share in that reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ but those that turn to God with all their hearts and with all their souls and are weary of sin and heavy laden with the sense of it and in sober sadness resolv'd to submit to Christs yoke and government for though all mankind share in the possibility of enjoying this reconciliation and the Pardon may be truly said to be purchas'd for them and for their use yet all are not made partakers of the actual possession of it because all men will not consent to fulfill the conditions upon which that reconciliation is offer'd them viz. unfeign'd repentance and sincere obedience for the time to come Shimei was a man condemn'd to death 1 Kings 2.36 it 's like some Courtiers of Solomon got him his Pardon the King grants it but requires this one thing of him that he shall build him a house in Jerusalem and dwell there and go not forth thence any whither and fulfilling this condition without all peradventure he might have liv'd happy and safe as the best of his Neighbors but when he must needs be running after his servants and prefer a small advantage before perpetual safety he justly suffers the punishment the King appointed for him The Son of God by the blood of his Cross hath in truth gotten all Christians their Pardon but is resolv'd none shall enjoy it but those that will forsake their sins and resign themselves to his guidance and direction A reasonable demand a condition so equitable so just so easie that no man in his wits but must say as Shimei unto Solomon The saying is good As my Lord the King hath said so will thy servant do But then if the Pardon the Son of God hath obtain'd for them appear so inconsiderable a thing in their eyes that they do not think it worth enjoying and certainly they do not think it worth enjoying that will not agree to so reasonable a condition no marvel if they fall a prey to that wrath from which the Son of God is ready to deliver them and if their blood be upon their heads that do despight unto the Spirit of Grace and count the blood of the Covenant wherewith they were to be sanctified an unholy thing So that although a true Believer and a sincere Penitent may boldly say with the Apostle That Christ hath redeem'd him from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for him Gal. 3.13 And that ChriSt hath wash'd him from his sins with his own blood Rev. 1.5 And that he hath an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for his sins 1 John 2.1 And that Chris't hath made his peace with God Col. 1.20 Yet men that are strangers to the sanctifying work of Gods Spirit cannot be said to have at present during their unregenerate estate any other benefit by the death and passion of Christ but a possibility of all those great and glorious advantages and it 's possible for them to be freed from the Curse of the Law to be admitted into the number of those that shall be sav'd to enjoy remission of sins to escape the wrath to come and to see God face to face in Heaven and all this by virtue of Christ's death if they will but shake hands with their darling Vices and agree to a practical love of their Maker and Redeemer and Sanctifier To think that unconverted sinners do actually enjoy these benefits is to contradict Scripture and to give the Apostles of our Lord the Lye who unanimously tells us That these mercies are not effectually apply'd to the Soul till the Soul by sincere repentance and reformation of life applies herself to Christ Jesus And indeed this is the prodigious mercy of the second Covenant that God for Christ's sake will accept of sincere repentance in stead of perfect obedience which was the great condition of the first agreement between God and man and looking upon the precious blood of his Son will pass by whatever Men have done before if they will be in love with sin and destruction no longer and sincerely endeavor to please him in those commands which design nothing but our interest and happiness These things are not very hard to be understood but the generality of Christians seem resolv'd not to understand them that they may not be obliged to take their ways into serious Consideration This Doctrine That Christ hath freed them from the wrath of God in their sense makes Religion sit soft and easie upon them and doth not disturb them in their sensual enjoyments It 's a comfortable Doctrine to flesh and blood never could any thing have been invented more agreeable to their Lusts and if God had studied to do them a kindness he could not have done them a greater than to let his Son suffer all that is to be suffer'd by them and so after their delights and sinful satisfactions here conduct them into a far more glorious Paradise If it be so truly Consideration is Vanity and the Preachers are Fools and mad Men to press it upon their Auditors But who sees not that this is an invention of the Devil first to darken the sinners understanding and when the Candle is out to rob him of his everlasting happiness And Sirs will you be rob'd thus quietly of your bliss and glory Will you suffer yourselves to be stript of all you have without the least opposition Is it possible for you to believe That the Son of God came down from Heaven to encourage you in offending God and made himself of no reputation for you that you might render your selves contemptible in the sight of the Almighty and dyed for you to give life to your sins and follies How absurd how impertinent how contradictory is this Belief Love God and encourage sin Holiness itself and find out a way to promote iniquity Can there be any thing in Nature more silly or ridiculous This is abusing the Cross of Christ not trusting to it and you that make it an occasion of sin take heed it do not prove a stumbling block unto you and instead of Crucifying sin in you do not harden you in it It is a thing not unusual with God to punish sin with sin and if Men will be filthy in despite of all endeavors to purifie them from their filthinesses to doom them to continue filthy still and to make that their judgment which at first was only their transgression so great a love and written in such legible characters too slighted and abused and made a help to sin improved into licentiousness may justly be supposed to draw down that judgment we read of Isa. 6.9 10. Go and tell this People Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this People fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert
and send his Spirit so to move upon her affections so to actuate her endeavours so to encourage her with promises that it may not lye in the power of the Devil nor in the power of her Lusts to gain-say or contradict or dash the resolutions she hath taken where the Soul doth with strong desires pour out these her requests before God the good Father opens the Gates of Heaven le ts in the Messenger makes him welcome smiles upon him and sends him back laden with Mercy and puts words into his mouth and bids him tell the Soul boldly from that God who heareth Prayer I have heard thee in an acceptable time in the day of Salvation have I succour'd thee I 'll pour out my Spirit upon thee I will open a river in high places and fountains in the midst of valleys I will make thy wilderness a pool of water and thy dry land springs of water I will plant in the wilderness the Cedar and the Myrtle and the Oil-tree I will set in the Desart that thou mayst see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this and the Holy one of Israel hath created it 2 Cor. 6.2 Es. 41.18 19 20. Up then Christian who art resolved not to let the concerns of thy Soul lye at six and sevens who art afraid to hazard Eternity with the careless besotted world like another Lazarus beg Alms of the King of Heaven Cry aloud and spare not shew him thy wounds thy ulcers thy poverty thy want thy necessity let a greater fervency attend thy Prayer for Spiritual blessings than others use in begging for Temporal Mercies Prayer is the way to be enrich'd with all the Treasures of Heaven seek Gods assistance with tears in thine eyes remember thy Soul is infinitely more precious than thy Body and if a Beggar in the street is so earnest with those that pass by to give him something for the relief of his corporal wants oughtst not thou to be all fire to procure those blessings which will enrich thy Soul for ever Josephs Brethren were pinch'd with Famine because they knew not that their Brother reign'd in Aegypt why shouldst thou starve Christian when thy elder Brother reigns in Heaven who knows what thou wantest and is a faithful High Priest and is touch'd with the feeling of thy infirmities and was in all points tempted even as thou art Come boldly to the throne of Grace that thou mayst obtain mercy and find help in the time of need If God hath done good to others for his servants sake who have pleased him what will not God do for thee for his Sons sake in whom alone he is well pleased if God doth so highly esteem the Piety of Men that he professes for my servant Jacob's sake for my servant David's sake I will be kind to such a one will he derogate dost thou think from the merits and love of his own Son will he harden his heart or stop his ears or turn away his eyes when thou callest upon him for Christs sake to send down upon thee the day-spring from on high Christ is the very object of Gods delight nothing is sweet nothing is pleasing to him but through and in Christ what ever is amiable and acceptable in us it is for Christ his sake that God doth think it so Without light all colours are invisible there is no beauty in them the light shining upon them makes them look lovely and amiable without Christ nothing would appear pure or lovely or great or delightful He that looks on a green Glass fancies all things he looks upon to be green God looking upon our Holy endeavours in Christ Jesus they all appear to him lovely and good because all that Christ did was good and infinitely pleasing to him The world had perish'd ten thousand times if God had not look'd upon it through his Son and so supported it he that looks through a Glass upon a stinking carcass afar off doth not smell the ill scent of it so God through Christ looks upon our imperfections and he smells not the ill savour of our performances Take courage then and lay hold on the horns of this Altar and if thou knowest not what to say when thou hast taken a serious view of thy ways make use of this or some other Form Oh thou who art the Father of the Spirits of all flesh the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning here lies a poor miserable sinful wretch before thee not worthy to lift up his eyes and hands to Heaven I know not where to look for shame and confusion of face so long have I gone astray from thee so often have I provoked thee so often have I slighted thee so often have I turned thy grace into wantonness so long have I hunted after broken Cisterns which can hold no water forsaking the Fountain of living water that thou mayst justly absent thy self from me for ever so disingenuously have I dealt with thee so often have I endeavoured to blind thy all-seeing Eye and to cheat my self that thou mightst justly cause me to fall a prey to Satan look stern upon me and charge me never any more to see thy face O wretched creature that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Oh my Lord how often hast thou darted Rays of Light into my Soul and the impure fire of my Lusts hath prevailed against them how often hast thou suggested to my Soul the danger it hath been in and yet I have not trembled how often hast thou stung my heart prick'd it and goaded it into serious reflexions and how soon hath this vain world taken me off again and dull'd and dash'd those considerations how often hast thou sent sparks of Grace into my Soul while I have done what I could to smother that Holy fire how justly mightst thou say My Spirit shall no longer strive with thee O my God there is no plague no punishment that 's threatned in thy Law but I have deserved it I only stand amazed at thy patience that I have escaped so long without being consumed and ruined Wilt thou receive such a Prodigal into thy favour wilt thou be reconcil'd to so great a rebel wilt thou pass by unkindesses of so deep a Dye are the gates of Mercy open yet for so vile a wretch Doe not I come too late O my Lord to the throne of Grace will God be yet intreated for such a poor forlorn creature Is there yet compassion left for such a poor sinner O my God I question not thy Power but thy Will to pity such a Traitor as I have been I know thy Mercy is infinite it would be a disparagement to thy Glory and Perfection to deny the exceeding riches of thy Grace thou couldst not be God if my sins exceeded thy power to forgive but when I reflect on thy threatenings how justly thou denouncest wrath
milk and butter swimming in a Lordly dish enter into a Tent where they will certainly meet with a nail and hammer and yet are afraid of that which would assuredly prevent their being pierc'd and stricken through their temples Mourn over them lament their wretchedness grieve for them that will not grieve for themselves call for Rivers of Tears wish for a fountain of Water Behold sin hath blinded them Consideration would open their eyes but they love darkness better than light Sin doth expose them naked to the contempt and scorn of God and his holy Angels and they rejoyce under that weight Sin deprives them of the bread of life and their souls are ready to die for want of the hidden Manna and they laugh under their want and misery What Changelings doth sin make men Lord how it doth unman them how much below themselves doth it make them live unto God and his holy Angels they appear perfectly distracted as the poor Wretches in Bedlam seem to us only herein their wretchedness exceeds the others misery that they may be releas'd of their distractedness and will not the other if they would cannot the former deliration is voluntary the other forc'd the former hath malice in 't the other weakness only and whereas the latter challenges pity and compassion the former deserves nothing but wrath and indignation IV. Impediment IV. Ignorance of the pleasure of Consideration is another Impediment It 's ignorance of the price of Pearls that makes the Idiot slight them It 's ignorance of the worth of Diamonds that makes the Fool choose a Peble before them It 's ignorance of the satisfaction learning affords that makes the Peasant despise and laugh at it and we see very ordinarily how men tread and trample on those Plants which are the greatest restoratives because they know not the virtue of them and the same may justly be affirm'd of Consideration the reason why men meddle no more with it is because they are not acquainted with the pleasantness of the task There is certainly such a thing as pleasure of the mind and all delight consisteth not in sensual satisfaction We see with what pleasure men spend their time in the study of the Mathematicks the Professors of it could live and dye in those studies and desire no greater satisfaction on this side Heaven their minds are so pleas'd with that Harmony Symmetry Order Proportion they spie in things that they could dispense with the coarsest dyet so they might but have leave to enjoy that mental pleasure And indeed if knowledge be a pleasure if to be acquainted with our selves be satisfactory if to discover the impostures falshood designs and ambuscadoes of a dangerous enemy be delightful Consideration must needs be so for this gives us an insight into our hearts let 's us see what we are points at the Nets which are spread for us and manifests the temptations of the Devil which like Lime-twigs are design'd to catch us into death and ruine That the Devil or rather his Emissaries the evil spirits that are under his power and dominion are daily walking to and fro and observing our actions and designs and behaviour the company we converse withall the circumstances we are under our constitutions complexions and dispositions and seeking whom they may devour the Holy Ghost hath made so evident and our own experience does so clearly demonstrate that he that doubts of it must be a man that 's altogether guided by sense and takes notice of things no more than the Beasts that perish these evil spirits whenever they tempt they tempt with a design to hurt they try men to do mischief and provoke them to actions as may pull down the wrath of God upon their heads And as the instruments or engines they make use of in their temptations are various sometimes prosperity sometimes adversity sometimes our own corrupted hearts giving them advantage to spur us on to sin so the temptations vary according to the several degrees and conditions and tempers of men for it 's certain all men will not be dragged or seduced into Hell the same way and a temptation which will fit one will not fit another and a motion which one will contentedly swallow will not go down with another several constitutions must have several suggestions and according as men change the temptation changes and the Devil takes other measures David cannot be persuaded the same way that Saul is wrought upon and the arguments which prevail with the former are of no great force with the latter Paul is not tempted the same way that Judas nor Peter the same way that Herod The Drunkards temptations differ from those of the Abstemious and the Adulterers from the suggestions of him that 's dull and phlegmatick and hath not inclination to vices of that nature The melancholy man is oppress'd with imaginations different from those which the merry and jovial meets withall and we cannot suppose that the Prodigal is tormented with the same suggestions that the Covetous acts by 'T is true in the end all these Temptations agree the intended end being destruction and offending God but still they are of different kinds and complexions and how pleasant must it be to see through all these wiles and devices of the Devil a prospect which Consideration alone can afford There are many Temptations which seem to sollicit to good when indeed they provoke to evil as when a man who wallows in sin and uncleanness is prompted to trust to Gods mercy and to lay hold on the merits of Christ and to apply to himself the comforts of the Gospel The things he is tempted to are good in themselves but the design of the Temptation being to render the Sinner secure and presumptuous and careless of a serious life it cannot but be a pleasure to any man that 's sensible of his spiritual interest to discover the cheat and this discovery is made by Consideration of the nature design and tendency of the flattering motion Men are not only provoked to commission of Sin but too often to neglect of their duty towards God and toward man And he that is not tempted to Murther to Theft to Adultery to Fornication to contempt of his Parents to bearing False Witness against his Neighbour is yet enticed to Idleness to Flesh-pleasing to neglect of Prayer of Meditation of Charity of Faith of Hope of Confidence in God of Zeal of Fervency of speaking for Christ of vindicating his Honour when abus'd of improving his time to Gods glory and his own eternal good The young man rejoyces in his youth and lets his heart cheer him in the dayes of his youth and walks in the way of his heart and in the sight of his eyes hates gravity and seriousness and admits of such motions as these The precepts of the Gospel sure were not intended for me who have youth and blood and spirit to fit me for recreations I have heard young Saints make old Devils and
Go into houses where mad men are kept and see whether thy deportment and practice be not as like theirs as one thing can be like another it 's the character of mad men to choose means altogether unsutable to the end they design if they offer to kindle a fire with shining brass or attempt to build a house without materials or think that a Net will secure them against the bitterest Frost or hope to be Masters of a Trade without learning of it or talk of being acquainted with such a language when they have neither Books nor Men to converse withall we justly look up on them as distracted and would not one think thou art besides thy wits that hears thee hope for Heaven without taking the way that leads to it And talk of being saved when thy actions savor only of preparation for eternal misery To hope to be saved by following the dictates of thy flesh is as wise an act as to hope to be warm by sitting upon Ice or by surrounding thy self with Snow-balls Thou wouldst take that man to be besides himself that should choose to lie all night in mire and dirt when there is a convenient Bed provided for him or that should-prefer sleeping on a Dunghil before reposing himself upon a cleanly Couch And dost not thou act the same madness when thou preferrest lying in the Arms of an Enemy before resting in the bosome of a gracious Redeemer And hadst rather rest in sin more odious and loathsome to God than any Dunghil than delight thy self in him whose service is perfect freedom Can there be greater madness than to prefer Stone before Bread and a Serpent before a Fish And is not thy Distraction as great to esteem a sinful pleasure more than the favour of God And set by the Dross and Dung of this World more than by the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Is this thy wisdom to neglect thy weightiest Concerns and spend thy time in admiring Bubbles Is this thy wisdom to prefer a few drops before an immense Ocean of blessedness an Atom before an Infinite and the small dust upon the balance before Mount Zion which can never be mov'd Is this thy wisdom to thrust away salvation with both Arms and to oppose the endeavours of that God that would even compel thee to come to the Supper of the Lamb Is this thy wisdom to lie in a Dungeon when a Palace is prepared for thy reception And to be enamor'd with deformity it self when thou art courted by him who is altogether lovely Is this thy wisdom to relie on broken Reeds rather than on the Rock of Ages And to trust more to Castles in the Air than to him who is the Ancient of dayes and hath promis'd neither to leave nor to forsake those that call upon him faithfully And when the case stands thus with thee when thou art as mad as thou canst well be sure thou needest not be afraid that Consideration of thy wayes will make thee so Consideration Why this would make thee sober This would bring thee to thy right senses again This would make thee live like a rational man again This would restore thee to thy Wits again This would cure the Distempers of thy Brain This would be so far from promoting that it would chase away all madness and distraction This would clear thy Understanding and rectifie thy Will and Affections and make all thy faculties move more orderly Consideration would let thee see what madness it is to despise him whom thou standest most in need of and to neglect that now which upon thy Death-bed thou wilt wish thou hadst minded day and night This would shew thee what a folly it is to slight the Fountain of living waters and to hunt after broken Cisterns which can hold no water and to esteem a Wilderness a Land of Desarts and of Pits a Land of drought and of the shadow of death a Land which no man passes through and where no man dwells infinitely more than a plentiful Countrey Jer. 2.6 This would shew thee what a folly it is to forfeit the favour of him that must be thy Judge one day and to make him thy Foe without whose mercy thou must fall a prey to Hellish furies to scorn that Provision now the crums whereof thou wilt be glad to gather one day and to mock his kindness now when one day thou wouldst rejoyce at the least smile of his countenance if thou couldst but have it This would shew thee what a folly it is to be ravish'd more with a painted Coronet than with the real glories of a Kingdom and to rejoyce more in the present pomp and adoration of a Stage than in thy right to the reversion of a Crown and what distraction it is to think that the great God who changes not will make those blessed who renounce his bliss and quench Hell-fire for men because they are resolved to run into it to make those like unto the Angels of God that will live like Beasts here and prefer those to this Throne that would not have him to reign over them This would shew thee what a folly it is to make merry at the brow of a Pit and to sing Care away when thy sins call for mourning and lamentation Consideration sinner would let thee see That there is no Wisdom like that Wisdom which makes men wise unto salvation and that those who deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts living soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and that glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ are the only men that are in their Wits and that the rest who forget their calling and walk not worthy of the vocation wherewith they are call'd do really unman themselves and live below their reason This would let thee see that those who give all diligence to add to their faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity and are not barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ are the men that choose the fittest means for the greatest end and that he that works to day in Gods Vineyard and so numbers his dayes that he may apply his heart unto Wisdom and lives like a person that remembers he hath a Soul to be saved is the man who governs his Affairs with discretion This would let thee see that men do pretend to Learning in vain while they are ignorant of mortification of their members which are upon the earth and of that spiritual life which is every mans greatest interest That the Logician who resolves all knotty Arguments is but a Fool while he knows not how to keep himself from the snares of the Devil and that the Grammarian who rectifies the errors of Speech is but a mad man while he takes no care to rectifie the errors
We would have healed Israel but they would not be healed XII Impediment XII Deluding themselves with the notion of Christs dying for the Sins of the World Why should they consider how to be rid of Sin and lay the pleasures of Holiness before their eyes Why should they torment themselves with thinking how Gods favor may be purchas'd and involve themselves in anxiety and trouble about their transgressions When Christ hath done all that is to be done appeas'd his Fathers wrath against the lapsed Progeny of Adam and purchas'd them a glorious freedom from the slavery of a severe Law If he hath satisfied God for the injuries he received by any sins why should they make a new satisfaction by holiness of their Lives Is not that it which all Pulpits ring of That the Eternal dyed that we might not dye eternally and that God would suffer that we might escape Torments for ever That Christ would be Crown'd with Thorns that we might have an incorruptible Crown of glory hereafter And that he endure'd Reproach and Calumnies and Contradictions of Sinners against himself that we might inherit everlasting Honour And why should they disparage Christs sufferings so much as hope to gain Heaven by mortification of their Lusts and poring upon their sin and misery This would be to undervalue so great a blessing and to tell the world that Christ's purchase of eternal glory for us was imperfect and without there be an addition of our own works and merits that redemption signifies little and hath not strength enough to pass what was design'd by it Thus men prevent Consideration of their spiritual Concerns and dash the checks and motions of their Consciences when prompted to call their wayes to remembrance They examine not the end of Christs death nor their own obligations They run away with the notion that Christ dyed for them and are not at all careful to know what his death signifies much like heedless servants who before they have half their errand run away and when they come to the place they are sent to know not what message to deliver The Doctrine is pleasing to their flesh and that they may not lose that pleasure they 'll be sure not to enquire what the true meaning of it is Would they but cast their eyes upon that Bible which they believe contains the Oracles of Heaven they would find that the great reason why Christ gave himself for us was to redeem us from all iniquity and to purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2. 14. They would find St Paul was of another mind when he wrote to the Romans In that Christ dyed he dyed unto sin once but in that he lives he lives unto God likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God Rom. 6.10 11 12 13. And that the Apostle is constant to himself appears from 2 Cor. 6.15 Christ dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again And indeed this is no more but common gratitude so great a mercy challenges no less than Reformation and Obedience Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles He that redeems another from Barbarian slavery doth it so much as enter into his thoughts that the Wretch can ever be so inhumane as to despise and scorn and vilifie so great a Benefactor That God could have given man access to his favor and reconciliation some nearer way than through the Cross and Death of Christ is very probable but it seems he would not This remedy was his choice he would pitch upon this stupendious way to amaze and to astonish men into holiness and seriousness He thought men could not possibly avoid being Converts and heavenly-minded when they should see the Son of God wading through blood and death to rescue them from Hell God look'd upon the mercy to be so dreadful and the kindness to be so full of majesty and compassion together that he thought the incomprehensibleness of the favor would carry terror with it and fright men into repentance and contrition He thought men would have so much sense and modesty in them as not to rush through agonies and torments and groans and sobs and sighs and tears and wounds and stripes of the Son of God into eternal destruction He thought those Thorns and Nails that wounded that sacred Head would scratch and sting them into awe and reverence of so great a love as they were rolling to eternal flames He thought they must divest themselves of all Humanity and Self-love if under the Cross of Christ they could work out their own damnation and make the streams of that blood a River to carry them into eternal darkness But thou hast seen O God and beholdest and canst not but behold it with sorrow and indignation how these men that pretend to be Christians live the reverse of thy designs How they improve the Cross of Christ into affronts of thy power and glory How under that Tree of Life they work out their own death and how that precious Blood doth but encourage them to bid defiance to Heaven and the sweat and toyle of the Son of God under the burthen of their sins makes them sweat and toyle to fall a Prey to the merciless Clutches of the Devil God indeed reconcil'd the World unto himself and Christ by his death purchas'd that reconciliation and eternal life but there is a great difference between the purchase of these blessings and the application of them between the possibility of possessing and the actual enjoyment of them A man may buy an estate and intend it for the use of such and such persons but when he hath bought it for them may lawfully tye them up to certain conditions upon which they shall enjoy the estate or in case of neglect of these conditions go without it A King that 's justly offended with his Subjects and for their notorious Rebellion hath design'd them all for ruine and destruction upon some noble attempt and generous enterprize of his onely Son the Prince may be mov'd or brought to a willingness to pass by their crimes but when the Kings good will is obtain'd the Prince may justly appoint some condition upon which the condemn'd Wretches shall receive their great Masters favour And as upon the Kings good inclination to be friends with his Subjects it doth not follow that he is actually reconcil'd to every one there being some conditions required upon which the Pardon shall be sign'd and sealed to every one of them in particular so neither do all men effectually
and promis'd all my Estate to after some few years service and should that Servant instead of honouring me despise me where ever he comes instead of obeying me laugh at my reasonable commands instead of Working play his time away instead of going to the place I send him to run to Brothel-Houses or Taverns instead of loving me hate me and affront me slight both my actual kindesses and my future smiles and notwithstanding my continual exhortations to another course of life continue wilfully in the way he hath begun meerly to gratify his foolish Lusts and when he is convinc'd too of the unreasonableness of his doings knows it is Ingratitude in the highest Degree and yet will be guilty of it and when he might do otherwise only out of malice and to vindicate his own humour resolves against it what punishment can there be too great for such a wretch Were this mine or my neighbors case we should certainly doom such a monster to all the Tortures that severity can invent or inflict and why should I have any hard thoughts of God for punishing the sinners Ingratitude with eternal pain and loss an ingratitude so great all things consider'd that the worst returns one man can make to another cannot sufficiently express the horror and vileness of it God for ought I see in condemning wilful sinners to Eternal misery gives them but their own choice and if that old saying be true Volenti non fit injuria To him that 's willing can be done no injury God certainly cannot be accus'd of cruelty for he gives the stubborn sinner but that which he deliberately pitcht upon and affected and though no man doth ordinarily chuse punishment much less everlasting calamity for its own self yet as long as they do with vehement affection long after that which hath this calamity inseparably annext we justly suppose that they agree to suffer the calamity as well as to enjoy the thing which is the others inseparable companion He that is certain that the smell of such an Herb or Flower is poisonous and will kill him if notwithstanding this conviction he will smell to it its apparent he makes choice of his death and ruine There is not a sinner that lives under the Gospel but he must know that he who doth not practically believe the Gospel or which is all one lives in wilful contempt of the Laws of the Gospel shall certainly be damn'd for the Gospel is so full of these threatenings that he that doth but come to any place where this word of life is preach'd if he be not deaf he must necessarily hear it nay if he will but make the least enquiry and set himself to consider seriously whether that Gospel be of God or no he cannot but find that it is the Son of God even he who can assoon loose his being as tell a lye that hath with all the protestations imaginable threatened this everlasting condemnation to Men that are resolv'd to prefer satisfaction of their Lust before all his wisest and wholsomest Precepts This being known by all that have any reason or understanding as much as that Felony or Burglary is death by the Law if in despight of this knowledge and perswasion the hard-hearted wretch will venture upon a life of disobedience and contempt to which damnation is inseparably annext What can I think but that the vain Man is in Love with his own Eternal destruction In Love with it So one would think that sees him drive to everlasting death as furiously as Jehu did to Jezreel and make more haste to invade the Gates of Hell than Elijah for all his fiery Chariot did to get to Heaven The Man that runs through Swords and Daggers breaks down Walls and Fences poisons the principles of Sobriety Providence hath lodg'd in his Breast strangles the kind suggestions of his own Conscience cracks the Bolts and Barrs of a virtuous Education seeks out Dangers and precipitates himself into them and with the noise of his riot strives to overcome the calls of the Holy Ghost within defies all present convictions dis-regards the Groans and Cryes and Tears and Wounds of a crucified Saviour that would keep him from being undone vanquishes Gods methods to catch him into Repentance breaks through all the prohibitions of the Gospel through Vows and Promises and Sacraments and most solemn Engagements charges all the threatenings of a jealous God and fights his way through Rocks of oppositions and all to get to Hell and Damnation sure makes that his choice and if so God doth him no injury in giving him his own hearts desire A Sheep or a Horse certainly can never counter-ballance the life of a Man yet he that knows he shall be hanged if he steal either and will in despight of the penalty venture meerly to gratify his sickly fancy justly suffers the punishment which seems to bear no proportion with the things he stole the justice of the punishment is founded in the malefactors choice And so we find it in the case before us the Blessing and the Curse is laid before the sensual Man Life and death are proposed to him he 's put to his choice which of these he 'l have He freely and willfully chuses Death and the Curse maugre all that God or his Angels or his Ministers can say to the contrary and it 's but just since he thus fights against God and seems resolved to cross all God's endeavours to purify and turn him and will have his wrath and indignation and scorns his Mercy God should let him have that Fire and Brimstone which is the portion of the Sinners Cup and which he is so very greedy after as if he were afraid he should never be so happy as to obtain or be master of it Indeed the more I think of it the more I find that it s not God so much that condemns him to Eternal misery as the sinner himself 'T is he that 's thus barbarous to his own Soul and adjudges himself to that worm which dies not He kisses that consuming Fire as if it were the Light of God's Countenance and seems to envy the Devils their unhappiness he doth so long to be a sharer of it He snatches Damnation out of the hands of God's Justice and while God offers to keep it from him makes a long Arm to reach it God alas doth what he can to save him his bowels yearn over him and nothing would please him more than to see his penitential Tears He is ready with the good Father Luk 15.20 To run and to have compassion on him as soon as he doth but resolve to leave the Kingdom of Darkness even that God who would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth He waits to be gracious and justly expects that the Vineyard on which he hath bestowed great cost and pains should bring forth Grapes He doth not afflict the Children of Men willingly he delights not in their tortures he
when this life is ended I 'll trust thee O my God and when my lusts invite me to act like a Beast I 'll obey thee and strive to be perfect as thou art perfect when Men entice me to sin I 'll hearken to thee and venture the disgrace or injury they can inflict upon me when the World tempts me to be careless of my Salvation I 'll follow thee and work out my Salvation with fear and with trembling Thus I 'll manifest to the World that thou art dearer to me than all that 's great or rich or glorious in the World Delight in God is a Duty as necessary as the former but how is it possible I should ever arrive to it without I summon my Soul by consideration to take a view of the Glory and Beauty which sparkles in that amiable Being I shall quickly feel my Heart in another temper than ordinarily I do if I bespeak it in such language as this Delight in God! O my Soul canst thou name that charming name of God and feel no joy no gladness in thy affections Is God so dull an object that it cannot stirr or rouze thee from thy Lethargy where dost thou see a more lovely Being survey the World where is there so ravishing an object Can there be a lovelier Being than he from whom whatever is beautiful in Men or Angels flowes How beautiful must he be to whom all these inferior Beauties owe their Being If the streams be so lovely what must the water in the Fountain be Alas what is the Sun but a dark Lanthorn in comparison of God What is all the light our Eyes behold but a rush Candle to him that is the Father of Lights Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun Eccl. 11.7 Indeed whatever is rich and to be admired in objects would signify nothing to us without light and if created light be so delightful O God how amiable must thou be who dwellest in a Light inaccessible If the Sun and Moon and Stars deserve my delight how more justly may the Great Creator of all these challenge it whose Glory doth infinitely transcend all the little twinklings and radiations which shine in sublunary objects O my God were thy Beauty view'd as it shines in the works of Creation as it sparkles in thy wise ordering and management of the World as it blazes in the redemption of Mankind as it glisters in Regeneration of the Soul as it dazles the eye in the glorification of a sinner how lovely wouldst thou appear And since neither thy Being nor thy Works are in vain since what thou art and what thou doest must needs be for some certain end what can I conclude but that thou discover'st so much Beauty and Splendor and Glory to poor Mortals because we should rejoyce and delight in thee and be ravished with thee O my Soul without this delight in God thou canst never be happy God is thy adequate Object and thy Center and he alone can give thee rest and except he fills and satisfyeth thy powers they 'l be forced like Noah's Dove to flutter and flye up and down wander in a desart and loose themselves in a barren Wilderness When thou delight'st in God thou art at rest and thy rest declares thy happiness How canst thou hope thy Religious exercises will be accepted in Heaven while thou know'st not what this Holy delight doth mean The Heathens guess'd at the acceptance of their Sacrifices by the chearful burning of the Fire upon the Altar The greater thy delight is in God the stronger Argument thou hast that thy Devotion meets with applause and approbation in Heaven Variety is strangely delightful to thee here on Earth and why then hath God so little of thy delight though God be but one yet in that one God are so many pleasant objects that wert thou to live here a thousand years in this one God thou might'st every day meet with fresh objects of delight with this God thou art to be ravish'd to all eternity and then sure there is variety enough in him to revive and recreate thee for a few years in this present World Survey all his blessed Attributes his Holiness his Omnipresence his Omniscience his Immutability his Immensity his Wisdom and Eternity survey his Goodness to Mankind his Perfection his All sufficiency his Willingness to advance Man to the enjoyment of that Glory which the blessed Angels do possess survey his Revelations his Manifestations of himself to this dark ignorant World his Statutes and Judgements and Laws and the Reasonableness and Equity of them all survey his various Dispensations under the Old and New Testament his Methods of converting Men and the various degrees whereby he hath proceeded in the reformation of the wretched Progeny of Adam survey his wonderful love in Christ Jesus and his pitty and compassion to Rebels to Traitors to his greatest Enemies survey the benefits and advantages which arise from Christs Passion Resurrection Ascension Intercession Survey his Promises and Threat'nings his mercy to the penitent his justice to the unbelieving sinner Survey his mercies both publique and private both Spiritual and Temporal and his various favours to all Mankind to thy fellow Christians to thy Relations and thy self Survey the priviledges he allows to those that fear him how he gives them leave to call upon him answers them when they call permits them to call themselves his Children his Darlings his Favourites his Jewels his Friends and the apple of his Eye Survey the Glory which God receives from all his creatures in that all conspire to fulfil his Will Survey the Joy the Glory the Happiness the Triumph the Songs the Halelujah's which he hath designed for his Servants whereof they have a taste here and which e're long they shall enter upon to their Eternal content and satisfaction O my Soul who can express all the pleasing objects which are in this Glorious God thou dost adore Vast Ocean of Delight How can my Soul be weary of Delighting in thee where every object is of a multiplying Nature and the farther I goe the more charms I meet withal every Beam every Ray that darts from thy Throne every work of thy Power and Oh how infinite is the number of them administers Delight And sure he deserves to be starv'd that may come to those Waters of Life and is invited to participatte of this Milk and Honey and to delight his Soul in fatness preferrs the stolen waters of sin before these living Waters which like those in the Aesculapian Well are not capable of putrifaction Look O my Soul look with pity on the poor distracted World that delights in things hellish and sinful worldly mean and trivial they dream they eat and drink and are at a great Feast but in the morning when they wake they find themselves empty A rational complacency in God is Angels food this is the meat thou must live upon for ever
thou putst upon thine own Soul and is thy Soul so inconsiderable a thing that thou makest nothing of deluding and circumventing it What thinkest thou Sinner suppose thou didst see a Senate or Parliament made up of very grave wise sober judicious men who should unanimously give their verdict in a Cause and determine it and while these men after serious deliberation give their judgement in the case propos'd to them in comes the malefactor against whom they have given sentence accuses the Decree of the Senate of injustice charges their Vote with a lye and takes a great deal of pains to make the world believe a tale of his own making whom wouldst thou believe that grave wise judicious Senate or the Malefactor the Senate sure and then when God Angels and Men the wisest the gravest the learnedst of them do all unanimously determine that without a serious consideration of thy Spiritual concerns thou canst not arrive to any sincere reformation of life canst never know the danger thou art in or what thou must do to escape unquenchable fire and that without it thou art a truly miserable man and dost take the way that leads to destruction hast thou the impudence to oppose thy sickly opinion which arises from a distemper'd ed head and a more distemper'd conscience to the grave sound and orthodox judgement of Men infinitely wiser than thy self when all with one consent affirm that thou art sick to death and nothing but consideration can recover thee wilt thou cancel their verdict by prescribing to thy self medicines of thine own making all cry out against thy inconsiderate course of life God doth not justify it Angels do condemn it the Preachers of the Gospel confute it Philosophers arreign it thy Reason hath arguments against it thy Conscience chides thee for it thy sober neighbors reprove it and wilt not thou subscribe to their sentence what insolence is it to think thy self more knowing than he that knows all things Behold sinner here lies the way to Heaven God is intreating thee to walk in it the Devil is busy to discourage thee from it God saith Here I will be found the Devil suggests that the Sons of Anack dwell there God wishes thou wouldst yield and live the Devil that thou wouldst stand out and dye God seeks to crown thee the Devil to rob thee of thy Diadem God assures thee that this is the Garden where thy Graces must grow the Devil argues that nothing but Weeds and Thistles grow there All the dispute is who shall have thy Soul God or the Devil think sinner for God's sake think who is the Rewarder and who is the Tormenter who is the King that can save thee and who is the Executioner that studies only to ruine thee shall not God prevail wilt not thou give him thy heart and shall Satan goe away with thy Soul shall he possess that Treasure which Angels are ambitious of for shame let not God goe away empty think what a condescension it is in God to be willing to accept of so inconsiderable a Present as thy Heart what is thy Soul to him what benefit doth he receive by offering thee his bosom if thou hast such a mind to be the Devils slave what need God take pains to rescue thee from that bondage dost thou think he cannot live without thee dost thou think thy being in his Heaven doth add any thing to his felicity cannot he as well be glorified in thy Torments as he can in thy Salvation cannot he make his Justice triumph over such a stubborn wretch as thou art wherein doth his advantage lye may not he be God and Great and Glorious and admired by Angels while thou friest in Hell thou hast very highly obliged him indeed that he need be at all this trouble to make thee in love with his ways shouldst not thou stand amazed at his Favour shouldst not thou wonder that this immense and infinite Majesty will vouchsafe a gracious look to so vile a worm as thou art and canst thou see a God court thee and grow coy doth God offer to kiss thee with the kisses of his Lips and dost thou scorn his embraces canst thou see him carress thee and turn away thy face wilt thou prefer the motions of a lying Devil before the Oracles of the Great God of Heaven hadst thou rather goe along with him that will murther thee than accompany him that will encircle thy Head with a Crown of Glory shall God magnify his Mercy upon thee and wilt thou fall in love with his enemy doth God intend by making love to thy Soul to give a character to the world of his infinite goodness and compassion and darest thou be so bold as to lessen that character by thy contempt and ingratitude Behold sinner God is willing to lay aside his Flaming Sword thou shalt hear of him no more in the Earthquake or in the Storm or in the mighty Wind that breaks the Rocks in pieces but in the still small voice the voice of Boanerges shall sound no more in thy ears he 'll blow his Trumpet of War no more all his frowns shall be done away he 'll fright thee no more with Hell-fire if his Grace his Mercy his Compassion can but allure thee to bethink thy self and close with him and so to consider the concerns of thy Soul as to resign thy self altogether to his guidance and direction his Aspect shall be kind his Countenance shall be nothing but smiles his Face shall be a perpetual Sunshine if by consideration of thy ways thou wilt become sensible of thy former folly and throw it away and take up with him alone if his kindly Beams can thaw thy frozen Heart if his calm can win thee and make thee prostrate thy self before the Lion of the Tribe of Judah Heaven and Earth shall be no longer in conspiration against thee and thou shalt not need to look any more for Thunders and Lightnings from that Heaven stand still sinner and see the Salvation of God behold Grace and Mercy lies weeping at thy Feet the free the soveraign the extensive the attractive Grace of God comes wooing to thy Soul and doth bespeak thee in this manner Hold Hold thou poor besotted creature whither dost thou run Hear hear I bring thee the joyfullest tidings that ever were brought to the ears of Men God will be thy Father the Lord Jesus thy Saviour the Holy Ghost thy Comforter the Angels thy Companions thy Life shall be a perpetual Holyday thou shalt be a friend of God an Heir of Heaven and Coheir with Christ thy sins shall all be done away thy iniquities shall be remembred no more all the promises of the Gospel shall be thine God will vouchsafe to live with thee the Holy Ghost will make thy Soul his Temple thou shalt have strength to overcome Hell and Devils Flames and Swords and be more than a Conqueror through him that loved thee the Lord Jesus Christ ask a Heaven and
thou shalt have it a Crown and it shall be thrown into thy bosom a Kingdom and it shall be thine ask all the Treasures of Glory and they shall not be denied thee from this time forward thy name shall be inrolled among the Favourites of Heaven and in thy Soul as in Jacob's Ladder the Angels shall be continually ascending and descending and thy Head like Gideon's Fleece shall be water'd with the dew of Heaven while the unbelieving World shall be dry and all this shall be thine if my Love my Mercy my Kindness can prevail with thee and engage thee to think seriously what thou must do to please God and to be happy for ever O sinner had those who now lye sweltring under the burning wrath of Almighty God such an offer as this how would they leap and triumph and agree to so reasonable a condition and thank God upon their bended knees day and night and praise him without intermission that he will vouchsafe to receive them on no harder terms than these O sinner is thy heart of stone that it doth not dissolve at this Gracious Message Can the Rock hold out against these bowels of compassion poor stubborn wretch were not thy Heart all steel were not thy Conscience seared how couldst thou forbear being prick'd at the heart hadst thou but the least spark of good nature left in thee what might not these Golden Chains these Silken strings these Cords of Love doe with thy immortal Soul The only reasons that the Servants of Benhadad had to humble themselves to the King of Israel was this We have heard that the Kings of Israel are merciful Kings Sinner hast not thou both heard and seen and seest it to this day that the true King of Israel is a merciful King and will not this prevail with thee to throw thy self down at his feet and kiss his Scepter and consider thy imprudence in deviating so long from the end of thy Creation and Redemption and make thee contented to part with all the strong holds of iniquity within thee and with all imaginations that exalt themselves against the obedience of Christ Jesus O doe not tell me that thou wilt most certainly bethink thy self sometime hereafter when sickness and approaching death shall take thee off from thy worldly businesses Vain foolish man How dost thou know thou shalt live till tomorrow for What is thy life even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away How many thousands are cut off as they are going up the hill in the noon of their days before half their race be run and what Patent hast thou from Heaven that it shall not be thus with thee God laughs at that repentance which men begin when they can keep sin and the world no longer he sees it is forc'd and squeez'd and weak and feeble and will God accept of thy Devotion when thou hast exhausted the cream and marrow of thy Bones in the Devils service How sinner consider thy ways upon thy death-bed Mad man dost thou know what Consideration means the Soul must be in its full strength that considers the sinfulness and sad consequences of her life Doest not thou see how in sickness the Soul sympathizes with the Body how the Mind languishes with the Flesh how weak how feeble the thoughts are upon a Death-bed how the mind is employed with thinking of the pain and anguish and uneasiness of the Body how Mens weakness scarce gives them leave to repeat the Lords Prayer intire without interruption how setling their Estates and disposing of their worldly affairs and sorrow and vexation that they have not managed their secular concerns with greater prudence takes up their cogitations and how transitory and superficial mens thoughts of sin and of another world are except they have gotten a habit of Heavenly-mindedness by a long and constant practice of Holiness in the time of their health and liberty before And doth Salvation deserve no more but a few slight and skin deep reflexions when thou liest a dying Canst thou have such low thoughts of everlasting Glory as to let Consideration of it come behind all the satisfactions of thy flesh Canst thou entertain such pittiful sneaking conceits concerning that mighty Heaven God out of his singular and unparallell'd mercy hath condescended to promise to his Saints as to delay thy contemplations and thy taking a view of it till thy Heart-strings break and thy throat begins to rattle and the House is falling Goe ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Alas when men are a dying the time of working is past that 's the night wherein no man can work that 's the time indeed to reap comfort of our former conscientious practises but not the time to work out our Salvation in that 's the time of rejoycing because our redemption draws nigh not the time of setting out from the Gates of Hell that 's the time to finish our course with joy not the time to begin a Holy life Alas the strength and vigor which must be used in a Heavenly conversation is then gone and men are just upon the point of reckoning with God their accounts must then be ready not to make up so that if thou art not ready now to take thy Spiritual concerns into serious consideration thy heart will be hardened every day more and more and the longer thou livest the less mind thou wilt have to set about it and if thou dost not think it worth thy trouble to spare now and then an hour from thy worldly businesses to mind this one thing necessary thou doest as good as tell God that thou wilt have none of his Heaven and judgest thy self unworthy of Eternal life O Sinner the present time is the day of Salvation this is the acceptable time now strike and thy sins will fall now strive and the Crown will be thine now fall to work and promise thy self Eternal Rest thou canst call no time thine own but the present time that 's only in thine hands make use of that and save thy self from this untoward Generation Extricate thy self from the delusions of the flesh take courage and be gone stay not in Sodom now accept of Mercy now lay up thy Treasure and secure thy right to the Tree of Life now remember thy Creator and God will remember thee when he makes up his Jewels and spare thee as a man would spare his own Son that serves him Hear then this Men Fathers and Brethren the God of your Fathers the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob hath sent us to you to tell you that his Supper is ready and the doors are open and the Guests are come and yet there is room and that you may fill the room which is left is the message we come to acquaint you withal from him who delights not in the death of a sinner but would have him turn and live Hear this ye
Body A Soul that can build it's Nest among the Stars of Heaven walk through yonder Mansions and taste of the Rivers which make glad the City of God A Soul which can wing it self into the Clouds and survey the Crowns and Scepters laid up for those that dare despise the World and have their Conversation in Heaven A Soul which can enjoy a Paradise while the Body is in trouble and rejoice in him who is All in All while the fierce Winds are whistling about her ears The vast reach of these Souls we have their fitness to receive Divine illumination their strong desires after Immortality their secret actings without the help of a Body their hopes of Heaven their fears of Hell all proclaim the certainty of an eternal state or condition they are intended for This eternal state imprinted on our Natures discover'd to the Gentiles proclaim'd by the Son of God preach'd by Angels confirm'd by Apostles reveal'd to Christians believ'd in the World as it relates either to Bliss or Misery to Joy or Torment to Honor or Dishonor so how to enjoy the one and avoid the other must in all probability be the great object which God design'd Mens Souls should be chiefly employ'd about For as there cannot be a thing of greater moment than Eternity so he must be a Sot a Beast that can imagine that God who ever intends the noblest Creatures for the noblest Ends will give Men leave to busie themselves altogether about picking of straws and pleasing a few sensual Lufts when he hath given them Souls capable not only of labouring and seeking after but obtaining a Kingdom which fades not away And when we sweat and toyle and labour to make provision for twenty thirty forty years what do we do but proclaim our obligation to be infinitely more concern'd how to provide for that state which must never have an end And as it was the goodness and wisdom of God to make us capable of an everlasting duration so we should be injurious to both if we did not suppose that God hath order'd and appointed means whereby it 's possible to save our selves from the wrath to come He that takes a view of Gods proceedings and dealings with Men ever since the Creation of the World cannot but stand amaz'd at the cost and labour and pains and means and motives and arguments God hath us'd to make Men sensible of their everlasting interest and to engage them to a serious preparation for that World they must live for ever in This serious preparation must necessarily be a holy blameless spotless life for the means must ever be sutable and agreeable to the nature of the end And Heaven being a holy place perlect holiness reigning there it 's not to be imagin'd how perfection of holiness can be enter'd upon without a considerable progress in holiness here no man reaching the highest step of a Ladder without the lowermost and one might as well flatter himself that his Trade by such a time will bring him in Ten thousand pounds when he is so far from minding his Trade that he contrives only how to run with others into excess of Riot And indeed to plant this holiness in Men the means have been so various so numerous so potent before the Law under the Law and under the Gospel that one may justly admire the whole World doth not stand candidate for Heaven and all the Inhabitants of the Earth do not take the Kingdom of God by violence Before the Law the continual pleadings of the long-liv'd Patriarchs with sinful Men to improve the light of Nature that Primar of Divinity the many Visions Revelations Dreams Signs Wonders Voices from Heaven the Ministry of Angels Gods Patience Forbearance Long-suffering and sometimes Exemplary Justice the Examples of holy Men Gods love to those that honour'd him the signal blessings he bestow'd on those that made him their highest and chiefest good what were all these but so many calls and entreaties that Men would by holiness prepare for a future happiness Under the Law God was so far from being weary of using means and taking pains with Men in order to this end that he seem'd to have reserv'd those Ages for larger and fuller Demonstrations of his Power and Munificence and if the people of Lystra had any ground for their exclamation the Jews had far greater reason to cry out That God was come down to them in the likeness of men For while other Countries were left in darkness and like Moles suffer'd to wander in the shadow and vally of death they as if they had been made of purer Clay seem'd to be the Darlings of Providence and the Favourites of Heaven Heaven bow'd to them and under its protection they went as under a Canopy of State and might with greater reason than the Sultan have challeng'd that lofty Title The shadow of God And with that Persian Emperor stiled themselves Kinsmen of the Stars Their eyes saw Miracles almost every day and with their daily Bread they receiv'd daily Prodigies and in the midst of their Rebellion God like the Sun when smiling through a Cloud shew'd them a merciful Face not that he approv'd of their Impiety but because by these Beams he would warm their hearts into obedience Their Blessings came down upon them not in drops but in showers and their Prosperity like the Cinnamon Tree was so fragrant that strangers might smell it a great way off before they saw it The Waters of Life were continually flowing into their Bosomes and though God now and then frown'd upon them what Father would not sometimes chide his Son yet his Indignation which like Flints sent out Fire upon their penitential Tears strait way return'd to its former coldness The Rocks poured them out Rivers of Oyl they wash'd their Feet in Butter and one might say of their Land as he of the Isle of Rhodes They were bless'd with a continual Sunshine Their Prophets what mighty what powerful Men were they Men that like Lamps consum'd their own Oyl to light their Auditors to Heaven or like Silkworms spun out their own Bowels to deck their Hearers with Garments of Righteousness Where words could not prevail Tears were the means to supple and affect them and it seems there is not stronger Rhetorick in the World than these Here one Prophet spoke like an Orator there another like a Logician Here one endeavour'd by Eloquence to charm them there another by clear Reason to convince them Here one threatned there another promis'd Here one wooed there another thundred Here one came with a Scepter of Love there another with a Trumpet of War Here one offer'd his hand to save them there another made bare his arm of revenge Here one offer'd an Ark to those that desired mercy there another rain'd down floods of Curses to drown the obstinate Here one represented God with his Sword drawn a smoke going up out of his nostrils and devouring fire out of
his mouth there another follow'd sinners to the very gates of Hell with offers of mercy in his hand and while Vengeance was knocking at the door and the Sword was at their heatts call'd to them Turn ye Turn ye why will ye dye And what was all this but to lay invincible obligations on Men to Reform and by Reformation of their Lives to arrive at last to that Harbor of Bliss and Immortality which the great preserver of Men hath prepar'd for those that fear him Under the Gospel as if beyond this there were no other remedy to engage Men to holiness the Son of God himself comes down from Heaven and turns Preacher He that commands all the powers of Light and Darkness appears in a Pulpit He by whom the Worlds were made leaves the brightness of his Fathers glory to tell Men what a Monster Sin is how odious how loathsom in the eyes of God how lovely how amiable how beautiful the wayes of God are confirms the sayings of all the Prophets of old assures Men and certainly he could not tell a lye that all those Messengers of old were in the right when they profess'd That Iniquity would be Mens ruine and that at yonder gate no unclean thing should enter and that God must be prefer'd before all the Riches Honours and Pleasures of this World a favour for which we want expression and which we must draw a vail over as Timantes the Painter did over the face of Iphigenia's Father because we cannot reach it with our colours If a King should send a Messenger with a Pardon to a Malefactor that 's ready to be turn'd off of the Ladder there is no Man but a stranger to pity and compassion but would speak in commendation of the Royal mercy but should the King himself approach the place of Execution and absolve him it 's like the unexpected bounty would cast the Malefactor into a Swoon And then when the great God of Heaven and Earth made his favor exstatical went out of the common road of mercy stept beyond all precedents and examples encreas'd his kindness into perfect miracles miracles which the Ages before cannot parallel and the Son of God made his way through all the Clouds of Heaven to tell Men how God long'd for their society and happiness we cannot suppose a possibility of greater condescention And that which still encreases the Wonder this Son of God entreats wooes and beseeches Men to bethink themselves and dress up their Souls for the next Worlds glory He that might have come as one day most certainly he will with flames of fire and taken vengeance on the obstinate and terrified and startled them into seriousness and might without a Metaphor as it is Psal. 45.3 girded his Sword upon his Thigh and look'd stern on the Rebels that would not have him reign over them and frown'd them into Hell That this Son of God this Sovereign Prince whom all the Elements serve at whose command the Waters drown and the Fire burns and the Earth swallows up that he should come and draw near the City and instead of consuming weep over it as if he meant to quench the fire of Gods indignation against it and instead of dooming it outright to eternal vengeance wish O that thou hadst known in this thy day what belongs unto thy peace Call like a tender compassionate Father How often would I have gather'd you as a Hen doth gather her Chickens under her wings and ye would not That he should bear affronts and in the midst of those injuries entreat Men to be reconcil'd to him and seek for a Pardon That he should conjure Mankind by Tears and Wounds and his own Blood by those very Torments and Agonies he endured for them to have mercy on themselves to take a view of the burning Lake beneath and run away to look upon the joyes above and be ravish'd with the sight That he should court them by the sweetest invitations and the kindest calls by the greatest offers and the softest promises promises of assistance and of his holy Spirit of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost and seal his strong desires and longings after their holiness with his own death and after his death being risen again sends Apostles and whole Armies of Confessors and Martyrs to establish those desires ordain a Function of Men that might preach those Desires in Mens ears to the Worlds end this indeed is a condescention which the great ministring Spirits in Heaven stand amaz'd at and may justly be look'd upon to be one of those things the Angels desire to pry into By such astonishing means hath the great immortal God endeavour'd to effect that holiness in Men that Seriousness that Piety that Heavenly-mindedness which he hath appointed to be the only way to endless bliss Glorious means indeed But then they are no more but Pearls thrown before Swine where Men consider not how far they are concern'd in the heavenly Call And what can be the meaning of all these arts and stratagems of Divine compassion and what should make God thus sollicitous and careful to procure mans happiness and how dreadful it must be to neglect so great a salvation To lay all this labour and industry and indefatigable pains of God before their eyes where they will not fix their contemplations on the Remedies intended for their recovery what is it but to make a learned Oration to a flock of sheep to talk to a blind Man of Colours to discourse Mathematicks to one in a Fever and to prepare Elixirs and Cordials for Men depriv'd of life and sense Without Consideration we have little but shape and speech left us to distinguish us from Beasts and God clearly loses the virtue of his exhortations and entreaties except Consideration sets them home digests and applies them to the Soul and the inward thoughts like Sun-beams in a burning Glass unite and continue so long upon these spiritual objects till they set the heart on fire CHAP. II. Consideration no transitory view of spiritual things imports laying the heart and mind close unto spiritual Concerns resembles magnifying Glasses which discover things imperceptible by the naked eye The great Ingredients of it Self-Examination Expostulation and strong Resolution HOW Consideration Thinking Pondering Meditation Contemplation do differ is not material to enquire Consideration includes all these and is nothing but exercising and improving that rational Faculty the great Architect hath bestowed on us to the glory of God and the felicity of our immortal Souls The character St. Bernard gives of it may help to illustrate this Description It distinguishes saith he things confus'd collecteth such as lie dispers'd searches and dives into such as are conceal'd and hid examines probabilities reflects upon what is done resolves what to do and presses towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus The Schoolmen are in the right when they call it employing the whole understanding about a thing