words speaking often against Conscience the Seller commending his goods beyond and above what he knows them to be affirming they cost them more than they did and if he sells them not for so much he shall be a loser by them and all this to screw the buyer to an higher price and the Buyer discommends the Sellers ware saying it is naught it is naught to bring him down to a lower rate but all this cometh from this evil bitter root the immoderate love of the world Many men engage in company and are over-taken with excessive drinking and when reproved will reply It was with such as were my Customers and I cannot avoid such occasions if I will not drink with some they will not trade with me except I go to the Ale-house or the Tavern I shall lose the taking of many a pound Shall you so yes and would prevent many a drunken bout But what have you houses of your own for and what are your Shops for and what is the Exchange for but for your trades and dealing in the world It is a shame that it is brought into so great a custom that many cannot buy and sell but over a pot But if you do go what need you drink unto excess do others urge thee but they cannot they do not force thee is it not thine own hand that often lift the glass unto thy mouth and is not thy hand commanded by thy own will to do it thou hadst better be without such a Customer and without the profit thou gainest by him than to sin and wound and lose thy Soul But this branch of wickedness groweth on this cursed root the love of Money which if some may gain they will go from one drinking-place into another from morning to night one day after another yes and to Hell too at the last if they might but gain what their heart doth so much love while they are here By this bond was Balaam bound who loved the wages of unrighteousness 2 Pet. 2. 15. And Achan Josh 7. 20 21. And Gehazi who framed falshoods for worldly profit and afterwards would have hid it from his Master with a lie 2 King 5. 20. to the end And the young man Mat. 19. 21 22. whom when Christ saw so fast fettered with this chain he preached to his Disciples that it was exceeding hard for a rich man to be saved though he explained that it is not so much the having as the over-loving of them and trusting in them that hinders mens Salvation Mar. 10. 24. Judas also was detained the Devils captive being bound with this bond who for the love of Money sold his Lord and Soul and all Mat. 26. 14 15 16. And Demas 2 Tim. 4. 10. And doubtless thousands are now in everlasting chains of darkness being kept in bondage by the love of the world while they lived in the world But shall we try to break this bond for till your hearts be weaned from the world we shall not win them for Jesus Christ for you cannot love God and the world too with a prevailing and predominant love 1 Joh. 2. 15. Jam. 4. 4. and while you love the world you cannot value Christ nor are you worthy of him Mat. 10. 37 38. Consider 1. Have you not other things and better things to set the love of your hearts upon and is there not a God and Christ for thee to love And 1 is not God infinitely a more noble and excellent object for thy love 2 Is he not a more suitable good unto thy Soul 3 Is he not a sufficient good and therefore 4 a satisfying good 5 Is he not a more necessary good seeing without the things of the world thou maist be happy but not without God 6 Is he not a more durable lasting everlasting good do but get a right knowledg of God and the world and then thou wilt see cause to call off thy heart from earthly things and set them upon God 2. Shouldst thou set thy heart and love upon earthly things which thou must shortly leave and canst not carry with thee into another world Dost thou forget that thou art a pilgrim upon earth and that this is not the place of thy abode after thou hast slept out a few more nights and walked up and down a few more days will not thy last hour come when thou must bid adieu to all this world and take thy farewell of all upon earth whether thou shalt go to Heaven or to Hell here thou must not tarry whether thou shalt be damned or saved or go to God or Devils here thou must not abide and wilt thou take thy riches with thee what to do Silver and Gold doth not go in another world Whether thou goest to Heaven or to Hell after death Riches will be of no use unto thee God would then stand by thee and Christ would then stand by thee and Grace would then go with thee but thou must leave thy worldly riches and they will then leave thee when thou standest in greatest need of comfort and support Luc. 12. 19 20. Psal 49. 17. Eccles 5. 15. 1 Tim. 6. 7. Why wilt thou then so fix thy heart upon these things and be fettered and intangled with the love of them as thereby to be kept from God and Christ and Heaven for ever 3. Can these things comfort thee at thy departure Or will it not then wound thy Soul that thou hast loved the world but not God and Christ didst thou never stand by the bed-side of a dying man who in the anguish of his Soul hath roared and cried out Wo is me that I have spent my time in labouring for the world for this vain and empty world While God and Christ and Heaven have been neglected by me Oh if I had loved God and Christ as I have loved the world I had been now an happy blessed man though I am a dying man yet I had been now an happy blessed man God would now have comforted me and Christ would now have comforted me and solid lively hopes of Heaven would now have comforted me but the things that had my heart and all my love they do not comfort I find I feel they do not comfort me Shalt thou neither stay to enjoy them here and canst thou not take them with thee whether thou art going nor yet will they comfort thee in thy passage to Eternity and is it reasonable then thou shouldst be thus fettered and bound in thy love unto them as to keep thee from God and Christ here and hereafter too 4. Was this the end for which thou wast born and did God give thee such affections as love desire and delight that thou shouldst set them upon such things as these Did God make these things to be the chiefest object of thy Souls affections or thy Souls affections for these things Did God send thee into this world to scrape together an heap of refined earth and then to love it
when thou hast done better than himself that made thee Is not this a setting God below the creature and exalting the creature in the room of God is not this to lose the end of thy Creation 5. Is not this to love such things as do not cannot love thee back again If God had thy heart thou shouldst have his if thou lovest him he would love thee Prov. 8. 17. but Silver and Gold cannot love thee thy rich Furniture cannot love thee here thy love is lost and cannot be requited nor love returned to thee but God would love thee more than thou couldst love him and the love of Christ to thee would exceed and far surpass thy love to him Come then and be no longer enslaved to the world nor kept a captive by the Devil by these chains of gold I do suppose a man would rather chuse liberty with a poor and low condition in the world than to lie in a p 〈…〉 n and a dungeon all his days though he 〈…〉 e there bound with chains of Gold 6. Will the gaining of thâ—â—orld make thee amends for what tâ—ou losest for 1 the loss of God 2 The loss of Christ the only Redeemer 3 The loss of the company of the Angels and Saints 4 The loss of thy own only and immortal Soul Mat. 16. 26. 5 The loss of thy happiness for canst thou lose all these and yet be happy 7 Are not these things common to the bad as well as to the good Some are peculiar mercies Ch 〈…〉 t s pardoning grace title to Heaven 8 Are they not often given with a curse and in judgment but Christ and Grace always in love and mercy CHAP. VI. The Fourth Chain is Presumption 4. ANother Chain with which these Captives are bound is presumption vain and false hopes of Heaven This is the ruin of most that do miscarry for ever a groundless hope that they shall be saved for ever how few are there be they never so ignorant of the way to Heaven but yet do hope they shall come thither that walk in the broad way and common road and beaten path to Hell and yet do hope they shall get to Heaven as if a man were daily travelling towards the West and yet were confident he should come unto the East The Drunkard doth hope he shall be saved the Swearer and profane the hypocrite and unbeliever nay who is there but doth hope for happiness this is so strong in the worst of men that when they would set forth the certainty of a thing they do it by this expression as I hope to be saved as if they should say it is as true it is as sure as it is true that I hope to be saved and though their hope be not a true hope yet that they hope is true And the strength of this cord appears in that these hopes are the last thing that wicked men will part withal when they are so sick that they perceive they must part with riches yet they will not part with their hope of Heaven when they are so sick that they perceive the hour is drawing on wherein they must part with their dearest friends yet their hope they will not part withal and when they see they must part with life yet they will not part with hope till soul and body be parted the soul and hope will not be parted and then poor captives lose their souls and hopes together and thus with hopes of Heaven they do go down to Hell and then and there they can hope no longer It s one of the hardest things that Ministers have to do to beat down these false hopes of Heaven in our hearers if this were done a great part of our work were done if we tell you of your misery and danger of the wrath of God against sinners of the torments that are prepared by a provoked God for you yet you hope you shall escape and ward of all the threatnings of the Word with these vain and groundless hopes if we could but get these false hopes from you then we should begin to hope that you might be delivered from your bondage and escape from this captivity in which you are so strongly held thereby no man is faster bound in fetters than he that is ungodly and yet strongly confidently hopes that he shall be saved If you could speak with damned Souls thousands of them would tell you this was their ruin and their bane should you ask them were not you told that sin would bring you to this place of torment were you not told by Ministers and by God himself that you were in the way to misery and damnation what would they reply Yes yes we were often told and we were plainly told but this was it that did undo us we hoped it would be better with us Shall I then attempt to break this bond asunder but because man can but shew unto you the vanity of your hopes Oh that God himself would come and powerfully convince you by his Word and Spirit that your hopes are vain and groundless hopes that you may be no longer kept in thraldom by the Devil by these fetters of false hopes of Heaven I know that this is a manifold twisted cord many things there are that you do bottom these hopes upon but if I shall shew you from the Word of God that they are no better grounds and reasons of hope than graceless persons might alledg and many now in hell once had to say and did as well as you that then you will no longer suffer Satan to delude and to deceive you and keep you as his captives in a state of bondage Only let me ask you first whether you will believe that that is true that God speaketh in his Word or will you dare to say that what is contained in the Scripture is forgery and a lie if you say the latter God shall shortly convince you of the truth thereof the flames of Hell shall shortly convince you and the pains and torments you shall shortly feel shall powerfully convince you that all these sayings of God are true If you say the former that Gods word is true I do not doubt to make it appear that your hope is false if you do agree to try your hopes by the word of God by which you and I and all must be shortly tried and acquitted or condemned according to this Word I do not doubt to shew that Satan hath befooled you all this while God hath as plainly told you that in an unconverted state without faith in Christ without repentance and reformation you cannot be saved this is as plain as can be spoken and yet contrary to Gods revealed will will you hope you shall be saved which do you think shall be proved false Gods word or your hope that is contrary to his word both cannot be true Will a Drunkard say Gods word is false no he will not then thy hope is false See 1 Cor. 6. 9
not wish to be for ever happy and who would not wish to be freed from eternal misery pain and torment But these things are not got with such lazy wishes neither do you approve of them in your idle servants that sit still and wish their work were done 2. But can your meanings be good in many of your wicked acts and in your sinful neglects What good meaning is it in thee to keep Christ out of thy heart to prophane Gods Sabbaths What good meaning hast thou in neglecting to make thy peace with God in not seeking after grace and fitness for Heaven 3. If thy meanings were good this doth not make thy action good nor thy life good and can it then prove thy condition to be good 4. If thy heart were good thy life would be so too The life indeed might be good before men where the heart is bad before God but if the heart be good before God the life will be good before men for a good tree bringeth forth good fruit Mat. 7. 17 18. and your not-seeing the badness of your hearts is an evidence that yet they are not good and the more you justifie the goodness of your hearts in the neglect of your duty it is the clearer demonstration that yet they are not good and that thy heart which thou vainly thinkest is the best part in thee is indeed the worst of all Jer. 17. 9 10. Thou a good heart ever since thou wast born then there hath been a good Devil ever since he sinned and when he ceased to be good 5. Whereas thou sayest Thou hast good things in thy heart though thou canst not express them with thy tongue What is thy heart so full of good and is it so locked up there that there is no vent for it What! neither by works nor words neither by lip nor life A likely matter If thou art pinched with hunger thou hast words enough to express the sense of thy wants and if thou art sick thou hast words enough to express the sense of thy pain When the Physician comes and asketh after the state of thy body thou canst quickly reply O sick sick Sir I am 〈…〉 eeding sick I am in pain in pain Where â—â—ere in this part and in this my book my bowels my head my heart is full of pain But if a Minister come and enquire into your spiritual state you reply Truly Sir I have good things in my mind and in my heart but I cannot express them to you What! not at all What! nothing of this good boasted of no not in broken language But if we follow you to your shops there you want no words there your tongues go glib Who have words at command more than you You can talk roundly of the World of your Goods and your Estates of your Furniture and Apparel but in the things of God you are mute This is plain it is not for want of words in these but for want of a work of God upon their hearts Therefore let not the Devil keep thee any longer bound with this chain a vain conceit of the goodness of thy heart thy wishings and thy meanings 5. Another Link in this Chain of false hopes wherewith these Captives are bound is on the contrary in that they have strong parts great knowledg in the things of God are very full of good discourse for the Devil hath several Fetters for his several Prisoners and several Chains for several Captives various ways and wiles to keep them in Captivity and this is not the meanest nor the weakest when men take gifts for grace and common grace for s 〈…〉 al. But towards the cutting of this chain 〈…〉 ider There might be notional kn 〈…〉 dg of the things of God where a man nevâ—â—â—ad any experimental taste and rellish of them A man that never yet repented might be able to tell you what Repentance is and a man that is not converted might tell you much of the method of the Spirit in converting of a sinner Many can talk of God that never tasted any sweetness in him and many can discourse of Heaven that shall never enter into Heaven The head might be fâ—l of knowledg when the heart is empty of Grace might talk of faith of the nature of it of the actings of it of the excellency of it of the necessity and effects of it and yet have no Faith and so of Love and other graces and yet have no Love nor any other grace The greater is your knowledg the greater is your sin and the greater will be your misery if it be separated from practice and obedience Luk. 12. 47 48. Thus you have heard what a strong bon false hope of Heaven is and on what grounds â— is built and by what reasons it is strengthened and how they are removed What say you now will you continue still bound with this cord and still be kept thereby in your Captivity I doubt yet many of you will Drunkards for all this that hath been said will hope for heaven and salvation still and Swearers and Prophane persons will go on in their sinful course and yet hope still for Heaven and Eternal life Therefore because this Fetter is so strong if possible to knock it off from these captive sinners answer me to these few following questions 1. What if Christ himself in person were now amongst you and preaching to you and telling you with his own mouth That these alledged grounds of thy hopes of heaven and redemption by his blood were not sound nor warrantable wouldst thou after this hope thou art redeemed and shalt be saved If Christ were visibly present and you should hear him with your own ears telling you That the Drunkard is a captive to the Devil and shall not be saved would you say No we are not in bondage to the Devil or our sins and therefore will hope we are redeemed and shall be saved Wouldst thou believe Christ himself or wouldst thou not If thou wouldst not how shall I hope thou wilt hearken to my words If thou sayest thou wouldst believe him why then wilt thou not believe what Christ hath indeed already spoken and left recorded in his Word The same Doctrine that Christ preached in person in the world is faithfully recorded in the Gospel In his Sermon that he preached on the Mount he tells you that Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven Mat. 5. 20. And doth the righteousness of gross sinners yea or close hypocrites either exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and the Scribes who walked so strictly that many would have judged if but two men should be saved the Scribe should be one and the Pharisee another What Christs Doctrine was see again Luk. 13. 3. 5. Mar. 16. 16. Mat. 18. 3. And yet when Christ tells you Except ye repent ye shall perish and except ye believe ye
shall be plunged into hell the other shall be possessed of heaven Under which of these you are comprehended you may be helped to discern if you will read consider search and pray If you find your selves yet Captives to know your misery and the Chains wherewith you are bound and how to get them off read the former part of this little book If Free to inflame your hearts with love to your Redeemer and Surety that paid the ransom for you and learn how you are engaged to hearty and everlasting thankfulness for his mercy towards you and to express it by holy walking while you live consult the latter part of this Treatise In all which I have endeavoured to use plainness of speech avoiding hard words and terms of art as also controversies that might have been brought into this subject concerning the Power and Will of man concerning the Satisfaction of Christ and such like contenting my self with what may suit the end I aimed at in preaching of them the awakening of the Conscience of Captive-sinners that are fast asleep in their fetters and bonds of iniquity and the bringing of the more ignorant to sight and sense of their necessity of deliverance by Christ as for the more knowing let them read the works of men of more knowledg for if I may by any means help the weak and ignorant that cannot understand the elaborate works of the more judicious I shall account it a singular mercy For if I could I dare not usually when I am to speak in the Name of God to immortal Souls soar aloft above the capacity of the meanest the strong might stoop to the plainness of wholesom words when the weak and ignorant cannot come up to the understanding of what is more sublime though rude and undigested matter becometh not the place of any that stands to speak to people going to another world about things of everlasting concernment yet I judg that he shall have but little comfort another day that stands and speaks one word for Christ and two or ten for himself a little to set forth Christ and much to set forth his own parts If any look for such things here that they may not lose their labour let me desire them to lay it by for you will not find it But that this in its plain dress and stile without all pomp of words being read by you or any others might be to the profit of you or them is the desire and shall be the prayers of him that is Yours for the Service of your Souls THO. DOOLITTEL March 18. 1674. The Contents CHAP. I. COntaining the Explication of the Text. Page 1. CHAP. II. The Doctrine that unconverted men are the Devils Captives fast bound with the Chains and Bonds of their own iniquity and sin wherein they are resembled unto Captives 11 CHAP. III. Ten several Chains with which these Captives are bound the first is Ignorance with an attempt for the breaking of it 29 CHAP. IV. The second Chain is Prejudice against the ways of God and serious Religion several Links in this Chain 34 As 1. The ways of God are melancholy ways 35 2. The meanness of those that walk therein 47 3. It is a way full of trouble opposition 52 4. The difficulty of Religious Duties 57 With an attempt to break each other Link in this Chain Ibid. CHAP. V. The third Chain is the immoderate and predominant love of the profits and riches of this world p. 68 An attempt to break this Chain being a misery to be bound Captive in Chains of Gold ib CHAP. VI. The fourth Chain is false Hopes of Heaven several Links in this Chain 76 Viz. Hopes falsly bottomed upon The Mercy of God 79 The Death of Christ 85 Troubles of Conscience 95 Good meanings 98 Strong parts and gifts 100 With an attempt to break each Link in this Chain 101 CHAP. VII The fifth Chain is Despair 115 An attempt to break it 116 CHAP. VIII The sixth Chain is mens satisfying themselves with a moral blameless Life 123 An attempt for the breaking of this Chain 124 The seventh Resting in Religious Duties 126 CHAP. IX The Eighth the Examples of others 130 The Ninth Chain Procrastination purposing to repent hereafter 135 The Tenth Vnbelief 138 An Attempt for the breaking of these also that the Captive might be set free ibid. CHAP. X. Shewing the Captivity of sinners by Satan is worse than the Captivity of Men in the sorest corporal slavery 140 In that it is 1 The Captivity of the Soul 141 2 They are unsensible of it 143 3 It is voluntary Bondage 144 4 It is plenary and full Captivity 146 5 These Captives are children of Gods wrath ib. 6 Death doth not free them 147 7 A worser Prison is prepared for them after death 148 Being a 1 Close 148 2 Dark 149 3 Filthy 150 4 Strong ib. Prison Made fast with the Bars of Gods Decree 151 Justice ibid. Truth 152 Power ib. 5 Company in this Prison ib. 6 The Remembrance of what they shall be imprisoned for 153 7 The Remembrance of the price that was paid for the ransom of Captives 154 CHAP. XI There is Liberty for Captive-sinners p. 156 Man considered in a four-fold state ibid. 1 Q. What free Captives have not a liberty from in this life 159 2 Q. What is the liberty such have by Christ in this life 163 3 Q. What more in the life to come 169 4 Q. What are the positive priviledges they are free to ib. CHAP. XII The Vse of the whole 177 Exam. 1. How we might know that of Captives we are made free 178 Exh. 2. To them that are Captives How to get free 2 To them that are free 185 This liberty binds to duty 1 To be thankful for it 186 2 Have compassion on them that are bound 199 Because of the price that was paid 2 Because you have Chains of Gold for Chains of Iron 3 Christ became your Surety was bound for you 3 Walk worthy 205 Advertisement THere is lately Published Forty Six Sermons upon the whole Eighth Chapter of the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans Preached by the Reverend and Learned Tho. Horton D. D. late Minister of St. Helens London There is also a Printing of the same Authors these following Treatises 8. Sermons upon the whole Fourth Psalm 10. Sermons upon the whole 42 Psalm 19. Sermons upon the whole 51 Psalm All which were left under his own hand Ready for the Press Printed for Tho. Parkhurst THe Young Mans Instructer and the Old Mans Remembrancer in an Explication of the Assemblies Catechism Published for an help to Masters of Families in instructing of their Children and Servants in the Truth of the Gospel and applying them to their Consciences By Tho. Doolittel Minister of the Gospel Isa 61. 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind up the
not a day or two nay when it is more than thou canst tell whether thou shalt be out of Hell an hour or two Is this the man that is so merry Is this the man that pleads so much for pleasure and delight Is this the man indeed that would spend his present time in joy and gladness If this man should die to day how soon would his tone be altered How soon alas how soon would his tune be changed What think you all ye that hear me this day that know and understand the dreadful danger of a graceless christless unconverted sinner can you see him sporting with delight about the brink of Hell and not fear and tremble least ye see him falling down into it Can you see him so jocund when so near the place of utter darkness and not stand amazed at his boldness and his blindness Do not your hearts pity such a one though he hath no pity for himself Come sinner judg thy self if of all men in the world thou hast any cause of such a joyful life thou pleadest for and whether if thou wouldest lead a chearful life indeed it would not be thy wiser surer safer course to leave thy serving of the Devil and thy lusts and to break thy cords and chains wherewith thou hast been bound and held captive so many years as thou hast been Besides what are these pleasures which thou findest in the Creature What are these joys and comforts which thou fetchest from any thing besides God or below God are they not sensual and bruitish are they not only found in the sensitive part of thy Soul and not in the more noble and rational part Dost thou place thy pleasure and delights in eating and drinking and gratifying thy sensitive appetite why thy very beast thy horse thy dog hath this delight as well as thou and some creatures more than man I can tell thee of a man that hath tried more than what these pleasures are that had a greater estate and greater varieties of all sorts to delight himself that hath made such search what there is in all things under the Sun to delight the heart of man that no man that comes after him can do more and yet he hath left it upon record from his own experience that all is vanity and vexation of spirit and that is Solomon Eccles 2. throughout take thy Book and read it his Conclusion is that the delights and pleasures fetcht from things above the Sun do far surpass and exceed all pleasures and delight taken from all things under the Sun the same man that tells thee all under the Sun is vanity doth also tell thee that the ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Pro. 3. 17. Come then poor captive Sinners come and try what comforts and delights are to be found in the ways and service of our God Do not judg before you try how can you tell what are the ways of God before you have made experience what they be How can you tell there are no comforts joys that the Saints meet with when you were never qualified for those comforts and those joys I do not perswade you to cast away a comfortable life but to change it for a better I do not perswade you to leave delights and pleasures but to change them for more noble more rational more spiritual more durable delights Come and get a real taste and relish of the sweet delights in communion with God in the sense of his love in a right applying of his promises in hoping for his Kingdom and if you do not like them better and find them sweeter then return again to your present comforts and fetch them again from the same Objects that now you do but then be sure your heart be changed that you might taste indeed the sweetness of delights and comforts in God in Christ in the promises and priviledges of the Gospel and I dare be bold to say you will then say these are better greater sweeter than ever any before you found in Satans service or in the way of Sin Come therefore come and try Obj. What needs that though we have not tried our selves yet we see how it is by those that have do not we see that those that have forsaken their former ways and since have become more precise and strict that they spend their days in sorrow are always mourning and complaining their tears and countenances shew the heaviness and sadness and sorrow of their hearts Answ 1. What all always it is not so There are those Believers that are sometimes filled with unspeakable joy 1 Pet. 4. 8. that are so delighted with the love of God unto their Souls and with hopes of glory that they can and do rejoyce in the sorest tribulation Rom. 5. 3. that have such believing views of future glory and such present tastes of the sweetness of Gospel-priviledges that filleth their Souls with such holy admirations and divine comforts that cannot be expressed with words 1 Joh. 3. 1. 2. Those that you do see so much to mourn and weep and grieve for their sins they have cause and ground and reason to rejoyce and so have not you that yet are captives to the Devil and are not they in a better condition that have ground and reason to rejoyce but do not then you are in that do rejoyce when you have no cause nor reason so to do of the two I would rather have my Soul in their Souls condition than in thine 3. You do not know how sweet and pleasant and delightful these bitter tears of Repentance are unto them that shed most of them It is exceeding comfortable to have an heart to mourn and grieve kindly for their sins their tears thou seest but their inward peace and comfort that often follows after these thou takest no notice of 4. But how dost thou know the true cause and reason of their sorrow Thou art apt to impute it to the way that they walk in did ever any truly godly Soul that leads the saddest and most sorrowful life tell thee his sorrow is because now he is become an holy man did ever any tell thee it is because they have left their former wicked ways and because they are become new creatures and have given up their names their wills their hearts and all to God and Christ if this and no such like thing be the cause of their sadness is there any reason thou shouldest thus be prejudiced against the state of the Lords Redeemed ones and please thy self rather in this present bonds than to desire to be released and delivered from them But what if these tears thou seest them shed and the sorrow thou dost perceive they are filled with be 1. Because they were captives to the Devil so long and served sin and lust so long that they lay in chains and fetters so long when a Redeemer was so often offered to them and they had not hearts to
to walk strictly before the Lord yet come and do it else something will befall thee shortly that thou shalt say is hard to suffer 5. This difficulty that thou findest in religious duties is because as yet thou hast no strength but what is thine own to do them with but if thou dost renounce the Devil and the flesh and give thy self to God and Christ thou shalt have help from Heaven and then they will be more easie to thee While thou art in bonds of sin thou hast neither strength nor skill to do them with and that makes it hard but if God make thee free thou shalt have both and then it will be easie If thou wantest skill God will shew thee and if thou wantest strength God will help thee and then praying work and repenting work will go more smoothly forward When God shall come and break and melt thy heart it will be more easie to repent when God shall come and give to thee a sight and sense of thy sins and wants of thy want of grace and pardon of thy want of Christ and a renewed heart it will be more easie for thee to bewail thy sins and to pray and beg supplies for what thou wantest God is not an hard Master to his servants to put them upon work and give them neither power nor reward for he gives both to those that in sincerity give up themselves unto his service That though without Christ we can do nothing Joh. 15. 5. yet being strengthened by Christ we can do all things in order to the saving of our Souls Phil. 4. 13. and the spirit is purchased and promised by Christ to help the weaknesses and infirmities of his servants Rom. 8. 26. he shall help thee unto words in prayer to express thy wants thy heart and thy desires unto God and when thou wantest words he shall help thee with sighs and sobs and tears which are powerful pleadings with the Lord who understandeth the stammerings and the groanings of his Children Rom. 8. 27. Thus we have shewed the second Chain with which these Captives are bound the Prejudice of their hearts against the holy ways of Gods Redeemed and free new-born people and have endeavoured to cut it in twain to knock it off but alas this is too hard a work for man to do for any Minister upon earth to do or for any Angel in Heaven to do Sinners are so fast locked in their fetters that it requires Almighty power to break them that the captive may escape and be set at liberty Oh that therefore God would come and burst and break it quite asunder Oh that God would come and take it off were it but from one or two amongst you this day that though you came captives in your chain yet you might go home free-men and at liberty but yet something is required from you that you should consider and weigh with your selves impartially and deliberately what hath been said to remove this prejudice of your hearts which makes you like your present captive-state and not desirous to come forth from it and if what hath been spoken is not sufficient ground to silence these carnal pleas I beg the prayers of the Congregation for me that God would forgive my weakness and pardon my unskilfulness that know no better how to deliver a message from the Lord and to pray that for the future I might be more fitted for this weighty work but if there be evidence of truth in what hath been delivered and spoken in your ears I charge you in the name of the dreadful and eternal God in the name of Christ my Lord that sent me that you do not slight it if I have spoken my own words fling them back in my face and tell me that I lie but if it be according to the Scripture then slight them at your peril either shew wherein I have erred or else submit unto it but if thou whosoever thou art or what name soever thou art called by art convinced in thy Conscience and thy reason and judgment is satisfied that these grounds of Prejudice have been made appear to be vain and frivolous and yet shalt upon these accounts chuse rather to continue in thy captive state than come to Christ and be made free and goest to thy grave and hell with these fetters on thy Soul know that thou art hereby rendred inexcusable CHAP. V. The Third Chain is the love of the world 3. A Third Chain wherewith these Captives are bound is the immoderate and prevailing love of the profits and riches of this world This bindeth thousands fast that they will not cannot stir or move or come to Christ that they may be set at liberty these are bound with chains of gold and because they are golden chains therefore they like them so much the more the Devil doth not care for cost if by all he can keep you still in bondage he will not grudg you the riches of the world if he can keep you out of heaven Many moral men that have escaped the gross pollutions of the world that are no Swearers nor Drunkards nor openly profane that bless themselves with the thoughts of their supposed good condition yet are as sure the Devils prisoners and in slavery and bondage and shall as certainly perish and be damned except they get this bond broken as any Drunkard in the Town or Parish where they live Believe this as a certain truth for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it turn and read Ephes 5. 5. Shall not the Whoremonger be saved nor the World monger neither Shall not the unclean person inherit the Kingdom of God no nor the person that hath his heart and affections set upon the world And the Holy Ghost gives a reason because such a man is an Idolater making his Gold his god that love and delight and joy which God should have is given to the world and that God will never bear that hope and trust which should be placed in the living God is placed in uncertain riches and this the jealous God will never brook Turn again to Col. 3. 5 6. God tells you this over and over in one place after another that so you might the more beware of being kept in bondage by this golden chain which is so very strong that the Lord doth tell us the love of money is the root of all evil 1 Tim. 6. 10. There are many branches of sin which shoot out in the lives of men but all do grow upon this root the heart being fixed in its love unto the world 1. Omissions of duty neglect of Closet and Family-prayer worldliness is the root the heart is so eager after riches that they have no time nor leisure for better things and when they have time yet the worldly heart is indisposed to perform them and is listless to Heavenly employment 2. Commissions of sin the use of false balances and deceitful measures over-reaching breach of promises falsifying their
certain conditions to the Captives that if they will acknowledg him to be their Redeemer and will become his servants and his subjects and be obedient to his Laws they shall have the benefit of the ransome but not else now so many as shall refuse these conditions must remain and die and perish in their fetters though a sufficient ransome were given for Redemption so it is in this case which is easie to apply I beseech you therefore Sirs do not any longer flatter and deceive your selves with such groundless hopes of being delivered by the death of Christ from your slavery and bondage â—ithout faith in him and repentance for your sâ—n These things that I am now a preaching and you are hearing are of everlasting concernment to your Souls And I desire to preach as one that doth believe I must give an account to God what doctrine I deliver and that you would hear with that seriousness and diligent attention as those should do that do believe you must give an account to God at the Great day for what you hear and how you do obey it I charge you therefore in the name of the great eternal God whose Truths I do declare unto you that you do not hence-forward hope for deliverance from Hell and wrath to come though Christ hath died except you do believe â—n him become new creatures forsake your sâ—n be sanctified and made holy and love him above all and count all things but dross in comparison of the excellency of Jesus Christ that you do not continue drunkards and yet hope you shall be saved that you do not continue to love your sins and the world more than Christ or remain unholy and unconverted and yet think or hope that Christs death shall save your Souls If you do and if you will still so do let God be witness for me and let all those that fear God in the Congregation be witnesses for me and let the consciences of these Captives themselves be witnesses for me that I have plainly from the Word of God given warning to you that you do not perish by this deceit bear witness that I do declare that those thaâ— have been Drunkards Swearers Profane Lyars Hypocrites if they do repent and turn become holy and believing persons they may they shall be saved by the death of Christ but if they shall continue still in sin and live and die such a crucified Christ will not save you let beâ—ieving Parents bear me witness against their wicked and ungodly children and believing children against their ungodly parents Let believing Husbands bear me witness against their unbelieving Wives and believing Wives against their unbelieving Husbands Let believing Masters bear me witness against their unbelieving Servants and believing Servants against their unbelieving Masters that all without exception and respect of persons having not repentancâ— for sin nor faith in Christ that are not holy nor converted before they die shall be eternally damned and perish in their bonds and fetters though Christ hath died to redeem and save holy humble repenting and believing sinners Alas poor captive Sinners what will you do and whither will you go when this Redeemer shall come to judgment when all shall be raised out of their graves and stand before the bar of God to whom will you appeal and from whom will you expect mercy and salvation methinks I hear these prisoners at the bar crying begging pleading Lord Jesus save us Lord Jesus open unto us Lord Jesus now glorifie us with thy self save us Oh save us now from yonder place of torment from yonder flaming fire from yonder Lake of burning brimstone I Oh send us not down to yonder dreadful place for we trusted in thy merits and hoped to be saved because thou hadst died Methinks I hear Jesus the Judg reply to the prisoners at the bar No oh no there is no room for you in Heaven there is no entrance for ungodly men into the holy place there is no mansion for any such in the Kingdom of my Father who bid you trust to me for mercy without believing on me who bid you hope for Heaven because that I was crucified without holiness and repentance Had you any warrant from me in my word so to do or did my Ministers whom I did send unto you tell you from me that you may be saved by my death though you did not repent believe nor were converted did they which is he what is his name Lo here they stand point him unto me that did preach such Doctrine to you My Ministers come forth what do you say against the prisoners at the bar Lord we told them in thy name that there was a ransome paid for captives by thy blessed self and that thou wast willing they should have the everlasting benefit thereof and we did study for them pray for them and preach unto them thy sufferings and thy death for sinners and did beg and intreat them to come unto thee and when we did not prevail one day we did prepare and preach the next and so we did continue to do as long as they lived and till thou didst call us from that work by death But did you ever tell them that they should be saved by my death though they continued in their sins though they had no faith in me though they were not sanctified nor converted Oh no our blessed Lord we never did we never did there they stand before thee they cannot say we ever did preach such Doctrine to them but on the contrary we told them from thy word which we made the rule and matter of our Sermons and turned them to the places where thou hast said without holiness they should not see thy face with comfort Heb. 12. 14. We bid them turn to Mar. 16. 16. where thou toldst them thy self that he that believed not should be damned and to many more such declarations of thy mind to sinners Lord there stands one that did use to hear me and he can not deny it and there stands another that was used to hear me and turned to the Chapter and the Verse and turned it down as if he would have observed what thou hast declared Lord there he stands he cannot deny it yea Lord here is a whole cluster of them stand together that were wont to hear me and there is not one amongst them all that can deny but they were told of what now they find and here are those that did believe on thee through our preaching of thy Word that can say and witness for us that we told them of the necessity of converting grace and faith in thee In the same Sermon that we preached that thou didst die for sinners we also told them that they must take thee for their Lord and obey thy Laws and resign their hearts and wills and love and all to thee but they would not do it but they never did it this is the evidence that we give against the prisoners
at the bar Come then ye captives is this true or is it not Yes Lord our consciences do compel us to acknowledg that thy Ministers did declare such things unto us Did they so why then did you not believe them go get you gone go get you down to your deserved torments Come hither ye my glorious Angels take the Prisoners at the bar that in their life-time were fettered and bound with chains of sin Now come ye hither and take them bind them hand and foot and cast them into utter darkness drive them from my presence away with them away with them come ye damned Devils you took them captive and kept them in their sinful bondage I would have redeemed them and knockt off their fetters from them but they would not hearken unto me and now I will not hearken unto them come take them then and drag them down to the place of punishment where you and they shall be for ever Oh woful Souls poor wretched Sinners ah poor condemned Prisoners how do they tremble how do they hang down their heads How are their countenances changed what hideous out-crys what doleful lamentations will there be at that day and especially by those that hoped for Heaven but their hopes are disappointed Methinks I hear them say Is all our hopes come to this Is this the end of all our confidence Prisoners we were to the Devil and our lusts we might have been made free Wo unto us that ever we were born that we did befool our selves and that these then tempting and now tormenting Devils should so much befool us contrary to the plain declarations of the Will of Christ we should so confidently hope for life and for salvation by him while we did refuse him for our Lord and to yield obedience to him Oh now we are ashamed of our hope of our vain and foolish hope yet thus it is we were deceived and we are now disappointed Now farewell Christ for ever now farewell Heaven for ever and now farewell hope for ever Hope we did but now can hope no longer but now can hope no more for ever Farewell all ye holy blessed Angels ye shall be rejoycing for ever while we shall be sorrowing for ever Farewell all ye Saints of God ye that are the Lords redeemed that once were captives as well as we but ye were redeemed by the blood of Christ and were sanctified and now are saved for ever ye shall rejoyce but we must mourn ye are blessed but we are cursed ye shall be with God and Christ your Redeemer for ever while we shall be with the Devil and his Angels for ever Farewell farewell adieu adieu to all eternity Beloved hearers if this shall be the doleful end of vain and groundless hopes of unwarrantable and unscriptural confidence in the death of Christ without faith and sanctifying grace be no longer kept as captives bound by this chain of false hopes of Heaven 3. Another Link in this Chain of false hopes wherewith these captives are bound is that they have oftentimes great trouble of Conscience and inward terrours of mind after they have committed sin I have saith one been troubled for my Oaths and cried God forgive me and if I have been drunk saith another I have been troubled for it sometimes it breaks my sleep and sometimes I cannot eat in peace nor think of my sin but my heart is filled with horror at the remembrance of it and therefore I hope that I am redeemed by Christ and got loose from my bondage state and that God will have mercy on me and will save my Soul I answer 1. False repentance is a strengthning of false hopes and many times the more the sinner is troubled for his sin the faster he is bound in his sinful captive state the more tears do fall from thine eyes the faster are thy fetters lockt upon thy Soul because as true repentance maketh way for a well-grounded peace of conscience and for solid comfort so a false and counterfeit repentance afterwards makes the sinner more secure and doth strengthen his mistake concerning his spiritual condition he hath sinned and he hath sorrowed and now he thinketh all is well and the Devil hath him faster in his hold than he had before 2. Terrours of Conscience for sin though great and grievous in so much that thou art restless and weary of thy life are no argument that of a captive thou art made free Hast thou ever been so much troubled as was Cain or hast thou ever been so filled with amazing horrors as was Judas and yet these were captives to the Devil still and are bound in chains of sin and guilt and punishment to this day and so shall be for ever and who have greater terrors reprovings and reproaches from their own consciences than the damned in Hell and these terrors in thy soul and conscience might be the fore-runners and beginning of those hellish horrors thou shalt be filled with in another world 3. But what are thy terrors and thy tears the agonies and anguish of thy heart without an inward change What are all these legal fits of sorrow while thou art the same man in sinning still and thy love the same unto thy sin and when the temptation comes thy course and practice is the same If thou shouldst wear the skin from off thy knees by going often to confess thy sin and weep thy self blind and pine away with sorrow yet if thy heart do secretly like thy sin and thou still art not inwardly renewed nor acceptest of nor closest with Christ by faith whatever thy apprehensions are of thy good condition thou art still a captive to the Devil especially when one while thou seemest with sorrow to lament thy sin and another while dost with pleasure and delight commit the sin lamented dost commit the sin and then confess it confess it and go on again to commit and so like a slave indeed runnest round in the Devils Mill betwixt confession and commission of thy sins whereas in a true penitent there is the renovation of the heart and the reformation of the life a loathing and a leaving of the sin lamented Ezek. 36. 31. 18. 30 31. Isa 57. 7. Joel 2. 12 13. 4. Another Link in this Chain of false hopes wherewith these Captives are bound is in that they have good meanings and good wishes and desires and though they cannot discourse as others can nor have those gifts that others have yet they thank God their hearts are good and ever were even from their childhood and though they cannot utter themselves yet they have it in their hearts Thus the Devil keepeth some in this fetter and this bond but towards the breaking of it consider 1. Many have gone to hell with such good meanings in their hearts and with such good wishes in their mouths as Balaam for one Numb 23. 10 Let me dye the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his Who would
been a sinner thou wouldst have stood in no need of a Saviour and the greater sinner thou hast been the greater haste thou shouldst make unto a Saviour methinks I hear Christ calling to thee poor sinner why art thou thus dismaid at the sight and thoughts of thy Iniquities come unto me and I will help thee why art thou thus cast down at the remembrance of what a sinner thou hast been and what wickedness thou hast done come I have healing for thy wounds I have plaisters for thy sores come to me I will surely help and heal thee art thou affrighted by the justice of my Father come to me relie on me leave thy sins and relie on me and I will undertake to make thy peace with God and I will get and give thee pardon of thy sins Methinks I hear him say thou criest out because thou hast sinned and if thou hadst not there had been no need of my coming from heaven to earth there had been no need of my dying on the Cross Art thou a sinner I knew thou wast and therefore I came on purpose for to help thee art thou a lost sinner I knew thou wast and therefore I came to seek thee art thou a captive bound in fetters I knew thou wast and therefore I came to ease thee and release thee only be but heartily willing to receive me for thy Prophet Priest and King and consent to the conditions of the Gospel and do no more despond as if there were no hope nor help for thee come hither and see me in my sweat and agony come hither and behold the wounds made in my side my feet my hands my heart and all and these I suffered for such sinners look through the wounds made in my side and see if thou canst not there see Love in my heart and pity in my heart to poor returning sinners what did I suffer for and what did I bleed and die for but to help and save poor sinners come to me and I will be thy friend come to me believe on me receive me and God will be thy friend So then poor captive soul if thou be willing indeed willing to leave thy sins thy fetters and thy bonds to resign thy will thy love thy heart to Christ make him thy end and take him for thy Lord-Redeemer there 's no reason thou shouldst despair of pardon and salvation let not then Satan keep thee in this bond from coming unto Christ to be set at liberty 3. Thy sins and thy wickednesses are not greater are not more than all the sins of all the elect of God were that are now in Heaven and yet mercy hath pardoned them and yet Christs merits hath purchased life and salvation for them and they are now in possession of it thou hast out-sinned any one single man yet hast thou committed more or greater sins then all the sins of all the millions now in glory put them all together and yet hath God been able and willing to pardon them and Christ able and willing to save them if thou wilt repent and believe as they did thou shalt be saved as they are if thou wilt leave thy sins and be converted as they were do not despair nay do not doubt but thou shalt be happy as they be Hast thou sinned more than Adam did that at one blow did wound and kill so many souls as never man did the like no nor never shall again Hast thou sinned more than Manasseh read and judge 2 Chron. 33. 1. to 14 Hast thou sinned more than Paul that was a bloody persecutor of Gods people 1 Tim. 1. 13. Hast thou sinned more than Peter that did swear and curse he knew not Jesus Christ or more than Mary Magdalen or if thou couldst say thou hast sinned more than any one of these yet hast thou sinned more than all these put together and thousands of thousands more thou canst not say it Why then what is the matter with thee that thou sittest in thy chains lamenting of thy self saying there is no hope for me there is no help no mercy for me what no hope for a sinner and a Saviour by thee no help no deliverance for a Captive and the Ransom paid and the Redeemer come unto thee waiting that thou would be but willing to receive him for thy Lord and Saviour and he is ready to receive thee Say O say then what did this tempting Devil mean one while to draw into sin because it was no great matter he did tempt me to and what now doth this accusing Devil mean that when he hath wounded me would perswade me there is no healing for me O my soul once this enemy did befool thee when he did perswade thee thy condition was so good that thou didst not need to fear and now shall he befool thee to make thee think thy condition is now so bad that there is no reason why thou shouldst hope Tell him O tell him that yet his condition is is not thine though thou hast sinned as he hath done yet there is a Saviour offered unto thee that never was that never shall be offered unto him Oh my soul Satan is bound in this chain of despair himself and it never â—â—n be knocked off tell him then O mine enemy thou canst not repent and therefore canst not hope thou canst not believe and therefore canst not be saved Christ did not die for thee but he died for sinful men that shall have the benefits of his death by believing on him Oh I will now repent and by the grace of God I will believe and while the Devil doth despair and would hold me from going unto Christ by despairing too yet since there is mercy in God and merit in Christ whereby other have been saved and this is offered unto me God doth call me and Christ doth call me and the Spirit striveth with me to come to Christ and mercy is promised if I do and pardon is promised if I do why then should I sit here lamenting of my doleful case or why do I sit here despairing of mercy I will arise and go and venture to cast my self on Christ and trust my soul with him If I stay here from Christ I am sure I shall perish but if I go it may be I shall live Did I say it may be oh God hath declared in his word that if I do repent and believe that it shall be that I shall be saved Resolve therefore as those four Lepers 2 Kings 7. 3. that said one to another Why sit we here until we die 4. If we say we will enter into the City then the famine is in the City and we shall die there and if we sit still here we die also Now therefore come and let us fall into the Hosts of the Syrians if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but die If thou fittest still in thy natural state and wilt not go to Christ
thou shalt surely die and if thou goest to him thou needs not say I can but die for if thou goest thou shalt not die So then though all this be no ground to encourage any to go on in sin and yet hope for Heaven who were spoken to before yet all this is reason of encouragement to those that have already sinned and are penitentially grieved that they have so done that they should now despair as once they did presume and the Lord grant that as you have been convinced and awakened that you might be no longer kept in bondage by presumption so now you might go to Christ the Redeemer of Captives and not be kept Captives still and perish by despair CHAP. VIII A Sixth Chain is taking up Morality 7. And Resting in Religious duties 6. ANother Chain wherewith many of these Captives are bound is their satisfying themselves with a moral blameless life saith one I live peaceably among my neighbours I defraud no man I am just in all my dealings I give to every one their due saith another I am no drunkard no swearer no open profaner of Sabbaths no man can lay any thing to my charge nor say black is my eye Many sinners rest here and do perswade themselves their condition is good and do not think that they are in bondage to the Devil and so do not look out after Redemption by Jesus Christ Though all this be good in it self yet it doth not argue that thy condition is good because it is not sufficient to salvation forasmuch as God requireth this and something more nay much more than this that thou mayst be meet for Heaven towards the breaking of this bond Consider 1. Negative holiness is not a ground of hope for future glory nor a proof of a present good condition Negatives in reference to affirmative Precepts will damn but negatives in reference to forbidding Precepts will not save There are commands of God enjoyning you to repent and believe to pray and to forsake sin your not repenting not believing will undo your souls and there are commands enjoyning you to be no drunkards to be no swearers not to defraud nor over reach others in your dealings now if you be no drunkards yet if you are not believers you are still in Satans bonds you must not only not do evil but you must also do that which is good Isa 1. 16 17. Mat. 25. 42. 2. If thou art of an unblameable life yet thou hast a corrupt and sinful heart if thou hadst been free all thy life-long from every actual sin as thou art not yet there is sin enough in thy heart to sink thee to the lowest hell There is heart-adultery and heart-murder pride of heart and unbelief in thy heart so that though thou sayst fair is thy life yet God doth see that foul and filthy is thy heart and it is not unblameableness of life only but purity of heart too that must qualifie you for the enjoyment of God Mat. 5. 8. Heb. 12. 14. Hast thou wronged no man what nor God neither dost thou give to every man his due what and to God too thy heart is Gods due Prov. 23. 26. dost thou give to God thy heart which is his due thy love and obedience is Gods due Mat. 22. 37. dost thou indeed give these to God thy time and service and religious worship is Gods due Mat. 4. 10. dost thou deny these unto God and yet boast thou givest to every one their due or dost thou look upon it as an evil to withhold from man that which doth belong to him and is it not a greater evil to withhold from God that which doth belong to him wilt thou pay to men and rob God and yet hold thy self guiltless wilt thou be righteous towards men and unholy towards God and yet hold thy self innocent whereas the same God that doth command thee to live soberly towards thy self and righteously towards men doth also charge thee to be holy towards him Tit. 2. 12. What if thou art at peace with all men if thou art not at peace with God art thou not a captive still what if thou art in charity with all the world as thou makest thy boast if thou hast no love to God art thou not in fetters still what if thou bearest no malice in thy heart to any man yet if thy heart be full of hatred and enmity to God hath not the Devil yet fast hold on thee Didst thou never read Mat. 19. 18 19 20. that that Moralist said as much as thou dost say and yet he remained still in the bonds of his Iniquity Didst thou never read Luke 18. 11. where the Pharisee boasted unto God himself that he was not as other men are that he was no Extortioner no Adulterer nor unjust and yet being not justified was fast bound in the guilt of sin A moral man without converting sanctifying grace is like a Swine in a fair Meadow that though it be not there wallowing in the mire yet it is a swine still Oh then stay not here since there are many now in hell that were not common drunkards swearers nor profane debauched persons let not Satan keep thee any longer bound in thy captive state with this bond of thy applauded moral conversation 7. Another Chain with which some Captives are bound is their resting in religious and holy duties these go a step higher than the former and yet are as fast bound as others be and faster too for when many gross sinners are delivered from captivity and their bonds are broke Hypocrites are fast entangled with chains of their own making Publicans and Harlots enter into the Kingdom of God when Hypocrites are shut out Mat. 21 31. as Paul compared himself with others 2 Cor. 11. 22. Are they Hebrews so am I. Are they Israelites so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham so am I. 23. Are they Ministers of Christ I am more in Labours more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft So hypocrites comparing themselves with those that are set at liberty by Christ in respect of all external duties and common gifts conceiting that therefore they are free too are the faster bound Are Gods free-men much in prayer so am I saith the Hypocrite Are they frequent in hearing so am I. Are they admitted to all Ordinances and received into Church-fellowship by the godly strict and careful Ministers of Christ so am I. Do they talk and discourse of God and Christ and Heaven so do I and more than many of them do Do they suffer for Religion and have been in bonds and prisons for Religious worshipping of God So have I. These are strong bonds and the more they pray and hear the stronger are their bonds while they are praying and hearing the Devil is binding these captive-hypocrites so much the faster and this is their misery more especially that these Chains which are made for their close imprisonment they do
Captives are not sensible of their thraldom do not lament themselves nor bewail their own condition though it be so bad so very bad The children of Israel did groan and sigh by reason of their bondage Exod. 2. 22. When Manasseh was bound with fetters and carried captive to Babylon he was sensible of the fetters on his body that had before no sense of the bonds of sin with which he was held in bondage by the Devil And how do poor Captives sigh and groan under Turkish slavery and bitterly lament because of the hard usage they are under And how do many Prisoners grieve and take on that they ever did that fact for which they are in Irons Do men need to spend many hours and make many long Orations to convince a Captive amongst the Turks of the sadness of his condition there But how many hours must a Minister spend in studying and in preaching before these Captives can be brought to a sense of their own woful and miserable condition Before he can convince that indeed they are in this captivity It is indeed but here and there one amongst a multitude that do see it believe it and bewail it Who is witness of your groans and of your tears When did you complain to God or man of the fetters and the bonds of sin that have been so long upon your souls When didst thou retire to thy Closet and there lament thy woful case Is not this a dreadful case to be near to Hell and not to see it to be near damnation and not to fear it to be led by the Devil in the chains of sin to a place of torment and to be not at all sensible whither you are going Shall nothing but the flames of Hell convince thee of thy bondage Wilt thou not believe the Devil is leading thee to Hell till thou seest and findest and feelest that thou art there Wilt thou not yield that thou art of the number of Satans Captives upon earth till he brings thee to the Lake of burning Brimstone and look round about thee and then to thy eternal sorrow see that thou art one of the number of the captivated souls in Hell This makes thy captivity the sorer and thy bonds the stronger that thou art not sensible of thy bondage 3. So doth this too that thou art a voluntary bond-slave to Satan and to Sin thou art the Devils servant and art willing to be so in bondage and art willing to remain therein thou mightest have liberty but thou wilt not Thou art like the servant that plainly said I love my Master I will not go out free and would rather have his ears bored through with an Awl and serve him for ever than be made free Exod. 21. 5 6. Slaves in Turkie are there against their wills it is not matter of their choice Captives they be but they are not willing Captives they do not love their fetters nor their chains nor the work and service that they are there put unto but thou art in Captivity to Satan and thou lovest to have it so thou drudgest in his service and dost love to do it but what wilt thou do in the end thereof Jer. 5. 31. Others are by power and force taken and continued Captives but thou dost voluntarily yeild thy self to be a slave for Satan could not have taken men captive nor hold them therein without their own consent Like Ahab thou dost sell thy self for a slave 1 King 21. 20 and what dost thou sell thy self thy soul a captive for For a little profit and for a little short and momentary pleasure That thou mightest gratifie thy lusts for a while and please thy palate and thy flesh for a while thou art contented to be a slave for ever When a man is taken captive yet his will is not taken when his body is fettered yet his will is not overcome he hath a will to resist still if he had but power he hath a will to have off his chains though he cannot and a will to escape and be set at liberty though there is none to lay down a ransome for him But the Devils Captives have no will to be delivered or freed from their bondage though there be a ransome paid and the benefit of it be offered unto them 4. It is a plenary and full Captivity all the Sinner is in bondage not only the Will but all the powers and affections of the soul so that there is nothing in him free If a man be in bondage to men his thoughts might be free and his affections might be free free to love God free to delight in God free to desire after God But Satans Captives have no freedom to any thing that is spiritually good and pleasing unto God therefore this is a sore bondage 5. These Captives are Children of the Wrath of God whereas others that are Captives to men might be Children of the Love of God as they love and delight in God when they be in chains so God may love and delight in them If a mans outward condition be never so bad yet he might comfort himself with the thoughts of Gods love to him though I be in prison yet God loves me and though I be in chains yet God loves me But the Devils Captives do not love God nor are beloved by him A love of good-will God hath had to many of these Captives a love of Purpose to do them good in delivering them from their bonds but a love of complacency and delight so that God should take pleasure in you while you are voluntarily and totally the Devils Slaves and Servants there is not in God towards you O did you but know the Wrath of God the Fury of the Lord what it is how great how intolerable Could you please your selves in that condition in which you are the objects of his Wrath As there is no love like to the love of God so there is no wrath like to the wrath of God therefore that condition be it what it will is not so bad in which you may be the object of Gods love as that condition is in which you are and must be the objects of his wrath 6. Death doth not deliver Satans Captives from their thraldom and their bondage but doth straiten their bonds and strengthen their chains and puts them into an impossibility of Redemption for ever If a slave be no way delivered while he liveth yet he is freed when he dyes death will bring him a release and give him a discharge Job 3. 17. There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest 18. There the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressor 19. The small and great are there and the servant is free from his master When the King of Babylon had taken Zedekiah captive and bound him in fetters he put him in prison till the day of his death and then he was his prisoner no longer Jer. 52. 12. But
freedom from sufferings in their bondage than sufferings with spiritual freedom 6. Christ doth not give us freedom from temptations of the Devil that we should be no more buffeted by that wicked one Christ himself was not free from temptations from Satan nor from persecutions from men Resist the Devil watch and pray against his temptations for you are not like to be freed from them till you get nto Heaven 7. Christ doth not free us from the stroke of death the Lords Free-men must be bound with deaths bonds as well as others Our souls and bodies are not free from dissolution your bodies not free from putrefaction but yet we are freed from the sting of death and death is not the same to the Lords Free-men as it is to the Devils Bond-men Q. 2. What is the liberty that we have by Christ This shall be managed in speaking to these two particulars First As this liberty and freedom is privative Secondly As it is positive or what we are freed from and what it is that we are freed to 1. What it is that believers are freed from by Christ and these are great and sore evils and such as would have made us unspeakably and eternally miserable if Christ had not freed us from them 1. Christ hath delivered us and set us free from the power of Satan that he hath no more rule in us as formerly he had he did rule in our hearts Ephes 2. 2 and we did yeild voluntary subjection and obedience to him but Christ hath bound this strong man and spoiled him of his goods and hath dispossessed him and turned him out of our hearts from dwelling reigning ruling there as in a Throne this Christ came to do Heb. 2. 14 15 he hath delivered us from the Justice of God by price and purchase from Satan by power and by a mighty hand 2. Christ hath set us free from sin not for the present or in this life from the in-dwelling of sin as you heard before but in these two respects 1. By Christ believers have a freedom from the guilt of sin We are free from the obligation that lay upon us to eternal torments so that now we shall never come into condemnation for our sins our many sins are all pardoned our great and heinous sins are all forgiven Rom. 8. 1 33 34. Many might accuse the Devil might accuse and Men might accuse and Conscience might accuse and the Law might accuse us but Christ hath so freed us that none can condemn Oh what a blessed piece of our freedom lieth in this What wouldst thou have done to have answered for thy sins What wouldst thou have done to bear the punishment of thy sins Indeed thou couldst neither answer for thy self nor yet have born the wrath of God due to thee for thy sin Oh then see the everlasting obligation laid upon thee to love this blessed Christ to prize and value and esteem this once crucified and now glorious Christ that hath taken off this obligation from thee he hath freed thee from one obligation and thereby laid upon thee another he hath freed thee from an obligation to eternal condemnation and hath laid upon thee a strong and lasting obligation to love him and to praise and admire his love and grace to thee for ever 2. Christ hath set us free from the dominion of sin The Sinner was the Captive and Sin the Lord and Conqueror but he that is made free by Christ is become the Conqueror and Sin the Captive the Victory indeed is not yet compleated yet sin is dethroned the sinner when a captive was in chains but now made free sin is become bound Sin was delighted in but now it is abhorred sin was voluntarily yeilded unto but now resisted and opposed sin was welcomly entertained but now lamented and bewailed it was looked upon with pleasure and content but now it is beheld with a sorrowful heart and with a weeping eye it is become the burden and the grief that before had the love and complacency of the sinners heart it is now prayed against and watched against and endeavoured against that before was indulged and allowed and provided for and willingly submitted to Now saith the Redeemed sinner my hard heart is a burden to me my proud and unbelieving heart is a burden and a grief unto me my vain and worldly heart is a burden and a trouble and a sorrow to me he is freed from the reigning power of sin Rom. 6. 14. 7. Christ hath set believers free from the curse of the Law The Law hath its use under the Gospel by it we come to the knowledg of sin Rom. 3. 20 and 5. 20 by it we are convinced of our misery that by sin we have deserved death and damnation Rom. 7. 10. that we might see the necessity of Christ and hasten the more to him Gal. 3. 24. It serveth for a rule to direct us in our walking and for a glass in which we see the imperfection of our duty and obedience that we might not rest in them nor trust unto them for life and salvation But from the condemning-sentence and curse of the Law Christ hath made believers free by being made himself a curse for them Gal. 3. 10 13. 4. Christ hath set believers free from the hurt of death The Lords Free-men must dye as well as the Devils Bond-men but Death will be another thing to a Free-man than it is unto a Captive so that which is formidable to a sinner is desirable to a Saint Christ hath taken away the sting of Death 1 Cor. 15. 55 of an Enemy is become a Friend and Death that is one of the plagues that befall the Devils Captives is become part of the Charter of the Lords Free-men 1 Cor. 3. 22. 1. De 〈…〉 h to Free-men of the Lord is the utter abolition of their sin it shall free them from the very being and in-dwelling of sin when the soul shall be separated from the body all sin and all corruption shall be separated from the soul whereas the Devils bond-men dye in their sin and after death do still retain their hatred unto God their enmity to Christ and are more confirmed and hardned in it than before 2. Death to the Lords Freemen puts an end to all their sorrow and affliction to all their troubles and their sufferings It is Gods Handkerchief whereby he wipes away all tears from the eyes of his redeemed people Rev. 14. 13. but at death the sorrow of the Devils Captives doth begin or is encreased if they were at ease while they lived they shall be in pain when they dye if they did roar and sing while they lived they shall roar and lament after death Death takes them from their riches from their friends and from their pleasure and whatsoever was dear unto them in this worlds enjoyments and puts them into a place of pain and torment a place of utter darkness where they shall for ever weep and
it doth exceed all worldly glory 4. It is a more exceeding weight of glory more than can be conceived 5. It is a far more exceeding weight of glory 6. It is eternal too All this is not for a little while only or for some thousands of years only but for ever and for ever The glory of the world as it is but light if weighed with this so it is but fading and transitory and but short if compared with this that is eternal Thus you have a little view and alas it is but little of the positive freedom and liberty that you have by Christ CHAP. XII Containing the Vses of the whole Vse 1. THen search your hearts and examine narrowly and throughly what you are bond-men or free whether yet Captives or redeemed and set at liberty The misery of spiritual Captives you have heard doth exceed the misery of Captives by men And the good estate of such as are made free by Christ you have also heard Now say to thy self Tell me O my Soul which of these two is thy state and thy condition one of them is thy condition but which it is is worthy of thy strictest search and most diligent enquiry Are thy fetters knocked off and thy bonds broken and thy chain â—ut and thou delivered or art thou yet held fast by them Take heed O my Soul of being mistaken in this point If thou takest it for granted that thou art made free when yet thou art in bonds and leavest thy body in this mistake thou art lost for ever if on the other hand thou sayest thou art a captive still when thou art made free thou will lose the comfort of thy freedom and wilt spend thy time and life in complaints and griefs and fears which thou shouldst spend in praising and admiring God for his love and mercy in bringing thee out of thy captivity For your help herein take these few marks to try your selves by for the resolution of this question 1. Freemen have their spiritual eye-sight restored unto them When Christs opens the prison-doors to let the Captives out he doth also open their eyes to let them see that in sin in God in Christ in grace and holiness that before they never saw That the redeemed Captive crieth out Oh I never thought my heart had been so bad so bad so very bad as now I see it is I never thought that sin had been so vile so very vile and so deformed as now I plainly see it is I never thought that Christ was so excellent and so necessary so absolutely necessary for me as now I see he is Oh methinks he is now altogether lovely altogether desirable after I have had a view of the beauty and the excellency of Christ methinks all the glory of the world and all the delights in pleasure and sin is darkened and doth vanish and disappear Oh how was I blinded in my captivity that I never saw the excellency of Christ and deformity of sin till now Isa 42. 6. Act. 26. 18 23. Col. 1. 13. Rev. 3. 18. 2. When Christ breaks the bonds wherewith poor Captives were held he also breaketh their hearts that they have been kept and held thereby in the service of Satan and sin from God and Christ so long As the eye doth see and weep so the heart doth consider and bleed and grieve at the remembrance of his former folly and sin Oh what did I do to sin against this blessed gracious merciful God! Oh what did I mean so long to stop mine ears against all the calls and wooings and intreatings of this Lord-Redeemer who was so kind to suffer bleed and dye for such a wretch as I for such a wretch as I for such a rebellious disobedient and delaying wretch as I. Oh there is no love like his there is no mercy like to his there is no kindness like to his Oh why did I slight him so much so long so very much so very long as I have done Oh what a fool was I to prefer the world the pleasures and the profits of the world before this blessed Redeemer Oh what a beast was I to prefer my very lusts and sins and the service of the Devil before this glorious gracious Saviour and the serving of him that died to deliver me from my bondage O Lord I am grieved that ever I did so it is the burden and the breaking of my heart that ever I did so Oh now I could wash my self in tears at the remembrance of my folly and my madness but if I should that will not wash me from my guilt and from my filth and because that would not do this blessed Saviour shed his blood for the cleansing of me from my guilt and my pollution I weep but not enough my heart is troubled but not enough my Soul is humbled within me but not enough for so great rebellion against and slighting of this Lord Redeemer But I am troubled because I am no more troubled Lord I grieve because my heart is yet so hard and can grieve no more my sin is bitter unto me now which once was sweet and pleasant to my Soul 3. Such as are made free by Christ are delivered from the reigning power of sin For it is impossible to be a willing voluntary servant of sin and yeild obedience to the Law of sin and to be made free by Christ 2 Pet. 2. 19. Rom. 6. 16 18. Doth sin command you and you obey hath sin the chiefest room and place in your affections and your hearts you are then yet in your bondage 4. Such as are made free by Christ have resigned up themselves their hearts their love their all to him accept of him for Lord as welâ— as for their Saviour and to consent to take him in all his Offices for Prophet Priest and King and giving up themselves to him do become his servants and consequently yeild obedience to him they have changed their master and they have changed their work and ways and are become new creatures having new hearts wills and affections ends and designs than what they had before For the Condition of sinners being partakers of Christs Redemption is their believing on him and consenting to him as Lord and Saviour chusing him before all and loving him above all and if this you do not do you are yet in your bondage to Satan and to sin For is it not reasonable you should be his Servants that brings you from this slavery And if he purchase and buy you out is it not reasonable you should take him for your Lord and obey him and that universally submitting to all his Laws even those that are most spiritual and cross to your corrupt hearts and most beloved sins not pick and chuse but to have respect unto them all Psal 119. 6 constantly not by fits and starts not only when in straits and sickness but at all times to have the frame and bent and inclination of your hearts to yeild
obedience to Christ your Lord-Redeemer freely and voluntarily as matter of your choice from a free principle of love because you love him you will pray to him because you love him you will hear from him and wait and attend upon him rejoicing when you please him grieving when you do offend him If by these things you discover what you are bond or free I shall close the whole with an Exhortation to both sorts both bond and free Use of Exhortation 1. To you that are bound that you would look after spiritual freedom young men that have hard service long to be made free and those that be in prisons and chains long to be at liberty and shall any of you be content to abide in your thraldom what will sin do for you and what will Satan do for you that you are so loth to leave their service Is the Redeemer come and wilt thou not mind him hath he paid the ransom and waiteth for thy acceptance of him and wilt thou still refuse him and the liberty and freedom thou mayest have by him and canst not have without him What say you sirs you young and old shall I have your answer will you be made free or will you continue in your bondage if thou wilt thou mayest be but willing and thy chain shall be taken from thee If thou will not remember liberty was offered to thee and thou didst refuse it thou wouldst not be free Though thou hast been a very vile sinner and rebellious yet thou mayest be made free Psal 68. 18. Isa 49. 6. Do these things 1. Labour to convince thy self that thou wast born in bondage a slave by nature to Satan and Sin The Pharisees did not believe that they were in bondage and therefore did not look out to Christ to be made free Joh. 8. 33. This is the undoing of multitudes that they conclude their condition to be good when it is not so and they conclude before they try Did you but see your bonds and understand your slavery Ministers would have hopes that by their Sermons they may do you good 2. Work upon thy heart by serious consideration thy misery and deplorable condition while thou art in a state of bondage When by diligent search thou hast found thy self in a bondage-condition hold thy thoughts unto this subject till thou art awakened and affected with it think with thy self and say Oh my soul being yet a Captive to Satan and to Sin thou art yet an enemy to God a slighter of Christ under the guilt of all thy sin in danger of damnation awake arise and look about thee and get out of this condition lest it be too late for ever 3. Set thy self under the preaching of the word and constantly attend upon God and come to the hearing of the word as to an Ordinance of God and look upon faithful Ministers as the Ambassadors of Jesus Christ that come to you in the Name of Christ as having Authority from God to propose the Gospel-conditions of deliverance from Captivity and to treat with you in the Name of God about your being made free So indeed it is 2 Cor. 5. 19 20. You come to hear a mans Parts but you do not look upon them as persons in Office having a commission from God to propound Articles of Peace betwixt God and you to treat with you from God and in the Name of God about your everlasting state and your deliverance from your present bondage and future torment Did you believe this would you sit and sleep as if what were delivered to you were not worth the hearing and regarding or would you sit and hear and go away and slight all that hath been said unto you 4. Make application of the Word of God when you hear it unto your selves This is spoken unto me this is my misery and this is my condition and this is my danger and mercy offered to sinners is offered unto me and Christ is tendered unto me to help me out of my woful state of bondage The Minister maketh Uses of the Doctrine he delivers but all this is ineffectual till you take it and lay it home to your own hearts for want of this you sit and hear like people not concerned you sit and hear without affection and go away without the due and powerful effect of the Word upon your hearts Let Conscience tell thee thou art the Drunkard the Hypocrite the Unbeliever that is threatned and in danger of damnation 5. Look up to God through the Ordinance and beyond the Minister that doth speak unto thy ear that God would speak unto thy heart and conscience Ministers might speak and yet Conscience might not speak Minister and Conscience might both speak Conscience seconding the Minister that saith Thou art in a dreadful condition while thou art in spiritual bondage Yes saith Conscience too so thou art and yet till God shall speak thou wilt not hearken Oh then when you come to the place where sinners are made free look up to God that he would speak unto your hearts 6. Pray to God that he would have mercy on thee and pity thee in thy bondage and help thee out As a poor prisoner look through the grates to Heaven and say Lord some pity for a poor Prisoner some relief and help for a poor Captive Lord I am in chains of sin but cannot break them held fast by Satan oh let me not perish oh let me not live and dye in this spiritual bondage the ransome is paid for my redemption I give my self to thee upon my knees I do resign my self my will my love my heart and all to thee Sinner Wilt thou when thou comest home not sit and talk vainly and not sit idly as heretofore but go apart and beg of God for mercy and do it earnestly for it is for thy life thy soul 2. Exhortation To you that are set at liberty Your priviledg is a singular priviledg and calleth for something singular from you You were debtors to God and prisoners to his Justice and were liable to everlasting imprisonment in the life to come but Christ hath made you free and you are free indeed Joh. 8 36. Stir up and awaken your selves to these following duties First Be thankful unto God and Christ that of bond-men you are made free If a Captive were delivered out of Turkish slavery by the means of another or a man exposed to a perpetual Imprisonment for his debt another should free him from the prison and the danger thereof What expressions of thankfulness would he abundantly utter saying O Sir I ow my present ease and freedom from my future danger unto you I shall never forget your kindness while I live I do acknowledg I have not such another friend that hath done the like for me in all the world Forasmuch then as the difference of being a debtor to God and a debtor to man of being exposed to a prison upon earth and to the prison
not eat He was convicted by his own Confession I did eat and was condemned and a sad sentence past upon him Gen. 3. 17 18 19. This was the pitiful case that man was in sinned he had apprehended he was found guilty under sentence justice required satisfaction man could not give it and thus he knew not which way to turn himself for help for deliverance from his Bondage and Captivity which by sin he had brought himself unto Oh what a strait were you in when you owed millions and had not one mite to pay after you have paused upon this Consider Fourthly To release you from your Bonds Jesus Christ did voluntarily undertake for you did interpose himself betwixt the wrath of God and the poor Captive enthralled sinner as if Christ should say Father man that was made free hath abused his liberty and is become a Bond slave fallen into the hands of revenging justice which might arrest him and clap him up in Prison for ever I see he is undone and lost help himself he cannot but I will be his Surety and his Bail what he oweth thee set that on my account I will pay it I am willing to do and suffer in their nature what may please and satisfie thy justice if my life will be taken for their salvation I will lay it down if my blood will be accepted for the ransom of these poor Prisoners I will sheâ—l it for them rather than that they shall always remain in this Captivity Oh can you think how ready Christ was for to engage and to become your Surety to die for you that you might live to be bound for you that your Bonds might be broken and your soul escape and not have your heart affected with his love and your tongue imployed in his praises Jer. 30. 21. Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me saith the Lord. Who is this forward Engager that is so willing and hearty in this work It is one that is able and mighty to save to redeem by price and power poor Captive Sinners even the only Son of the ever blessed God and so he is said to be our Surety Heb. 7. 22. A Surety is one that undertakes for or gives assurance in the behalf of another one entring into Bond and standing engaged for another to do to perform for another what he was bound to do Among men Suretiship is a dangerous thing he dissures his own estate that is surety for another Prov. 11. 15. He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it and he that hateth suretiship is sure But notwithstanding suretiship is thus among men yet Christ would become a Surety for us to God himself to bring us forth from our Bondage and that you might be the more affected and inflamed with his love consider how far he acted for poor Captives beyond what ever man did for any man 1. How many Captives Christ engageth for How many millions he became a Surety for for their ransom and deliverance one man might be bound and become a Surety for one or two but who will be Surety for thousands especially if you add 2. The greatness of the Debt of those he became a Surety for One man might be perswaded to be Surety for another if the Debt be small but if it be for thousands and for millions men are shie but if it be for multitudes that owe such great sums every one so much who will be perswaded to be Surety for them but if they be in Prison or in Bondage there they lie for want of money of their own or Suretiship from another But Christ became Surety for multitudes and each one owed abundance that it doth pass the skill of the ablest Arithmetician to cast up the total sum that one of these Prisoners were in Bondage for 3. Christ knew most certainly that he should pay undoubtedly the Debt of all he became a Surety for Many men are Sureties for others hoping they shall never be called upon for the Debt but that the Debtor will pay it himself some will be bound for a man whom they judg to be worth as much as they owe and more too but if it be a poor man not worth one farthing and his debt be thousands Who will then become Surety for him a Prisoner he is and so he is like to be and if any become bound for another and pay the debt for him what trouble doth this cause unto him it breaks his sleep he is displeased with himself that ever he entred into Bond and saith it shall be a warning to me while I live how I become a Surety for another I thought him able enough else I would not have brought my self into such snares But all this was known to Christ when he did become our Surety He knew our beggary and our poverty and that we could not contribute the smallest mite towards the satisfaction to be made in order to the freeing of the Captives from their Bondage and he knew that God would not spare him but exact the utmost from him and yet he did voluntarily undertake our ransom Oh what love was this 4. Christ became a Surety for you when you were a stranger to him He did undertake to release you out of your Bonds and Fetters when you had no special actual relation to him Some men will not be Sureties for their most intimate acquaintance and near relations not for a Brother father son but for a stranger who will do it herein then admire the love of Christ that when you were in Chains of sin and guilt and a stranger too Christ did undertake and did pay a ransom for you 5. Yet more to affect your heart Consider that Christ did ransom you from your Captivity when you were an enemy unto him A man might possibly take some pity on a stranger but an enemy that hates him and that would and doth dishonour and reproach him who would be deeply engaged for him yet Christ did this for you when you were enemies unto Christ Rom. 5. 10. 6. Yet to raise your admiration and affection more Consider Christ did become a Surety for you before you did or could desire any such kindness at his hands What Man or Angel could have thought of the ransoming of Captives by the Son of God becoming the Son of Man and God himself redeem us by his blood How long might you ask how many might you go to and how many entreaties might you use before you can prevail with one to be engaged for you for much when you have nothing of your own but Christ did this for us all before any man had any such desire in his heart thought in his mind request in his mouth that he would do so great and wonderful a kindness for us 7. Christ did this alone without any other engaging with him Men require counter-security If I be bound for you saith one you shall find to be bound
hath paid the ransom for their deliverance When some years since I was called occasionally to preach to the Prisoners in Newgate and saw my Hearers come in Fetters and heard their Chains ratling at their heels methoughts it was an affecting spectacle to see men before me that were shortly to be called to the Bar of Men and be tried for their lives and some likely to be sentenced to death and put to execution but if we do behold our Hearers standing before us though free from such material Chains of Iron yet bound fast in their lusts and sins and consider they must be shortly tried at the Bar of God and if not delivered by Christ must receive a sentence of death banished from the presence of the blessed God cast down to Devils and damned Spirits it should move us to pray for them weep over them and preach unto them with greatest pity and compassion To stand and view so many persons amongst whom many are the Devils Captives whom he is leading Fettered to eternal perdition should raise in our hearts strong workings of affection towards them and speak unto them with that earnestness and tender love as becometh those that are speaking in the Name of God to lost sinners in order to their recovery and deliverance from Captivity 2. Let Parents that are made free pity and compassionate their Children that yet are bound If any of your Children should be laid in Irons for some Fact committed against the Laws of men and carried bound to Execution would not this like a Sword pierce your very hearts be matter of grief and trouble to you would not tears plentifully flow from your eyes and bitter lamentations from your mouth that ever you should bring forth and bring up children that should end their days in such reproach and infamy to you and them or if any of you had a Son abroad and you should hear he were taken Captive by the Turks or were in the Spanish Inquisition what shedding of tears what wringing of hands what smiting on your brest would these tidings make what dolorous complaints and grievous moans would you make saying O my Son my Son my poor afflicted and distressed Son thou art fallen into the hands of barbarous and cruel men thou art put to drudgery and slavery O my Son my Son what shall I do for thee my Son Oh that I could give or find a ransom for him if all I have would set him free he should not lie in Chains and Fetters nor continue in that sore Captivity Why you Parents would you thus lament the misery of your Childrens body and do you make nothing of the the misery of your Childrens souls would you thus take on and grieve and mourn for their outward bondage which is consistent with the good condition of their souls and will shortly have an end and yet is it nothing to you to see them in their spiritual bondage captivated by Satan and in danger of being cast into an everlasting Dungeon of black and thick darkness Oh why do you not speak to them and tell them of their misery and their remedy how they came into this condition and how they may get out of it why do you not day and night plead with them instruct them and exhort them that they may escape the torments of Hell hereafter by being brought out of their bondage now why do you not pray to God that he would make them free why do you not plead at the throne of grace and say Lord I have Children that are Satans Captives my poor Children are fast bound in Fetters of sin in the Bonds of iniquity O thou God of grace that hast shewed favour unto me shew favour to my children also Oh that they may be released Oh that thou wouldst please to pity them in their Bondage and for the ransom of thy Son let them be redeemed and by the powerful workings of thy spirit have their wills subdued and inclined to accept of the only Redeemer him thou didst send to proclaim liberty to Captives Oh that by thy grace thou wouldst cause them to come in and lay hold upon the mercy granted in the proclamation of the Gospel that they might not perish in their Bonds 3. Let Masters that are made free and set at liberty have compassion on their servants that are fettered in their Chains of sin They are not only bound to you to be so bound is in order to their good and their freedom but are also bound in the Cords of their iniquity which is their present slavery and tendeth to their eternal misery doth it not pity you to see your servants to be servants of the Devil and in bondage to their lusts doth not your hearts work within you to consider that any under your Roof should be drudges unto Satan or do you see this and have you nothing to say unto them all the week long to make them apprehensive of their danger and sensible of their misery is it enough for you to teach them the skill and art of your trade and at the expiration of seven years to make them free while you do neglect to help them as instruments under God out of the thraldom of Satan and of sin or can it satisfie you that they have at the end of their Service to you the freedom of the City or Corporation where you and they do dwell while they are not brought into the liberty of the Sons of God or can you have peace in the neglect of your duty to think they came into your family Bond-slaves to sin and after seven years time they go out as they came in or should you not endeavour that they may be spiritually free while they continue servants unto you Oh how would they have cause to bless God for you and that ever they came within your doors and dwelt within your walls if they may say when I first became a Servant to my Master I was a servant to my lusts also but by his instructions admonitions and example I became a servant of God before I ceased to be a servant unto him if it should be otherwise let it not be through your neglect for as it will not be without sin and misery to your servants so neither will it be without guilt on you The like I might urge upon other relations acquaintance and friends husbands to have compassion on their wives wives on their husbands one Neighbour on another you that know what it is to have been in these cursed Bonds and what it is to be made free do your utmost to help and succour them that be in chains of sin and and know not the evil of it nor the good of the contray condition and therefore mourn not under the one nor desire to be brought forth into the other Third Exhortation Were you in Bonds and are they broke in Fetters and are they knocked off then walk in the whole course of your lives as becomes