rejoyce over thee even with singing and rest in his love Luke 15. 9. Esay 62. 5. Never did old Iacob with such joy weep over the neck of his Ioseph as thy heavenly Father would rejoyce over thee upon thy comming in to him Look over the story of the Prodigal Methinks I see how the aged Fathers laies aside his state and forgets his years behold how he runneth Luke 15. 20. Oh the hast that mercy makes The sinner makes not half that speed Methinks I see how his bowels turn how his compassions yearn How quick sighted is love Mercy spies him a great way off forgets his rigorous courses unnatural rebellion horrid unthankfulness debauched practices not a word of those but receives him with open arms clasps about his neck forgets the nastiness of his rags kisses the lips that deserve to be loathed the lips that had been joyned to harlots that had been commoners with the swine calls for the fatted Calf the best Robe the ring the shoos the best cheer in Heavens store the best attire in Heavens Wardrobe c. yea the joy cannot be held in one breast Luke 15. 6 9 23. others must be called to participate the friends must meet and make merry Angels must wait but the Prodigal must be set at the Table under his Fathers wing He is the joy of the feast he is the sweet subject of the Fathers delight The friends sympathize but none knows the felicity the father takes in his new born son whom he hath received from the dead Methinks I hear the musik and the dancing at a distance Oh the melody of the Heavenly Choristers I cannot learn the song Rev. 14. 3. but methinks I over-hear the burden at which all the harmonious quire with one consent strikes sweetly in for thus goes the round at Heavens table For this my son was dead and is alive again was lost and is found Luke 15. 23 24 32. I need not farther explain the parable God is the Father Christ the cheer his righteousness the robe his graces the ornaments Ministers Saints Angels the friends and servants and thou that readest if thou wilt but unfeignedly repent and turn the welcom Prodigal the happy instance of all this grace and the blessed subject of this joy and love Oh Rock Oh Adamant What not moved yet not yet resolved to turn forthwith and to close with mercy I will try thee yet once again If one were sent to thee from the dead wouldst thou be perswaded Why hear the voice from the dead from the damned crying to thee that thou shouldst repent I pray thee that thou wouldst send him to my fathers house for I have five brethren that he may testifie unto them lest they also come into this place of torment If one went unto them from the dead they will repent Luke 16. 27 28. c. Hear O man thy Predecessors in impenitence Preach to thee from the infernal gibbets from the flames from the rack that thou shouldst repent O look down into the bottomless pit Seest thou how the smoak of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever Rev. 14. 11. How black are the â—iends How furious are their torments 'T is their only musick to hear how their miserable patients roar to hear their bones crack 'T is their meat and drink to see how their flesh frieth and their fat droppeth to drench them with burning metal and to rip open their bodies and to pour in the fierce burning brass into their bowels and the recesses and ventricles of their hearts What thinkest thou of those chains of darkness of those instruments of cruelty Canst thou be content to burn Seest thou how the worm gnaweth how the oven gloweth how the fire rageth what saist thou to that river of brimstone that dark and horrible vault that gulf of perdition wilt thou take up thine habitation here O lay thine â—ar to the door of Hell Hearest thou the curses and the blasphemies the weepings and the wailings how they lament their folly and curse their day Mat. 22. 13. Rev. 16. 9. How do they roar and yell and gnash their teeth how deep are their groans how feeling are their moans how unconceivable their miseries If the shrieks of Corah Dathan and Abiram were so terrible when the earth clave asunder and opened her mouth and swallowed them up and all that appertained to them that all Israel â—led at the cry of them Numb 16. 33 34. Oh how fearful would the cry be if God should take off the covering from the month of hell and let the cry of the damned ascend in all its terror among the children of men And of all their moans and miseries this is the piercing killing â—mphasis and burden for ever for ever Why as God liveth that made thy soul thou art but a few hours distant from all this except thou repent and be converted Oh! I am even lost and swallowed up in the abâ—â—dance of those arguments that I might suggest If there be any point of wisdom in all the world it is to repent and come in if there be any thing righteous any thing reasonable this is it If there be any thing in the world that may be called madness and folly any thing that may be counted sottish absurd brutish unreasonable it is this to go on in thine unconverted estate Let me beg thee as thou wouldst not wilfully destroy thy self to sit down and weigh besides what hath been said these following Motives and let conscience speak if it be not reason that thou shouldst repent and turn 1. The God that made thee doth most graciously invite thee First his most sweet and merciful nature doth invite thee Oh the kindness of God his working bowels his tender mercies they are infinitely above our thoughts higher than Heaven what can we do deeper than hell what can we know Iob 11. 7 8 9. He is full of compassion and gracious long suffering and plenteous in mercy Psal. 86. 15. This is a great argument to perswade sinners to come in Turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil If God would not repent of the evil it were some discouragement to us why we should not repent If there were no hope of mercy it were no such wonder if the rebel did stand out but never had subjects such a gracious Prince such Piety patience clemency pity to deal with as you have Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity c. Mic. 7. 18. Oh sinners see what a God you have to deal with if you will but turn He will turn again and have compassion upon you he will subdue your iniquities and cast all your sins into the depths of the Sea v. 19. Return unto me saith the Lord of Hosts and I will return unto you Malâ— 3. 7. Zech. 1. 3. Sinners do not fail in that they have too high thoughts of Gods mercies but
Cup of reproach and scorn and slander and poverty and labours might pass from us if it were not for the will of God and your salvation Why should we love to be the lowest and trodden down by malignant Pride and counted as the filth of the World and the Off-scouring of all things and represented to Rulers whâ—m wâ— honour as scismaticks disobedient turbulent unruly by every Church-usurper whom we refuse to make a God of Why give you not over this preaching of the Gospel at the will of Satan that is for the everlasting suffering of your souls under the pretence of making us suffer Is not all this that you may be converted and saved If we be herein besides our selves it is for you Could the words of the ignorant or proud have perswaded us that either your wants and dangers are so inconsiderable or your other supplies and helps sufficient that our labours had been unnecessary to you God knoweth we should have readily obeyed the silencing sorts of Pastors and have betaken us to some other land where our service had been more necessary Let shame be the hypocrites reward who taketh not the saving of souls and the pleasing of God for a sufficient reward without Ecclesiastical Dignities preferments or worldly wealth I have told you our motives I have told you our business andâ— the terms of our undertaking It is God and you sinners that next must tell us what our entertainment and success shall be Shall it be still neglect and unthankful contempt and turning away your ear and heart and saying we have somewhat else to mind Will you still be cheated by this deceiving World And spend all your days in pampering your guts and providing for your flesh that must lie rotting very shortly in a Grave Were you made for no better work than this May not we bring you to some sober thoughts of your condition nor one hour seriously to think whither you are going What! not to one awakened look into the World where you must be for ever Nor one heart-raising thought of the everlasting Glory Not one heart-piercing thought of all your Saviours love nor one â—ear for all your sinful lives O God forbid Let not our labour be so despised Let not your God your Saviour and your souls be set so light by O let there be no profane person among you like Esau who for one morsel sold his birth-right Poor sinners We talk not to you as on a stage in customary words and because that talking thus is our trade We are in as good earnest with you as if we saw you all murdering your selves and we are perswading you to save your lives Can any man be in jest with you who believeth God who by Faith foreseeth whither you are going and what you lose and where the game of sin will end It is little better to jest with you now in Pulpit or in private than to stand jesting over your departing souls when at death you are breathing out your lâ—st Alas with shame and griefâ— we do confess that we never speak to you of these things as their truth and weight deserve nor with the skill and wisdom the affection and fervency which beseemeth men engaged in the saving of poor souls But yet you may perceive that we are in good sadness with you For God is so What else do we study for labour for suffer for live for Why else do we so much trouble our selves and trouble you with all this ado and anger them that would have had us silent For my own part I will make my free Confession to you to my shame that I never grow cold and dull and pittiless to the Souls of others till I first grow too cold and careless of my own unless when weakness or speculative studies cool me which I must confess they often do We never cease pittying you till we are growing too like you and so have need of pity our selves When through the mercy of my Lord the prospect of thâ—â—â—â—rld of souls which I am going to hath any poâ—â—â—ful operation on my self O then I could spend and be spent for others No words are too earnest no labour too great no cost too dear the frowns and wrath of malignant opposers of the preaching of Christs Gospel are nothing to me But when the World of Spirits do disappear or my Soul is clouded and receiveth not the viâ—al illuminating influences of Heaven I grow cold first to my self and then to others Come then poor sinners and help us who are willing at any rate to be your helpers As we first crave Gods help so we next crave yours Help us for we cannot save you against your wills nor save you without your consent and help God himself will not save you without you and how should we know that the Devil is against us and will do his worst to hinder us and so will all his Ministers by what names or titles soever dignified or distinguished But all this is nothing if you will but take our parts your selves I mean if you will take Christs part and your own and will not be against your selves Men and Devils cannot either help or hinder us in saving you as you may do your selves If God and you be for us who shall be against us And if you will help us give over striving against God and Conscience give over fighting against Christ and his Spirit take part no more with the World and the flesh which in your Baptism you renounced set your hearts to the message which we bring you Allow it your manlike sober thoughts search the Scriptures and see whether the things which we speak be so or no. We offer you nothing but what we have resolvedly câ—â—â—en our selves and that after the most serious dâ—â—â—ation that we can make We have many a timâ— looked round about us to know what is the happiness of man And had we found better for our selves we had offered better to you If the World would have served our turns it should have served yours also and we would not have troubled you with the talk of another world but it will not I am sure it will not serve your turns to make you happy nor shall you long make that sorry self-deceiving shift with it as now you do But if you will not think of these things if you will not use the reason of men alas what can we do to save your souls O pity them Lord that they may pity themselves Have mercy on them that they may have some more mercy on themselves Help them that they may help themselves and us If you still râ—fuse will not your loss be more than ours If we lose our Labour which to our selves we shall not if we lose our hopes of your Salvation what is this to your everlasting loss of Salvation it self And what is our suffering for your sakes in comparison of your endless sufferings But O this is it that breaketh
for Ink I would petition them on my knees verily were I able I would O how thankfully I would if they would be prevailed with to repent and turn How long have I travelled in birth with you how frequently have I made suit to you how often would I have gathered you how instant have I been with you this is that I have prayed for and studied for for many years that I might bring you to God O that I might but do it Will you yet be intreated O what a happy man might you make me if you would but hearken to me and suffer me to carry you over to Jesus Christ. But Lord how insufficient am I for this work I have been many a year woing for thee but the Damsel would not go with me Lord what a task hast thou set me to do Alas wherewith shall I pierce the scales of Leviathan or make the heart to feel that is hard as a stone hard as a piece of the nether milstone Shall I go and lay my mouth to the grave and look when the dead will obey me and come forth shall I make an Oration to the Rocks or declaim to the Mountains and think to move them with arguments shall I give the blind to see From the beginning of the world was it not heard that a man opened the eyes of the blind But thou O Lord canst pierce the scales and prick the heart of the Sinner I can but shoot at rovers and draw the â—ow at a venture and do thou direct the arrow between the joynts of the harness and kill the sin and save the Soul of the sinner that casts hiâ— eyes into these labours But I must apply my self to you to whom I am sent yet I am at a great loss Would to God I knew how to go to work with you would I stick at the pains God knoweth you your selves are my witnesses how I have followed you in private as well as in publick and have brought the Gospel to your doors testifying to you the necessity of the new birth and perswading you to look in time after a sound and through change Beloved I have not acted a part among you to serve my own advantage our Gospel is not yea and nay Have not you heard the same truths from the Pulpit by publick labours and by private letters by personal instructions Brethren I am of the same mind as ever that holiness is the best choice that there is no entring into Heaven but by the straight passages of the second birth that without holiness you shall never see God Heb. 12. 14. Ah my beloved refresh my bowels in the Lord. If there be any consolation in Christ any comfort of love any fellowship of the spirit any bowels and mercies fulfil you my joy Now give your selves unto the Lord 2 Cor. 8. 5. Now set your faces to seek him Now set up the Lord Jesus in your hearts and set him up in your houses Now come in and kiss the Son Psal. 2. 12. and embrace the tenders of his mercy Touch his Scepter and live why will you die I beg not for my self but fain I would have you happy This is the prize I run for and the white I aim atâ— My souls desire and prayer for you is that you may be saved Rom. 10. 1. The famous Lycurgus having instituted most strict and wholeâ—â—m Lâ—ws for his people told them he was necessitated to go a journey from them and got them to bind themselves in an oath that his laws should be observed till his return This done he went into a voluntary banishment and never returned more that they might by vertue of their oath be engaged to the perpetual observing of his laws Methinks I should be glad of the hard conditions which he endured though I love you tenderly so I might but hereby engage you througly to the Lord Jesus Christ Dearly beloved would you rejoyce the heart of your Minister Why then embrace the counsels of the Lord by me forgo your sins set to prayer up with the worship of God in your families keep at a distance from the corruptions of the times What greater joy to a Minister than to hear of souls born unto Christ by him and that his Children walk in the truth 2 Iohn 4. Brethren I beseech you suffer a friendly plainness and freedom with you in your deepest concernments I am not playing the orator to make a learned speech to you nor dressing my dish with eloquence wherewith to please you These lines are upon a weighty errand indeed viz. to convince and convert and save you I am not baiting my hook with Rhetorick nor fishing for your applause bâ—t for your souls My work is not to please you but to save you nor is my business with your fancies but your hearts If I have not your hearts I have nothing If I were to please your ears I could sing another song If I were to preach my self I would steer another course I could then tell you a smoother tale I would make you pillows and speak you peace for how can Ahab love this Micaiah that always prophesies â—vil concerning him 1 Kings 22. 8. But how much better are the wounâ—s of a Friend than the fair speeches of the Haâ—lot who flattereth with her lips till the Dart strike through the liver and hunteth for the precious life Prov. 7. 21 22 23. and Prov. 6. 26. If I were to quiet a crying Infant I might sing him to a pleasant mood or rock him asleep but when the child is fallen into the Fire the parent takes another course he will not now go to still him with a song or trifle I know if we speed not with you you are lost if we cannot get your consent to arise and come away you perish for ever No Conversion and no Salvation I must get your good will or leave you miserable But here the difficulty of my work again recurs upon me Lord choose my stones out of the rock 1 Sam. 17. 40 45. I come in the name of the Lord of Hosts the God of the Armies of Israel I come forth like the stripling against Goliah to wrestle not with flesh and blood but with Principalities and Powers and the Rulers of the darkness of this World Eph. 6. 12. This day let the Lord smite the Philistine and spoil the strong man of his Armour and give me to fetch off the captives out of his hand Lord choose my words choose my weapons for me and when I put my hand into the bag and take thence a stone and sling it do thou carry it to the mark and make it sink not into the forehead 1 Sam. 17. 40. but the heart of the unconverted sinner and smite him to the ground with Saul in his so happy fall Acts 9. 4. Thou hast sent me as Abraham did Eliezer to take a wife unto my master thy son Gen. 24. 4. But my discouraged soul is ready to fear
get no answer I may dispute with them year after year and they will give me the hearing and that is all They must and will have their sins say what I will Though I tell them there is death in the cup yet they will take it up Though I tell them 't is the broad way and endeth in destruction yet they will on in it I warn them yet cannot win them Sometimes I think the mercies of God will melt them and his winning invitations will overcome them but I find them as they were Sometimes that the terror of the Lord will perswade them yet neither this will do it They will approve the word like the Sermoâ— commend the Preacher but they will yet live as they did They will not deny me yet they will not obey me They will flock to the word of God and sit before me as his people and hear my words but they will not do them They value and will plead for Ministers and I am to them as the lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice yet I cannot get them to come under Christs yoke They love me and will be ready to say they will do any thing for me but for my life I cannot perswade them to leave their sins to forgo their evil company their intemperance their unjust gains c. I cannot prevail with them to set up prayer in their families and closets yet they will promise me like the forward son that said I go sir but went not Mat. 21. 30. I cannot perswade them to learn the principles of Religion though else they will die without knowledge Iob 36. 12. I tell them their misery but they will not believe but 't is well enough If I tell them particularly I fear for such reasons their state is bad they will judge me censorious or if they be at present a little awakened are quickly lull'd asleep by Satan again and have lost the sense of all Alas for my poor hearers Must they perish at last by the hundreds when Ministers would so fain save them What course shall I use with them that I have not tryed What shall I do for the daughter of my people Jer. 9. 7. O Lord God help Alas shall I leave them thus If they will not hear me yet do thou hear me Oh that they might yet live in thy sight Lord save them or else they perish My heart would melt to see their houses on fire about their ears when they were fast in their beds and shall not my soul be moved within me to see them falling into endless perdition Lord have compassion and save them out of the burning Put forth thy divine power and the work will be done but as for me I can't prevail CHAP. IV. Shewing the Marks of the Unconverted WHile we keep aloof in generals there is little fruit to be expected It is the hand-fight that does execution David is not awakened by the Prophets hovering at a distance in parabolical insinuations he is forced to close with him and tell him home Thou art the man Few will in words deny the necessity of the new birth but they have a self deluding confidence that the work is not now to do And because they know themselves free from that gross hypocrisie that doth take up Religion meerly for a colour to deceive others and for the covering of wicked designs they are confident of their sincerity and suspect not that more close hypocrisie where the greatest danger lies by which man deceiveth his own soul Iames 1. 26. But mans deceitful heart is such a matchless cheat and self delusion so reigning and so fatal a disease that I know not whether be the greater the difficulty or the displicency or the necessity of the undeceiving work that I am now upon Alas for my unconverted hearers They must be undeceived or undone But how shall this be effected Hic labor hoc opus est Help O all searching light and let thy discerning eye discover the rotten foundation of the self-deceiver and lead me O Lord God as thou didst thy Prophet into the chambers of Imagery and dig through the wall of sinners hearts and discover the hidden abominations that are lurking out of sight in the dark O send thine Angel before me to open the sundry Wards of their hearts as thou didst before Peter and make even the Iron gates to fly open of their own accord And as Jonathan no sooner tasted the Honey but his eyes were enlightned so grant O Lord that when the poor deceived souls with whom I have to do shall cast their eyes into these lines their minds may be illuminated and their consciences convinced and awakened that they may see with their eyes and hear with their ears and be converted and thou maist heal them This must be premised before we proceed to the discovery that it is most certain men may have a confident perswasion that their hearts and states be good and yet be unsound Hear the Truth himself who shews in Laodicea's case that men may be wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked and yet know it not yea they may be confident they are rich and increased in grace Rev. 3. 17. There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness Prov. 30. 12. who better perswaded of his case than Paul while yet he remained unconverted Rom. 7. 9. So that they are miserably deceived that take a strong confidence for a sufficient evidence They that have no better proof than barely a strong perswasion that they are converted are certainly as yet strangers to Conversion But to come more close as it was said of the adherents of Antichrist so here some of the unconverted carry their marks in their foreheads more openly and some in their hands more covertly The Apostle reckons up some upon whom he writes the sentence of death as in these dreadful catalogues which I beseech you to attend with all diligence Eph. 5. 5 6. For this ye know that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater hath an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience Rev. 21. 8. But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolators and adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers or extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God See Gall. 5. 19 20 21. Wo to them that have their names written in these bed-rolls such may know as certainly as if
my infirmities that I cannot get rid of though I would I will strive against them in the use of thy means I detest them and will pray and war against them and never let them have quiet rest in my soul. Beloved whosoever of you will thus accept the Lord for his God he shall have him Again he tells you I am the All-sufficient God Gen. 17. 1. Will you lay all at my feet and give it up to my dispose and take me for your only portion Will you own and honour mine All-sufficiency Will you take me as your happiness and Treasure your hope and bliss I am a Sun and Shield all in one will you have me for your all Gen. 1. 15. Psal. 84. 11. Now what dost thou say to this Doth thy mouth water after the onions and flesh-pots of Egypt art thou loath to exchange thy earthly happiness for a part in God and though thou wouldest be glad to have God and the world too yet thou canst not think of having him and nothing but him but hadst rather take up with the earth below if God would but let thee keep it as long as thou wouldst This is a fearful sign But now if thou art willing to sell all for the Pearl of great price Mat. 12. 46. If thine heart answer Lord I desire no other portion but thee Take the Corn and the Wine and the Oyl whoso will so I may have the light of thy countenance I pitch upon thee for my happiness I gladly venture my self on thee and trust my self with thee I set my hopes in thee I take up my rest with thee Let me hear thee say I am thy God thy salvation and I have enough all I wish for I will make no terms with thee but for thy self Let me but have thee sure let me be able to make my claim and see my title to thy self and for other things I leave them to thee Give me more or less any thing or nothing I will be satisfied in my God Take him thus and he is thine own Again he tells you I am the Soveraign Lord. If you will have me for your God you must give me the supremacy Mat. 6. 24. I will not be an underling You must not make me a second to sin or any worldly interest If you will be my people I must have the rule over you You must not live at your own list Will you come under my yoke Will you bow to my Government Will you submit to my discipline to my word to my rod Sinner what sayest thou to this Lord I had rather be at thy command than live at mine own list I had rather have thy will to be done than mine I approve of and consent to thy laws and account it my priviledge to lie under them And though the flesh rebel and often break over bounds I am resolved to take no other Lord but thee I willingly take the Oath of thy supremacy and acknowledge thee for my liege Soveraign and resolve all my days to pay the tribute of worship obedience and love and service to thee and to live to thee as the end of my life This is a right accepting of God To be short he tells you I am the true and faithful God If you will have me for your God you must be content to trust me 2 Tim. 1. 12. Prov. 3. 5. Will you venture your selves upon my word depend on my faithfulness and take my bond for your security Will you be content to follow me in poverty reproach and affliction here and to see much going out and little coming in and to tarry till the next world for your preferment Mat. 9. 21. I deal much upon trust will you be content to labour and suffer and to tarry for your returns till the Resurrection of the just Luke 14. 14. The womb of my Promise will not presently bring forth will you have the patience to wait Heb. 10. 36. Now beloved what say you to this Will you have this God for your God Will you be content to live by faith and trust him for an unseen happiness an unseen Heaven an unseen Glory Do your hearts answer Lord we will venture our souls upon thee we commit our selves to thee we roll upon thee we know whom we have trusted we are willing to take thy word we will prefer thy promises before our own possessions and the hopes of Heaven before all the enjoyments of the Earth We will wait thy leisure What thou wilt here so that we may have but thy faithful promise for Heaven hereafter If you can in truth and upon deliberation thus accept of God he will be yours Thus there must be in a right Conversion to God a closing with him suitable to his excellencies But when men close with his mercy but not with his sin-hating holiness and purity or will take him for their benefactor but not for their Soveraign or for their Patron but not for their Portion this is no thorow and so no sound Conversion Dir. VII Accept of the Lord Iesus in all his Offices with all his inconveniences as thine Upon these terms Christ may be had Sinner thou hast und one thy self and art plunged into the ditch of most deplorable misery out of which thou art never able to climb up But Jesus Christ is able and ready to help thee and he freely tenders himself to thee Heb. 7. 25. Iohn 7. 37. Be thy sins never so many never so great of never so long continuance yet thou shalt be most certainly pardoned and saved if thou dost not wretchedly neglect the offer that in the name of God is here made unto thee The Lord Jesus calleth to thee to look unto him and be saved Esay 45. 22. to come unto him aâ—d he will in no wise cast thee out Iohn 6. 37. Yea he is a sutor to thee and beseecheth thee to be reconciled 2 Cor. 5. 20. he cryeth in the streets he knocketh at thy door he wooeth thee to except of him and live with him Prov. 1. 20. Rev. 3. 20. if thou diest 't is because thou wouldst not come to him for life Iohn 5. 40. Now accept of an offered Christ and thou art made for ever Now give up thy consent to him and the match is made all the world cannot hinder Do not stand off because of thine unworthiness Man I tell thee nothing in all the world can undo thee but thine unwillingness Speak man art thou willing of the match Wilt thou have Christ in all his relations to be thine thy King thy Priest thy Prophet Wilt thou have him with all his inconveniences Take not Christ hand over head but sit down first and count the cost Wilt thou lay all at his feet Wilt thou be content to run all hazards with him Wilt thou take thy lot with him fall where it will Wilt thou deny thy self take up thy Cross and follow him Art thou deliberately understandingly freely fixedly
determined to cleave to him in all times and conditions If so my soul for thine thou shalt never perish Iohn 3. 16. but art passed from death to life Here lies the main point of thy salvation that thou be found in thy covenant-closure with Jesus Christ and therefore if thou love thy life see that thou be faithful to God and thy soul here Dir. VIII Resign up all thy powers and faculties and thy whole interest to be his They gave their own selves unto the Lord 2 Cor. 8. 5. Present your bodies as a living Sacrifice Rom. 12. 1. The Lord seeks not yours But you Resign therefore thy body with all its members to him and thy soul with all its powers that he may be glorified in thy body and in thy spirit which are his 1 Cor. 6. 20. In a right closure with Christ all the faculties give up to him The Judgment subscribes Lord thou art worthy of all acceptation chief of ten thousand Happy is the man that findâ—th theâ— All the things that are to be desired are not to be compared with thee Prov. 3. 13 14 15. The understanding lays aside â—s corrupt reasonings and cavils and its projudices against Christ and his ways It is now past questioning and disputing and casts it for Christ against all the World It concludes it 's good to be here and sees such a treasure in this field such value in this pearl as is worth all Mat. 13. 44. Oh here 's the richest bargain that ever I made here 's the richest prize that ever man was offered here 's the soveraignst remedy that ever mercy prepared he is worthy of my esteem worthy of my choice worthy of my love worthy to be embraced adored admired for evermore Rev. 5. 12. I approve of his Articles his terms are righteous and reasonable full of equity and mercy Again the will resigns It stands no longer wavering nor wishing and woulding but is peâ—emptorily determin'd Lord thy love hath overcome me thou hast won me and thou shalt have me Come in Lord to thee I freely open I consent to be saved in thine own way thou shalt have any thing thou shalt have all let me have but thee The memory gives up to Christ Lord here is a storehouse for thee Out with this trash lay in thy treasure Let me be a granary a repository of thy truths thy promises thy Providences The Conscience comes in Lord I will ever side with thee I will be thy faithful register I will warn when the sinner is tempted and smite when thou art offended I will witness for thee and judge for thee and guide into thy ways and will never let sin have quiet in this soul. The affections also come in to Christ. O faith Love I am sick of thee O saith Desire now I have my longing Here 's the satisfastion I sought for Here 's the desire of nations Here 's bread for me and balm for me all that I want Fear bows the knee with awe and veneration Welcome Lord to thee will I pay my homage Thy word and thy rod shall command my motions Thee will I reverence and adore before thee will I fall down and worship Grief likewise puts in Lord thy displeasure and thy dishonour peoples calamities and mine own iniquities shall be that that shall set me abroach I will mourn when thou art offended I will weep when thy cause is wounded Anger likewise comes in for Christ Lord nothing so enrages me as my folly against thee that I should be so befooled and bewitched as to hearken to the flatteries of sin and temptations of Satan against thee Hatred too will side with Christ. I protest mortal enmity with thine enemies that I will never be friends with thy foes I vow an immortal quarrel with every sin I will give no quarter I will make no peace Thus let all thy powers give up to Jesus Christ. Again thou must give up thy whole interest to him If there be any thing that thou keepest back from Christ it will be thine undoing Luke 14. 33. Unless thou wilt forsake all in preparation and resolution of thy heart thou canst not be his Disciple Thou must hate Father and Mother yea and thine own life also in comparison of him and as far as it stands in competition with him Mat. 10. 37. Luke 14. 26 27 c. In a word thou must give him thy self and all that thou hast without reservation or else thou canst have no part in him Dir. IX Make choice of the Laws of Christ as the rule of thy words thoughts and actions Psal. 119. 30. This is the true Converts choice But here remember these three rules 1. Thou must choose them all There is no coming to Heaven by a partial obedience Read Psal. 119. 6 128 160. Ezek 18. 21. None may think it enough to take up with the cheap and easie part of Religion and let alone the duties that are costly and self-denying and grate upon the interest of the flesh You must take all or none A sincere Convert though he makes most conscience of the greatest sins and weightiest duties yet he makes true conscience of little sins and of all duties Psal. 119. 6. 113. Mat. 23. 23. 2. For all times for prosperity and for adversity whether it rain or shine A true Convert is resolved in his way he will stand to his choice and will not set his back to wind and be of the religion of the times I have stuck to thy testimonies I have enclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway even to the end Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever Psal. 119. 31 111 117 44 93. I will have respect unto thy statutes continually 3. This must be done not hand over head but deliberately and understandingly That disobedient son said I go sir but he went not Mat. 24. 30. How fairly did they promise All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee we will do it and it 's like they speak as they meant but when it came to tryal it was found that there was not such a heart in them as to do what they had promised Deut. 5. 27 29. If you would be sincere in closing with the laws and wayes of Christ First Study the meaning and the latitude and compass of them Remember that they are very spiritual they reach the very thoughts and inclinations of the heart so that if you will walk by this rule your very thoughts and inward motions must be under government Again that they are very strict and self-denying quite contrary to the grain of your natural inclinations Mat. 16. 24. You must take the strait gate the narrow way and be content to have the flesh curbed from the liberty that it desires Mat. 7. 14. In a word that they are very large for the Commandment is exceeding broad Psal. 119. 66. Secondly rest not in generals for there 's much deceit in that but bring down thy
heart to the particular commands of Christ. Those Jews in the Prophet seemed as well resolved as any in the world and call God to witness that they meant as they said But they stuck in generals When Gods command crosses their inclination they will not obey Ier. 42. 1 2 3 4 5 6. compared with ch 43. v. 2. Take the Assemblies larger Caâ—echism and see their excellent and most compendious exposition of the commandments and put thy heart to it Art thou resolved in the strength of Christ to set upon the consciencious practice of every duty that thou findest to be there required of thee and to set against every sin that thou findest there forbidden This is the way to be sound in Gods statutes that thou maist never be ashamed Psal. 119. 80. Thirdly Observe the special duties that thy heart is most against and the special sins that 't is most inclin'd unto and see whether it be truly resolved to perform the one and forego the other What sayest thou to thy bosome sin thy gainfull sin What sayest thou to costly and hazardous and flesh displeasing duties If thou halâ—est here and dost not resolve by the grace of God to cross thy flesh and put to it thou art unsound Psal. 18. 23. Psal. 119. 6. Dir. X. Let all this be compleated in a solemn Covenant between God and thy soul. Psal. 119. 106. Neh. 10. 29. For thy better help therein take these few directions First set apart some time more than once to be spent in secret before the Lord. 1. In seeking earnestly his special assistance and gracious acceptance of thee 2. In considering distinctly all the terms or conditions of the Covenant expressed in the form hereafter proposed 3. In searching thine heart whether thou art sincerely willing to forsake all thy sins and to resign up thy self body and soul unto God and his service to serve him in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of thy life Secondly Compose thy Spirit into the most serious frame possible suitable to transaction of so high importance Thirdly Lay hold on the Covenant of God and rely upon his promise of giving grace and strength whereby thou maist be enabled to perform thy promise Trust not to thine own strength to the strength of thine own resolutions but take hold on his strength Fourthly Resolve to he faithful having engaged thine heart opened thy mouth and subscribed with thy hand unto the Lord resolve in his strength never to go back Lastly Being thus prepared on some convenient time set apart for the purpose set upon the work and in the most solemn manner possible as if the Lord were visibly present before thine eyes fall down on thy knees and spreading forth thine hands toward Heaven open thine heart to the Lord in these or the like words O Most dreadful God for the Passion of thy Son I beseech thee accept of thy poor Prodigal now prostrating himself at thy Door I have fallen from thee by mine iniquity and am by Nature a Son of Death and a thousand-fold more the Child of Hell by my wicked practice But of thine infinite Grace thou hast promised Mercy to me in Christ if I will but turn to Thee with all my Heart Therefore upon the Call of thy Gospel I am now come in and throwing down my weapons submit my self to thy Mercy And because thou requirest as the Condition of my Peace with Thee that I should put away mine Idols and be at defiance with all thine Enemies which I acknowledge I have wickedly sided with against Thee I here from the bottom of my heart renounce them all firmly Covenanting with thee not to allow my self in any known sin but conscientiously to use all the means that I know thou hast prescribed for the death and utter destruction of all my corruptions And whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the World I do here resign up my heart to Thee that madst it humbly protesting before thy Glorious Majesty that is the firm resolution of my heart and that I do unfeinedly desire Grace from Thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practise this my resolution through thy assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this world rather than to turn from thee to the ways of sin and that I will watch against all its temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity lest they should withdraw my heart from thee beseeching thee also to help me against the temptations of Satan to whose wicked Suggestions I resolve by thy grace never to yield my self a Servant And because my own righteousness is but menstruous rags I renounce all confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone creature without righteousness or strength And forasmuch as thou hast of thy bottomless Mercy offered most graciously to me wretched sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of thee I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that I do here solemnly avouch the for the Lord my God and with all possible veneration bowing the neck of thy Soul under the feet of thy most Sacred Majesty I do here take thy the Lord Iehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my portion and chief good and do give up my self Body and Soul for thy Servant promising and vowing to serve thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my life And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the only means of coming unto thee I do here upon the bended knees of my Soul accept of him as the only new and living way by which sinners may have access to thee and do here solemnly joyn my self in a Marriage Covenant to him O blessed Jesus I come to thee hungry and hardly bestead poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked a most loathsom polluted wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory but 〈◊〉 such is thine unparallell'd love I do here with all my power accept thee and do take thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poorer for all times and conditions to love and honour and obey thee before all others and this to the death I embrace thee in all thine Offices I renounce mine own worthiness and do here avow thee to be the Lord my Righteousness I renounce mine own wisdom and do here take thee for mine only Guide I renounce mine own Will and take thy Will for my Law And since thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign I do here Covenant with thee to take my Lot as it falls with thee and by thy Grace assisting to run all hazards with thee verily supposing that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me And because thou hast been pleased to
renew me by the power of his Grace this man is in the likeliest way to win Grace Obj. But God heareth not sinners their prayer is an abomination Ans. Distinguish between sinners 1. There are resolved sinners their prayers God abhors 2 returning sinners these God will come forth to and meet with mercy though yet afar off Luke 15. 20. Though the prayers of the unsanctified cannot have full acceptance yet God hath done much at the request of such as at Ahabs humiliation and Ninevehs fast 1â— Kings 21. 26. Ionah 3. â— 9 10. Surely thou maist go as far as theseâ— though thou hast no Grace and how dost thou know but thou maist speed in thy suit as they did in theirs Yea is he not far more likely to Grant thee than them since thou askest in the name of Christ and that not for temporal blessings as they but for things much more pleasing to him viz. for Christ Grace Pardon that thou maist be justified sanctified renewed and fitted to serve him Turn to those soul incouraging Scriptures Prov. 2. 1. to 6. Luke 11. 9 10 11 12 13. Prov. 8. 34 35. Is it not good comfort that he calleth thee Mark 10. 49. Doth he set thee on the use of means and dost thou think he will mock thee Doubtless he will not fail thee if thou be not wanting to thy self O pray and faint not Luke 18. 1. A person of great Quality having offended the Duke of Buckingham the King 's great Favourite being admitted into her presence after long waiting prostrates himself at his feet saying I am resolved never to â—isâ— more till I have obtained your Grace's favour with which carriage he did overcome him With such a resolution do thou throw thy self at thee feet of God 'T is for thy life and therefore follow him and give not over Resolve thou wilt not be put off with bones with common mercies What though God do not presently open to thee Is not grace worth the waiting for Knock and wait and no doubt but sooner or later mercy will come And this know that thou hast the very same encouragement to seek and wait that the Saints now in glory once had for they were once in thy very case And have they sped so well and wilt thou not go to the same door and wait upon God in the same course Dir. XV. Forsake thy evil company Prov. 9. 6. and forbear the occasions of sin Prov. 23. 31. Thou wilt never be turned from sin till thou wilt decline and forgoe the temptations to sin I never expect thy Conversion from sin unless thou art brought to some self-denial as to fly the occasions If thou wilt be nibling at the bait and playing on the brink and tampering and medling with the share thy soul will surely be taken Where God doth expose men in his providence unavovidably to temptations and the occasions are such as we cannot remove we may expect special assistance in the use of his means But when we tempt God by running into danger he will not engage to support us when we are tempted And of all temptation one of the most fatal and perniclous is evil company Oh what hopeful beginnings have these often stisled Oh the souls the estates the families the Towns that these have ruined How many a poor sinner hath been enlightned and convinced and hath been just ready to give the Devil the slip and hath even escaped his snare and yet wicked company have pull'd him back at last and made him sevenfold more the child of Hell In one word I have no hopes of thee except thou wilt snake off thy evil company Christ speaketh to thee as to them in another case If thou seek me then let these go their way Iob. 18. 8. Thy life lies upon it Forsake these or else thou canst not live Prov. 9. 6. Wilt thou be worse than the beast to run on when thou seest the Lord with a drawn sword in thy way Num. 22. 33. Let this sentence be written in Capitals upon thy conscience A COMPANION OF FOOLS SHALL BE DESTROYED Pro. 13. 20. The Lord hath spoken it and who shall reverse it And wilt thou run upon destruction when God himself doth forwarn thee If God do ever change thy heart it will appear in the change of thy company Oh fear and fly this Gulf by which so many thousand souls have been swallowed into perdition It will be hard for thee indeed to make thine escape Thy Companions will be mocking thee out of thy Religion and will study to fill thee with prejudices against strictness as ridiculous and comfortless They will be flattering thee and alluring thee but remember the warnings of the Holy Ghost My son if sinners entice thee consent thou not If they say come with us cast in thy lot among us Walk not thou in the way with them reâ—rain thy foot from their path Avoid it pass not by it turn from it and pass away For the way of the wicked is as darkness they know not at what they stumble They lay wait for their own blood they lurk privily for their own lives Prov. 1. 10. to the 18. Prov. 4. 14. to the 19. My soul is moved within me to see how many of my hearers aâ—e like to perish both they and their houses by this wretched mischeif even the haunting of such places and company whereby they are drawn into sin Once more I admonish you as Moses did Israel Num. 16. 26. And he spake unto the Congregation saying Depart I pray you from the Tents of these wicked men Oh! flie them as you would those that had the Plague sores running in their foreheads These are the Devils Panders and decoys and if thou dost not make thine escape they will toll thee into perdition and will prove thine eternal ruine Dir. XVI Lastly Set apart a day to humble thy soul in secret by fasting and prayer and to work the sense of thy sins and miseries upon thy heart Read over the Assemblies Exposition of the Commandments and write down the duties omitted and sins committed by thee against every Commandment and so make a Catalogue of thy sins and with shame and sorrow spread them before the Lord. And if thy heart be truly willing to the terms joyn thy self solemnly to the Lord in that Covenant set down in the 9. Direction and the Lord grant thee mercy in his sight Thus I have told thee what thou must do to be saved Wilt thou not now obey the voice of the Lord Wilt thou arise and set to thy work Oh man what answer wilt thou mâ—ke what excuse wilt thou have if thou shoulâ—â—st perish at last through very wilfulness when thou hast known the way of life I do not fear thy miscarrying if thine own idleness do not at last undo thee in neglecting the use of the means that are so plainly here prescribed Rouze up oh sluggard and ply thy work Be doing and the Lord will be
with thee A short Soliloqui for an unregenerate sinner Ah wretched man that I am what a condition have I brought my self into by sin Oh! I see my heart hath but deceived me all this while in flattering me that my condition was good I see I see I am but a lost and undone man for ever undone unless the Lord help me out of this condition My sins My sins Lord what an unclean polluted wretch and I more loathsome and odious to thee than the most hateful Venome or noisome carcass can be to me Oh! what a Hell of sin is in this heart of mine which I have flattered my self to be a good heart Lord how universally am I corrupted in all my parts powers performances All the imaginations of the thoughts of my heart are only evil continually I am under an inability to averseness from and enmity against any thing that is good and am prone to all that is evil My heart is a very sink of all sin and oh the innumerable hosts and swarms of sinful thoughts words and actions that have flown from thence Oh the load of guilt that is on my soul my head is 〈◊〉 and my heart full my mind and my memâ—ers they are all full of sin Oh my sins How do they stare upon me How do they witness against me Wo is me my Creditors are upon me every commandment taketh hold upon me for more than ten thousand Talents yea ten thousand times ten thousand How endless then is the sum of all my debts If this whole world were filled up from earth to Heaven with paper and all this paper written over within and without by Arithmeticians yet when all were cast up together it would come unconceivably short of what I owe to the least of Gods Commandments Wo unto me for my debts are infinite and my sins are increased They are wrongs to an infinite Majesty and if he that committeth Treason against a silken mortal is worthy to be tacked drawn and quartered what have I deserved that have so often lifted up my hand against Heaven and have struck at the Crown and dignity of the Almighty Oh my sins my sins Behold a troop cometh Multitudes multitudes there is no number of their Armies Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold upon me they have set themselves in array against me Oh! it were better to have all the Regiments of Hell come against me than to have my sins to fall upon me to the spoiling of my Soul Lord how am I surrounded How many are they that rise up against me They have beset me behind and before they swarm within me and without me they have possessed all my powers and have â—ortified mine unhappy soul as a Garrison which this brood of Hell doth man and maintain against the God that made me And they are as mighty as they be many The sands are many but then they are not great the mountains great but then they are not many But wo is me my sins are as many as the sands sand as mighty as the Mountains Their weight is greater than their number It were better that the Rocks and the Mountains should fall upon them than the crushing and unsupportable load of my own sins Lord I am heavy loaden let mercy help or I am gone Unload me of this heavy guilt this sinking load or I am crushed without hope and must be pressed down to Hell If my grief were thorowly weighed and my sins laid in the ballances together they would be heavier than the sand of the Sea therefore my words are swallowed up they would weigh down all the rocks and the hills and turn the ballance against all the Isles of the Earth O Lord thou knowest my manifold transgressions and my mighty sins Ah my soul Alas my Glory Whither art thou humdled Once the Glory of the Creation and the Image of God now a lump of filthiness a Coffin of rottenness replenished with stench and loathsomness Oh what worâ— hath sin made with thee Thou shalt be termâ— Forsaken and all the rooms of thy faculties â—â—solate and the name that thou shalt be called 〈◊〉 is Icabod or where is the Glory How 〈◊〉 thou come down mightily My beauty is turned into deformity and my Glory into shame Lord what a loathsom Leper am I The ulcerous bodies of Iob or Lazarus were not more offensive to the eyes and nostrils of men than I must needs be to the most holy â—od whose eyes cannot behold Iniquity And what misery hath my sins brought upon me Lord what a case am I in Sold under sin cast out of Gods favour accursed from the Lord cursed in my body cursed in my soul cursed in my name in my estate my relations and all that I have My sins are unpardoned and my soul within a step of death Alas what shall I do Whither shall I go Which way shall I look God is frowning on me from above Hell gaping for me beneath Conscience imiting me within temptations and dangers surrounding me without Oh whither shall I fly What place can hide me from Omnisciency What power can secure me from Omnipotency What meanest thou O my soul to go on thus Art thou in league with Hell Hast thou made a Covenant with death Art thou in love with thy misery Is it good for thee to be here Alas what shall I do Shâ—ll I go on in my sinful ways Why then certain damnation will be mine end and shall I be so besotted and bemadded as to go and sell my soul to the flames for a little Ale and a littlâ— ease for a little pleasure or gain or content to my flesh shall I linger any longer in this wretched estate No If I tarry here I shall die What then is there no help no hope None except I turn Why but is there any remedy for such woful misery any mercy after such provoking iniquity Yes as sure as Gods Oath is true I shall have pardon and mercy yet if I presently unfeignedly and unreservedly turn by Christ to him Why then â—â—hank thee upon the bended knees of my soul O most merciful Iehovah that thy patience hath waited for me hitherto for hadst thou took me away in this estate I had perished for ever And now I adore thy Grace and accept the offers of thy mercy I renounce all my sins and resolve by thy grace to set my self against them and to follow thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life Who am I Lord that I should make any claim unto thee or have any part or portion in thee who am not worthy to lick up the dust of thy feet Yet since thou holdest forth the golden Scepter I am bold to come and touch To despair would be to disparage thy mercy and to stand off when thou biddest me come would be at once to undo my self and rebel against thee under pretence of humility Therefore I bow my soul unto
in that 1. They overlook his justice 2. They promise themselves mercy out of Gods way His mercy is beyond all imagination Esay 55. 9. great mercies 1 Chron. 21. 13. manifold mercies Neh. 9. 19. tender mercies Psal. 25. 6. sure mercies Esay 55. 3. everlasting mercies Psal. 103. 17. Esay 54. 8. and all thine own if thou wilt but turn Art thou willing to come in Why the Lord hath laid aside his terror erâ—cted a Throne of Grace holds forth the golden Scepter Touch and live Would a merciful man slay his enemy when prostrate at his feet acknowledging his wrong begging pardon and offering to enter with him into a Covenant of peace Much less will the merciful God Study his name Exod. 34. 7. Read their experience Neh. 9. 17. Secondly his soul-encouraging calls and promises do invite thee Ah what an earnest suitor is mercy to thee how lovingly how instantly it calleth after thee how passionately it wooeth thee Return thou back-sliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep anger for ever Only acknowledge thine iniquity Turn O back-sliding children saith the Lord for I am married unto you return and I will heal your back-slidings Thou hast plaid the harlot with many lovers yet return unto me saith the Lord Jer. 3. 11 12 13 14 22. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel Ezek. 33. 11. If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die All his transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him in his righteousness that he hath done shall â—e live Repent and turn your selves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruine Cast away from you all your transgressions and make you a clean heart and a new spirit for why will ye die O house of Israel For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth saith the Lord God wherefore turn your selves and live ye Ezek. 18. 21 23 30 31 32. Oh melting gracious words The voice of a God and not of a man This is not the manner of men for the offended Soveraign to sue to the offending traiterous varlet Oh how doth mercy follow thee and plead with thee Is not thy heart broken yet Oh that to day ye would hear his voice 2. The doors of heaven are thrown open to thee The everlasting gates are set wide for thee and an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven administred to thee Christ now bespeaks thee as she her husband Arise and take possession 1 Kings 21. 15. View the glory of the other world as set forth in the map of the Gospel Get thee up into the Pisgah of the Promises and lift up thine eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward and see the good land that is beyond Iordan and that goodly mountain Behold the Paradice of God watered with the streams of glory Arise and walk through the land in the length of it and in the bredth of it for all the land which thou seest the Lord will give it to thee for ever if thou wilt but return Gen. 13. 14 15 17. Let me say to thee as Paul to Agrippa Believest thou the Prophets If thou believest indeed do but view what glorious things are spoken of the City of God Psal. 87. 3. and know that all this is here tendered in the name of God to thee As verily as God is true it shall be for ever thine if thou wilt but throughly turn Behold the City of pure transparent Gold whose foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones whose gates are pearls whose light is glory whose temple is God Believest thou this If thou dost art thou not worse than distracted that wilt not take possession when the gates are flung open to thee and thou art bid to enter O ye sons of â—olly will ye embrace the dunghils and refuse the Kingdom Behold the Lord God tâ—keth you up into the mountain shews you the Kingdom of Heaven and all the glory thereof and tells you All this will I give you if you will fall down and worship me â— If you will submit to mercy accept my Son and serve me in righteousness ness and holiness O fools and slow of heart 〈◊〉 believe will you court the harlot will you seek and serve the world and neglect the eternal glory What not enter into Paradise when the flaming sword that was once set to keep you out is now used to drive you in But you will say I am uncharitable to think you infidels and unbelievers Why what shall I think you either you are desperate unbelievers that do not credit it or stark distracted that you know and believe the excellency and eternity of his glory and yet do so fearfully neglect it Surely you have no faith or no reason and I had almost said conscience should tell you so before I leave you Do but attend what is offered you Oh blessed Kingdom A Kingdom of glory 1 Thes. 2. 12. a Kingdom of righteousness 2 Pet. 3. 13. a Kingdom of peace Rom. 14. 17. an everlasting Kingdom 2 Pet. 1. 11. Here thou shaâ—t dwell here thou shaâ—t â—eign for ever and the Lord shall set thee in a throne of glory Mat. 19. 28. and with his own hand shall set the Royal Diadâ—m upon thine head and give thee a Crown not of thorns for there shall be no sâ—nning nor suffering there Rev. 21. 27. 22. 3 4 5. not of Gold for this shall be viler than the dirt in that day but a Crown of life Iames 1. 12. a Crown of righteousness 2 Tim. 4. 8. a Crown of glory 1 Pet. 5. 4. Yea thou shalt put on glory as a robe 1 Cor. 15. 53. and shale shine like the Sun in the â—irmament in the glory of thy Father Mat. 13. 43. Look now upon thy dirty flesh thy clay thy worms-meat this very flesh this lump this carcase shall be brighter than the Stars Dan. 12. 3. In short thou shalt be made like unto the Angels of God Luke 20. 36. and behold his face in righteousness Psal. 17. 15. Look in now and tell me dost thou yet believe If not conscience must pronounce thee an infidel for it is the very word of God that I speak But if thou say thou believest let me next know thy resolutions Wilt thou embrace this for thy happiness Wilt thou forgo thy sinful gains thy forbidden pleasures Wilt thou trample on the worlds esteem and spit in the harlots face and stop thine ears at her flareries and wrest thee out of her embraces Wilt thou be content
tormented so long in Hell would you not have gladly accepted it Alas all these are not so much as one sand in the glass of eternity If your offended Creator should have held you but one year upon the rack and then come and bid you take your choice whether you would renounce your sins accept his Christ and serve him a few years in self-denyal or lie in this case for ever and ever do you think you should have stuck at the offer and disputed the terms and have been unresolved whether you were best to accept of the motion O sinner return and live why shouldest thou die when life is to be had for the taking and mercy should be beholding to thee as it were to be saved Couldst thou say indeed Lord I knew that thou wast an hard man Mat. 25. 24. thou hadst some little excuse but when the God of heaven hath stooped so low and bated so far if now thou shouldest stand off who shall plead for thee Obj. Notwithstanding all these abatements I am no more able to perform those conditions in themselves so easie of faith and repentance and sincere obedience than to satisfie and fulfil the Law Answ. These you may perform by Gods grace enabling whereas the other are naturally impossible in this state even to believers themselves But let the next consideration serve for a fuller answer 5. Wherein you are impotent God doth offer grace to enable you I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded Prov. 1. 24. What though you are plunged into the ditch of that misery from which you can never get out Christ offereth to help you out he stretcheth forth his hand to you and if you perish it is for refusing his help Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open to me I will come in Rev. 3. 20. What though you are poor and wretchâ—d and blind and naked Christ offereth a cure for your blindness a cover for your nakedness a remedy for your poverty he tendereth you his righteousness his graces I counsâ—l thee to buy of me gold that thou mayest be rich and white â—aiment that thou maist be cloathed and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou maist see Rev. 3. 17 18. Do you say the condition is impossible for I have not wherewith to buy You must know that this buying is without money and without price Esay 55. 1. This buying is by begging and seeking with diligence and constancy in the use of Gods means Prov. 2. 3 4. God commandeth thee to know him and to fear him Dost thou say yea but my mind is blinded and my heart is hardned from his fear I answer God doth offer to enlighten thy mind and to teach thee his fear that is presented to thy choice Prov. 1. 29. For that they hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord So that now if men live in ignorance and estrangement from the Lord it is because they will not understand and desire not the knowledge of his ways Iob 21. 14. If thou cryest after knowledg if thou seekest her as Silver c. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledg of God Prov. 2. 3 4 5. Is not here a fair offer Turn you at my reproof Behold I will pour out my spirit unto you Prov. 1. 23. Though of your selves you can do nothing yet you may do all things through his spirit enabling you and he doth offer his assistance to you God bids you wash you and make you clean Esay 1. 16. you say you are unable as much as the Leopard to wash out his spots Ier. 13. 23. yea but the Lord doth offer to purge you so that if you be filthy still 't is through your own wilfulness Eze 24. 13. I have purged thee and thou wast not purged Jer. 13. 27. O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean when shall it once be God doth wait when you will be made clean when you will yield to his motions and accept of his offers and let him do for and in you what you cannot do of your selves You do not know how much God will do upon your importunity if you will but be restless and instant with him Luke 11. 8. and 18. 5. If God hath not bound himself by express promise to wicked men to give them Grace in the diligent use of the means yet he hath given them abundant encouragement to expect it from him if they seek it earnestly in his way His most gracious nature is abundant encouragement If a rich and most bountiful man should see thee in misery and bid thee come to his door wouldst thou not with confidence expect at thy coming to find some relief Thou art not able to believe nor repent God appoints thee to use such and such means in order to thy obtaining â—aith and repentance doth not this argue that God will bestow these upon thee if thou dost ply him diligently in prayer meditation reading hearing self-examination and the rest of his means Otherwise God should but mock his poor creatures to put them upon these self denying endeavours and then when they have put hard to it and continued waiting upon him for grace deny them at last Surely if a sweet-natured man would not deal thus much less will the most merciful and gracious God I intended to have added many other arguments but these have swoln under my hands and I hope the judicious reader will rather look upon the weight than the number The Conclusion of the whole And now my brethren let me know your minds What do you intend to do Will you go on and die or will you set upon a thorow and speedy conversion and hold on eternal life how long will you linger in Sodom how long will you halt between two opinions 1 King 18. 21. Are you not yet resolved whether Christ or Barabbas whether bliss or torment whether the land Cabul 1 Kings 9. 13. or the Paradise of God be the better choice Is it a disputable case whether the Abana and Pharphar of Damascus be better than all the streams of Eden or whether the vile puddle of sin be to be preferred before the water of life clear as Crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb Can the world in good earnest do that for you that Christ can Will it stand by you to eternity will pleasures titles lands treasures descend with you Psal. 49. 17. 1 Tim. 6. 7. If not had you not need look after somewhat that will What mean you to stand wavering to be off and on Foolish Children how long will you stick between the womb and the world Shall I leave you at last no farther than Agrippa but almost perswaded Why you are for ever lost if left here As good not at all as not altogether Christians You are half of the mind to give over your former negligent life and to set to a strict and holy
you I cannot compell you to be happy if I could I would What answer will you send me with to my Master Let me speak unto you as Abrahams servant to them and now if you will deal kindly and truly with my Master tell me Gen. 24. 49. Oh for such a happy answer as Rebekah gave to them Gen. 24. 57 58. And they said we will call the damsâ—l and enquire at her mouth And they called Rebekah and said unto her Wilt thou go with this man and she said I will go Oh that I had but thus much from you Why should I be your accuser Mat. 10. 14 15. who thirst for your salvation Why should the passionate pleadings and wooings of mercy be turned into the horrid agâ—avations of your obstinancy and additions to your misery Judge in your selves Do you not think their condemnation will be doubly dreadful that shall still go on in their sins after all endeavours to recall them Doubtless it shall be more tolerable for Tire and Sydon yea for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Iudgment than for you Mat. 11. 22 24. Beloved if you have any pity for your perishing souls close with the present offers of mercy If you would not continue and increase the pains of your travelling Ministers do not stick in the birth If the God that made you have any authority with you obey his command and come in If you are not the despisers of grace and would not shut up the doors of mercy against your selves repent and be converted Let not Heaven stand open for you in vain Let not the Lord Jesus open his wares and bid you buy without money and without price in vain Let not his Ministers and his Spirit strive with you in vain and leave you now at last unperswaded lest the sentence go forth against you The Bellows are burnt the Lead is consumed of the fire the Founder melteth in vain Reprobate Silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them Ier. 6. 29 30. Father of Spirits take the heart in hand that is too hard for my weakness Do not thou have ended though I have done Half a word from thine effectual power will do the work O thou that hast the key of David that openest when no man shutteth open thou his heart as thou didst Lydia's and let the King of glory enter in and make this soul thy happy captive Let not the Tempter harden him in delays Let him not stir from this place nor take his eyes from these lines till he be resolved to forgâ— his sins and to accept of life upon thy self-denying terms In thy name O Lord God did I go forth to these Labours in thy name do I shut them up Let not all the time they have lost be but lost hours let not all the thoughts of heart and all the pains that have been about them be but lost labour Lord put in thine hand into the heart of this Reader and send thy spirit as once thou didst Philip to joyn himself to the Chariot of the Eunuch while he was reading thy word And though I should never know it while I live yet I beseech thee Lord God let it be found at that day that some souls are converted by these labours and let some be able to stand forth and say that by these perswasions they were woâ— unto thee Amen Amen Let him that readeth say Amen FINIS Reading Mr. Ioseph Allein Book entituled An Alarm to the unconverted REader who ere thou art dost chance to look Bless God directed thee to such a Book Be serious when thou readest 't is no droul But that which aimeth to convert thy soul. What mad besotted desperado can Take prejudice against this holy man Who did sincerely nothing else desire But to prevent thy leaping in the fire And pen'd this Book out of a true endeavour To keep thee from that lake which burns for I do beseech you read it over why ever Will you be obstinate and choose to dye Know you what Heaven is or can you tell The torments of those damned souls in Hell Now read and pray O pray that God will give A true repentance that your soul may live This Book needs no Commendum for no doubt You will commend it if you read it out What did I care so sinners understood If each word were a tear or drop of blood The terms of our Communion are either from which or to which The terms from which we must turn are sin Satan the World and our own Righteousness which must be â—husrenounced The Terms to which we must turn are either ultimate or mediate The ultimate is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost who must be thus accepted The mediate terms are either principal or less principal The principal is Christ the Mediator who must thus be embraced The less principal are the Laws of Christ which must be thus observed