fright thee out of the Fold but to fright thee into a Sheep I shall do thee no harm if I can fright thee to Heaven 2. What 's one Man's Meat may be another Man's Poison and what 's one Man's Poison may be another Man 's necessary Meat All Christians are not of a like Spirit and what 's poison for some may be proper for others Same poor broken melancholick Souls are all fears and must have Comforts preached unto them others are secure confident and yet careless Ones and these have asmuch need of terror Comforts preached to the doubting and distressed Ones may be poison to the secure and careless and yet for the sake of the distressed they must be preached and terror preached to the secure may be poison to the distressed and yet they must be preached for the securers sakes The Ministers of the Gospel must be good Stewards giving to every one their Portion Luk. 12.42 Comfort to whom comfort belongeth and fear to whom fear On some have compassion making a difference others save with fear Jude 22 23. And as Ministers must give so People must take every one their own Portions as Ministers must divide so People must apply the Word of God aright Let every Man take his own Portion and not be catching at that which is another's There is too great an aptness in the distressed to lay hold on those words that are spoken to the secure if there be ever an afrighting word in a whole Sermon that 's my Portion saith the Distressed this Word belongs to me and so the secure are too ready to lay hold on those healing and comforting words which belong to the broken and distressed both these Evils must be heedfully avoided but whether People will apply the Word of God aright or no there 's no help for it but Ministers must divide it aright and give to every one their Portion 3. There is an awaking fear that quickens to our Duty and prepares for comfort and this will lightly hurt no Body and there is a disquieting and discouraging fear that disheartens to Duty and deprives of Comfort and this will do no Body any good 4. This Fear I am preaching to you will lead you to the better and surer hope These Doubtings will be of great use to put us in the way of getting above our Doubts As there is a Confidence which will end in terror so there are Fears and Doubtings the Fruit whereof will be Quietness and Assurance for ever This will more fully appear in the next Particular wherein I am to shew 2. How this Fear will work towards a farther search Hitherto I have been endeavouring to work this Fear upon Professors Hearts concerning their States and now I shall shew how this Fear will work The Fear lest our Souls should be yet unsafe will 1. Put hard to come to a certainty And to this end will 2. Put us close upon a more narrow search 3. Put in Objections in order to the making all clear and plain 1. It will put hard to come to a certainty nothing short will satisfie it Fear hath pain in it the fearing Christian is in pain till his Doubts be resolved and this pain will press him to make sure He will be thankful for Probabilities and will make the most of them as a drowning Man will catch at every Twig that may keep his Head above Water till he can get better hold A Christian that Fears will not make nothing of Probabilities nor yet will take up with them instead of Certainties The Confident Sinner will venture all upon conjecture if his Heart do but speak him fair and tell him he is safe that shall satisfie him 'T is an amazing thing to consider what broken Reeds Fools do stay themselves upon Fear will make all as sure as it can And there is some hope in that that we ae bent upon making sure He that will not rest in uncertainties is in the fairer way to come to a certainty 2. Fear will put us on close upon the narrowest search It will not take up with Reports or Opinions but will search the Records whence it may be like to get satisfactions And there are two Books of Records that will be enquired after and look'd into the Book of the Scriptures and the Book of Conscience In one the Book of the Scriptures it will examine what are the plainest and most certain Marks of Sincerity when it hath found a Mark it will enquire May not this be also in an Hypocrite and will not pitch on any thing but that which cannot be found in any Hypocrite in the World Then it enquires into Conscience and compares the two Books together The word tells me He that is in Christ is a new-Creature 2 Cor. 5.17 He that is born of God is a Believer 1 John 5.1 Is a lover of God 1 John 4.7 He that loveth doth keep the Commandments of God and his Commandments are not grievous 1 John 5.3 The Children of God are Children that will not lye are meek merciful holy harmless The Disciples of Christ are such as deny themselves take up their Cross and follow him These and such-like are found in the Scriptures to be the signs of the Children of God And what sayest thou O my Conscience are these things found in me Where is my Faith What Love have I for God What witness to my Love in my Obedience What Truth Mercy Meekness Humility Patience is to be discerned in me Come forth O my Graces where are you Shew your selves in the light of the Sun And what can you testify O my ways for me Speak Conscience what is the life which I have lived Is it a life of Faith a life of Love and Holy Obedience If Conscience speaks in the affirmative and gives in its answer through the Grace of God I find it thus with me Then 3. Fear will make Objections and put in farther Questions It 's true he that is a New-Creature is in Christ he that believeth and loveth and obeyeth the Lord is born of God and I find that there is something in me that looks like the New-Creature that looks like Faith and Love c. But may not all these be but the Images of Grace Is my Faith the very Faith of God's Elect Do I love the Lord Jesus in sincerity do I obey from the heart that form of Doctrine that is delivered to me May there not be as great a change upon an Hypocrite may not Hypocrites believe and love and obey as far as ever I have done And until the matter be brought to this issue that there is something found such a Faith such a Love such Holy Obedience as cannot be found in Hypocrites till then this Fear which will ever suspect the worst will nor give over but still will come on with question upon question How shall I know my Faith is right and how shall I prove my Love and Obedience to be sincere I am
but can I be too busie a too zealous for the Living God Can I say of my best this is too much Can I say of any thing less than my best this is enough 'T is the Lord God whom thou servest fear to be unworthy This is the advantage of our carrying this thought upon our Hearts I serve the Lord it will put us upon the best and highest Service Give me leave to add another Advantage though not of so proper consideration here This thought whilst it provokes us to the highest will yet comfort us touching the least and meanest of all our Services Some poor weak Christians are apt to discourage themselves in all they do from this that it is so very low and little that they do I am a poor Creature 't is but little that I have to serve the Lord withal I am ignorant and of weak understanding I have not the Parts nor Gifts that others have I might possibly serve the Lord better were it not for this Fear which is upon me I am afraid to speak of God or of the Things of God I am of slow Speech and rude Language I cannot express my self to any purpose I am ashamed of my teaching my Family of my praying in my Family I do it so brokenly and confusedly that I fear I do more hurt than good in it I but poor Man as weak as thou art and as weakly as thou dost what thou dost if thou do what thou canst This is serving the Lord and whether it be little or much if thou canst but truly say This is serving the Lord thou mayst be comforted in it If Sinners considered that their little Sins were serving the Devil 't would make them afraid of the very least transgression Some Sinners are not so great Sinners as others they are not guilty of those higher and more notorious Crimes that some others are and this quiets them and keeps off Fear from them Thou art no Drunkard thou sayest nor no Adulterer nor no Blasphemer I but dost thou not live a carnal vain careless earthly Life and is not this serving the Devil Though thou dost not serve the Devil in the Ale-house or the Whore-house though thou dost not serve the Devil with Oaths and Curses and Blasphemies yet is it not the Devil still thou servest Thou servest thy Covetousness thou servest thy Pride and thy sensual Appetite thou neglectest Christ and thy Soul and is not this serving the Devil Such a thought upon the most harmless of Sinners Hearts yet I serve the Devil would make him afraid Is it a light thing to serve the Devil Though I be not numbred among the chief of Sinners though there be others worse than I yet am not I under the same Master Though I be among the hindermost of the Company yet am not I one of them This Life I live is no serving God and therefore 't is doubtless the serving of the Devil Take heed O my Soul If the Devil can but hold thee 't will be all one whether it be by greater or smaller Cords the Devil is dragging thee to Hell and so he can but get the thither at last it will be upon the matter all one to him whether it be by greater or lesser Sins Though he can't perswade thee to ride post into the Pit yet if he can but toll thee in that shall suffice him though it be but by a slower pace Now as such a thought I serve the Devil would afright the least of Sinners so will such a thought I serve the Lord comfort the least of Saints But this by the way 4. Another Reason why we should Fear is because of the great Treasure we carry about with us whither-ever we go Christians are Travellers and they travel with charge about them This World is a dangerous World the Passengers through it are in danger of falling among Thieves which will spoil and rob them of their Treasure A Christian carries more Riches about him than the whole World is worth He hath the whole Gospel within him he hath the two Tables of the Covenant his Heart is the Ark in which they are laid up He hath Christ in him the Fruits of his Blood his Pardon and Reconciliation the graces and comforts of his Spirit his evidences for Heaven all the Records of the gracious Transactions betwixt God and his Soul the Pawns and Pledges of Divine Love the King's Broad-Seal and the Earnest for Glory all the Income of his Faith the Returns of his Prayers all that he hath gotten all the Manna he hath gathered the Hidden Manna the White Stone with the New Name he carries all his Riches up and down with him whither-ever he travels Hast thou any Divine Light in thine Heart any love for Christ any zeal for God and his Gospel any Tokens of his Love or Tenderness of his Honour Is there Peace or Joy or Hope within thee All this thou art in danger of being rob'd and spoil'd of This is the Design that Satan hath upon thee this is the Errand of every Worldly Lust of every Temptation every Companion every Carnal Relation every Change of Condition every Carnal Pleasure all thy Earthly Possessions the Devil hath set them in ambush and they lie in wait for thee to rifle thee and spoil thee of all that ever thou art worth Hast thou never fallen amongst these Thieves and suffered great loss by them Hast thou been rob'd and art thou not afraid thou mayest again Will not thy loss make thee more wise and wary How many Instances have there been of secure and unwary Christians who whilst they have been venturous upon Temptations have trusted themselves amongst their vain Companions indulged themselves a more free and jolly and easie a more remiss and flesh pleasing Life or a more busie drudgery for this VVorld have as to their sense at least lost all they had for the other VVorld VVho when they have come a little to themselves fall a mourning out Naomi's bitter Song Ruth 1.20 Call me no more Naomi but call me Marah I went out full but I returned empty Whilst mine Heart was tender and mine Eye jealous whilst I kept my watch and kept my distance from this World and its Temptations O what Light Love Peace Joy did then shine upon and possess my Heart then I had a God whom I could call mine own then I had a Jesus and could lean upon my Beloved then I could believe love serve delight in enjoy and praise the Lord. But wo wo to me how is it now Whilst I allowed my self a little more boldness with this Flesh and this World I have even lost all ere I was aware I am fallen among Thieves and what have they left me O mine Ease my Pleasures my Money my Lands which I have turned aside to how have you served me Whilst I have been loving and following and serving you how have you rewarded me Ah me they have taken away my
weakness of our sight is helped out by Faith Faith helps us to see with God's Eyes it looks on all things as God looks on them The Lord hath told us what he sees in Sin what a Snare it is what a Serpent it is what a Plague it is and what a Womb it is big with all manner of Miseries and Mischiefs which it's bringing forth upon us God's Mouth is Eyes to Faith by Faith we understand that it is even as it hath been told us of the Lord. Faith helps us to a present view of Sin and to a foresight of all that is behind of all those Floods that this Serpent is casting out of his Mouth to devour the Soul that Woe and that Wrath it's bringing upon Sinners both here and hereafter Future Evils that depend not necessarily on certain Causes are no otherwise clearly to be discerned but by the Eye of Faith And from this Faith this Fear arises as the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.13 We have believed and therefore have we spoken so may it also be said We have believed and therefore fear Heb. 11.7 By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet was moved with Fear Sinner art thou yet secure is the Evil of Sin yet unseen by thee and thereupon is it but a light thing to thee Canst thou make a mock of Sin Canst thou make a sport of Sin canst thou take thy rest in Sin and make a Tush at that Wrath that Sin is bringing upon thee Believe God What is it that the Lord hath spoken of it God sayes It is an evil and bitter thing Jer. 2.19 A Root bearing Gall and Wormwood Deut. 29.18 Like that Star which fell from Heaven Rev. 8.11 whose Name was Wormwood and which turned the Waters into Wormwood of which Men died because they were so bitter God says It is an heavy thing which hath brought the whole Creation into Bondage under which it groaneth and travelleth in pain Rom. 8.22 God sayes The Soul that sinneth shall die Ezek. 18.20 Though the Devil sayes He shall not die though Mens hearts say It is a matter of nothing and because it is a common thing count it but a very small thing and can flout at others Fears Yet God sayes They are Fools that make a mock of Sin Prov. 14 19. And God sayes thus not only concerning some particular Sins the most notorious and those of the deepest die Murthers Adulteries Blasphemies the World will say the same of these He that doth such things is worthy of death But God speaks it of Sin in Specie the whole kind of it little or great the least sinful words even vain words the least sinful thoughts yea even of Sin in semine the inward brood and spawn of Sin that lies in the heart the evil dispositions and inclinations of the Soul which have not broken forth into Act the word is general Rom. 6.23 The wages of Sin is Death Believe God believe and tremble 3. There is Love in it This Fear hath love lying in the bottom of it from whence it arises both the love of God and goodness and that natural and innocent self-love which God hath planted in us and it is not our Sin but our Duty to maintain There is a Fear concerning which the Apostle saith 1 John 4.18 Perfect Love casteth out Fear but of this it may be said sincere Love worketh Fear Fear is Love's Servant whose Office it is to preserve what and whom we love from being offended hurt or lost He that loves will fear to lose or grieve what and whom he loves Dost thou love God thou wilt fear how thou displease or offend God Dost thou love thy Soul thou wilt fear to lose it As in good things temporal Dost thou love thy Friend thou wilt fear to disoblige him Dost thou love thine Estate or thy Name or thy Health thou wilt fear what-ever may prejudice thee in them So in good things Spiritual our Love will set our Fear to be a guard about them It cannot be but where there 's Love and an hazard of losing what we love there will be Fear Sinners are without Fear about the Matters of God and of their Souls Tell them of losing God they fear it not Why so Why if they do they love not God so well but they can spare him well enough Tell them of the danger of displeasing and offending God It moves them not they bear him no such good will as to fear to grieve him An upright and honest Heart and a good Conscience they have no such regard to it as thence to be withdrawn from any course that may hinder or deprive them of it 'T is to little purpose to reason thus with them Take heed of Sin 't will rob thee of thy God 't will defile thy Conscience 't will disgrace thy Profession 't will break thy Peace This hath little weight with them nor ever will till they have more love for Spiritual Things 'T will hardly move them to tell them your Souls will be lost farewel to all your hopes of everlasting Life if you take not heed of Sin they love their Lusts better than their Souls They love this World they love their Money and their Ease and their Carnal Liberty and hereby it appears they do they are afraid of whatever may prejudice them in these things In times of Persecution for Righteousness-sake they Fear Religion as the Devil they Fear Holiness more than Hell they dare not be Godly for fear their Righteousness should be their ruine Our Love sets all our Affections on work What we love if it be absent we desire it if it be possible to be had we hope for it if we have it we joy if we lose it we grieve if we be in danger of losing it we Fear Friend Thou sayest thou lovest God thy Soul a good Conscience what and in such daily danger of losing all and yet art not afraid Thou sayest thou lovest not the World thou hast an Estate in the World and art eagerly hunting after more and wilt make any shift thou canst to secure and increase it but yet thou hopest thou dost not set thy heart upon it But why then art thou so often in Fears Thou art afraid of Christ afraid of Conscience thou dar'st not be an open Disciple a bold Professor because thou knowest not what it may cost thee and dost thou yet say thou lovest not the World Thy fear Man of what thou thinkest will prejudice thy worldly Interest this Fear is a sign thou lovest The Saints Fear Sin yea and all temptations to it Why so O 't is because they love their God and their Souls 4. There is in it an aversation from evil both from Sin and all the Fruits of Sin The three former Particulars are the causes of this Fear but this is in the Nature of it The Understanding discovers sin 1. To be an Evil a corruptive Evil that will defile and pollute
in Christ am I in Covenant have I broken my Covenant with Death and disannulled my Agreement with Hell Am I no longer in League with my Sins and this evil World have I broken with them all and am I gotten within the Bond of the Covenant of God If I think I have yet am I not mistaken Many Souls have been mistaken have thought themselves within who have yet dyed without and am not I mistaken also Is the thing sure Is Christ mine indeed How is it that there is no more asking the way to the City of Refuge How may I get into Christ Or how may I know whether I be in Christ or not O how is it that we do not awaken our slumbring Spirits and call upon our careless Hearts Come on O my lingring Soul make haste get thee up to the Rock to Sanctuary to Sanctuary Awake thou Sleeper carest thou not that thou perish Come my Soul enter thou into thy Chamber hide thy self till the Indignation be over-past How is it that there is no more such care taken Are we so solicitous as we should be about this matter How is it with you Friends Are you busie in considering and fore-casting and enquiring how you may escape What is it that your fear of a Deluge hath put you upon to provide your selves against it Is there any more circumspection and heedfulness in your goings any more tenderness of Sin Are you throwing off those weights that will sink you with the multitude Are you busie in breaking down your Sins and building up your selves in hope of the Salvation of God Behold how generally our other Matters do still take up our Time and Thoughts we are building of Houses and planting of Vineyards and Buying and Selling and Marrying and giving in Marriage seldom giving our selves leave to think of a Flood that 's coming to take us all away O fear and let your fear set you on work to save your selves from Misery and Ruine The foolish World laugh at this Fear What jealous-headed melancholick Souls are these What Dreams and Fancies do they fright themselves withal And so did the old World doubtless laugh at Noah to see him such a Fanatick to amuse himself and others with such a strange conceit of a Flood and to go build an Ark to save himself from that Dream of a Deluge What laughing and mocking think you was there then amongst them to hear this Preacher of Righteousness to Preach and prepare for such a strange incredible thing Such mockings are there of the Men of this World at the fears and preparations of the Saints against the Judgments of God I but when the Ark was finished and Noah and his Family gotten in and the Flood came in earnest when they saw the Rain pouring down the Waters swelling the Seas roaring and tumbling in in whole Mountains of Waters upon them where was the laugh of the World then What a cry was their laugh then turned to Let Sinners laugh at last when they shall see all these things come upon them when the overflowing Scourge cometh and they shall then see the derided Saints gotten into the Ark and themselves left out to perish in the Waters Well by this time you may see what this Fear is or who is this Man that feareth The Man of Understanding that so knows God his Goodness and Severity that so knows Sin its Malignity and the Misery that it exposes to that so believes God that hath such a love for God and his own Soul and such an aversation from Sin that so foresees the danger he is in of running into Sin and falling into Misery that he wisely and warily looks to himself keeps himself from Iniquity and hides himself from those Mischiefs and Miseries which the rest of the World foolishly venture upon and are destroyed by in the end This is the Man that feareth this is the happy Man 2. What is that blessedness that is pronounced to him that feareth Happy is the Man that feareth To Happiness two things are required 1. Sufficiency 2. Security 1. Sufficiency He that is in want is in misery what-ever he hath how greatly soever he abounds yet if he hath not all that he needs yea all that he desires In the fulness of his Sufficiency he is in straits The pain of what he desires and hath not imbitters the pleasures of what he hath No Sufficiency no Satisfaction short of Satisfaction so far short of Happiness He must have all things that would find rest in any thing He that possesses what-ever he can desire that 's an happy Man only to this must be added 2. Security What we have to day may be lost to morrow He that hath most and holds it by such an uncertain Tenure is so far from finding rest in what he hath that he may be in greater perplexity than he that hath nothing Therefore can there be no happiness in any thing under the Sun for besides the insufficiency of these worldly things the whole Earth is too little to fill the Soul all this great World is not enough to fill the little World Man but besides this were they sufficient what security can be had for the continuance of them to us They are all but casualties they come and go they have all their Wings and who knows how soon they may take their flight At the best The things that are seen are but Temporal 2 Cor. 4.18 There must be permanence durableness in the matter of our Happiness The durable Riches the enduring Substance an Inheritance that fadeth not away and there must be security against their being lost or taken away Now this is the happiness of him that feareth he hath sufficient and what he hath is in safety 1. He hath a sufficiency This Fear as appears from what hath been spoken is a Religious Fear the Fear of God is sometimes taken for all Religion here only for one particular Branch of it yet such as argues the Truth of Religion and intitles the Soul to the whole income and revenue of Religion He that knows believes and loves God and therefore fears and flies from Sin and Wrath is certainly a Godly Man and shall have his Inheritance with the Just The first Sermon that ever we read that Christ Preached begins with an enumeration of the Beatitudes of this very Man He shall inherit the Earth he shall be comforted he shall be filled he shall obtain Mercy he shall see God his is the Kingdom of Heaven All these Graces that are there mentioned Poverty of Spirit Purity in Heart hunger after Righteousness Meekness c. are the particular Qualifications of this very Man And we may write down after that Copy Blessed is the Man that feareth for his is the Kingdom of God Blessed is the Man that feareth for he shall be comforted he shall obtain Mercy he shall see God This is the Man who shall inherit all things Rev. 21.7 and shall want nothing Psal
yet enquire What ground and reason can you give of the hope that is in you and it may be all the answer that will be given amounts to no more than this I hope because I hope I am perswaded because I am perswaded my Mind gives me so mine Heart tells me so I can have no other thought but that it is well and shall be well with me There 's many a Man that 's like unto that Man pointed out Deut. 29.19 who though he heareth the words of God's Curse blesseth himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imaginations of mine own heart Though God speaks never a good word though the Scriptures speak never a good word of such though God curses such a Man yet his own heart blesses him Though God sayes to him Thou Fool thou Belial thou Infidel thou Child of the Devil yet not a word is heard from his own heart but an honest Man a good Christian and a Child of God There is sometimes to be found a poor trembling Christian whom the Devil sets a cursing himself when God doth bless him that calls himself Hypocrite Unbeliever a Cast-away and Reprobate from God though God calls him Beloved and highly favoured and so there is that blesses himself whom God hath cursed It 's vain to tell him Thus saith the Lord or to bid him search the Scriptures hearken to what the Lord God will speak or to say to him as Jehoshaphat to the King of Israel 1 Kings 22.7 enquire of the Prophet of the Lord. Doth God his Scriptures his Ministers speak any good concerning thee It 's vain to speak thus to him Thus saith mine heart is more with him than Thus saith the Lord. Thus my mind gives me is enough to make him dis-believe the God of Truth he will rather make God a lyar than not believe his lying heart Consider this Sinners whether this be not your case God sayes The Ignorant the Unbelievers Liars Swearers the evil Workers and Impenitent are the Children of the Devil and shall never inherit the Kingdom of God And yet thou though thou canst not say but that thou art ignorant impenitent an evil worker given up to thy hearts lusts and hardned in thy way wilt not be perswaded but thou art a Child of God God sayes thou art none of his and thou wilt still say thou art to his Face Just thus was it with those Jews afore-mentioned John 8.44 Christ tells them to their Faces Ye are of your Father the Devil and proves it to them for saith he The Lusts of your Father ye do and you are just like your Father he was a Murtherer from the beginning and a Liar and the Father of it and what else are you And yet behold the confidence of the Men No we are Abraham's Seed and the Children of God Sinner who-ever thou art that art doing the Lusts and working the Works of the Devil Christ speaks this very word to thee which he here spake to those Jews Thou art of thy Father the Devil If yet thou sayest I hope not God is my Father and I am his Child there is that Presumption that may keep thee from fearing till thou too late feel the Wrath of God seizing upon thee This Presumption that 't is so well with thee already that if it be possible I may make thee afraid of that which keeps thee from fear know for a certain it will endanger so to hold thee in thy wretched state that 't is never like to be better with thee than ' t is This is it which hardens thee against Counsels and Reproofs slights the tenders of Mercy and out-faces the terrors of the Lord this shuts up thine Ears and thine Heart against the word of Reconciliation and does non-plus all the importunities of the Ministers of the Gospel Let them bid thee believe thou art a Believer already Let them command thee to repent Thou hast done it let them warn thee to flie from the Wrath to come and this is all the Fruit thou tellest them thou art already passed from Death to Life The confidence that thou art well enough already is like to make the Preaching of Christ to be of none effect to thee And because this is such a brazen Wall as keeps Christ and Grace out of the Heart and resists and repels all those Arguments which the Word makes use of to perswade to Christ and Life I shall make some batteries upon it as I pass along The first step to Conversion is Conviction Conviction is Presumption broken down and the breaking in of that Fear which makes way for Faith There are in Conviction these three things 1. Illumination 2. Redargution 3. Consternation 1. Illumination the enlightning of the Mind the opening of Sinners eyes and making their Sin and the danger that it exposes to known unto them the convincing Spirit brings the Commandment before them by which is the knowledg of Sin Rom. 7.7 and vers 9. When the Commandment came Sin revived and appeared to be Sin and exceeding sinful vers 13. It could be no longer hid nor any longer be look'd on as a light thing but a very dreadful thing to be a Sinner the truth is we none of us know Sin as it is some Light hath broken in upon our Hearts but 't is but little in comparison and thereupon we can be venturous so far upon it and too easily go out with it and lick our selves whole when we have sinned but if we knew the Heart and the Tail of this Scorpion what malignity there is in it and what comes after 't would make us tremble and take heed When the Spirit of the Lord brings the Commandment to us and layes Sin by that 't will look with another face than now it does 2. Redargution The Spirit of God not only shews what Sin is and what a fearful thing it is to be under Sin but withal proves and demonstrates to Sinners what-ever their confidence hath been of the contrary that they are under Sin when the Commandment hath done its work to discover Sin and the evil of it then Conscience is brought forth to do its work to witness the Sinner guilty Hast thou not sinned let Conscience speak does not thine own Heart tell thee of thy Lying and of thy Swearing and of thy Coveting and of thy company-keeping and a World more of such evils that thou hast lived in And hast thou ever been purged from thy Sins hast thou repented and turned from thy evil Wayes thou knowest thou hast not thou art in love with Sin in a league with Sin and livest to this hour in the practice and under the power of it Is this the Man that hath been so confident of the goodness of his state whose heart hath blessed him and promised him that no evil shall befal him What a Sinner and yet at peace What an impenitent Sinner and yet so confident thou shalt have peace Thou must
to repent at last who wilt not now accept of it And thus you have the Grounds and Reasons why Men Fear not It is from their Ignorance Unbelief and Presumption III. The Grounds and Reasons why we should Fear These are such as follow 1. We have reason to Fear because of our Ignorance Mens Ignorance is the reason why they Fear not as before and yet it 's a great reason why they should Fear Who have so great reason to fear as the Blind Every Bush may be a Thief every Sheep may be a Wolf every Lamb may be a Lion for ought he sees to the contrary every step may be into the Ditch or into the Fire or into the Water where-ever he stands or sits or dwells he knows not who or what may be near him and have not such Men reason to Fear Particularly by reason of Ignorance 1. We know not our way 2. We know not the Dangers that are in our way 1. We know not our way John 12.35 He that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth Whither art thou bound Soul Thou art a Traveller but to what City to what Countrey art thou travelling O I am going to Canaan to the New Jerusalem I am travelling Heavenwards But dost thou know the way to that good Land Some of the most ignorant will answer as Christ said to his Disciples Wither I go I know and the way I know when the truth is they neither understand the one nor the other The way to God though it be a strait way and leads directly on by a line yet it 's hard to hit upon If I were to give but one general direction for finding the way to Heaven this should be it Take your first turning upon the right hand and then keep strait on without turning either to the right hand or to the left The way that thou art now going is to Hell but there is a turning on the right hand just before thee Repentance which is our turning out of the way of Death into the way of Life take that turning and then turn no more but keep strait on to the end of thy Life But as strait a way as the way of Life is it is not so easie to keep us in it There are many turnings out on either hand and at every Turning stands a Deceiver calling to Passengers as they go Turn in hither this is the way walk in it The Pharisee stands at one Turning and sayes This is the way The Law of Carnal Commandments the formal and superstitious observation of the Externals of Religion The Hypocritical Zealot stands at another and sayes This is the way The Spirituals of Religion believe in Christ love God and then live to thy self The Sectary of whatsoever Sect he be sayes Here is Christ this is the way of Life turn in hither be one of Us and thou shalt do well The Flesh stands and cries Hearken to none of these they are all blind Guides and will lead thee into their own Ditch come take this great and beaten Road in which thy Fore-fathers have gone before thee Follow the Wise Men and the Learned Men and those multitudes that thou seest going before thee Trust in the Mercy of God and trouble thy self no farther And the Devil stands at every one of these Turnings and if he can but perswade thee to take one of them it comes much alike to him which it be Now what shall a poor ignorant Soul do in this case to hit the right when there are so many false wayes He does not know the way himself and he is like to meet with so many false Guides how can he but Fear he may be misled and lost It fares with these Ignorant Souls as with the Hosts of the Syrians that were going to Dathan to slay Elisha 2 Kings 6.19 Elisha smites them with blindness and then leads them whithersoever he pleases Out he goes to them and tells them This is not the way neither is this the City come along with me and I will bring you to the Man whom you seek but he led them to Samaria This blind Host thought they had been right and going to Dathan but when their eyes were opened they saw themselves betrayed into Samaria into the hands of their Enemies Poor blind Soul thy hope is Heaven that 's thy journeys end thy Home to which thou sayest thou art travelling and thou perswadest thy self thou art in the way thither but for all this thou mayest be mistaken thou mayest be going to Samaria to Sodom to Hell and not to Heaven thou art in darkness and knowest not whither thou goest thou dost not know thy way how then canst thou but fear whether thou art in the right way or the wrong 2. By reason of Ignorance we know not the dangers in our way If we have some apprehension that the way is dangerous yet we know not in particular where the danger lies and so ere we are aware may fall into it Some young Travellers though they be told they be going a dangerous Road yet know not the dangerous Places nor the dangerous Persons that they fall upon a Thief starts up out of a Bush where they never suspected him and when he comes by his fair Language and Carriage they take him for a Friend and suspect not he comes upon any evil Intention till their loss too late teach them what he is What harm is there in such a vain fashion in such a questionable recreation in Cardings Dicings Dancings What harm is there in a little carnal Mirth or in vain and merry Company they be not Drunkards nor Swearers nor Adulterers there 's nothing amongst them but honest mirth and pleasantness what hurt is there in that why what harm is there in falling among Thieves what harm is there in being rob'd of all thou hast hast thou never been a loser by such friendly Thieves hast thou lost none of thy precious Time amongst them which thou couldst ill spare nay have they not stollen away thy heart It may be thou hast found thou wert of a better Spirit when thou camest amongst them thou hadst some sense and savour of God and Religion upon thine heart and some holy seriousness and tenderness and when thou returnest thou seest it's lost thou hast left all thy Religion behind thee Is this no harm when thou hadst been serv'd so once wouldst thou be content to be serv'd so again If thou hadst a cup of pleasant Wine before thee and one should tell thee Take heed there 's poison in the Cup wouldst thou say what harm is it if there be If one should meet thee in a Wood or a Desert and should offer thee Money or Pleasure or what-ever thou wilt if thou wilt be rul'd by him and do what he would have thee and a Friend should tell thee this may be the Devil that comes to truck with thee for thy Soul wouldst thou say what harm is it if it be
the Devil what harm will it be to take his Money or his Pleasure Why this may be the case In all those little things as thou countest them there may be poison in the Cup there may be the Devil in the Company the Pleasures that are before thee the Money that is before thee these may be the price the Devil is offering thee for thy life May it be so I but I do not think 't is so my Soul may be safe enough for all that why therefore fear that there may be such danger and you never know or suspect it Nay this Devil lies still in wait not only in those places and wayes which look like suspicious places and suspicious ways but he 's every-where at hand even where he is least suspected When could Men think themselves more secure from the Devil than when they are with God in Duties and Ordinances But doth he never meet them there Hath the Devil never met thee in thy Closet or in the Congregation of the Lord How is it at this very hour Now that we are come together before the Lord now that the Lord is instructing us and warning us of the danger we are in Is there not one standing behind and out of sight either stealing away your hearts from minding the Warnings or else contradicting the Word of the Lord Come ccme these are but words and conceits the Devil is far enough off thou art in no such danger of him are there no such whisperings in none of your ears at this time Why whose Voice is this you little think whose 't is 'T is the Devil that thus speaks to the end you may lose this Warning and so he may have his advantage upon you Lord open the eyes of these Men to use that Prayer for you which the Man of God did for his Servant 2 Kings 6.17 So the Lord opened his eyes and he saw all the Mountains full of Angels Chariots of Fire and Horses of Fire If God should so open our eyes I trust we should see this House full of the Angels of God ministring to us but withal we should see this House full of Devils attempting to mischief us a Devil at every Ear a Devil at every Heart trying his skill to stop the one and harden the other from receiving this Word of the Lord. We are never an one of us more secure than Joshua the High-Priest of whom we read Zech. 3.1 That when he was standing before the Lord Satan stood at his right hand to resist him You 'l say again it may be you do not think 't is so why therefore Fear that the Devil should be so near and so busie with you and you neither understand nor will believe it though it be told you Such Ignorance is cause enough of Fear If any of you should have been told ten or twenty years ago how the Devil would serve you how he would hinder any word of Counsel or Instruction from prospering with you how he would hold you under this Ignorance of God and hardness and impenitence of Heart you would have been like enough to answer I hope not I hope to get more of the knowledg of God I hope God will bring me to Repentance one time or other I hope his Word will prosper with me And yet you see how 't is he hath sufficiently plaid the part of a Devil with you you were not so blind or so dead or so hard in your hearts many years ago but you are every way as bad or worse at this day and because you had not this foresight to discern that thus it might be had you not the more reason to Fear it would be so And what say you now as to the time to come If it should be said unto you at this day He that hath dealt thus by you hitherto will be like enough to deal as bad or worse by you to the end of your dayes so that you shall never be brought to Repentance nor ever recover your selves out of the snares of the Devil will you yet again say I hope not I fear it not that very word is enough to make you tremble If the God of this World had not blinded your Minds he could never have thus hardned your Hearts If you that have known Christ and have been in Christ many years ago If some of you should have been told that if you look'd not the better to it the Devil would meet you at the very threshold of Christianity and hold you there from making any farther entrance in would keep you Babes and Infants in the Grace of God that he would keep you all this time so weak in the Faith so cold in your Love so barren in your Life that all this while you should have gotten no more victory over this World and the fleshliness of your Minds and Hearts nor no more intimate acquaintance with God and your own Souls than some of you have at this day If when you had been told you were in danger of being serv'd thus If you had then answered I do not Fear it I should have made bold to tell you You do not know what a Devil he is with whom you had to do and now that you may know him better by observing how he hath dealt by you hitherto you will at length I hope learn to Fear What if the Devil should now appear to you in some bodily monstrous shape would it not fright you Why you may see his foot though you do not see his face you may see him in what he hath done in his temptations of you and the unhappy success of them upon you in that ruinous state your Souls are hereby in and surely Friends to those that understand him The Devil in a secret temptation is more formidable than the Devil in an Apparition the prints of his Hoofs are a more dreadful sight than the Horns of his Head 2. Another reason why we should Fear is because of the deceitfulness of our Hearts What-ever our dangers are from without what-ever designs or devices the Devil or the World have against us yet if all were true within us if our Hearts were true to us our hazard were not so great but saith the Prophet Jer. 17.9 The Heart of Man is deceitful above all things So that we may not only say with the Prophet Micah 7.5 Trust ye not in a Friend put not confidence in a Guide but with Solomon also Prov. 28.26 He that trusteth his own Heart is a Fool. The deceitfulness of the Heart stands 1. In its Treachery 2. In its Subtilty 1. In its Treachery The Heart of a Man is false to it self it is like the Devil a lying Spirit there is no believing it what-ever it speaks It 's full of all guile and will if left to it self betray it self into the hands of its Enemies 2. In its Subtilty It is a crafty Heart it hath many plots and devices to deceive Prov. 19.21 There are
Lord and I know not where they have laid him Grace is not Peace is no more to me a good Conscience where is it become I can neither Believe nor Love nor Pray nor Hope nor any thing else but Fear and Lament O had I feared alway this Fear had never come upon me Christians Are there no such Instances no such Cases in the World And is there no fear that this may be any of your cases Do not you also travel with Charge have you not a Treasure within you What have you been Professors so long Believers so long have you been Hearing and Praying and Fasting and Labouring all this while and have not gotten something you would be loth to lose And is not the World still as very a Thief as ever Does not the Devil lye in wait for you as well as for others Is not his Eye upon that Chain about thy Neck that Jewel in thy Bosom and those Bracelets upon thy Hands the Graces that appear upon thee and hath he not a mind to beguile thee of them all Are his Temptations so weak or art thou so strong that thou needest not fear them As I told thee once heretofore so I now tell thee again He that is so weak as not to fear Temptations is certainly not so strong as to resist them Look to thy self they are all standing at the catch for thee thy Companions are catching thine Estate is catching thy Businese is catching thy Pleasures are all catching at thee to spoil thee of all that ever thou hast Objection But he that hath nothing hath no need to fear the Thief As for me saith the Sinner I have nothing to lose neither Grace nor Peace it 's for the Rich to fear but I am so poor that I cannot be poorer my Estate is so bad that the Devil can hardly make it worse than it is I need not fear whither or among whom I go I cannot come amongst those that are worse than my self why then should such an one as I Fear Answer 1. Hast thou nothing to lose thou hast the more to get Art thou content to be thus poor for ever Hitherto thou hast no Grace thou hast no part in Christ nor the Salvation of God but what if thou shouldst never have That which hath kept thee from Christ hitherto and so wholly void and empty of the Grace of God hitherto is like to keep thee so for ever and O what if it should do so If the Devil and this evil World should serve thee all thy days as they have serv'd thee to this day What if thou shouldst continue thus blind and thus hard and in such a poor and wretched state of Soul to thy dying day Darest thou go down thus to thy Grave Darest thou stand thus in the Judgment When it shall be then demanded of thee What good hast thou done or what good hast thou gotten wouldst thou stand speechless Consider in time the less thou hast the more thou hast to get 2. Thou hast yet much to lose As poor as thou art thou mayest be poorer thy case is not so bad but it may be much worse than ' t is For 1. Thou hast a day of Grace to lose Though thou hast no Grace yet thou hast a day of Grace thou art yet under the means thou art yet in a possibility of Grace as wretched as thy state is it is not desperate The Word is nigh thee the Door of Mercy is yet open Behold the Lord stands at the Door and knocks behold he calleth thee Come unto me and be saved what is thy time for Doth not the Lord say as Rev. 2.21 I give this Sinner space to repent What are Sabbaths Ordinances Ministry for Is not the Acceptable Day yet proclaimed Is not the Word of Reconciliation yet preached unto thee and do all these give thee no hope no opportunity of obtaining Mercy What if these were all lost and gone if it were said unto thee Time is past What if thou shouldst never hear a Sermon more never keep a Sabbath more never see the face of a Minister of Christ more if thou shouldst never again be instructed or invited to Christ but shouldst be irrevocably given up to a Reprobate Mind and an Heart that cannot repent Is it nothing to thee that Repentance is yet preached to thee in the Name of the Lord Jesus that the Ambassadours are still before thy Door beseeching thee from the Lord and praying thee in Christ's stead Be thou reconciled to God How would such a Day be prized in Hell If the Ministers that are now sent to thee were sent down amongst those damned Souls that are bound in Chains of Darkness to carry down the Gospel to them O if those miserable Souls might have one Sabbath more one hour of Grace more one Sermon more of Repentance and Reconciliation preached unto them how would their shrieks and howlings be turned into shouts and acclamations of joy Why Sinner thou hast yet the Blessed Day before thee when 't is past and gone then thou wilt know too late of what price it was 2. Thou hast a Soul to lose As poor as thou art thou hast yet that which is more worth than all the World Matth. 16.26 Thou dost not know the price of a Soul who sayest Thou hast nothing to lose Sinners value their Souls at a low rate 't is the cheapest pennyworth that the Devil can buy in the World Men sell them as cheap as Esau sold his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage as the Rich Men sold the Poor for a piece of Silver or a pair of Shooes a Soul for a Lust a Soul for a Whore a Soul for a Name the lowest price the Devil bids will hardly be refused But as low as Men rate it a Soul is worth a Kingdom all the Kingdoms in the World will not buy it from his hands who knows it's worth All the Crowns and Scepters and Thrones and Dominions of all the Earth put all together one poor Soul will weigh them all down And this is it O Sinner that thou hast to lose and yet dost thou say thou hast nothing to lose How canst thou also but live in Fear Yea who in the World hath greater reason to fear than thou Is thy Soul so precious Is thy Soul in danger of being lost Is it so near gone almost past recovery every day every hour ready to drop down into that Pit from which is no Redemption How is it that such a thought shakes not thy Soul IV. What you should Fear 'T is too long to tell you of every thing that is to be feared Fear especially these Things following Fear 1. Your Delilahs or your beloved Sins 2. Your Jezebells or your painted Sins 3. Your Isaacs or any beloved Creature 4. The Cross or Affliction 5. The Curse or Damnation 1. Fear your Delilahs or your beloved Sins You have reason to fear every Sin greater Sins smaller Sins common and ordinary
Sins strange and unaccustomed Sins there 's no Sin so gross but it may be thy Sin and there 's no Sin so small but it may be thy undoing there 's no Sin so great a stranger to thee but one time or other it may give thee a visit thou mayest be tempted to that Sin which thou wast never tempted to in all thy life thou mayest be over-come of that sin which thou never committedst all thy dayes before Say not of any sin this I fear not it may be the next that comes and if it come thou hast that within thee may bid it welcome Fear all Sin but especially fear thy Beloved Sin Fear what-ever thou lovest in all the World but especially the Sin of thy Love there be some Sins that that thou canst better spare and what thou canst better spare thou needest least to fear But what is this Beloved Sin or how may I know which it is 'T is worth your enquiry and I shall give you the following marks or discoveries of it by which you may understand both what Sin it is that is your Beloved Sin and how great reason you have to fear it 1. The Beloved Sin hath easie entrance The Apostle calls it Heb. 12.1 The Sin that doth easily beset us It layes Siege to the Soul and it hath an easie Siege of it it lies not long without the Walls the Gates are quickly thrown open to it when-ever it comes to the Door 't is usually let in at the first knock Strangers may be made to wait or be sent packing but this Friend must be fetched in and bid welcome the Devil may save his labour to tempt to this Sin it self is temptation enough It is the Familiar of the Heart one of its nearest Acquaintance 2. It hath the command of all The Beloved-Sin is the Master-Sin 't is by love that Sin rules what-ever hath gotten thy love hath therein gotten the dominion in thee Lovest thou God then at his command thou art Lovest thou Sin then this becomes thy Lord thou wilt deny or keep back nothing it will have This Herodias may ask what she will and she shall have it not half but all not the Baptist's Head but thine own Head and Heart and Soul and Life all must be sacrificed to it All the good thou hast and not only this but all other Sins and Lusts must stoop to it and serve it For instance If Pride be the Master-Sin the whole Man and all that ever he hath must be Servants to it yea and every other Lust must either serve it or give place to it Covetousness must get in Wealth to maintain it Envy must throw Dirt in others Faces that would eclipse it Curiosity must provide it of Ornaments all the parts and powers of the Soul all its vertues and inward Endowments all the actions of the Life must all be made use of to serve and uphold it Meekness Temperance Patience Charity Chastity Preaching Praying Fasting all our Religion must be press'd to do homage to this Idol and whatsoever would be a disgrace whether it be good or evil must be laid aside or trodden under-foot If it be a disgrace to be covetous Pride will be content to be poor if it be a disgrace to be quarrelsom Pride will be peaceable yea if it be a disgrace to be proud Humility must serve it for a Covering and Ornament If it be an honour to be Godly and Conscientious the Proud will be a Professor and if it be a disgrace or reproach then farewel to Religion Conscience hide thine head Every thing must be entertained or rejected according as it may serve or hinder it and this Pride must have the ordering and disposing of all If Covetousness be the Master-Sin then all we are or have must be at its command The Sensual Appetite must be denyed and Hunger and Thirst must be born for its sake Expensive Pride or Wasteful Prodigality must no longer be endured Slothfulness and Idleness must by no means be indulged to All our time wits parts strength all those vices injustice oppression unmercifulness must be hired to gather in Dust to feed this greedy Worm And the like may be said of any other Beloved Sin it hath the command of all 3. It must have no check nor controul The Beloved must dwell in quiet do what I will and none must say to it What dost thou Like that Fondling Adonijah of whom 't is said 1 Kings 1.6 His Father had not displeased him at any time nor said Why hast thou done so The Darling must be dandled but never corrected or questioned or if there be a necessity and it cannot be avoided that some check be given it then the same charge must be given as concerning that other of David's Fondlings Absalom 2 Sam. 18.5 Deal gently with the young Man Not too harsh not too close Nay my Sons 't is not well that I hear of you said Eli to his wicked Sons 1 Sam. 4.24 And that 's the hardest word that will be born 4. It 's the last that 's parted with Reuben shall go and Simeon shall go and Judah shall go but must Benjamin go to My Son shall not go down said once old Israel Gen. 42. this Pride let it go sayes the covetous Man and this Sloth and this Pleasure but must this Mammon and my Heart be parted it shall not go This Covetousness let it go saith the proud Man and this Ease and this Pleasure but shall this Honour and these Ornaments go If I be put to Labour I can bear it or if I be Poor I can bear it I can work hard or fare hard but I cannot be despised though my Estate be brought low and my Back be bowed down yet my Spirit will not come down this Pleasure I can spare and this Ease and this Honour saith the peevish but I cannot help it to be angry and impatient when I am provoked Nature will have its vent any thing but this but in this thing the Lord pardon me I cannot help it 5. It 's often the parting penny betwixt Christ and the Soul betwixt the Soul and Life 'T is the last that 's parted with and sometimes 't will never be parted with Christ must go and Life must go the Soul must die rather than this Sin not be saved alive Doubtless there are Souls in Hell that have parted with much and would have parted with all but this one thing their Beloved Sin and for the sake of this they perish everlastingly Was it not the care of that young Man that came to Christ for Eternal Life Mark 10.21 He was fair for Life only Christ tells him One thing thou lackest Get thee loose from the love of this Earth and Heaven shall be thine O sayes his Heart I have too much to lose and I love it too well to part with it so sorry I am I cannot I have a good will to thee I have a mind to live abate me
thou thoughtest and hath so chained it self to these and been so taken up in the service of them that hence 't is with thee as ' t is God hath opened his Store to thee and filled thine hand with good things and thou hast opened thy Mouth and so filled thine Heart with them that it 's even chok'd up by them and all Spiritual Good is even strangled within thee But wilt thou thus requite the Lord O unworthy Soul Shall he be a loser by his Bounty VVilt thou become worse for that he is so good VVilt thou abuse Love VVhat is an abuse of Love if not this that the more he loves the less he is beloved of thee the more he gives the less be returned what was given to draw thine Heart doe's carry it away from him Shall it be said thou wouldst have been a better Servant if he had not been so good a Master If he had not given thee so great an Estate so good a VVife so dear a Child thou wouldst have lov'd him more and serv'd him better than now thou dost Friends if what you Love be not also your Fear it will be like to be your Sin and your Misery 'T will draw your Heart from God and so 't will be your Sin and 't will provoke God to snatch it away from you and then 't will be your Misery What-ever thou over-lovest if the Lord mean thee good look for it to be strip't and bereaved of it He will touch thee in the Apple of thine Eye he will try thee in thine Isaac and will tear off that Jewel that entices thine Heart from him And by how much the more thou lovest by so much the greater will the parting torment be Good old Abraham had an Isaac and in this Isaac he must be tried and an hard tryal he had which how chearfully soever he went through yet consider the Circumstances of it and then think what piercing trouble thy love to Creatures may bring upon thee Gen. 22.2 Take now sayes God to Abraham thy Son thine only Son Isaac whom thou lovest and offer him up for a Burnt-Offering Hadst thou been in this Abraham's stead what a Dagger in thine Heart would this Word have been How would thy love to thine Isaac have risen up and reasoned with the Lord thus If the Lord will have a Sacrifice may not some other Creature be it All the Beasts of the Field are his and the Cattel upon a thousand Hills Is there none amongst all these wherewith the Lord will be pleased but must he have a Man for a Sacrifice If he will have me Sacrifice a Man may not a Stranger be the Man Or if he will have one of mine own House may not a Servant or one of their Sons be accepted If it must be a Son of mine own may not Ishmael the Son of the Bond-woman be he Must it be mine Isaac and none but he And why Lord is this word whom thou lovest added What yet more load 'T would be some ease if I could now forget my love and must this be now remembred This is the Dart that kills my Soul But if this Son of mine this only Son by my Wife this Isaac whom I love must go must I my self offer him up must mine own hand be upon him If this Isaac must be the Sacrifice must none but Abraham be the Priest O what will the Countrey say of me Is Abraham become a Murtherer And how shall I hold up my face to Sarah my Wife at my return What shall I say to her when she asks Where is the Child where is Isaac my Son O my Bowels my Bowels I am pained at mine Heart mine Eyes fail my Soul melts my Livey is poured out on the Earth How shall I say Isaac is not the Child is dead and dead by mine own hand How would Father and Mother fall together and swoon and die as wounded in the streets How chearfully and couragiously soever the good old Man behaved himself under all these astonishing Circumstances yet O think how it would have been with thee hadst thou been this Abrabam and let that thought put thee in fear concerning whomsoever thou dearly lovest Consider a little what the unhappy Fruits of thy own love are God sayes to thee Take now thy Child or thy Children not and offer them up to me for a Burnt-Sacrifice but take and bring them up for me for an Holy Seed Instruct them Govern and Educate them for me Whose are all these that are in thine House Are they not all mine my Sons and my Daughters and wherefore have I sent them thee Is it not with this charge Keep these Souls for me bring them up for me 'T is not for Bread only or for Clothes or for Trades or for Portions that they are come into thine House 't is that they may be instructed to the Kingdom of God and bred up to eternal Life Now how dost thou keep this charge of the Lord Dost thou Teach them Dost thou Govern them Or are they not left a rude and unruly Company But what is in the fault Is not thy love in fault Thou art so fond a Father that thou canst not find in thine Heart to impose upon them any thing that they like not nor canst be so strict or severe as is needful to them My Child is sickly or unapt to learn and I cannot put him so hard to it My Child is wayward and disorderly but I doubt how it would be with him if I should cross or correct him I am fain to let him have his Will more than I would for fear I should discourage or break his Spirit I have but one or but two and if these should miscarry what would become of me Why now thou sees what reason thou hast to fear thy love which is such a Tempter to thee to disobey thy God and to tender the honour of thy Child more than the honour of thy Maker If there be ever a one of thy Children that thou lovest above the rest that must be let alone to be the rebellious Child God sayes to thee Take not thy Child but thy Bread and thy Flesh and thy Money and Estate and offer these up to me Cast thy Bread upon the Waters Draw forth thy Soul to the hungry Give unto him that asketh lend unto him that would borrow of thee feed cloath harbour for my sake do it And yet how little goes out at his Word either to Beggars or Borrowers No thou lovest what thou hast too well to part with it so God sayes to thee Take but this Ram or this Goat thy Sins and thy Lusts slay them and offer them up No thou wilt not do it Thou lovest thine Enemies too and they also must be spared Though they will not spare thee nor any thing thou hast thy Time thine Estate thy Name and all that thou hast must be Meat for thy Lusts yet behold they are loved and must be
the Lord that thou hast a standing infallible and uninterrupted evidence of thy Sincerity and an undoubted Security for thy perseverance to the end Is there not room for such a question What if I should fall short Art thou gotten beyond all possibility of miscarrying for ever Friends know that a possibility of falling into the Wrath to come were that Wrath throughly understood would work more fear than a certain expectation of all the Torments and Miseries of this Life O Fear Hast thou Faith Believe and Fear Hast thou Hope Hope and Fear Hast thou Joy Rejoyce with trembling Rejoyce in hope of the Glory of God and tremble and fear his Wrath and Vengeance There will be this double use and advantage besides others of this fear of the Curse 1. 'T will quicken our necessary fear of Sin 2. 'T will quench our sinful fear of the Cross 1. This fear of the Curse will quicken our necessary fear of Sin Yea and of all the temptations to it Sin is the sting of Death and this Death is the sting of Sin How bitter would Sin taste how gastly would it look were this Gall that lies in its Belly this sting it carries in its Tail discovered and heeded Thou wouldst quickly be filled with thine own wayes didst thou but see what stands at their further end That Bed of Scorpions whither Sin is dragging thee would make every Sin as a Snake or Adder And of all Sins 't would strike the Heart with the greatest fear of its beloved Sins These are they especially under which Hell lies in ambush for us these are Hell's strongest Ropes by which it pulls in Souls Hath any Sin cast a Cord of Love about thee That 's it that 's like to be the Rope to draw thee to the Slaughter Thou canst get loose from many Sins at pleasure but take heed that foolish Heart of thine will die for it s Beloved If thou ask What wouldst thou have O my my beloved Sin What comest thou to me so often for Why takest thou up thy dwelling so near mine Heart It will answer O 't is to please thee that I am so often with thee I know thou lovest me I am the delight of thine Heart and the pleasure of thine Eyes thou canst not be content without me I am that Ease or that Wealth or that Credit that thou lovest Is there not a league betwixt me and thee Am not I the nearest Friend thou hast Thy Health and thy Welfare and thy Soul are not so dear as I am to thee thou lovest me and therefore 't is I come that thou mayest have what thou lovest But what hast thou now to say to it No no Traitor 't is my Life thou seekest 't is my Soul thou comest to steal away and devour O I dread thy fawning Face thy smiles are Darts in mine Heart I tremble at thy wooings and embraces Get thee gone Harlot thy kindnesses are deadly kindnesses What means that Dagger in thine Hand whilst thou thus kissest me with the kisses of thy Mouth 'T is my Death thou art designing I must die if I will any longer love thee and what Death must I die Is it a short and easie Death that thou art betraying me to No no 't is a bitter Death and 't is a lingring Death an eternal Death that thou art preparing for me This Heart hath been under-ground in the dark Cavern of Pitch and Brimstone I have been in the Deep and viewed those Chambers of Death where thou lodgest thy Lovers I have sent down my Spies my thoughts have been below in the Belly of Hell I have beheld how they lie in that Pit roaring and yelling and blaspheming raving mad with the anguish of their burning Souls I have seen the very Smoke and Fire that devours them the burning Teeth of that everlasting Worm that gnaws their Hearts and the fury and rage of that Serpent that deceived them in O my Soul quakes my Bones tremble terror and astonishment have taken hold of me at the Description my thoughts have brought me up of that place of torment And thou O my beloved Sin even thou art it that art most like to carry me down and bury me there If I die that Death 't will be by thy hand if I run my self into that Fire 't will be for thy sake Away from me thou proud Heart get thee gone Covetousness or Sensuality or Slothfulness or whatever the Name of my Beloved be I dare not have any more to do with thee I fear thee more than ever I loved thee I fear where thou mayest lay me before tomorrow if I should suffer thee to lodg but one night more with me Such dread of thy beloved Sin would a fear of the Curse work in thee Friends consider Are there yet any Sins that have such power over your Hearts are your Spirits so chained by them that you cannot get loose O look to those Chains of Fire into which by this Chain of Love your Sins are dragging you Are you afraid of the Curse of God Are you afraid to burn Are you afraid to be rack'd and torn and gnawn and groun'd under the Milstones of eternal Vengeance then be afraid of Sin Let Hell be your Fear and Sin will be your Fear let Sin be your Fear and it will be no longer your Love If you will not fear this Fear if you will laugh at Hell you will sport at Sin If you fear not to be Cursed you will less fear to be Wicked if you fear not Hell you will hardly fear to be Devils on Earth O Sinners steep all your pleasant Morsels in that Vinegar and Gall spice all your stollen Waters with that Pitch and Brimstone strow all your pleasant wayes with those Serpents and Adders which will bite and sting your Souls for ever Mingle all your Carnal Delights with some such deep thoughts of what they are betraying you to and then go on after them without fear if you can And as this fear of Wrath will work a fear of Sin so will it also work the same fear of temptations to Sin Sin and Temptation lead the same way though Temptation be one remove farther back Temptation leads to Sin and Sin to Death He that fears the Fowler will fear the snare of the Fowler he that fears the Hunter will fear his Dogs and his Toyls Get a fear of the Land of Darkness and you will fear to be Companions of such as are travelling thitherward fear the Plague and thou wilt be no company for them whose dwelling is in the Pesthouse Afraid of Hell and yet never well but when thou art amongst those Decoys that are enticing thee thither What are the Allurements of Sinners to the Ear of him that hath Death and Wrath in his Eye Let them entice thee Come Let 's be merry let 's to the Alehouse or the Tavern or to a Play Let 's feed to the full let 's cloth our selves with the best let
of Christ may be right in your Eyes and yet your Hearts not be upright in his Eyes You may be perswaded in your Hearts concerning the Way of Godliness that this is the Good Way that this is the Right Way and an Excellent Way that the Life of a Christian led according to the Rules of the Gospel is an Excellent Life Rom. 2.18 Thou knowest his Will and approvest the things that are more Excellent And to this good Opinion Men may be wrought 1. From the Self-evidencing Light of that Holy Doctrine which prescribes and requires Godliness 2. From the convincing Lives of the Sincere Professors of Godliness 3. From the Self-condemnation that is to be observed in all other wayes 1. From the Self-evidencing Light of the Doctrine of Godliness The Doctrine of Christianity proves it self to be of God by that Divine Light that shines forth in it there is a stamp of Divinity imprinted upon it Is God an Holy God So is this Doctrine an Holy Doctrine Is God a Merciful and Gracious God So is this Doctrine a Doctrine of Mercy a Doctrine of Grace there is Grace and Mercy runs through the whole Body of it nay they are the very Soul and Life of it Is God a God of Wisdom The Doctrine of Christianity is the Wisdom of God in a Mystery Is God a God of Truth and of Righteousness Such is the Doctrine of the Gospel that not only is according to Truth and reveals the Righteousness of God but requires Truth and imposes Righteousness upon all that will embrace it What is more contrary to this Word of Truth than a Lye or than Hypocrisie and Guile What is more contrary to this Word of Righteousness than Unrighteousness Doth the Word of the Gospel allow any Iniquity Is there any guile found in it or any toleration whereof in its Professors Doth it not command all Righteousness and condemn all Unrighteousness even while it justifies the Sinner it condemns the Sin This Religion is pure Religion and undefiled before God Jam. 1.25 Teaching us that denying all ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live righteously soberly and godly in this present World Tit. 2.13 14. Now he that knows that God is an Holy and Wise God a God of Grace of Truth and of Righteousness and does but understand the Scriptures may without any great difficulty be led into a good opinion of that Godliness which is there held forth and required 2. From the Convincing Lives of the Sincere Professors of Christianity I do not say from the Lives of all Professors some Professors of Christianity there are who are not Christians Some such there are amongst Professors who are disorderly walkers whose Wayes are so evidently contrary to their Profession as if the Devil had led them into their Christianity on purpose to disgrace the Gospel and 't is like enough 't was his doing indeed to make Professors of them This Tempter may tempt Men into Religion as far as may sewe his own ends and Mens Lusts may make them Disciples Such I mean who while they pretend to the Spirit do walk after the Flesh who hold the Truth in Vnrighteousness Rom. 1.18 who are proud self-conceited self-willed heady giddy wandring and unstable Souls like crooked Lines that in some points touch with the Rule but for the most part do swerve from it on this hand and on that Who are scrupulous about some smaller Matters which they fancy to have an appearance of evil and yet allow themselves in apparent Evils straining at a Gnat and swallowing a Camel insisting much on some Circumstances and neglecting the weightier Matters of the Law like those Mat. 23.23 24. 'T is but little that Godliness is beholden for the good Opinion it hath obtained to such as these But to the sincere and single-hearted Professors whose Lives are a Copy or Pattern of wholsom Doctrine holding forth the Word of Life exemplifying the Holy Rules laid down in Scripture and shewing forth the Vertues of Christ before the World Who are in the World as he was in the World who live by Faith and walk in Love being humble meek peaceable merciful temperate true righteous and holy in all manner of Conversation These are the Persons whose Lives do commend Godliness to the World and force their very Hearts many of them to acknowledg Sure this is the Way of God that these Men walk it cannot be but God is in them of a very truth sure these are the Servants of the Living God this is Religion indeed if there be any way of Life this is the way It 's true this way is every-where spoken against by the malicious but the more like to be of God for that So 't was in the Apostles dayes Acts 28.22 As for this Sect we know it is every-where spoken against Mark it Christianity was counted by the malicious but a Sect or a Faction and Christians but Sectaries so they were counted and called about 1600 years ago and therefore 't is no disparagement if they be counted so still But sayes the considering Sinner let them be called what Men please Sectaries Seducers Hypocrites or what else malice can invent yet as it was said of Christ John 10.21 These are not the words of him that hath a Devil so it may be said of his Followers Call them what you will yet these are not the Lives of Schismaticks or Hypocrites these Men are the Servants of the most High God and their way is the way of Life 3. From the Self-condemnation that all other wayes carry in them If this be not the way of Life there 's none if these be not the Servants of God there are none such in the World For where are they else to be found Are the Ignorant and the Earthly and the Irreligious are these the Religious Are the Carnal and the Formal and the out-side Worshippers that will give Christ the Cap and the Knee and yet can Drink and Riot and Swear and Scoff are these the sincere Worshippers of God This must be the Good Way or which else can it with any tolerable probability be imagined to be Surely if this be not it we must even all count to be damn'd for there is no other that so much as looks like the Path of Life The Atheist must say I am not in the way to God this Fool hath said in his Heart There is no God The Pope with his Doctrine must say I am not the Way I am Antichrist 't is Christ only that brings us to God Formality must say I am not the Way for God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth John 4.24 Profaneness must say I am not the Way to God I am the Way of Death and my steps lead down to Hell If there be any Way of Death in the World profaneness is it Drunkards and Swearers and Revellers and Rioters if their Consciences may but have the priviledg of their
than others said Christ to his Disciples Math. 5.47 I have not done by others as I have done by you they have not been taught as you have been taught they have not been fed as you have been fed they have not seen nor heard nor tasted what you have done think not that it can be born that you do no more nor no better than they Coloss 2.6.7 As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as ye have been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving Is Christ in thee let the life of Christ be made manifest in thy life as he was so be thou in the world he went about doing good go thou and do likewise Hast thou faith hast thou the love of Christ in thee where is thy work of faith where are thy labours of love hast thou been filled with the fruits of righteousness with meekness humility mercy patience let them all have their perfect work that thou may'st be entire lacking nothing Our first fruits must be brought forth upon our selves our first care and business must be to work out our own Salvation to keep every one of us our own vineyard Thou hast an heart of thine own to keep and a tongue to keep and eyes and hands to look to and govern well thou hast thy thoughts and thy passions and thine appetite and thy Conscience and thy conversation to take care of and the grace thou hast received is firstly to be exercised upon thy self But though thy work begin there yet it must not end there thou hast thy family to govern thou hast thy father's family the houshold of faith to look after yea and thou hast a larger charge than this as thou hast opportunity do good to all Gal. 6.10 thou art set to be a guide to the blind a light to them that are in darkness an instructer of the foolish a teacher of babes an example of the believers yea and of the unbelievers also in word in conversation in charity in spirit in faith in purity Now Christians know your work and set to your work serve the Lord with the best you have and serve the Lord with all you have and all this in fear lest you should receive the grace of God in vain I beseech you saith the Apostle take heed of that 2 Cor. 6.1 I beseech you that you receive not the grace of God in vain Then the grace of God is received in vain not only when nothing is done by it but in a degree it may be said to be received in vain when its fruits are not proportionable there is not so much done as might have been done When he that hath received ten talents brings forth no more fruit than might have been brought forth with five when he that hath received five talents hath done no more good than might have been done with two all our receivings that are over and above the proportion of our fruits all the over-plus of them is received in vain He that is a knowing Christian if he lives not to better purpose than a Christian of little knowledge he that is an ancient experienced Christian if he be no more useful in his life than he that is but a babe that which he hath received above what this babe hath received is received in vain and the Lord may say to him wherefore is this waste What art thou a man of knowledge and hast had such long acquaintance with God and such experiences of his special love and kindness to thee and do'st thou keep all so much to thy self that thou art of little more use in thy generation than a child Hath the Lord taken thee into his heart shewed thee his loves comforted thee in Prayer counselled thee in his Word feasted thee at his Table caused his grace so to abound towards thee and made thee glad with the light of his countenance and all for no more but this hath he furnished thee and fitted thee for every good work and yet art thou thus barren and unfruitful An unuseful and unactive spirit in a Christian is an unhappiness and an unworthiness which yet possibly some that are none of the lowest form for attainments may have reason enough to charge themselves withall and to conclude that though they have not altogether yet they have very much received the grace of God in vain Brethren beloved let us study and let us learn that wisdom which is from above which is full of good fruits dare not to be found among the barren of the flock nor of those trees which do little better than cumber the ground Once more let me put the spur to the side What if the Lord should come among his fig-trees and find so little fruit upon thee art thou not afraid thou might'st hear that word Cut it down why cumbreth it the ground Consider friend what fruits are there found upon thee the fruits of the flesh may be are still hanging on what clustres are there of them hatred variance emulation strife wrath envying pride covetousness what a vintage is there of these wild grapes but where are the fruits of the spirit what a small gleaning is there of them to be found and what shrivelings are those that are would'st thou that thy Lord should find it thus with thee we read Cant. 4.16 when the Church was in a thriving fruitful state she prayed Let my beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant fruits Do'st Thou make that Prayer O no I am afraid he should come and find me thus thy Prayer is more like to be Let my Lord delay his coming But how long must he stay thine heart would shake within thee to think that he should find thee thus but when O when shall it be better with thee Take this pruning hook fear will serve thee for such an use and lop off these evil fruits that the fruits of righteousness may spring up in their room When shall the Roses and the Pomegranates bud when shall the fragrant spices flow forth those blessed fruits of the Spirit love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance when shall these sprout once Christians do you not wish 't were better with you can you bear your own barrenness Is not this vain empty fruitless life an offence to you do you not confess 't is low water with you do you not complain of your uselessness and unprofitableness But shall this be all shall we never have better fruit to bring before the Lord but our confessions and complaints of our want of fruit but our self-bemoanings and self-judgings for our barrenness Better this than nothing but when shall it be better when shall we hear the voice of joy and praise and thanksgivings to the Lord for blessing our fields with increase when shall we be able to say See O Lord thy blood hath not been shed in vain thy spirit hath not been poured
heavenward to be as swimming against the stream but by how much the more grace hath over-powred nature by so much the more he hath now gotten the stream with him his following God is now become as swimming down the stream of that new nature which hath now gotten so much the better in him One of the hardest works of a Christian is Self-denyal to lay down our own wills to curb our appetites to go cross to our own dispositions interests and humours this goes near at first and will hardly be born but after we have us'd our selves a while to it and by degrees inur'd our wills to submission to the will of Christ and holding the bridle strait upon lust and appetite have made our hearts to feel themselves to be under authority a chearful and contented subjection will in time become habitual to us the more self-denyal we have exercised the less will there be afterwards needed He that hath been given to intemperance to gluttony or drunkenness at his first laying a restraint upon himself what a bondage is sobriety and temperance to him but after he hath used himself to a temperate life he finds it more sweet and easie to him and is better pleas'd with it than ever he was with his former excess and scarcely knows now what 't is to lust after his old licentiousness Now Brethren that which I would perswade you to is Make your Religion pleasant by making it easie to you make your Religion easie not by halfing your work or remitting your care but by increasing your strength and your diligence get your hearts strengthened and get them habituated to Religion this will make it easie and ease will make it pleasant What 's the reason that we see some Sinners go on with so much pleasure in their wicked wayes the service of sin is laborious enough and in some respects much more toilsome and expensive than the Service of Christ They have many Masters to serve and every one of them will be calling them to work they have the Devil to serve and the World to serve and divers lusts to serve they are like a servant of men who is at the command of more Masters than one one calls him this way another that way one hath this to be done another that to be done so that for one and another the poor Servant can never be at rest such is the case of Sinners their pride calls them one way their covetousness another their sensuality another their Souls are made meer Hackneys of though they change their rider yet one or other is still upon their backs And yet we see how roundly and merrily they go on their way without ever complaining of their Masters or their work When do you ever hear any such complaints among them O this Devil is an hard Master O this flesh of mine what a Tyrant is it O this feasting and sporting this drinking and rioting what an irksome Trade is it O this getting of Money this laying house to house and field to field I am quite weary of it When do you hear any such groanings or complainings amongst them No no they are strong Sinners they are accustomed to do wickedly and thereupon as very a drudgery as the service of Sin is they can go through it with ease and pleasure Friends get you to be strong in the Lord and you will run your race of duty with much more pleasure than sinners run their course of iniquity hold you close to your work a while and you will get to Heaven with as much ease as Sinners go to Hell O what fools are loytering trifling Christians who think to make their life easie by idleness what 's the reason that thou haltest thus after the Lord and art so slothful in thy way why dost thou not set thine heart and thy shoulders to the work of the Lord and give thy self in good earnest and wholly to it O I can't endure all labour all difficulty I must have a little ease 't is too tedious and painful to me to hold to such close and constant service But dost thou think to make thy work easie by trifling at it Foolish Soul thou takest the ready way to create thee the more difficulty once the work must be done or thou art undone and there 's no such way to do it easily as by doing it diligently the life of a trifler is the hardest life of all that profess themselves Christians doubtless Christ's yoke will sit easiest upon those necks upon which it sits the closest 4. The pleasure of Love He that hath not felt pleasures in love hath not felt what 't is to love This is one of the great pleasures of Heaven to love and to be beloved to receive the over-flowings of the divine love and to feel our hearts emptying themselves and flowing forth in returns of love to God Look how much you have of love so much of Heaven of the joy that is above 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love what follows Ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Joh. 4.16 God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and he that dwelleth in God dwelleth in joy Psal 37.4 Delight thy self in the Lord to love God and to delight in God are much the same love is the bud and delight is the blossome that grows out of it Love hath a pleasure in it and the love of God will put a pleasure into all Religion How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts Psal 84.1 It is good for me to draw near to God Psal 73.28 I delight to do thy will O my God Psal 40.8 Sing praises to his name for it is pleasant Psal 135.3 It is a pleasant thing for him that loves to please and praise the Lord It is good before the Saints Psal 52.9 Fear often brings us upon Service but 't is love that sweetens it fear brings us on especially in the dayes of our minority and it should do so as I have already shewed if love will not fear must We often pray and read and hear and search our hearts and look to our wayes because we dare do no other we strive and wrestle and watch against sin and its lusts against the world and its temptations because we are afraid what would become of us if we should not 'T is well that any thing will do either love or hope or fear whatever it be that will bring us upon our duty that will keep us from iniquity 't is well that something will do it 'T is better to pray because we are afraid to neglect it than not to pray at all 't is better to keep a good Conscience because we are afraid of an evil Conscience than to be licentious whatever it be that brings us upon a consciencious life better so than to be let alone to carnality and looseness But yet still 't is love that sweetens and thereby strikes the great and
most kindly stroke in all Religion Fear brings us to Religion as to our Physick the sick man hath no love to Physick but yet he will take it rather than dye Love brings us to it as to our food 't is our meat and drink to do the will of God eating and drinking to the hungry and thirsty are some of the great pleasures of life Duties are the meat of Holy Souls and they come unto them with as great desire and are conversant in them with as great delight as hungry bodies come to and sit at their meals Cant. 2.3 I sate down under his shadow and his fruit was sweet to my taste Weak believers are like sickly men neither Physick nor food will relish with them they must eat for necessity they cannot live without something of Religion but were it not for necessity they could almost as well let it all alone 'T is well that necessity will prevail but whilest they are thus forced on how heavily do they drive and how little must suffice them too often they come on to their duties like bears to the stake and go off from them as the Oxe from under the yoke But when thou lovest thy soul will enlarge and reach forth with desire even after the highest pitch of Godliness and thou wilt go freely and chearfully on in all the exercises of it Thou wilt not then say may not less serve thou wilt not say may not less duty serve because thou canst not say may not less pleasure serve Every one would have as much pleasure as he can and therefore would'st thou have as much holiness as thou canst the more holy the more pleasure If thou lovest thou wilt not be for short Duties short Prayers short Sermons little snatches at Religion thou wilt not be so soon weary at thy work when are men weary of pleasure when do they use to say I have pleasant hours enough sunshine dayes enough O that my good dayes were over once O that my dayes of darkness would come and the years draw nigh wherein I might say I have no pleasure in them Every one is willing to live in delights as much and as long as he can when once we can say the Lord is my delight the next word will be Let me dwell in the presence of God for ever Christians let our Souls take the wing and mount up towards this blessed state O how short do the most of us fall we have much ground to go e're we shall get up to it How is it with us in our secret converses with God are we glad when our retiring hours draw near when we enter into our Closets to meet with our beloved do we there use to solace our selves with love Is praying and praising our pleasure is communing with God and with our own hearts a delight do our hearts use to say It 's good for me to be here And how is it with us in our ordinary course what is the joy of our life Is this it that our life is a walking with God have we no good dayes but our holy-dayes are we never well but when we can see and serve the Lord and never amiss while we are so doing do we not only judge but feel that intimacy and familiarity in Heaven is our only Heaven on earth Lord how seldom Lord how little is it thus with us But may we not obtain Is not such a blessed state worth our putting in for it Are you willing friends to keep you alwayes at this distance from your delight Is it enough that you have some hopes for hereafter are you content that your souls should never taste of your joyes here shall they still dwell in exile while they dwell on earth shall they never put off the garments of their widowhood till they put off their clothing of flesh Are you content to take up yet longer with this dark and disconsolate state Is the drudgery of Religion this sighing and mourning and striving against the stream and going on so poor and hungry and hard bestead Is this Religion enough for you would you be glad to be more cheary and lively in your way would you taste the milk and the honey the marrow and the fatness would you ride on with free spirits and full sails triumphing over difficulties and rejoycing in hope of the glory of God would you that these rough wayes were become a plain and these dark shades were all sun-shine would you feed in the green pastures and be led by the still waters and be made to drink of that River that makes glad the City of God Then put you on be no longer smatterers and pidlers dwell no longer on the shoar or surface of Religion but hoyse up all your sails and launch forth into the deep get you into the heart and inside of Christianity where the Lord will shew you his loves Be not satisfyed with some few glances or little touches but get you possessed and swallowed up of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord and this will be to you both the wine that will make glad your hearts and the oyle that will make all your wheels to run then shall you run the way of Gods Commandements when the pleasure of Love shall enlarge your hearts FINIS