upon thee whereby he marks thee out for one of his own Men had need of other marks to prove them Christians than what the Rod hath made on their backs 't is our quiet submitting to it and that upon Gospel grounds as hath been before shewed that must do it and this will be evidence enough None but a Son will thus submit 2. The suffering state of Christians is ordinarily attended with other evidences Sufferings will set patience on work and patience will set every other grace on work Whatsoever it be that findes work for patience will therein find work for faith and love and hope and self-denyal Christians never appear so much believers so humble so mortified as under the Cross If there be any faith or love or hope in the heart 't will appear in the day of adversity If there be any fire under the ashes throw on water and then you shall hear it when it may be before you could see none there As Solomon sayes folly so we may say wisdom grace is bound up in the heart of a child but the rod of correction will fetch it out We seldom know either how bad or how good our hearts are till they are thus proved This I did to prove thee and to know what was in thine heart Besides this is the season when ordinarily there are most plentiful illapses and incoms from above God seldom sends such Tokens of his love as to his Children in prison The light of his Countenance he often reserves for their darkest estate he sets to his Seal when the Wax is on fire There have been Christians that would never believe that they were such till God hath told it them at the stake the highest joyes the fullest sence of everlasting kindness have been most ordinarily the portion of Gods Martyrs When Hell is let loose upon them then Heaven is most open Many Christians have met with such refreshings in their bonds that their enlargement hath been their Prison If this be so Christians who would fear sufferings who would not be patient would it comfort you to know that God is your Father Be patient and you shall know it What would you not bear so you might be sure you are the Lords It may be you have been held under doubt and fears and sad uncertainties hitherto all your dayes you have gone about from duty to duty from Ordinance to Ordinance from Christian to Christian enquiring and mourning and complaining and crying out Oh if I were sure that Christ were mine that my faith and my love and my hope and my obedience were sound and sincere such as would prove my adoption then I could be quiet Why if ever GOD calls thee to Sufferings follow him chearfully He calls thee out to prove to thee that thou lov'st him Fear not to go up with him on the Cross Assuâ—ance is a Fruit that most ordinarily grows on that Tree Let hypocrites only fear sufferings 't will be sad indeed to them there 's many a self-deceiving Professor that never suspected himself to be an hypocrite till persecution made him an Apostate that 's a woful case to have Sufferings come upon him for the Gospel's sake only to tell him That he hath no part in Christ nor his Gospel Let hypocrites be afraid and unquiet but let Saints be patient The same trialls which will prove them bastards will prove you sons 3. Your patient suffering is the cure of your Corruption Sufferings are our medicine for corruption and patience our cure To what degree of patience a Christian hath attain'd that degree of power hath he gotten over iniquity Till lust be conquered there 's no patience If there be but one unmortified corruption remaining and an affliction comes and grates upon that this will provoke there 's no bearing it Whence is impatience but from this for the most part that we cannot bear any violence that 's offered to lust What is Patience but this that we can bear that pain that Lust when pinch'd will put us to quietly to suffer our pride our envy our passion our sensual appetities to be cut short of what would gratifie them and freely to leave them under that which comes to kill and crucifie them to be able to want that fuell that feeds and endure that water that doth quench these fires This is Patience When our Pride is strip'd of its ornaments our appetites depriv'd of their delicates our covetousness of its substance our flesh of its â—ase and we either feel no smart or can bear the smart of it then we are Patient And when we can thus leave our Corruptions to whatever sufferings come upon them without taking part with them in their sufferings then lust is conquered Lust no longer lives nor maintains its power and interest in us than whilest in all its afflictions we are afflicted when we feel its sufferings as our sufferings its disappointments and dissatisfactions as our own and fly out against whatsoever falls upon it as if it fell upon our Souls When we can say 't is my passion that suffers but not I 't is my Covetousness that suffers my Pride that suffers but not I and let them suffer for me let them be pinch'd and pain'd and starved and die none of all this shall move me nay herein I do and I will rejoyce There 's patience Patience is Lust conquered Christians you complain of Corruption you tell one another sad stories what a Burden what a bondage 't is you are under whilest Lust hath such power in you what Briars and Thornes what plagues and stings they are in your hearts You pray and you mourn and groan and sigh in your selves waiting for your redemption from this bondage and misery Oh for an humble heart oh for a broken mortified spirit oh this earthliness this envy this peevishness this slothfulnessâ— I am weary of my life because of these daughters of Heth. Wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Why would you be delivered Be patient under Afflictions they are the Executioners sent from God to slay your Enemies the Mâ—dicines sent from youâ— Physician to cure your Diseases Never quarrel with Affliction unless you Resolve to be friend Corruption Wâ—at will you be so foolish as not to be patient of your Disease nor your Remedy either bear the Cross or else never make your selves believe but you can bear your sins well enough Whatever your Complaints are 't is a sign they come not very deep 'T is an Argument that sinne sits light where the cross lies so unsupportably heavy 4. Your patient suffering will be your Triumph over Temptation A patient Christian is a Conquerour over all the World By this alone naked Job overcame the Devil When Sathan and his Instruments have persecuted you into patience they have therein brought their Neckâ— under youâ— Feet This Brazen Wall will make their short recoil on their own heads and hearts Your Patience will be
a flame Who was it that dwelt in the Bush God was in the Bush And that kept it from consuming though not from burning The good will of this God shall be with thee his love his favour his care I love them that love me Prov. 8. 17. The Lord loveth the Righteous Psal 146. 8. The love of God is the womb of all good Hence sprang the morning Star from the love of God came the Son of God hence came that womb of the morning the blessed Gospel which is so big with glorious grace with light life pardon peace glory immortality from the love of God came the glorious Gospel of God The upper Springs all spiritual and heavenly blessings the nether Springs all earthly and outward blessings do all rise and bubble up out of this Fountain the love of God The pretious things of Heaven the pretious Fruits brought forth by the Sun the pretious Fruits put forth by the Moon the chief things of the antient Mountains the pretious things of the lasting Hills the pretious things of the Earth and the fulness thereof All these flow in with the good will of him that dwelt in the Bush Love is all the Apostle tells us Rom. 13. our love to God is the fulfilling of the Law that is it will bring forth all that to God all that duty and obedience which the Law requires I may tell you that Gods love to us is the fulfilling of the Gospel that is it will powre down all that upon us it will do all that for us which the Gospel promises Look over the whole Gospel read and study every pretious leaf and line of that blessed Book and if there be enough in all that to make thee blessed and to encourage thee on in thy holy course all this is thine Thou hast that love of God with thee which will fulfill the Gospel there shall not one jot or tittle fail thee of all that the Gospel promises The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this Isa 9. 7. 2. The help of God will be with you the Lord will be your helper in the day of your distress Heb. 13. 5 6. He hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee So that we may boldly say The Lord is my helper I will not fear what man can do unto me He hath said I will not leave thee and therefore we may say I will not fear He hath said I will be and therefoâ—e we may boldly say the Lord is my helper He hath said He will not forsake he will helpe and who is he that shall say There is no help for thee in thy God There 's no man whose Case may not be so desperate as to be above all humane help If he should cry out as the Woman to the King of Israel Help O King the King must answer If the Lord do not help thee whence shall I help thee If he should cry out Help O Man of God the Man of God must answer If the Lord do not help thee whence shall I help thee If he cry out Help O my friends my Wit my Policy my Purse all these must answer If the Lord do not help thee whence shall we help thee But what case is there wherein an Help Lord will not do Foolish men count their case desperate when they come to their God help that 's an usuall expression to set forth the extremity and helplesness of any mans case When we see men even lost in any misery and their case even utterly hopeless then to signifie our sense of such mens lost condition we cry out God help that man God help that woman they are lost Creatures I but if men did understand and consider what the help of the Lord is they would see there could be no case so desperate but an Help Lord might recover all 1 Sam. 30. 6. when David was greatly distressed and all was gone he encouraged himself in the Lord his God Consider here two things 1. What his Case then was he was in great distress he had lost all that ever he had his spoils that he had taken were all gone his Corn and his Cattell his Wives and his City were all lost he had not an habitation in all the World he had nothing left him but a poor Army and these were worse than lost they were even ready to fall upon him The people spake of stoning him but he encouraged himself in the Lord his God 2. What the event hereupon was why God help'd him to all he had again vers 19. There was nothing lacking to them neither small nor great neither sons nor daughters neither spoil nor any thing they had taken David recovered all Hence note 1. That a Christian when he hath lost all hath yet a God to go to at last 2. Whilest a Christian hath a God to go to his case is never desperate let him but encourage himself in his God and all will be recovered Sinners triumph not over the poor people of God when they are at their worst when they are brought as low as your Pride and Malice can lay them though they should be stript naked and left destitute of all their comforts though all the World should ride on their backs and tread on their necks yet rejoyce not against them though they fall they shall arise when they are at their worst there 's still help for them in their God 3. The presence of the Lord shall be with them Whither soever they may be scattered they shall not be scattered from their Goâ— That Promise made to Moses Exod. 33. 14. My presence shall go with thee belongs to all the Israel of God My presence in the Original 't is my face in the Septuagint my self shall go with thee The presence of God is either Generall or Speciall By his generall presence he is every where 1. Per essentiam he fills all things 2. Per Cognitionem he beholds all things 3. Per Sustentationem he upholds all things 4. Per Dominium he governs all things But to let this passe as not so proper to our purpose 2. There is his Speciall or gracious Presence whereby he manifests himself to be with his people 1. In some visible and standing tokens of his presence as in those extraordinary the Pillars of the Cloud and of the Fire and in those ordinary the Ark and the Temple of old and the Ordinances of the Gospel now 2. In some inward influences and irradiations upon the hearts of his people 3. In some visible and signall effects of his presence whereof there are very many There are amongst others these two notable effects of Gods gracious presence which his people by vertue of this Promise may with confidence expect Conduction Covering they shall be Led in their way and they shall be Hid in their way 1. Conduction the Lord will be with them to lead them and guide them in the way that they should go Psal 25. 9
saving power and efficacy of it I am afraid there are too many I am afraid there 's many a blind Eye many an hard Heart many a Spirit still in Prison under the power of their Lusts and Bruitish Sensuâ—lity I am afraid there are many such among you and are not you afraid so to Oh that you were 2. I have a greater fear than this I am afraid of some of you that not onely all my past Labours but this last will be lost also Those that stand it out to their last day do usually stand it out in their last day Blessed be God that there are amongst you those over whom my Soul is comforted To whom I can speak in the words of the Apostle Rom. 6. 16. God be thanked that ye were the Servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine that hath been delivered unto you and being now made free from sin you are become the Servants of Righteousness Oh that I could thus speak Oh that I could thus rejoyce over you all But as the Apostle said to the Corinthians 2 Cor. 12. 20. I fear lest when I come I shall find you such as I would not So must I say with a grieved heart I fear that now I am going I shall leave you such as I would not I would not leave one blind person one vain person one loose liver not one unbeliever or impenitent amongst you all Oh what a good day would this day of my departure be what Light would there be in this dark Evening were it thus with you If I might see you all recovered out of the Snares of the Devil every man's Eyes open'd every man's Fetters off every man's Prison broken and his Soul escaped from that deadly bondage if every poor deadly Creature among you who yet lies bound hand and foot in his Grave Clothes might now at last stand up from the Dead and live the Life of God this would be mine and your great rejoycing But oh I fear with this Apostle 2 Cor. 12. 21. My God will humble me and grieve me and afflict me to see in what an woful plight I must leave divers of you Oh ye Sons of the Night you poor ignorant and daâ—k Souls upon whom the Light hath shined but your Darkness comprehendeth it not Oh you poor obstinate and hardned Souls upon whom I have been ploughing as upon Rocks and hewing as upon Adamants who still remain under as great hardness as if no Dew nor Rain had ever fallen on you Oh you poor half-bak'd almost Christians that have taken up your stand in your present Attainments my Soul is under great fears and must weep in secret for you whil'st my Tongue must be henceforth silent Oh every Soul that is without fear of himself my Soul is afraid for you the fearless Soul is in a fearful state Sinners let my fears be your fears What is there such astonishing guilt upon you and yet not afraid Such a dreadful Roll writ against you and yet not afraid So many Sabbâ—ths Sermons Warnings lost and never to be recalled nor any Assurance left of one Sermon or Warning more and yet not afraid Such a subtil Devil such a deceitful Heart such a tempting World that you have to deal withall such a black and bottomless Pit into which you are falling and yet not afraid Oh what Stocks and Stones hath the Gospel to deal withall Beloved I have labour'd much with you both publiquely and from house to house to bring you under a due fear and jealousie of your selves but hitherto your hearts have been too hard for me Oh yet for trembling hearts tremble and sin not fear and pray fear and hope fear and repent Work out your Salvation with fear and trembling Oh if my feaâ—s were once become your fears your fears would become my hopes Oh what a Day-spring of hopes would arise from the shaking of secure hearts These Fears would be as the thicker Darkness Fore-runners of Break of Day 2. My parting Wishes and Desires for you are 1. That the good Seed which hath been sown amongst you were well rooted in every heart I wish that my Twenty Yeaâ—s Ministry among you may not be lost Labour to any one of your Souls 2. I wish that your next Seeds man may be more skilful and successful that the good Lord will provide you a man that may teach you in Wisdom gain you in Love lead you on to Life by an Holy Example and if the Lord grant you this mercy I wish that such an one may be deatly priz'd and chearfully accepted by you God keep this Flock from a Ravening Wolf and a deceitful Shepheard 3. I wish that there may be no Root of Bitterness springing up amongst you that there be no Divisions or Contentions but that you may live in peace and love that the God of peace and love may be with you 4. I wish that this place where so much good Seed hath been sown may become a fruitful Field that the Fruits of Faith and Repentance the Fruits of Righteousness and Holiness may be in you and abound that you may be neither barren nor unfruitful that Religion in the power and practice of it may so visibly flourish in the several persons in the several Families of this Congregation that they that go by may see and say This is the Field which the Lord hath blessed 5. I wish that whatever Clouds may at any time gather over you may not fall down in a withering Storm or a sweeping Floud but may pass away in a Mist or dissolve into a fruitful Dew that no Persecutions or Temptations may ever carry you down the Stream with evil men nor blight any hopeful beginnings that are budding forth in any of your Souls If Tribulation should be any of your Lots I wish it may not be to you as the Hail of Egypt but as the Dew of Hermon 6. I wish you a joyful Harvest that you may reap in Eternity what hath been sown in Time may you now sow in Righteousness and hereafter reap in Mercy May every one that is now sowing in Tears for ever reap in joy May you that go on your way weeping bearing pretious Seed return with joy and bring your Sheavs with you May the Showers of this day be the watering of your Seed that it may spring up to Eternal Life Brethren My hearts desire for you all is that you may be saved and if there be any persons that bear evil will to me my particular wish for them is The Good-will of him that dwelt in the Bush be those Men's Portions for ever These are some of my Wishes for you will you joyn your Wishes with mine Will you turn your Wishes into Prayers and let this be your Prayer The Lord grant thee thine hearts desire and fulfill all thy Mind Brethren Do I wish you any harm in all this If not if it be to wished that the Word of Christ
once hear lest if ye now refuse ye no â—ore be perswaded with oh that they would but be 〈◊〉 ever confounded with oh that they had Lest all our wishes and wooings of you be turned into weepings and mournings over you this once hear oh that you would I heartily thank you for your good wishes and good will towards me for your willing and chearful entertainment of my person and attendance on my Ministry And particularly for your passionate desire of my longer stay among you Which desire if God had not my Soul could not have denyed you Though the Almighty to whose pleasure it 's meet that we all submit hath said Nay to that wish of yours yet let your Souls say Amen to this last of mine that the Lord God would dwell among you and in you both now and for ever And having thus finished my Labours among you I shall now close up with this double account 1. Of my discharge of my Ministry in this place 2. Of my deprivall And shall so commit you to God and to the word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an Inheritance amongst all them that are sanctified 1. Of my discharge of my Ministry what my Doctrine and manner of life hath been is known to you and what my aim and intent hath been is known to God The searcher of hearts knowes that 't is the salvation of Souls that hath been the mark at which I have levelled My way hath been to use all plainness that I might be made manifest in your Consciences Weaknesses and infirmities both natural and sinful the Lord pardon it I have had many I am sensible that much more might have been done both in publick and in private had it not been for a weakly body and a sloathful heart I repent that I have had no more zeal for God no more compassion to Souls I repent that I have been no more constant and importunate with you about the matters of Eternity Oh Eternity Eternity that thou wert no more in the heart and Lips of the Preacher in the hearts and eares of the hearers But while I thus judge my self for my failings Blessed be God for any sincerity to his name and good will to your Souls that he hath seen in me Blessed be God I have a witness in my Conscience and I hope in yours also that I have not shunned to declare to you the whole Counsel of God Brethren I call Heaven and Earth to witness this day that I have set before you life and death good and evil and have not ceased from day to day to warn you to choose life and that good way that leads to it and to escape for your lives from the way of sin and death Oh remember the many instructions I have given you the many Arguments whereby I have striven with you the many Prayers that have been offered up for the guiding and gaining your Souls into the path of life and the turning your feet out of the way of destruction Oh might I be able to give this Testimony concerning you all at my departure they have troden in the right path they have chosen the good part that shall not be taken from them Brethren Beloved with whom I have travelled in birth that Christ might be formed in you I must shortly give up my account in a more solemn Assembly will you help me to give it up with joy by shewing your Souls before the Lord as the Seal of my Ministrie Every sincere Convert among you will be a Crown of rejoycing to me in that day So let me rejoyce and let my joy be the joy of you all What shall I say more If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love any bowels and mercies if the Glorie of the Eternal God the Honour of the everlasting Gospel the safety of your immortal Souls the incorruptible Crown the exceeding eternal weight of glory weigh any thing with you then once more let me beâ—eech you by all this to hearken to that word of the Gospel which God hath spoken to you by me 2. Of my deprivall The most glorious morning hath its Evening the hour is come wherein the Sun is setting upon not a few of the Prophets the shadows of the Evening are stretched forth upon us our day drawes our work seems to be at an end Our Pulpits and our places must know us no more This is the Lords doing let all the Earth keep silence before him It is not a light thing for me Brethren to be laid aside from the work and cast out of the Vineyard of the Lord and it must be something of weight that must support under so severe a doom I know there are not a few that will add to the affliction of the afflicted by telling the World 't is their own fault they might prevent it if they would whether this be so or no God knoweth and let the Lord be Judge Blessed be God whatever be this is not laid to our charge as the reason of our seclusion either insufficiency or scandall You are not ignorant what things there are imposed on us as the condition of our continuing our Ministration which how lawful and expedient soever they seem in the Judgment of many yet have the most specious Arguments that plead for them left me utterly dissatisfied in my Conscience about them I must profess before God Angels and men that my non-submission is not from any disloyalty to Authority nor from pride humour or any factious disposition or design but because I dare not contradict my light nor do any thing concerning which my heart tells me the Lord sayes do it not After all my most impartial Enquiries after all my seeking counsel from the Lord after all my considering and consulting with men of all perswasions about these Matters I find my self so far short of satisfaction that I am plainly put to this choice to part with my Ministry or my Conscience I dare not lie before God and the World nor come and tell you I approve I allow I heartily consent to what I neither do nor can but must choose rather that my Ministry be seal'd up by my Sufferings than lengthned out by a Lie Through the Grace of God though men do yet my heart shall not reproach me while I live If our heart condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things But however though I must now no longer act as a Minister I shall through the Grace of God endeavour peaceably and patiently to suffer as a Christian I should to testifie my Obedience to Authority have become all Things to all Men to the uttermost that I could with any clearness of heart But since Matters stand so that I must lose my place or my peace I chearfully suffer my self to be thrust off the Stage And now welcome the Cross of Christ welcome Reproach welcome Poverty Scorn and Contempt or whatever else may befall me on this account This Morning I had a Flock and you had a Pastour but now behold a Pastour without a Flock a Flock without a Shepheard This Morning I had an House but now I have none Thiâ— morning I had an Living but now I have none The Lord hath given and the Lord hath takes away Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Beloved I am sensible of many Weaknesses and Disadvantages I am under which may rendeâ— a suffering state the harder to be born help me by your Prayers and not me onely but all my Brethren also with whom my Lot must fall Pray for us for we trust that we have a good Conscience in all things willing to live honestly Pray 1. That God would make our Silence speak and preach the same Holy Doctrine that we have preached with our Lips 2. That he would give Supports answerable to our Sufferings that he who comforteth those that are cast down will also comfort his Servants that are cast out 3. That according to our earnest expectation and our hope as always so now also Christ may be magnified in us whether it be by Life or by Death And thus Brethren I bid you all farewel in the words of the Apostle 2 Cor. 13. 11. Finally Brethren farewel be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind live in peace and the God of Peace and Love shall be with you And that God of Peace that brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepheard of the Sheep through the Bloud of the Everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ To whom be Glory for ever and ever AMEN FINIS
a Shield to yours and a Sword in your Enemies Souls Be patient and you have won the field and gotten the day They will have no hope to drive you to sin where they see you can suffer This was Job's Triumph and shall be yours In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly You may now make your boast in the words of the Apostle Rom. 8. 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Naâ—edness or Perill or Sword In all these things we are more than Conquerours through him that loved us 5. Your patient suffering will be the improvement of your Sanctification Heb. 12. 9 10. We have had Fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them Reverence Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live For they verily for a few days chasten'd us after their pleasure but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his Holiness The Fathers of our flesh correct us and so doth the Father of Spirits they at their pleasure he for our profit You 'l say it may be for what profit What profit is there in our Blood in our Bonds in our Poverty Why there is this profit we are hereby made partakers of his Holiness There 's seldom any towardliness in a Child till it be whipt into him God's School of Affliction is a Nursery for Heaven Were it not for his House of Correction Sion would quickly become as Sodom Seldom does any come out thence but their Complexion shews where they have been 'T is with them that feel the Hand of the Lord as 't was with him that saw his Face his Face did shine his very spitting in their Faces doth wash them the cleaner Of all Saints there are none raised so high towards the Third Heaven as those that have been in the Deep No Providences give such a lift to the Soul as those that most humble Christians What ever pains you travail under believe it the Births may be such as will make you forget your Sorrow I have heard of an Holy Woman who used to compare her Afflictions to her Children They both put her to great pain in the bearing but as she knew not which of her Children to be without notwithstanding her Trouble in the bringing forth so neither which of her Afflictions she could have wanted notwithstand the Sorrow they put her to in the bearing Heb. 12. 11. No chastning for the present is joyous but grievous but afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable Fruit of Righteousness to them that are exercised thereby Oh when you see the Fruit where then will your Sorrow be Joh. 16. 21. A Woman when she is in Travail hath Sorrow because her hour is come bue as soon as she is deliver'd of the Child she remembreth no more the anguish for joy that a Man-child is born into the World If the Joy of the Birth will make you forget why should not the hope of the Birth make you to bear the pain Beloved Would you bring forth Fruit unto God and will you not bear the Plough and the Harrow Will you expect an Harvest and yet must God let you lye Fallow and still sow among Thorns Let me ask you and answer deliberately Would you be more holy than you are more fruitful than you are or would you not If you would not you are no Christian Si dixeris sufficit defecisti If you would is that Desire conditional You would increase so it coâ—â— you not overmuch labour and pain That desire comes to just so much as no desire at all Or is your desire of an increase absolute Would you be more holy whatever it cost you Do you so prize and love an holy and fruitful life that you are heartily content that God should take his own course with you should take any course that 's needful to bring you on to it Can you freely say Oh Lord I am weary of this Triâ—ling I am weary of this dead and barren life Lord quicken me Lord inlarge me Lord perfect thy work and fulfill in me all thy good pleasure of thy Will So thou wilt but hear me in this thing I freely put it into thy hand to take thine own way and use thine own means Use the Word or the Rod. Command me or chastise me spare not this flesh for all its crying strip me of what thou wilt inflict on me what thon wilt throw me whither thou pleasest let me not want the most bitter Pill that 's needful any thing any thing Lord I hope I can be poor if thou wilt have me so I can be in pain in disgrace if thou wilt have me But I cannot be unholy I cannot bear it to be such a starveling in the staâ—e of my Soul Lord for more holiness Lord for more life and care and zeal and fruit let me have it upon what terms thou pleasest onely let me have it Can you say thus to the Lord I hope you can what and yet be displeased if he take you at your word can you pray thus and yet repine and murmur that the Lord hears your Prayers Christian when the Lord comes to deal roughly with thee entertain his chastisements whatever they be with this thought Now the Lord is about to give me my hearts desire now is my day of hope This distress this sorrow and anguish the Lord hath brought upon me may be come to perform that work which I have long'd to see What the Word hath been so long a doing and yet is not done What Sacraments Prayers Mercies have been so long a doing and yet is not done Now is the time this may be the means to bring it about This bitter Cup hath health in the bottom this Plough and these deep furrows it makes look towards an Harvest The work is doing that I have been so long a begging This froward this senseless this sloathful this earthly barren heart which I feel to day I hope now in a little time I shall be rid of for ever If this be the meaning of my troubles I hope it is I will wait I will wait for this fruit and if this be the fruit oh welcome welcome this blessed Providence 6. Your patient suffering shall be the advance of your glory Remember what I have told you already Your suffering shall go into your reward according to your deep poverty so shall your riches be As 't was said concerning Babylon Rev. 18. 7. How much she hath glorified her self and lived deliciously so much sorrow and torment give her So shall it be said concerning you How much they have been abased and afflicted for me so much Joy and Glory give them As sure as the persecutings of the ungodly shall meet them in hell so certainly shall the Perfecutions of the Righteous meet them before the Throne of God This shall be written on their everlasting Crowns Here is the
were rooted in your Hearts and your Souls thereby rooted in the Grace of God if it be to be wished That your Lusts were rooted out your sins dead and dried up your foot gotten out of the Snare your Souls brought into the Fold your Fruits of Righteousness and Holiness abounding and growing up unto Eternal Life If all this to be to be wished then give in your Votes with mine wish and pray pray and press on press on and wait for the accomplishment of this Grace in you all I tell you again I wish you well and not onely I but the Lord God that hath sent me to you The Lord Jesus wishes you well he wishes and wooes wooes and weeps weeps and dies that your Souls might live and be belssed for ever He hath once more sent me to you even to the worst amongst you to tell you from him that he 's unwilling you should perish that he hath a kindness for you in his heart if you will accept it He hath Bloud and Bowels for you Bloud to expiate your guilt to wash away your filth and Bowels to offer you the benefit of his Bloud with this Wish Oh that it were theirs Oh that they would hearken and accept Onely I must add That the Lord hath two sorts of Wishes concerning sinners The first is Oh that they would hearken Oh that they would come in be healed and be saved Deut. 5. 29. This Wish is an Olive Branch that brings good Tidings and gives great hopes of Peace and Mercy His last Wish is Oh that they had hearkned that they had accepted Psal 81. 13. Oh that my people had hearkned to me Luk. 19. 42. Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that concern thy peace This Wish hath nothing but Dread and Death in it it is the Black Flagg hung out that proclaims Eternall Wars The sence is Israel had once a fair time of it a time of Love a time of Grace a time of Peace Oh that they had hearkned then that they had known the Things that concern their peace But woe woe to them 't is now too late the Door is shut the Season is over the Day is past But now they are hid from thine Eyes There are three deadly darts in this Wish oh that thou hadst it includes in it these three cutting words Thou hast not Thou mightest Thou shalt not for ever 1. There is this in it Thou hast not What have I not why thou hast not known the things that belong to thy peace Thou hast had the door of Glory the Gate of Heaven open to thee and hast been call'd for and invited in but thou hast lost the opportunity Thou knewest not when thou wert well offered nor would'st take notice what a day was before thee what a price was in thine hand thy peace the Gospel of peace the Prince of peace a Kingdom of peace was set open offered and brought home to thy doors but thou hadst so many other matters to look after that thou tookest no notice of it but hast let it slip There 's one Dart. Thou hast not known There 's a Gospel gone there 's a Christ gone there 's a Soul a Kingdom lost 2. There is this in it Thou mightest Oh that thou hadst why Might I yes thou might'st if thou wouldst thou mightst Thy God did not mock thee when he preach'd peace to thee he was willing and wish'd it thine if thou wouldst thou mightst have made it thine own but whilest he would thou wouldest not There 's another Dart I might have known I have none to thank but my self for the loss mine undoing was mine own doing There are no such torments as when the Soul flies upon it self and takes revenge on it self oh the gashes that such self-refluctions make Soul how camest thou in hither into all this misery oh 't is of my self my self that my destruction is The door was open and I was told of it and was bid come in but I would not That I am lost and undone was not my Fate which I could not avoid but my Fault and my folly It seems to give some ease of our torment when we can shift off the fault It was not I but the Woman said Adam It was not I but the Serpent said the Woman if that had been true it would have given ease as well as serv for an excuse This thought 'T was mine own doing tears the very caul of the heart Oh I have none to blame but my self mine own foolish and froward heart This is my ignorance this is my unbelief this is my wilfulness my lusts and my pleasures and my Idols that I was running after that have brought me under this dreadful loss 'T was my own doing 3. There is this in it Thou shalt not for ever Oh that thou hadst why may I not yet Is there no hope of recovering the opportunity not one word more not one hour more may not the Sun go one degree backward No no 't is too late too late thou hast had thy day from henceforth no more for ever There 's the last Dart Times past there 's the death the Hell the anguish the Worm that shall gnaw to eternity This one word Time 's past sets all Hell a roaring and when it s once spoken to a sinner on Earth there 's Hell begun Go thy way wretch fill up thy measure and fall into thy place The Gospel hath no more to say to thee but this one word Because I have called and thou refusedst I have stretched out my hand and thou regardedst not but hast set at nought all my Counsels and wouldest none of my reproofs I also will laugh at thy calamities and mock when thy fear cometh when thy fear cometh as desolation and thy destruction cometh as a Whirle-wind when distress and anguish cometh upon thee then shalt thou call but I will not answer thou shalt seek me early but shalt not find me Beloved my hopes are and I am not able to say but that you are yet under the first wish Oh that they would Christ is yet preaching you to faith and sends his Wish along with his Word Oh that they would believe Christ is yet preaching Repentance and Conversion to you and wishes O that they would repent that they would be converted and to this wish of my Lord my Soul and all that is within me sayes Amen Brethren will you yet again say your Lord nay shall Christ have his wish shall your Servant for Jesus sake shall I have my wish will you now at last consent to be sanctified and to be saved let me have this wish and I dare promise you from the Lord you shall have yours even whatever your Soul can desire Bâ—ethren this once hear this once be prevailed upon be content that your lusts be rooted out and your Lord planted into your Souls Be content to be pardoned content to be converted content to be saved This