neglect no Means nor Helps in order thereto Such Resolutions as these are most proper in your condition But if your Hearts still hang back let me ask ye what will ye resolve upon Vita humana sine proposito vaga est languida Will ye put the Matter to the venture and trouble your Heads no further about it but still go on at the old dull stupid rate If so this is wilfully to destroy your own Souls and whom can ye blame but your selves Will ye sit down in Despair This is to despise or undervalue the Riches of Gospel-Grace that are set before you Those that come to Christ he will in no wise cast out Again will ye delay for a while and put off the thoughts of these things till hereafter Answ This indeed is the common Case but almost as unreasonable as either of the other two Your times are not in your own Hands ye know not how soon your Souls may be required of you the longer ye delay the more difficult it is like to be and the Spirit that should help you will be grieved by your backwardness Satan will have the faster hold of you and if Death overtake you before the work be done ye are damned Therefore I say turn your Thoughts which way you will all other Resolutions will be found mad and dangerous except that of the Prodigal I will arise and go to my Father So do ye And here let me tell you 't is needful that your Resolutions be firm and steady lest those Difficulties which may afterwards arise in your way should discourage you and that they be speedy lest Death overtake you unprepared And also that in this whole business ye be sensible of your own Weakness and Insufficiency lest ye miscarry through foolish Self-Confidence But of that more by and by Direct 4. See that your Resolutions be forthwith put into practice By this it must appear that they are true and hearty if the VVill be determined in the case sutable Endeavours will ensue And here your work lies in the following Order 1. Humble your selves deeply in the Presence of God for all that Sin and Folly which hitherto ye have been guilty of Consider the Evil of Sin as it is contrary to the holy and pure Nature and Law of God Call to remembrance your own Sins and lay them to Heart that they may not be laid to your Charge In a particular manner bewail the Corruption of your Natures and more especially the estrangedness of your Hearts from God and Enmity against him with that inordinate propension to the Creature in which the Heart of the Old Man doth mainly consist Proceed then to consider those actual Transgressions which have all along issued from this Corruption viz. Your loss of precious Time misimprovement of Gospel Ordinances and Means of Grace your Pride Passion Earthliness Sensuality c. Confess these things humbly and feelingly in the Presence of God Labour to melt into an ingenuous Child-like Sorrow for having carried it so unworthily to so good and gracious a Father That Sorrow for Sin which proceeds only from fear of Punishment is the Sorrow of a Slave and may consist with as much Love to Sin as ever But Godly Sorrow is animated by holy Love to God which raiseth in the Soul a rational hearty Grief for its Transgressions against him an hatred of Sin and Resolution against it for the future This is Repentance from dead Works and toward God He that covereth his Sins shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall find Mercy Prov. 28.13 Yea as Matters now stand such is the wonderful condescension of the Law of Grace 't is an Act of Justice and Faithfulness as well as Mercy to forgive Sin wheresoever with true Repentance it is confessed 1 Joh. 1.9 If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins c. Therefore I say give Glory to God by an humble acknowledgment of your Sins Lay your selves low that his Glory may â—â—e advanced Put your Mouths in the Dust if so be there may be hope Justify his holy Law tho in so doing ye condemn your selves Say with the returning Prodigal Luk. 15.21 Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son c. 2. Thankfully acknowledg the Riches of Free-Grace in that God is yet pleased to offer you Terms of Reconciliation and Peace The Golden Scepter is held forth to you that ye may touch it and live Methinks this should encourage you and put Life and Vigour into your Proceedings and draw out your very Souls in sweet Returns of Love to God Lord is there yet Hope is there any Mercy for such an one as I Behold I come in Obedience to thy Call Blessed be God for Jesus Christ 3. Humbly implore pardoning Mercy for your past Sins and the help of Divine Grace for your present and future Duty As the necessity of your Case should make you very earnest and importunate in these Requests So ye have great encouragement given you to strengthen your Faith and Confidence in the Divine Goodness God delights in Mercy and hath proclaimed his gracious Name Exod. 34.6 9. Use this as an Argument in Prayer as the Psalmist did Psal 25.11 For thy Names sake O Lord pardon mine Iniquity for it is great Plead the Merits and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ the Promises of the Gospel and assure your selves God is as ready to forgive as ye are to repent and forsake your Sins He will not despise a broken and a contrite Heart Psal 51.17 And since the work that lies before you is holy and spiritual therefore trust not to your own Resolutions or Strength Pray hard for the help of the Spirit â—ay your Souls open to the Influences of his Grace yield your selves to his Conduct Carefully strike in with all his Motions Lord here am I what wouldst thou have me to do Teach me the way wherein I should go incline mine Heart to thy Testimonies strengthen me with Might in my inward Man Magnify thy Power in my Weakness Speak Lord for thy Servant heareth draw me and I will run after thee 4. And now give up your selves unfeignedly to God in and through Christ If ye expect he should be your God that is your Portion Happiness Soul-satisfying Good ye must be his People devoted to his Love and Service The Covenant must be mutual else how should it be a Covenant Let this be done with great Freedom Chearfulness and Resolution of Spirit ye will never have reason to repent of your choice He will be your Shield and your exceeding great Reward 5. Live henceforth as becomes the Covenant-People of God Renounce your Lusts and Corruptions Let the time past of your Lives suffice you to have fulfilled the Inclinations of the Flesh Remember ye must now live at another rate than heretofore ye have done The Glory of God must be
Righteous Governour and ungratefully abuse the Riches of his Mercy and Goodness They tread under-foot the Son of God and will not that he should reign over them and therefore are justly accounted Enemies and must expect to be treated accordingly Luk. 19.27 But those mine Enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me They do despite unto the Spirit of Grace Heb. 10.29 And in all this they prefidiously break their baptismal Covenant wherein they were solemnly devoted to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost And withal they wilfully destroy themselves and wrong their own Souls But that brings me to the other Consideration An unregenerate State is a miserable State How should it he otherwise Can a Man harden himself against God and prosper No no Such Persons are under the Wrath and Indignation of the Almighty an Abomination to him he is of purer Eyes than to behold them His holy Law is armed with most dreadful Curses and Threatnings against them God shall wound the Head of his Enemies and the hairy Scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his Trespasses Psal 68.21 They are Slaves of Satan led Captive by him at his Will who employs them in treasuring up unto themselves Wrath against the Day of Wrath Even the Offers of Gospel-Grace which are daily made to them as they aggravate their Sin will also make their Condemnation heavier Thus that which was designed for their Good becomes the savour of Death unto Death unto them What shall I say They are Heirs of Hell condemned already in Point of Law tho Judgment has not yet passed the final Sentence They are not sure of being spared an hour longer One would think this should make them ill at ease till the Affairs of their Souls be in a better posture 'T is wonderful to think what shift they make to avoid the Anticipations of Hell in their own Breasts Put all this together and then tell me whether it be not a miserable State Psal 50.22 Now consider this ye that forget God lest I tare you in pieces and there be none to deliver 2. Think next what great things God himself has done in order to your deliverance from this sinful miserable State Tho your Transâ—ressions be many and heinous he has provided a Ransom for you the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all Sin Tho your Natures be exceedingly corrupted his Holy Spirit is able and ready to help and heal you if ye do not willfully resist and grieve him Prov. 1.23 Turn ye â—t my Reproof behold I will pouâ— out my Spirit unto you Tho your spiritual Enemies â—e strong â—ubâ—â—â— and maâ—â—gnant they cannot destroy you unless ye oâ—stinately side with them The Standing Office of the Minisâ—â—y is appointed to treat with you in order to your Reconciliation and Peace with Gâ—d 2 Cor. 5.20 Notwithstanding all the Affronts ye have done to the â—iviâ—e Patiencâ— God still waits to be gracious to you Tho ye little deserve â—o be thus treated 't is yet put to your choice that ye may be happy if â—e will be holy A Throne of Grace is ereâ—â—ed for your encouâ—â—â—â—ment God hath swoâ—n by himself that he delâ—gâ—â—s noâ—â—n your Ruin and Destruction buâ—â—â—â—her that ye should repeâ—t and live He condescends in a way of â—â—â—creâ— and Forgiveness to reason the Case with you Turn 〈◊〉 turn ye why will ye die Cease to dâ— evil â—â—â—â—n to 〈◊〉 well Come now and let 〈◊〉 reason together saith the Lord tho your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Sâ—â—w tho they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wool Isa 1.16 17 18. In a word Matters are brought so far in order to your Recovery that nothing but your own Wilfulness and final Impenitency can be your ruin 3. And now consider what it is that God expects from you in compliance with the Methods of his Grace viz. That from a deep sense of your past Folly and a belleving Apprehension of his Mercy and Goodness in Christ ye do sincerely turn unto him through this great Mediator and then all 's your own Are not these Terms highly reasonable Are they not full of rich Grace and Benignity Can ye imagin that Divine Mercy should stoop lower Would ye be saved from Wrath while ye resolve to persist in your Enmity against God What then would become of his Holiness and Purity of his Truth his Government his inflexiâ—le Justice and Righteousness Would ye have an Interest in Christ while ye wilfully reject him Would ye be saved by his Blood without being sanctified by his Spirit and governed by his Law Or would ye have the Graces and Comforts of the Holy-Ghost while ye are still quenching and resisting his Influences In short can ye tell what ye would have Think well of it and ye will find either that you Desires are utterly immodest and unreasonable or eâ—se that he is ready to grant them 4. Consider also how many Millions are got safe to Heaven who were once at as great a distance from it as you The Saints now in Glory were by nature Children of Wrath as well as others besides the Guilt of many actual Transgressions How long did many of them stand it out against the Calls of Divine Grace as ye have done but at last they yeilded and so escaped Methinks this Consideration should animate and encourage you yea and even enflame you with a generous Ambition oâ— attaining the same Happiness Have so many poor Sinner found Mercy why then stand ye looking one upon another as if ye could not find your hands Are ye content to pine away in your Iniquities Oâ— up and be doing and the Lord in great Mercy be with you 5. Consider how little the World or Flesh signify to counter ballance the ruin of your immortal Souls What would it profit a Man if he should gain the whole World c. Ye are grosly ignorant of the nature and capacities of your own Souls if ye think that terrene or sensual Delights and Enjoyments will satisfy them Isa 55.2 c. What tho the Flesh should be abundantly provided for and fair deliciously every day ye will still find something within you that is not filled And so in the fulness of your sufficiency ye will be in straits Job 20.22 And besides Creature-enjoyments are uncertain as well as insufficient They may be taken from you ye must be taken from them Will it be any Relief to your miserable Souls in another World to remember the fleshly Prosperity and Ease ye had in this Will your Possessions Spâ—rt and Jollity follow you into Eternity Or will not the remembrance of them rather cut you to the very Heart When being doom'd to everlasting disconsolate Darkness ye shall not be able to forget how foolishly ye destroy'd your selves for meer Trifles O consider this and do not hazzard your Souls for a thing of nought How fast are ye posting continually
the performance of religious Duties yea and sometimes fall into great Sins besides those of daily Infirmity and therefore are often called to Repentance Humiliation and Amendment and to renew their Covenant with God in Christ and to act Faith upon his Merits and Satisfaction for Pardon and Peace and to double their Watch and Diligence for the future when in the mean time they are not perhaps obliged at all to call in question their Foundation nor to perplex themselves with Doubts and Fears as to their State in the main Indeed as for those who oft fall into groffer Sins and lie long in them even such Sins as they might easily forbear if they were truly willing such have great reason to question their own Sincerity But as for the common Infirmities of the Godly yea or their greater falls through Inadvertency Surprize or the violence of some sudden Temptation the Case here is quite different If a Workman when he has laid his Foundation and is proceeding forward in the Building should upon evevy lesser or some few greater mistakes in the Superstructure pull down all again and question the Foundation it self he would make very little progress and so have but little comfort in his Work So here true Believers who are in a justified State have still need to beg daily Pardon for their daily Sins yet ought they not to give way to needless Doubts or misgiving Thoughts as to their State in the main For if any Man sia we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous 1 John 2.1 He that is washed needeth not save to wash his Feet but is clean every whit John 13.10 When David had sinned so grievously in the matter of Vriah and Nathan the Prophet was seâ—â— to him to expostulate with him about it and bring him to a greater Sense of the Evil he had done c. we find that he humbly acknowledgeth his Transgression earnestly implores the Divine Mercy prays hard that the Holy Spirit of God may not be taken away from him but we do not find that he was called to doubt of his State in the main nor can we prove that he did so but encouraged himself in the Mercy of God Psal 51.17 The Sacrisices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and a contrite Heart O God thou wilt not despise There are says a great Divine some Sins which every one that repenteth of them doth so forsake as to cease committing them and there are some lesser Sins which they that repent of them do hate indeed but yet frequently renew as our defective degrees in the exercise of Repentance it self Faith Love Trust Fear Obedience our vain Thoughts and Words some sinful Passions c. many such Sins are fitly called Infirmities because they consist with Life and are forgiven It is of great use to the peace of our Consciences to discern the difference between these two for one fort require a Conversion to another State and the other require but a particular Repentance and when they are unknown are forgiven without a particular Repentance because our general Repentance is virtually though not actually particular as to them One sort are cause of judging our selves ungodly and the other sort are only cause of Filial Humiliation Baxter's Directory part 1. pag. 299. Direct 11. Though you cannot yet attain to the â—uller comforts of Assurance do not therefore underâ—â—lue any thing that looks hopefully or hath a likely endency thereto Great things are not usually atâ—â—ined but by degrees and through many difficulâ—ies 't is no small matter to be certain that we are 〈◊〉 a justified State nor is such a certainty so common among true Believers themselves as perhaps you imagine who yet have considerable Support â—nd Comfort from hopeful Probabilities in the case Now as 't is necessary to pull down the vain Hopes of presumptious Sinners so it also is to strengthen and help the Joys and Hopes of weak Christians Well then let me ask you Are you not grieved or the many Offences you have committed against God at least Is it not your trouble that you can nourn for Sin no more that your Hearts are no nore tender and relenting Is it not your desire and in some measure your endeavour to renounce your Sins and to mortify your Corruptions Could you bear the thoughts of parting with Christ or quitting your Interest in him for all your Doubts and letting go your hold of him for any thing that could possibly be offered you in exchange Would you not even loath and abhor the Proposal Is it not your endaavour to love him more and serve him better Put such Questions as these are to your own Souls and then judge whether in all this there be not something that appears to be more then like special Grace And though you are not yet certain that it is so yet let thus much support you till you can see further And as I said before be thankful for what you have and strive for more Grace and then you shall find that spiritual strength and comfort will increase together And all along be sure to remember that God and the Redeemer are as willing to accept you upon Gospel-terms as you can be to desire it yea and infinitely mâ—â—â— willing as loving Holiness better than you do 〈◊〉 the March break between Christ and you it shall 〈◊〉 through your own refusal Never was any poâ—â— Sinner before-hand with him he is the first in coâ—senting and is a Suitor to us for our full 〈◊〉 hearty consent nor will he despise the least tendecies thereto He will not break the bruised Reed oâ— On his part all is safe and clear prevail but withy own Heart to hold on and go thorow with the work and All 's thine own Direct 12. Be sure that you exercise the moâ—â— deep and entire Self-resignation to the soveraign Pleasure of the Divine Will in this matter Leave it unto God to measure out your Comforts for you and to determine the Time and Season thereof Lay your Souls at his Feet with the profoundest Reverence Humility and Submission say as David in another Case It may be the Lord will look upon my Affliction But if he say he have no delight in me behold here am I let him do as seems good unto him 2 Sam. 15.26 O learn to wait upon the Lord and look for him when he seems to hide his Faâ—â— Isa 8.17 It is not possible that you should be Losers by thus resigning your Souls and your All into his Hand 't is your certain Duty so to do and it will be a mighty evidence of that Sincerity which you are seeking after And there are many comfortable Promises made to such actings of Soul as these and encouraging Examples set before us Blessed are all they that wait for him Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine Heart Wait I say on the Lord. Psal 20.14 Methinks that such a
Ordinances is a further Proof of this great Truth 〈◊〉 works by his appointed Means Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God The Gospel is called the Ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 As also the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.2 And well may it be so called by way of eminency because greater measures of Grace are given under the Gospel-Dispensation than were usual before Now the sacred Office of the Ministry is institured in subserviency to the Influences and Operations of the holy Spirit 'T is he that qualifies Ministers for their work assists them in it and makes it successful to the attainment of its end Moreover the Sum and Substance of that Errand upon which we are sent ye have in the latter end of this Chapter Vers 18 19 20. Namely to tell you that God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself hath committed unto us the word of Reconciliation Now then we are Ambassadours for Christ as tho' God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God Our business therefore is to treat with Sinners in the Name of God and the Redeemer That we may perswade them to comply with the offers of Free Grace And to edify strengthen and help the Joys of those who have heartily complied Ephes 4.11 12 13. And O how strict a charge is laid upon us That we be instant in Season and out of Season reprove rebuke exhort with all Long-suffering and Doctrine For the time will come when c. we may now say 't is already come 2 Tim. 4.2 3 4. And that we watch for your Souls as they that must give an account Heb. 13.17 and warn you of your danger that your Blood may not he required at our Hand Ezek. 3.18 And who is sufficient for these things 2 Cor. 2.16 Well then if Men may be saved without being wrought for it c. of what use is the ministerial Office Or why are we so strictly charged Moreover the whole Course of Rellgious Duty that is appointed us with that Seriousness and Spirituality therein required doth fully prove the Point we have in hand The holy reverent Worship of God in his Ordinances doth powerfully tend to raise our Souls nearer to him and to make them more like him to heal our spiritual Distempers and to refine and purify all our Faculties and Powers and so to prepare and sit us for the State of Heavenly Perfection Therefore we must not look upon such appointments as if they were only meer arbitrary Injunctions to exact homage from us But tho' Soveraign Authority is to be acknowledged in them we must also consider how infinite Wisdom and Goodness has sured out Work to our End our present Duty to our future Happiness that by the one we might be prepared for the other From whence 't is evident that Holiness is necessary to the Work and Business of our present Life as also to our future Blessedness We can neither serve nor enjoy God here or hereafter without being wrought thereto by his Grace I mention nor the heartless Service of Hypocrites as not being worth taking notice of Hence also ye may learn what ends to propose to your selves in every part of Divine Worship But I proceed 5. None but those who are thus wrought upon have any right to the Heavenly Felicity according to the Tenour of the Gospel-Covenant Unregenerate Persons as such are peremptorily excluded even by the Law of Grace it self Ye cannot produce the least Syllable in Scripture whereupon to ground those hopes of Heaven wherewith such Men are wont to flatter themselves But I can shew you enough to confound and overthrow their wicked Presumptions for ever The Sentence of their Condemnation is legible in almost every Leaf of the Bible yet will they not consider it nor lay it to Heart He that believeth not is condemned already he shall not see Life but the Wrath of God abideth on him Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God Joh. 3.3 18 36. If ye live after the Flesh shall die without HOLINESS no Man shall see the Lord. These are the true and faithful Sayings of God All this was settled long before thou wert born if thou hast any exceptions against it thou comest too late with them as one says Assure your selves that these sacred Constitutions cannot be disanulled Your Unbelief shall not make the Truth of God of none effect ye will quickly faâ—d whose word shall stand his or yours 〈◊〉 true indeed Pardon and Life are freely offered by the Gospel-grant if thou wilt repent and turn to God throuâ—â— Christ Otherwise it brings upon thee an heavier Coâ—demnâ—tion than thou wert under before John 3.10 a sorer Punishment Heb 10.29 The câ—â—â— speaks it self Thou canst plead no Interest in the saving Benefits of the Covenant of Grace unless thou come up to the Terms thereof Abused Mercy turns to greater Indignation Therefore it much concerns you to inquire what those Terms are and not to venture your Souls upon Uncertainties Behold the Judg standeth before the Door Jam. 5.9 What is the Chaff to the Wheat saith the Lord Jer. 23.28 Mat. 3.12 6. None but those who are thus wrought upon have the earnest and first Principles of the Heavenly Felicity How then should they have the thing it self Do ye expect the Fruit without the Seed the Perfection of Holiness and Happiness without the Beginnings thereof the Inheritance without the Earnest How can these things be How absurd are such Hopes as these Would ye be perfect Men in Christ without first going through the Infant-State of Christianity That is being converted and becoming as little Children As for the truly Godly they have Eternal Life abiding in them even that saving transforming practical Knowledg of God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent which is the Inchoation thereof But the Ungodly are not so being dead in Trespasses and Sins To be carnally minded is Death They sow to the Flesh what then can they expect reasonably to reap but Corruption Would ye sow one sort of Grain and reap another Know therefore that the holy Spirit of God working in the Souls of Believers sutable Inclinations Heaven-ward and Desires after it that is rational judicious holy Desires doth thereby give them an earnest of it but still remember If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8 9. 7. The Guilt of Sin which all unregenerate Persons are under stands between them and Heaven I hope ye know that ye are Sinners and that ye must be justified before you can be glorified The weight of Guilt must needs press you down into everlasting Darkness if it be not taken off by pardoning Mercy and Grace And do ye not also know that there is no Pardon without true Repentance And withal that true Repentance is nothing less than the turning of the Soul from
Sin to God a change of the Temper and Disposition of the Heart the very work whereof we have all this while been speaking Repentance toward God Hence the Gospel was ushered in with the preaching of Repentance Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at band That so all Men might know upon what terms they were like to enjoy the blessed Priveledges of this glorious Gospel Constitution And here I must tell you it is not enough to say that you are sorry for your past Sins now the Pleasure of them is over and Conscience it may be uneasy about them No no the bent of your Hearts must either be turned against Sin to hate abhor it and mourn for it as 't is displeasing and hateful in the sight of God c. or else Iniquity will be your rain Moreover the Sincerity of your Repentance or of this change of Heart from the Love of Sin to the Love of God and Holiness must appear by bringing forth Fruits meet for Repentance 8. All that ever have entred into that blessed State were first prepared for it and effectually wrought upon by Divine Grace The case of Infants need not stop us such as have been saved from the Womb have also been sanctified from thence But 't is the case of the Adult or grown Persons which falls more directly under our Consideration Search the Scriptures and you may find there how those Persons are characteriz'd and described who are gone to Heaven before us 'T is true they all had their failings which they groaned under and longed to be delivered from But as to the main they were Men that walked with God Ordered their Conversations as seeing him that is invisible Men that lived humble mortified self-denying Lives chusing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a season That mourned for the Abominations of the Times and Places wherein they lived whose righteous Souls were vexed with the filthy Conversation of the Wicked in a word Men that confessed themselves Strangers and Pilgrims on the Earth sought and Heavenly Country and waited for the Salvation of the Lord. See Heb. 11. Thus ye have heard how the Saints now in Glory got thither and will ye dream of coming to Heaven any other way They were all wrought for that blessed State and so must ye or else fall short of it and perish As it is matter of great Encouragement and Comfort to the Godly to think how many Thousands are got to Heaven the same way by which they themselves through Grace are going So one would think it should damp the hopes of graceless Hypocrites to find themselves in a quite different yea contrary way 9. The Scripture assures us that the Righteous themselves are scarcely saved 1 â—et 4.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vix egrè i. e. tho they are certainly saved yet not without a great deal of difficulty The same word ye have Acts 14.18 Sâ—ved they are but not without much striving by reason of the straitness of the Gate and the narrowness of the Way which leads to Life many Enemies to conflict with many Temptations Doubts and Fears to overcome many Storms and Tempestâ— to get through before they come safe to the Haven What say ye to all this Do these things offenâ— ye They are true for all that And now consider what the Apostle infers from this in the words immediately following Where shall the Vngodly and the Sinner appear What shall become of them Why the Psalmist gives you an answer to this Psal 1.4 5. They are like the Chaff which the Wind driveth away therefore the Vngodly shall not stand in the Judgment nor Sinners in the Congregation of the Righteous they shall be driven away in their own wickedness Well Sirs Do ye think much to be told of the Difficulties that lie in the way to Heaven Are ye for a cheap formal customary easy way of Religion Do ye think that the greatest Earnestness Care and Seriousness which we can possibly use to secure our Everlasting Interest is making more adoe than needs Look ye to it go on and prosper but remember that the Righteous themselves are scarcely saved 10. Lastly 'T is impossible in the very nature of the thing that an unholy Soul should enjoy the Heavenly Felicity This is evident if ye will but compare the Temper and Spirit of unregenerate Persons with the Account that has been given concerning the State of future Glory The nature of Things must be quite overthrown and the grossest Contradictions reconciled before an unrenewed Person as such can be happy I know that all Men have some general injudicious Tendencies even by Nature towards Happiness But as for those upon whom this great Change has not past they neither know nor truly desire that which alone can make them blessed They are most miserably confounded in their own Wishes and cannot tell what they would be at They say indeed that they desire and hope for Heaven but in the mean time they know not what they talk of Were it possible they should be admitted thither why so long as their corrupt depraved temper of Spirit remaineth upon them they would be quite out of their Element and unhappy even in Heaven it self The reason is plain there must be a sutableness between the Faculties and the Objects or else what Frution what Pleasure can there be Would the most pompous magnificient Shews signify any thing to a blind Man or a Confort of the most Harmonious Musick to the Deaf Why just so it is here The Hearts of the Sons of Men till sanctified by Divine Grace are utterly unfit for the Society the Work the Enjoyments of Heaven As for the Society 't is holy there 's a Communion of Saints in Perfection But the Hearts of carnal Men are impure and unholy There are none like them to converse with in Heaven Those above are employ'd in admiring loving praisâ—ng and glorifying the blessed God And 't is the enâ—oyment of him that makes them happy in that State But certain it is that the Souls of Ungodly Men are â—eeply averse from God and at Enmity against him â—â—ow then should they be blessed in the enjoyment of â—â—ne whom they never loved when to enjoy him is â—o love and delight in him O Sirs ye must either â—e made holy that is conformed unto God in the â—â—ame and disposition of your Spirits or else Heaven â—annot be Heaven to you Therefore I beseech you deal truly with your selves â—n this Matter let me put it to your Consciences â—ea do ye put it to them your selves and then tell â—â—e How do ye relish that sort of Life on Earth which is most like to the Heavenly Life How are ye â—ffected to those things which have a nearer Tendency to lead you God-ward Is his holy Day the Joy of your Hearts Are ye delighted in his Worship Do ye strive in every Duty to get as near to him through