not the least because on it depends eternity and according to the use we make of this will our eternal condition be though the most of men live at such a rate as if it was given them to no other end then to waste in wickedness and consume in pleasures what means else their spending dayes weeks moneths years yea their whole life in whoring swearing playing coveting and fulfilling the lusts of the flesh so that when they come to die the great work
that that Christ told the Jews would befall them in Luke 13.28 There shall be weeping c. when you shall see Abraham your father and Isaac and Jacob together with your brethren the Prophets in the kingdom of heaven and your selves thrust out Nay saith he There shall come from the East and from the West that is those that thou didst never see in all thy life before and they shall sit down with thy friends and thy neighbours thy wife and thy children in the kingdom of heaven and thou for thy sins and disobediencc shalt be shut nay thrust out O wonderfull torment 5. Again thou shalt have none but a company of damned souls with an innumerable company of huge devils to keep company with thee While thou art in this world the very thoughts of the devils appearing to thee makes thy flesh to tremble and thine hair ready to stand upright on thy head But O what wilt thou do when not onely the supposition of the devils appearing but the reall society of all the devils in hell to be with thee howling and roaring screeching and yelling in such a hideous manner that thou wilt be even at thy wits end and be ready to run stark madde again for anguish and torment 6. Again that thou mightest be tormenteâ— to purpose the mighty God of heaven will lay as great wrath and vengeance upon thee as ever he can by the might of his glorious power As I said before Thou shalt have his wrath not by drops no but by whole showres shall it come thunder thunder upon thy body and soul so fast and so thick that thou shalt be tormented out of measure And so saith the Scripture 2. Thes 1.9 speaking of the wicked Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when the Saints shall be admiring his gooodness and glory Again this thou shalt have as I said before without any intermission thou shalt not have any ease so long as while a man may turn himself round thou shalt have it alwayes every hour day and night for their worm never dies but alwayes gnaws and their fire is never quenched As it is written in Mark 9. 7. Again in this condition thou must be for ever and that is as sad as all the rest For if a man were to have all his sins laid to his charge and communion with the devils and as much wrath as the great God of heaven can inflict upon them I say if it were but for a time even ten thousand years if then it might have an end there would be ground of comfort and hopes of deliverance but here is thy misery this is thy state for ever here thou must be for ever when thou lookest about thee and seest what an innumerable company of howling devils thou art amongst thou shalt think this again this is my portion for ever When thou hast been in hell so many thousand years as there are stars in the firmament or drops in the sea or sands on the sea shore yet thou hast to lie there for ever O this one word ever how will it torment thy soul O friends I have onely given a very short touch of the torments of hell O! I am set I am set and am not able to utter what my minde conceives of the torments of hell Yet this let me say to thee accept of Gods mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ lest thou feel that with thy conscience which I cannot expresse with my tongue and say I am sorely tormented in this flame And seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosome When the damned are in this pittiful state surrounded with fears with terrors with torment and vengeance one thing they shall have which is this they shall see the happy and blessed state of Gods children he seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosome which as I said before is the happy state of the Saints when this life is ended This now shall be so far from being an ease unto them that it shall most wonderfully aggravate or heighten their torment as I said before There shall be weeping or cause of lamentation when they shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven and themselves thrust out 2. Observe those that die in their sins are far from going to heaven He seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosome And indeed it is just with God to deal with them that die in their sins according to what they have done and to make them who are far from righteousness now to stand far from heaven to all eternity Hearken to this ye stout hearted that are far from righteousness and that are resolved to go on in your sins when you die you will be far from heaven you will see Lazarus but it will be afar off Again he seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosome These are some of the things that the damned do behold so soon as they come into torment Mark And he seeth Lazarus in Abrahams bosome Lazarus who was he Why even he that was so flighted so disregaded so undervalued by this ungodly one while he was in the world he seeth Lazarus in his bosome From whence observe That those who live and the die enemies of the Saints of God let them be never so great or stout let them bear never so much sway while they are in the world let them brag and boast never so much while they are here they shall in spight of their teeths see the Saints yea the poor Saints even the Lazarus's or the ragged ones that belong to Jesus to be in a better condition then themselves O who do you think was in the best condition or who do you think saw themselves in the best condition he that was in hell or he that was in heaven He that was in darkness or he that was in light He that was in everlasting joy or he that was in everlasting torments The one with God Christ Saints Angels the other in tormenting flames under the curse of Gods eternal hatred with the devils and their angels together with an innumerable company of howling roaring cursing ever burning reprobates Certainly this observation will be easily proved to be true here in this world by him that looks upon it with an understanding heart and will clear it self to be true in the world to come by such as shall go either to heaven or to hell 2. The second observation from these words And seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosome is this They that are the persecutours of the Saints of the Lord now in this world shall see the Lords persecuted ones to be they that are so highly esteemed by the Lord as to sit or to be in Abrahams bosome in everlasting glory though they the enemies to the children of God and the practice of the Saints did so lightly esteem them that they scorn to let
sin against him while the Saints were a praying thou wert a cursing while they were speaking good of the name of God thou wert speaking evil of the saints of God O then thou shalt have a scalding hot remembrance of all thy sinful thoughts words and actions from the very first to the last of them that ever thou didst commit in all thy life time Then thou wilt find that Scripture to be a truth Deut. 28.65 66 67. The Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee and thou shalt fear day and night and shalt have none assurance of thy life In the morning thou shalt say would God it were even and at even thou shalt say would God it were morning for the fear of thine heare wherewith thou shalt fear and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see Nay thou wilt find worse things to thy woe then this Scripture doth manifest For indeed there is no tongue able to express the horrour terrour torment and eternal misery that those poor souls shall undergo without the least mitigation oâ— ease and a very great part of it shall flow or come from that quick full and continual remembrance that they shall have And therefore there is much weight in these words Son remember that thou in thy life time hadst thy good things That is all thou art like to have From these words you see this is to be observed that the ungodly shall remember or have in remembrance the mispending their lives and that I gather from these words Remember that in thy life time thou hadst thy good things You may take these words good things either simply for the things of this world which in themselves are called and may be called good things or else with these words namely the things of this life all the pleasures delights profits and vanities which the ignorant people of the world do count their good things and do very much cheer themselves therewith Soul soul eat drink and be merry for thou hast much goods laid up for many years Luke 12.20 Now I say God according to his glorious power and wisdome will make poor creatures have alwayes in their minds a fresh and clear remembrance of their ill spent life he will say unto them Remember remember that in thy life time it was thus and thus with thee and in thy life time thy carriage was so and so It is like that if sinners might have their choice they would not have their sins and transgressions so much in remembrance as is evident by their carriages here in this world for here they will not endure to entertain a serious thought of their filthy life but will labour by all means to put the thought of it out of their mind but there they shall be made to remember to a purpose and to think continually of their ungodly deeds And therefore it is said that when our Lord Jesus comes to judgement it will be to convince the ungodly world of their wicked and ungodly deeds Mark To convince them Jude 14 15. It is like they will not willingly take notice of them But they shall be convinced of them in spite of their teeth And also between this and them these that die out of Christ shall be made to see acknowledge and confess do what they can when they lift up their eyes in hell and to remember their transgressions God will be a swift witness against them Mat. 3.5 and will say Remember what thou didst in thy life time how thou didst live in thy life time Ha friend if thou dost not in these dayes of light remember the dayes of darkness Eccles 11.8 the dayes of death hell and judgement thou shalt be made in the dayes of darkness death hell and at the judgement too to remember the dayes of the Gospel and how thou didst disregard them too to thy own destruction and everlasting misery Remember that in thy life time thou hadst thy good things The great God in stead of giving the ungodly any ease will even aggravate their torments first by slighting their perplexities Secondly by telling of them what they must be thinking of Remember saith he O ye lost souls that you had your joy in your life time your peace in your life time your comforts delights ease wealth health your heaven your happiness and your portion in your life time O miserable state Thou will then be in a sad condition indeed when thou shalt see that thou hast had thy good things thy best things thy pleasent things for that is clearly signified by these words Remember that thou in thy life time hadst thy good things or all the good things thou art like to have From whence take notice of another truth though it be a dreadful one to them that fall under the sentence of it which is this there are many poor creatures who have all their good sweet and comfortable things in this life or while they are alive in this world remember saith he that in thy life time thou hadst thy good thiâ—gs Psal 17.14 2. Observe That the wickeds good things will shortly have an end they will last no longer with them then this life or their life time That Scripture was not written in vain It is like the crackling of thorns under a pot make a litle blaze for a sudden a little heat for a while but come and consider them by and by and instead of a comfortable heat you will find nothing but a few dead ashes and instead of a flaming fire nothing but a smell of smoak 3. Again observe that there is a time coming that the ungodly would be glad of a better portion when they shall see the vanity of this that is when they shall see what a poor thing it is for a man to have his portion in this world 'T is true while they are here on this side hell they think there is nothing to be compared with riches honours and pleasures in this world which makes them cry out Who will shew us any good that is comparable to the pleasures profits and glory of this world but then they will see there is another thing that is better and of more value then ten thousand worlds And seriously friends will it not grieve you trouble perplex and torment you when you shall see that you lost heaven for a little pleasure and profits in your life time certainly it will grieve you and perplex you exceedingly to see what a blessed heaven you left for a dunghill world Oh! that you did but believe this that you did but consider this and say within your selves What shall I be contented with my portion in this world what shall I lose heaven for this world I say consider it while you have day-light and Gospel-light while the Son of God doth hold out termes of reconciliation to you least you be made to hear
such a voice as this is Son remember that in thy life time thou hadst thy good things thy comforts thy joyes thy ease thy peace and all the heaven thou art like to have thou hadst all thy good things in thy life time O poor heaven O short pleasures what a pitiful thing it is to be left in such a case Soul consider is it not miserable to lose heaven for twenty thirty or forty years sinning against God Consider when thy life is done thy heaven is also done when death comes to separate thy soul and body in that day also thou must have thy heaven and happiness separated from thee and thou from that Consider these things therefore betimes lest thou have thy portion in thy life time For if in this life onely we have our portion we are of all people the most miserable Again consider that when other men the Saints are to receive their good things then thou hast had thine when others are to enter into joy then thou art to leave and depart from thy joy when others are to go to God thou must go to the devil Oh miserable thou hadst better thou hadst never been born then to be an heir of such a portion therefore I say have a care it be not thy condition Remember that thou hadst thy good things and Lazarus evil things These words do not onely hold forth the misery of the wicked in this life or world to come but also great consolalâ—tion to the Saints where he saith And Lazarus evil things That is Lazarus had his evil things in his life time or when he was in the world From whence observe 1. That the life of the Saints so long as they are in this world is attended with many evils or afflictions which may be discovered to be of divers natures as saith the Scripture Many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of all 2. Take notice that the afflictions or evils that accompany the Saints may continue with them their life time so long as they live in this vale of tears yea and they may be divers that is of several sorts some outward some inward and that as long as they shall continue here below as hath been the experience of all Saints in all ages and this might be proved at large but I onely hint in these things although I might enlarge much upon them 3. The evils that do accompany the Saints will continue with them no longer then their life time and here indeed lies the comfort of Believers the Lazarus's the Saints they must have all their bitter cup wrung out to them in their life time here must be all their trouble here must be all their grief Behold saith Christ the world shall rejoyce but you shall lament but your mourning shall mark it shall be turned into joy you shall lament you shall be sorrowful you shall weep in you life time but your sorrow shall be tur-turned into joy and your joy no man let him be what he will no man shall take away from you Now if you think when I say the Saints have all their evil things in their life time that I mean they have nothing else but trouble in this their life time this is your mistake for let me tell you that though the Saints have all their evil things in their life time yet even in their life time they have also joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet 1.6 7 8. while they look not at the things that are seen but at the things which are not seen The joy that the Saints have sometimes in their hearts by a believing consideration of the good things to come when this life is ended doth fill them fuller of joy then all the crosses troubles temptations and evils that accompany them in this life can fill them with grief 2 Corinth 4. But some Saint may say my troubles are such as are ready to overcome me Answ Yet be of good comfort they shall last no longer than thy life time But my trouble is I am perplexed with an heart full of corruption sin so that I am much hindred in walking with God Answ 'T is like so but thou shalt have these troubles no longer then thy life time But I have a cross husband and that 's a great grief to mee It is like so but thou shalt be troubled with him no longer than thy life time and therefore be not dismaid be not discomforted thou shalt have no trouble longer than this life time Art thou troubled with cross children cross relations cross neighbours they shall trouble thee no longer then this life time Art thou troubled with a cunning devil with unbelief yea let it be what it will thou shalt take thy farewel of them all if thou be a believer after thy life time is ended O excellent O sweet that there should be an end put to all our troubles after this life is ended this priviledge have all the Saints But now on the contrary if thou be not a right and sound believer if thou be noâ— indeed effectual converted to the Lord Jesus Christ then though thou shouldst live a thousand years in this world and meet with sore afflictions every day yet these afflictions be they never so great and grievous they are nothing to that torment that will come upon thee both in soul in body after this life is ended I say be what thou wilt if thou be found in unbelief or under the first covenant thou art sure to smart for it at the time when thou dost depart this world But the thing to be lamented is this For all this is so sad a condition to be fallen into yet poor souls are for the most part senseless of it yea so senseless at sometimes as though there was no such misery to come hereafter Because the Lord doth not immediately strike with his sword but doth bear long with his creature waiting that he might be gracious therefore I say the hearts of some of the sonnes of men are wholly set upon it to do mischief Eccles And that forbearance and goodness of God that one would think should lead them to repentance the devil hardening of them by their continuing in sin and by blinding their eyes as to the end of Gods forbearance toward them Rom 2.1 they are led away with a very hardened and senseless heart even until they drop into eternal destruction But poor hearts as they are they must have a time in which they must be made sensible of their former behaviours when the just judgements of the Lord shall flame abouâ— their ears insomuch that they shall be made to cry out again with anguish I am sorely tormented in this flame But now he is comforted and thou art tormented As if he should say Now hath God recompenced both Lazarus and you according to what you sought after while you were in this world as for your pâ—rt you
destruction insomuch that he will have to answer for his own sins and for a great part of his neighbours too which will still adde to his destruction as that Scripture in Ezek. sheweth where speaking of the watchman that should give the people warning if he did not though the man did die in his sins yet his blood should be required at the watchmans hand Ezek. 33. So here let me tell thee that if thou shouldest be such an one as by thy conversation and practices shalt be a trap and a stumbling-block to cause thy neighbour to fall into eternal ruine though he be damned for his own sin yet God may nay he will charge thee as being guilty of his blood in that thou didst not content thy self to keep from heaven thy self but didst also by thy filthy conversation keep away others also cause them to fall with thee O therefore will not this aggravate thy torment Yea if thou shouldest die and go to hell before thy neighbour or companions besides the guilt of thine own sins thou wouldest be so loaden with the fear of the damnation of others to be laid to thy charge that thou wouldest cry out O send one from the dead to this companion and that companion with whom I had society in my life time for I see my cursed carriage will be one cause of his condemnation if he fall short of glory It is true I left him living in foul and hainous offences But I was one of the first instruments to bring him to them Oh I shall be guilty both of mine own and his damnation too that he might be kept out hence lest my torment be aggravated by his comming hither For as I said before where ungodly people do dwell together they being a snare and stumbling-block one to another by their practices they must needs be a torment one to another and an aggravation of each others damnation O cursed be thy face saith one that ever I set mine eyes on thee It was long of thee I may thank the it was thee that did intice me and ensnare me it was your filthy conversation that was as a stumbling-block to me it was your covetousness it was your pride your haunting the Alehouse your gaming and whoring it was long oâ— you that I fell short of life if you had set me a good example as you did set me an ill one it may be I might have done better then now I do But I learned of you I followed your steps I took counsel of you O that I had never seen thy face O that thou hadst never been born to do my soul this wrong as you have done O saith the other And I may as much blame you for do not you remember how at such a time and at such a time you drew me out and drew me away and asked me if I would go with you when I was going about other business about my calling but you called me away you sent for me you are as much in the fault as I though I were covetous you were proud and if you learned covetousness of me * This language is sometimes heard at the gallows but for ought that I can learn it is more to be heard in hell I learned pride and drunkenness of you though I learned you to cheat you learned me to whore to lye to scoff at goodness Though I base wretch did stumble you in some things yet you did as much stumble me in others I can blame you as you blame me and if I have to answer for some of your most filthy actions you have to answer for some of mine I would you had not come hither the very looks of you doth wound my soul by bringing my sins afresh into my mind the time when the manner how the place where the persons with whom it was with you you grief to my soul since I could not shun thy company there Oh! that I had been without thy company here I say therefore for these that have sinned together to go to hell together it will very much perplex and torment them both Therefore I judge this is one reason why they that are in hell do desire that their friends or companions do not come thither into the same place of torment that they are in And therefore where Christ saith that these damned souls cry out Send to our companions that they may be warned and commanded to look to themselves O send to my five brethren it is because they would not have their own torments heightned by their company and a sense yea a continual sense of their sins which they did cause them to commit when they were in the world with them For I do believe that the very looks of those that have been beguiled by their fellows I say their very looks will be a torment to them for thereby will the remembrance of their own sins be kept if possible the fresher on their consciences which they committed with them and also they will wonderfully have the guilt of the others sins upon them in that they weâ—e partly the cause of his committing â—â—em being instruments in the hands of the devil to draw them into them And therefore lest this come to pass I pray thee send him to my fathers house For if they might not come hither peradventure my torment might have some mitigation that is if they might be saved then their sins will be pardoned and not so heavily charged on my soul But if they do fall into the same place where I am the sins that I have caused them to commit will lie so heavy not only on their souls but also on mine that they will be enough to sink me into eternal misery deeper and deeper O therefore send him to my fathers house to my five brethren and let him testifie to them lest they come into this place of torment These words being thus understood What a condition doth it shew them to be in then that now so much delight in being the very ring-leaders of their companions into sins of all sorts whatsoever Now while men live here if they can be counted the cunningest in cheating the boldest for lying the archest for whoring the subtillest for coveting and getting the world Now if men can but cunningly defraud undermine cross and anger their neighbours yea and hinder their neighbours from the means of Grace the Gospel of Christ they can now glory in 't take a pride in 't and think themselves pretty well at ease and there minds and are somewhat quiet being beguiled with sin But my friend when thou hast lost this life and dost begin to lift up thine eyes in hell and seest what thy sins have brought thee to and not onely so but that thou by thy filthy sins didst cause others devil-like to fall into the same condemnation with thee And that one of the reasons of their damnation was this that thou didst lead them to the commission of those wicked
of them and all this made mention of in the Scriptures But for all this how thick and by heaps do these wretches walk up and down our streets Do but go into the Alehouses you shall see almost every room besprinkled with them so foming out their own shame that it is enough to make the heart of a Saint to tremble in so much that they would not be bound to have society with them any long while for all the world For as the wayes of the godly are not liked of by the wicked even so the wayes of the wicked are an abomination to the just Prov. 29.27 Psal 120.5 6. As now to particularize some things The Scriptures say Cursed is the man that trusteth in man that maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Jer. 17 5. And yet how many poor souls are there in the world that stand in so much aw and dread of man and do so highly esteem their favour that they will rather venture their souls in the hands of the devil with their favour then they will fly to Jesus Christ for the salvation of their soul if they must lose their favour and have their frownes and displeasure for the same Nay though they be convinced in their souls that the way is the way of God yet how do they labour to stisle convictions and turn their ears away from the truth and all because they will not lose the favour of an opposite neighbour Oh! I dare not for my Master my Brother my Landlord I shall lose his favour his house of work and so decay my calling O saith another I would willingly go in this way but for my Father he chides and tells me he will not stand my friend when I come to wants I shall never enjoy a penyworth of his goods he will disinherit me And I dare not saith another for my Husband for he will be a railing and tells me he will turn me out of doors he will beat me and cut off my legs But I tell you if any of these or any other things be so prevalent with thee now as to keep thee from seeking after Christ in his wayes they will also be so prevalent with God against thee as to make him cast off thy soul because thou didst rather trust man then God and delight in the imbracings of man rather than in the favour of the Lord. 2. Again the Scripture saith He that being often reproved heardneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy Prov. 29.1 Yet many are so far from turning though they have been convinced of their wretched state an hundred times that when convictions or trouble for sin comes on their consciences they go on still in the same manner resisting and choaking the same though remediless destruction be hard at their heels 3. Again thou hast heard say Vnless a man be borne again he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven Joh. 3.3 5 7. And yet thou goest on in a natural state an unregenerate condition nay thou dost resolve never to turn nor be changed though hell be appointed on purpose to swallow up such Isa 14.9 Psal 9.17 The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God 4. Again the Scriptures saith plainly That he that loveth and maketh a lie shall have his part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 27. And yet thou art so far from dreading it that it is thy delight to jeast and jeer and lye for a penny or two pence or six pence gain And also if thou canst make the rest of thy companions merry by telling things that are false of them that are better then thy self thou dost not care a straw Or if thou hearest a lie from or of another thou wilt tell it and swear to the truth of it O miserable 5. Thou hast heard and read That he that believes not shall be damned Mar. 16.16 And that all men have not faith 2 Thess 3.2 and yet thou dost so much disregard these things that it is like thou didst scarce ever so much as examine seriously whether thou wert in the faith or no but dost content thy self with the hypocrites hope which at the last God will cut off and count it no better then the spiders web Job 8.13 14. or the house that is builded on the sands Luk. 6.49 Nay thou peradventure dost flatter thy self thinkest that thy faith is as good as the best of them all when alas poor soul thou mayest have no saving faith at all which thou hast not if thou be not borne again and made a new creature 2 Cor. 2.17 6. Thou hast heard That he that neglects Gods great salvation shall never escape his great damnation Heb. 2.3 compared with Luke 14.24 and Rev. 14.19 20. And yet when thou art invited intreated and beseeched to come in Luk. 14.17 18. 2 Cor. 5.19 20. Rom. 12.1 thou wilt make any excuse to serve the turn Nay thou wilt be so wicked as to put off Christ time after time notwithstanding he is so freely proferred to thee a little ground a few oxen a farme a wife a two penny matter a play nay the fear of a mock a scoffe or a jeer to be of greater weight to draw thee back than the salvation of thy soul to draw thee forward 7. And thou hast heard that Whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God Jam 4.4 But thou regardest not these things but contrariwise rather then thou wilt be out of the friendship and favour of this world thou wilt sinne against thine own conscience and get thy self into favour by fawning and flattering of the world Yea rather then thou wilt go without it thou wilt dissemble lye backbite thy neighbour and an hundred other tricks thou wilt have O sad 8. You have heard that the day of judgement is near in which you and I all of us muâ—t appear before the tribunal of Jesus Christ and there be made to give an account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead even of all that ever we did yea of all our sins in thought and word and deed and shall certainly be damned for them too if we close not in with our Lord Jesus Christ and what he hath done and suffered for eternal life and that not notionally or contradictionally but really savingly in the power and by operation of the spirit through faith Eccles 11.9 12 14. Heb. 9 27. Acts 10.42 Acts 17.30 31. 2 Cor. 5.10 Rev 20.12 And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books There is the book of the Creatures the book of Conscience the book of the Lords Remembrance the book of the Law the book of the Gospel Rom. 1.20 compare with Rom.
doest believe the Scriptures thou seest that they are the truth as really as if God should speak to thee from heaven through the clouds and therefore never flatter thy self foolishly thinking that if it were so and so then thou couldest believe I tell thee saith Christ If they believe not Moses and the Prophets neither will they believe though one should rise from the dead But 5. Doest thou believe the Scripture to be the word of God Then through faith in Christ thou endeavourest to have thy life squareed according to the Scriptures both in word and practice Nay this I say thou mayest have though thou do not believe them all My meaning is that if thou believe none but the ten Commandments thy life may be according to them a legal holy life and if thou do believe the Gospel too then thy life will be the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ that is either thou wilt live in the blessed and holy enjoyment of what is testified in the Scripture concerning the glorious things of the Lord Jesus Christ or else thou wilt be exceedingly panting after them For the Scriptures carry such a blessed beauty in them to that soul that hath faith in the things contained in them that they do take the heart and captivate the soul of him that believeth them into the love and liking of them 6. He that believes the Scriptures to be the word of God if he do but suppose that any one place of the Scripture doth exclude him and shut him out of and from a share in the promises contained in them O it will trouble him grieve him perplex him yea he will not be satisfied until he be resolved and thâ— contrary sealed to his soul for he knowâ— that the Scriptures are the word oâ— God all truth and therefore he knowâ— that if any one sentence doth excludeâ— or bar out him for want of this or the other qualification he knows also that not the word alone shuts him out but he that speaks it even God himself and therefore he cannot will not dare not be contented untill he find his soul and Scripture together with the things contained therein to embrace each other and a sweet correspondency and agreement be between them For you must know that to him that believes the Scriptures aright the promises or threatnings are of more power to comfort or cast down then all the promises or threatnings of all the men in the world And this was the cause why the Martyrs of Jesus did so slight both the promises of their adversaries when they would have overcome them with profering the great things of this world unto them and also their threatnings when they told them they would rack them hang them burn them none of these things could prevail upon them or against them because they did most really believe the Scriptures the things contained in them as is cleerly found and to be seen in Heb. 11. and also in Mr. Fox his records of their brethren 7. He that believeth the Scriptures to be the word of God believeth that men must be borne again and have that faith which is of the operation of God or else they cannot be saved And he that believeth this believeth also that if he be not borne again and also be partakers of that faith which is of the operation of God according as he hath read and believed he must and shall be damned And he that believeth this aright will not be contented until according as it is written he do partake of and enjoy the new birth and until he do find through grace that faith that is wrought by the operation of God in his soul For this is the cause why men do satisfie themselves with so slender a conceited hope that their state is good when it is nothing so namely because they do not credit the Scripture for did they they would look into their own hearts and examine seriously whether that faith that hope that grace which they think they have be of that nature and wrought by that spirit and power that the Scripture speaketh of I speak this of an effectual believing without which all other is nothing unto salvation Now then because I would not be too tedious I shall at this time lay down no more discoveries of such an one as doth savingly believe the Scriptures and the things contained in them but shall speak a few words of examination containing the things already mentioned As 1. Thou sayest thou dost indeed and in truth effectually believe the Scriptures I ask therefore wast thou ever killed stark dead by the law of works contained in the Scriptures To be killed and to be struck dead you will say what is that Why to be killed by the law or letter is by the power thereof to be made to see thy sins against it and to be left in an helpless condition by that law for I say the proper work of the law is to slay the soul and to leave it dead in a helpless state For it doth neither give the soul any comfort it self when it comes nor doth it shew the soul where comfort is to be had and therefore it is called the ministration of condemnation as in 2 Cor. 3.9 Yea in plain termes the ministration of death 2 Cor. 3.7 For though men may have a notion of the blessed word of God as as the children had yet before they be converted it may truly be said of to them Ye erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God Mark 12.24 2. You say you do believe the Scriptures to be the word of God I say again examine wast thou ever quickened from a dead state by the power of the Spirit of Christ through the other part of the Scripture That is to say by the power of God in his Sonne Jesus Christ through the covenant of promise I tell thee from the Lord if thou hast thou hast felt such a quickning power in the words of Christ Joh. 6. that thou hast been lifted out of that dead condition that thou before wast in and that when thou wast under the guilt of sin the curse of the law and the power of the devil and the justice of the great God that thou hast been inabled by the power of God in Christ revealed to thee by the Spirit through and by the Scripture to look sin death hell the devil and the law and all things that are at enmity with thee for thy sins with boldness and comfort in the face through the blood death righteousness resurrection and intercession of Christ made mention of in the Scriptures And thirdly on this account O how excellent are the Scriptures to thy soul O how much virtue dost thou see in such a promise in such an invitation O sayest thou there are some promises in the book of God that I have had nourishment from and through Christ in them O they are so large they say Christ will in no
wise cast me out My crimson sins shall be white as snow I tell thee friend there are some promises that the Lord hath helped me to lay hold of Jesus Christ through and by that I would not have out of the Bible for as much Gold and Silver as can lie between York and London piled up to the stars And why so O because through them Christ is pleased by his Spirit to convey comfort to my soul O I say when the law curses when the Devil tempts when hell-fire flames in my conscience my sins with the guilt of them tearing of me then is Christ revealed so sweetly to my poor soul through the promises that all is forced to fly and leave off to accuse my soul So also when the world frowns when the enemies rage and threaten to knock me in the head then also the precious yea the exceeding great and precious promises do weigh down all and comfort the soul against all This is the effect of believing the Scriptures savingly for they that do so have by and through the Scriptures good comfort and also ground of hope Rom. 15.4 believing those things to be its own which the Scriptures hold forth 4. Examine dost thou stand in aw of sinning against God because he hath in the Scriptures commanded thee to abstain from it Dost thou give diligence to make thy calling and election sure because God commandeth it in Scripture Dost thou examine thy self whether thou be in the faith or no having a command in Scripture so to do Or dost thou notwithstanding what thou readest in the Scripture follow the world delight in sin neglect coming to Jesus Christ speak evil of the Saints slight and make a mock at the ordinances of God delight in wicked company and the like Then know that it is because thou dost not indeed and in truth believe the Scriptures effectually For as I said before if a man do believe them and that savingly O then he stands in aw he looks to his steps he turns his feet from evil and endeavours to follow that which is good which God hath commanded in the Scriptures of truth yet not from a legal or natural principle that is to seek for life by doing that good thing but knowing that salvation is already obtained for him by the blood of that man Christ Jesus on the Cross because he believes the Scriptures therefore mark I pray therefore I say he labours to walk with his God in all well pleasing and godliness because the sweet power of the loves of Christ which he feels in his soul by the Spirit according to the Scriptures constrain him so to do 2 Cor. 5.14 5. Examine again dost thou labour after those qualifications that the Scriptures do describe a child of God by that is faith yea the right faith the most holy faith the faith of the operation of God And also dost thou examine whether there is a real growth of grace in thy soul as love zeal self-denial and a seeking by all means to attain if possible to the resurrection of the dead that is not to satisfie thy self until thou be dissolved rid of this body of death and be transformed into that glory that the Saints shall be in after the resurrection day and in the mean time dost labour and take all opportunities to walk as near as may be to the pitch though thou know thou canst not attain it perfectly yet I say thou doest aim at it seek after it press towards it and to hold on in thy race thou shunnest that which may any way hinder thee and also close in with what may any way further the same knowing that that must be or desiring that it should be thine eternal frame and therefore out of love and liking to it thou dost desire and long after it as being the thing that doth much please thy soul Or how is it with thy soul Art thou such an one as regards not these things but rather busie thy thoughts about the things here below following those things that have no sent of divine glory upon them if so look to thy self for it is high time for thee so to do for thou art an unbeliever and so under the wrath of God and wilt for certain fall into the same place of torment that thy fellows have fallen into before thee to the grief of thy own soul and everlasting destruction both of soul and body Consider and regard these things and lay them to thy heart before it be too late to recover thy self by repenting of the one and desiring to close in with the other O I say regard regard for hell is hot Gods hand is up the Law is resolved to discharge against thy soul the judgement-day is at hand the graves are ready to fly open the trumpet is near the sounding the sentence will ere long be past and then you and I cannot call time again Now then from what hath been spoken there might many things be spoken by way of Use and Application But I shall be very brief and but touch some things and so wind up And first I shall begin with the sad condition of those that die out of Christ and speak something to that Secondly to the latter end of the parable which more evidently concerns the Scripture and speak somewhat to that 1. Therefore you see that the former part of the parable contains a sad declaration of the state of one living and dying out of Christ how that they lose heaven for hell God for the devil light for darkness joy for sorrow 2. How that they have not so much as the least comfort from God who in the time they live here below neglect coming to him for mercy not so much as one drop of cold water 3. That such souls will repent of their folly when repentance will do them no good or when they shall be past recovery 4. That all the comfort such souls are like to have they have it in this world 5. That all their groanings and sighs will not move God to mitigate in the least his heavy hand of vengeance that is upon them for the transgressions they have committed against him 6. That their sad state is irrecoverable or they must never mark never come out of that condition 7. There desires will not be heard for their ungodly neighbours From these things then I pray you consider the state of those that die out of Christ Jesus yea I say consider their miserable state and think thus with thy self Well if I neglect coming to Christ I must go to the devil and he will not neglect to fetch me away into those intollerable torments Think thus with thy self What shall I lose a long heaven for short pleasure shall I buy the pleasures of this world at so dear a rate as to lose my soul for the obtaining of that Shall I content my self with a heaven that will last no longer then my life time What advantage
to dispute for the truth to preach the Gospel and labour to vindicate it in opposition to gain-sayers and yet be found at the left hand of Christ at the Judgement-day forasmuch as thou didst content thy self with a notion or a traditionall knowledge of them 2. Have a care that thou own the whole Scripture and not own one part and neglect another or slight it as thus To own the law and slight the Gospel or to think that thou must be saved by thy good doing and works for that is all one as if thou diddest thrust Christ away from thee or else so to own the Gospel as if by it thou wert exempted from all obedience to the ten Commandments and conformity to the Law in life and conversation For in so doing thou wilt for certain make sure of eternall vengeance Thirdly have a care that thou put not wrong names on the things contained in the Scriptures as to call the Law Christ and Christ the Law For some having done so in my knowledge have so darkened to themselves the glorious truths of the Gospel that in a very little time they have been resolved to thwart and oppose them and so have made room in their own souls for the Devil to inhabit and obtained a place in hell for their own souls to be tormented for ever and ever Against this danger therefore in reading and receiving the testimony of Scripture learn to distinguish between the Law and the Gospel and to keep them clear asunder as to the salvation of thy soul and that thou mayest so do In the first place beg of God that he would shew thee the nature of the Gospel And set it home effectually with life and power upon thy soul by Faith Which is this That God would shew thee that as thou being man hast sinned against God so Christ being God Man hath bought thee again and with his most precious blood set thee free from the bondage thou wast fallen into by thy sins and that not upon condition that thou wilt do thus and thus this and the other good work but rather that thou being first justified freely by meer grace through the blood of Jesus shouldest also receive thy strength from him who hath bought thee to walk before him in all well pleasing being inabled thereto by vertue of his Spirit which hath revealed to thy soul that thou art delivered already from wrath to come by the obedience not of thee but of another man viz. Jesus Christ Secondly Then if the law thou readest of tell thee in thy conscience thou must do this and the other good work of the Law if ever thou wilt be saved Then answer plainly that for thy part thou art resolved now not to work for life but to believe in the vertue of that blood shed upon the Crosse upon Mount Calvary for the remission of sins and yet because Christ hath justified thee freely by his Grace thou wilt serve him in Holinesse and Righteousnesse all the dayes of thy life yet not in a legall Spirit or in a covenant of Works but mine obedience say thou I will endeavour to have it free and chearful out of love to my Lord Jesus Thirdly Have a care thou receive not this doctrine in the notion onely lest thou bring a just damnation upon thy soul by professing thy self to be freed by Christs blood from the guilt of sin while thou remainest still a servant to the filth of sin For I must tell you that unlesse you have the true and saving work of the Faith and Grace of the Gospel in your hearts you will either go on in a legall Holiness according to the tenour of the Law or else through a notion of the Gospel the Devil bewitching and beguiling thy understanding will and affections thou wilt Ranter-like turn the Grace of God into wantonness and bring upon thy soul double if not treble damnation in that thou couldest not be contented to be damned for thy sins against the Law but also to make ruine sure to thy soul thou wouldest dishonour the Gospel and turn the Grace of God held forth and discovered to man by that into licentiousness But that thou mightest be sure to escape these dangerous rocks on the right hand and on the left see that thy faith be such as spoken of in Scripture and that thou be not satisfied without that which is a faith wrought by the mighty operation of God revealing Christ to and in thee as having wholly freed thee from thy sins by his most precious blood Which faith if thou attain unto will so work in thy heart that first thou wilt see the nature of the Law and also the nature of the Gospel and delighting in the glory of it and also thou wilt finde an ingaging of thy heart and soul to Jesus Christ even to the giving up of thy whole man unto him to be ruled and governed by him to his glory and thy comfort by the Faith of the same Lord Jesus The End Errata Courteous Reader before thou readest this Treatise thou art desired to correct these Faults with thy pen which hereaâ—ter followeth PAge 1. for Luke 19. read Luke 16 p. 6. l. 15. r. whence p 44. l 18. for means 1. names p. 54. l. 5. put out and the practice of the Saints p. 64. â— 15. after seek r. not p. 81. l 17. for them r. then l 26. for friends r. friend p. 92. l. 27. r. to be p. 104. l. 6. for sead r. send p. 120 l. 9. for converted r. contented p. 129 l. 12. for the r. their p. 144. l. 16. for 1 Tim. 1.9 r. 2 Tim. 1. 9. p. 145. l 27 for 1 Pet. 2.21 r. 1 Pet. 2.24 p. 166. l. 26. for contradiction r. traditional p. 171. l 23 r. of p. 194. l. 14. for intend r. indeed p. 196. l. 24. leave out that p. 229. l. 6. for powers r. angels Page 199. line 18. thou wilt finde these words as I said before which I desire thee to leave ouâ— The reason why I put th m in was because at the first I thought to put out wi h this a Discourse of the two Covenâ—â—â—s which since I thought to put fâ—r h in a Piece by â—t self and therefore should have put ouâ— these words Bunyan's Sighs from Hell
Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heaven Mat. 5.16 Take heed and beware of hypocrisie watch and be sober Learn of me saith Christ Come unto me 3. Forewarning What forewarning is here Because there is wrath beware lest he take thee away with his stroak then a great ransome cannot deliver thee Job 36.18 Be ye not mockers lest your bands be made strong for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption even determined on the whole earth Isa 28.22 Beware therefore lest that come upon you that is written Behold ye dispisers and wonder and perish For behold I work a work in your dayes which ye shall in no wise believe though a man declare it unto you Act. 13.40 41. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall 1 Cor. 10.12 Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation Luke 22.40 Let us fear therefore lest a promise being made or left us of entring into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it Heb. 4.1 I will therefore put you in remembrance though you once knew this how that the Lord having saved the people out of Aegypt afterward destroyed them that believed not Jude 5. Hold fast that thou hast let no man take thy Crown Rev. 3.11 4. Comfort What comfort is here He that commeth unto me I will in no wise cast out Joh. 6. ver 37. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11.28 Be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee I will never leave thee nor forsake thee for I have loved thee with an everlasting love Jer. 31.3 I lay down my life for my sheep I lay down my life that they might have life I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly I have heard thee in a time accepted and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee 2 Cor. 6.2 Though their sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be as crimson they shall be as wool For I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins return unto me for I have redeemed thee Isa 44.22 5. Grief to those that fall short O sad grief How have I hated instruction and mine heart despised reproof and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor enclined mine ear to them that instructed me Prov. 7.11 12 13. They shall curse their king and their God and look upwards And they shall look to the earth and behold trouble and darkness and dimness of anguish and they shall be driven into darkness Isa 8. ver 21 22. He hath dispersed abroad he hath given to the poor his righteousness endureth for ever The wicked shall see it and be grieved he shall gnash with his teeth and melt away the desire of the wicked shall perish Psal 112.9 10. There shall be weeping when ye shall see Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of heaven and your selves thrust out Luke 13.26 27 28. all which things are slighted by the world Thus much in short touching this that ungodly men undervalue the Scriptures and give no credit to them when the truth that is contained in them is held forth in simplicity unto them but rather cry out nay but if one should rise from the dead then they think something might be done when alas though signes and wonders were wrought by the hands of those that preach the Gospel these poor creatures would never the sooner convert though they suppose they should as is evident by the carriages of their forerunners who albeit the Lord Jesus Christ himself did confirme his doctrine by miracles as opening blind eyes casting out of devils and raising the dead they were so far from receiving either him or his doctrine that they put him to death for his pains But to pass this I shall lay down some of the grounds of their rejecting and undervaluing â—he Scriptures and so pass on 1. Because they do not believe that they are the word of God but rather suppose them to be the inventions of men written by some politicians on purpose to make poor ignorant people to submit to some religion and government Though men do not say this with their mouthes yet their practices testifie the same as he that when he heares the words of the curse yet blesseth himself in his heart and saith he shall have peace though God saith he shall have none And this must needs be for did but men believe this that it is the word of God then they must believe that he that spake it is true and that because he that spake it is true therefore shall every word and tittle be fulfilled And if they come once to this unless they be stark mad they will have a care how they do throw themselves under the lash of eternal vengeance For the reason why the Thessalonians received the word was because they believed it was the word of God and not the word of man 1 Thess 2.13 14. When ye received the word which ye heard of us saith he ye received it not as the word of man but as it is indeed the word of God which effectually worketh in you that believe So that did a man but receive it in hearing or reading or meditating as it is the word of God they would be converted But the word preached doth not profit not being mixed with faith in them that hear it Heb. 4.1 2. 2. Because they do not indeed see themselves by nature heirs of that exceeding wrath and vengeance that the Scriptures testifie of For did they but consider what God intends to do with those that live and die in a natural state it would either sink them into despair or make them fly for refuge to the hope that is set before them Heb. 6.18 But if there be never such sins committed and never so great wrath denounced and the time of execution be never so near yet if the party that is guilty be senseless and altogether ignorant thereof he will be careless and regard it nothing at all And that man by nature is in this condition it is evident For take the same man that is senseless and ignorant of that misery he is in by nature I say take him at another time when he is a little awakened and then you shall hear him roar cry out so long as trouble is upon him and a sense of the wrath of God hanging over his head Good sirs what must I do to be saved Though the same man at another time when his conscience is fallen a sleep and grown hard will lie like the Smiths dog at the foot of the anvil though the fire-sparks fly in in his face But as I said before when any one is a little awakened O! what work will one