not be catched thou thinkest to hide thy self in Secret when as God in Heaven can see see thâ—e though thou hast hid it from Man And when thou goest to Thievery thy wickedness is discovered and thou arâ— found Guilty O Young Woman that is Married and Young Man look on 〈◊〉 here be sure in that Solemn Engagement you are obliged one to another Maâ—â—iage â—s an Ordinance of God have a care of â—reaking that Bond of Marriage-Vnion if the Husband provoke his Wife and cause a Difference he sins against God and so does she in such Carriage for shâ— is bound to be an Obedient Wife O you Parents that give your Children in Marriage remember what I have to say you must take notice when you give them in Marriage you give them freely to the Lord and free them from that Service Command you ought to have yet you ought to have a tender regard to them O thou that takest no care to lead thy life civilly and honestly and then Committest that Abominable Sin of Murder here is this Murderer look upon him and see how many are come with their eyes to behold this man that abhors himself before God that is the Sin that I abhor my self for and defire you take Example by me there are here a great many young people and O Lord that they may be thy Servants Have a care do not sin I will tell you that I wish I never had had the opportunity to do such a Murder if you say when a person has provoked you I will kill him 'T is a thousâ—nd to one but the next time you will do it Now I Commit my self into the Hands of Almighty God His Prayer O Lord our Good God thou art a Merciful God and a Gracious and Loving Father Alas that thou shouldest Nourish up Children that have 〈◊〉 against Thee O Lord I must confess thou gavest me opportunity to read thy Written Word Thou art also my Creaâ—or and Preserver but Lord I have not done according to the Offers of thy Grace thou hast not hid from me the opportunities of the Good Things and Liberties of thy House and Ordinances but I have waxed wanton under the Enjoyment of them I have given thee just cause to provoke thee to Anger and thou hast left me to Shame not only on my self but on my Relations O Lord God I do confess that I have sinned against thee and done all these Iniquities against thee and before thine eyes Lord I have sinned especially against thee pardon my Sins of Youth Lord pardon this bloody Sin I stand here Guilty of O Lord hide not thy face from me I humbly beg it of thee for there is no man 〈◊〉 Redeem his Brothers Soul but only the Blood of Jesus Christ must do it Let it be sufficient to satisfie for my poor Soul I hâ—â—e not done any thing that thou shouldest be pleased to shew me thy Love or that I should have any thing from thee but only Everlasting Misery I am unworthy to come to thee yet Lord for thy Mercies Sâ—â—e have pity on me Now I am coming 〈◊〉 Iudgment Lord let the Arms of thy Mercy Receive my Soul and let my sinâ— be Remitted Good Lord let not my sinâ— which Condemn me here in this world rise up to Condemn me in the World to come though they have Condemned me in this world shew mercy Lord when I come be fore thy Iudgment-Seat If my Soul be not humbled Lord humble it let my Petition be acceptable in Heaven thy Holy Mountain I am unworthy to come into thy Presence yet O let me come into thy Kingdom and deliver my Soul from Blood Guilâ—iness in the Blood of Jesus Christ O let my wounded Soul mourn for my sin that hath brought me here Sin brings Ruine to the poor Soul wo is unto me for mine Iniquity If I had gone to Prayer in the morning when I committed this sin Lord God thou wouldest have kept back my hands from shedâ—ing innocent Blood O Gracious God Remember thou me in Mercy let me be an Object of thy pity and not of thy wrath the Lord hear me and pardon my Sins Take care of my poor Children I have scattered them like stragling sheep flying before the Wolf pity the poor Children that go like so many Lambs that have lâ—st their Keeter that they may not come to such a Death as I do 〈◊〉 Lord for the sakâ— of Jesus Christ and the Righteousness oâ— thy Son accept my Soul and receive me into the Arms of thy mercy that I may enjoy Everlasting Rest. Pardon all my sins and let the Prayers of all those that have put up their Petitions for me be accepted for the sake of Jesus Christ. Now I am coming now I am coming thou mayst say I called to thee and thou wouldst not come I must say my sin brought me here O the World and the corrupt nature of man that has proved my ruine O Lord Good Lord let me enjoy Rest for my Soul The desire of my Soul is to be with thee in thy Kingdom let me have a share in that Kingdom Now is the time Lord Jesus the Grave is opening its mouth I am now living though dead in Stn let my prayers be heard in heaven thy holy place thy hands hath made me I know thou can'st Save me hide not thy face from me and affect the hearts of thy people with this sad Obâ—â—ct that they may labour to serve thee betimes and may not give themselves up to profaneness and Wickedness especially that Sin of Drunkenness which is an in let of all Abâ—minations When thou hast thy head full of Drink the Remembrance of God is out of thy heart and thou art unprepared to commit thy self and Family unto God thou art unfit to come into Gods Presence I have cause to 〈◊〉 out anâ— be ashamed of it that I am guilty of it because I gave may to that Sin mâ—re than any other and then God did leave me to practise wickedness and to Murder that dear Woman whom I should have taken a great deal of Contentment in which if I had done I had not been here to suffer this Death Thou art Holy Just and Good and therefore O Lord have mercy on me for the sake of thy Son pity me now Lord I am coming O that I could do thee better Service Many of you that behold me I know wish you never had seen me here Lord Receive my Soul into a better place if it be thy blessed will 't is a day of great Trouble with me my Soul is greatly Troubled give me one Glimpse of Comâ—ort in thy Kingdom by by let me have one dram of thy Grace Accept of me now at this time 't is the last time Good Lord dâ—ny me not give me as the Wâ—man of Samâ—riâ— a Taste of that Living Waâ—er that my Soul may Thirst no more I beg it for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen After this
Mad who does not make sure of this But you cannot make sure of 〈◊〉 if you do not Repent within the 〈◊〉 three or four hours that are now before you If any man propound an Hereafter unto himself to make sure of a Pardon in I would say unto him Thou Fool This Night thy Soul may be required of thee And let me add the words once used in a case of sudden and extream Hazzard save thy self to Night for To morrow thou mayest be Slain Counsil 3. Seek a pardon and seek it HOPEFULLY Despair not of it but that your sins which have been like Scarlet may yet become as Wool and that your sins which have been as Crimson may become like Snow To quicken this Hope in your Souls Consider the Boundless Mercy of the infinite God It may be that your sins have had most bloody Aggravations as being against much Light and much Love and against very solemn Vows unto the contrary Yet a Pardon is attainable if you slight it not What is Gods Design in our Pardon it is to magnifie His Grace and as the Apostle speaks that he may Commend His Love Well then then greater our Pardon is the greater will Gods Glory be Hence it was the plea of the Psalmist in Psal. 25. 11. O Lord Pardon my Iniquity for it is great What a FOR is that How strange an Argument is this The Despairing Soul thinks God will not Pardon my Iniquity FOR it is Great But if we really Turn to God the greatness of our sins will become no less than a plea for the Pardon of them For Great Sinners will give Great praises if they may tast of his pardoning mercy Be not then Discouraged from industrious endeavours hereabout but remember that when our Lord Jesus hath said in Ioh. 6 37. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out None of our Names are excepted there Remember also that there are some now Triumphing with God in Heaven that once were guilty of the very same Sins which We are now terrified withal Where is Abraham that once was an Idolater what became of Menasseh the Conjurer and of Magdalâ—n the Strumpet Is it not an Epitaph written by the Apostle upon the Grave of Rahab Rahab the Harlot perished not yea did not even some of those that Murder'd the Lord Jesus Christ Himself afterwards partake in the pardoning vertue of His Blood which with wicked Hands they had been shedding of see also 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11 And why may not YOV come to be pardoned as well as theâ— if you tread in their steps by a serious and sedulous making after it Perhaps you have been ready to Sin But it is an Attribute of God in Neh. 9. 17. He is ready to pardon Have you gone on a great while in Sin and grown old and gray and horribly Ripe in your Evil wayes yet hear that Charm in Ier. 3. 1. Thou hast played the Harlot with many Lovers yet Return unto Me saith the Lord. In the primitive times there was one Victorius a very old Man converted unto Christianity the Church would not receive him for some time for thought they Old Sinners do not use thus to turn and Live But he evidenced the Reality of his Conversion so that they sang Hymns about it in the Christian Assemblies and it was every where proclaimed Victorius is become a Christian Victorius is become a Christian Even so may it come to be a shout over the oldest Sinner among you all That Old Wretch has got a Pardon after all Behold I have an Order to make an Offer of a Pardon within these Walls this Day and in the Name of the Eternal King I make it unto every Soul among the many hundreds of People here A Preface once Angrily made by Moses let me Chearfully and Ioyfully make thâ—â— Day Hear ye Rebels But that which I thus Preface is The glorious King â—f Heaven will receive every one of you to Mercy if you will now at last lay down your Arms. I am to assure you There is Hope in Israel concerning this thing Do not say with them in Eze. 7 3 11. Our Hope is lost No to all your other Sins I beseech you add not that of Despair which will be at least equal to the greatest of them which you have already perpetrated What a nefandous Blasphemy was that of Spira one of whose Roarings was My Sin is greater than the Mercy of God! That is the Cursed Language of Despair which let no man indulge Don't connt the Day of yet over with you Saiest thou I am afraid the Spirit of God has done striving with me nay if thou art afraid of it then it is not yet come to pass He may be striving in those very Fears Saist thou I fear I have committed the Vnpardonable sin If thou fear it then thou hast never Done it They that are conscienciously solicitous and suspicious about it are yet Clear from the great Transgression O then come to God at the Door Hope thus opened for you Counsel 4. Seek a Pardon and seek it BELIEVINGLY It is to be Enjoy'd by none but a Believing Soul To Excite this Faith Consider The proper and only Gospel-way to a pardon 'T is by Faith as we are minded in Rom. 5. 1. We are Iustify'd by Faith We must Request and Expect our Pardon to come swimming down unto us in the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ alone and we must keep our Eye upon Him under that Notion in John 1. 29. The Lamb of God which takes away the Sin of the World We must look upon our Pardon as purchased and procured for us by the Death of our Lord Jesus Christ who in the Eternal Covenant of Redemption Engag'd unto His Father That He would make His own Soul an offering for the Sins of all His Chosen ones We are to take the Merits of the Lord Jesus Christ as they are profered unto us in the Tenders of the Gospel and lay the whole Stress of our Guilty Souls thereupon for ever It is said in 1 John 1. 7. The Blood of Iesus Christ cleanseth us from all Sin Wherefore we must Renounce all Dependence upon any Righteousness of our own for our pardon Let us not place any Trust in any Good Works or in any Good Frames of our own as tho' they could render the Holy God propitious to us It is said in Job 9. 2 3. How should man be Iust with God If He will contend with him he cannot answer Him one of a thousand The Iews give this Exposition of it The pleas which men fetch from any Good thing in themselves for the pardon of their sins are so weak and so trifling and so foolish that the Great God would scorn to give an Answer to one among a Thousand of them Alas we must not so much as ascribe the Inclinations of God to Impute the Righteousness of Jesus Christ unto us â—nto any Humiliations and Reformatiâ—ns
which we may be dispos'd unto We are to ly before the Lord as Loathsome Undone Wretched Creatures and Shout Grace Grace concerning all the Methods of our pardon Here to speak as Ierome of old All Hands are Dissolved because nothing done by our Hands will be found to answer the Righteousness of God It was a thing prescribed in Ancient Directiores for the Visitation of the Sick that the Sick Man should be taught to say O my God I now place the Death of the Lord Iesus Christ between me and my Sins Behold words fitted for every Sin-sick Soul What else can we say seeing we are told in Acts 26. 18. Men receive the Forgiveness of Sins and are Sanctify'd by Faith in Christ Iesus And hence even one of the greatest Giants among the Romish Philistines having argued a great while for the Interest of our own Merits in the pardon of our Sins at last he comes to that memorable issue of all Tutissimum est By Reason of the uncertainty of our own Righteousness and the Danger of vain Glory 't is the safest course to Repose our whole Trust in the Mercy and Grace of God alone Indeed I pray why then did you Bellarmine Dispute with so long and strong a Sophistry against the safest course in the World I beseech you Let none of us take any other course for the pardon of our Sins Counsel 5 Seek a Pardon and seek it PENITENTLY And there are especially Two Expressions of Repentance which we are to be exercised in They are conjoyned in Prov. 28. 13. He that Confesseth and Forsaketh his Sins shall find Mercy VVherefore 1. Confess all your Sins if you would have the pardon of them It was said upon a devout purpose of Confession in Psal. 32. 5. I said I will Confess my Transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin How much more will an exact performance of it have such a Consequence In some Cases our Sins must be confessed unto Men. Indeed our secret Sins must not be divulged until God Himself have in a manner brought them out but then we are by our own ingenuous Confessions to perfect the Discovery So David so Ionah thought tho' they could say unto God Against thee thee only have I sinned scarce any but God being privy to their Miscarriages And thus Achan when others were made Sufferers by his being a Sinner and God was pointing at him as the Troubler of all the Neighbourhood his Duty then was that My Son Confess and Give Glory to God But be sure Sins committed before Men must be Confessed unto Men. VVhen Iosephâ— Brethren had been Brethren in Iniquity they heard one another with a bitter Confession saying We are verily Guilty When the Publicans and Souldiers such people that had sinned publickly of old came to a better sense they Confessed their sins no doubt aâ— publickly as they could We must give all men to see that we do not Approve of Sin by our taking shame to our selves for what sin they have seen us overtaken with and like the Convicted Leper crying out Vnclean Vnclean But in all Cases our sins must be confessed unto God who knows them all and whom they have all affronted and â—â—used It is said in 1 John 1. 9. If we Confess our Sins He is Faithful and Iust to forgive us our Sins We are to confess our sins before the God of Heaven both very particularly and very sincerely We may do well to take a Catalogue of Duties Required and Sins Forbidden in all the Commandments of God and Examining by that Glass what Spots we have had in our Hearts and Lives we should Bewayl them all before God And Bewayl them without any Excuses or Defences to Extenuate them in our Lamentations An Vpright man lies in the Dust Let us lay our selves there and so Enlarge upon our own Vileness as becomes A Spirit without Guile Such a Confession as this must be made if we would have any marks of a pardoned Soul upon us 2. Forsake all your Sins if you would make Genuine your Confession of them When you have once Vomited up your Sins by Confessing of them O do not return to them as A Dog to his Vomit Come to say as in Job 34. 31. I will not offend any more and study to Do what you say As The Burnt Child will dread the Fire So let us Dread all the Sins which our Souls have been scorched with and let us not espouse any Way of wickedness If any of us will go on still in our Sins let us not forget what will come of it no less truly than that in Psal. 68 21. God shall wound the Head of such an one as goeth on still in his Trespasses But O what horrible wounds are those which the Omnipotent Hand of the Great God shall be the Inflicter of Do not venture to go on in any course of Sin but be able to say I hate every false way and especially be able to say I kept my self from mine Iniquitie Albeit any Sin may have been as dear as a Right-eye or a Right-hand unto you nevertheless Away with it Whatever bad course you have heretofore been us'd unto abhor it now with a very hearty and zealous Detestation and say What have I any more to do with Idols 'T is a New Life that we are now to be studious of and we may not promise a pardon to our selves while we continue in Sin Tho' God at first Iustify the Vngodly yet he will not let a Iustified man remain ungodly any more no he teaches him to Deny all ungodliness and Live Godlily Soberly and Righteously in this present Evil World II. But there is a very particular USE of these things to be Regarded by one among us who is never to see the light of another Sabbath more T is Hugh Stone that I am now more immediately concerned with and therefore let him as a man just come unto the very side of the black River of Death give earnest heed unto what shall now be said before we part Unhappy Man you must now Dy before your time for your being wicked â—vermuch and because you have been a Man of Blood you must not Live out all your Dayes I am a little to invert the Words of my Text in my Speech â—nto you and say Why don't you seek 〈◊〉 have your Transgression pardoned and your Iniquity taken away For you shall sleep in the Dust before this Week be out and if we seek you next Friday Morning you shall not be among us T is a great Favour of God unto you that you have liberty to hear a Sermon or two before the Execution which you are Sentenced unto your Monstrous Hands hurried your poor Wife out of the World with a greater and more cruel Expedition You may lament it with an inexpressible Bitterness that you have no better improved those hundreds of Sermons which you have enjoyed heretofore But I now beseech
He will abundantly pardon It was once the affectionate Out-Cry of a Câ—ndemned but a Converted and a Comforted Malefactor God is a great forgiver God is a great forgiver It is indeed rarely seen that Bad livers to ever become Sincere Paenitents in Old Age. When the Devils have had a Possession of many years they plead a sort of Praescription against the Holy Spirit of God and make their interest so strong that very Extraordinary must be the Influences of the Grace that shall destroy it Scripture seems to pronounce a sinner of an hundred years old to be cursed and Experience commonly discovers a Sinner of Fifty years old to be hardened beyond all recovery The Generality of them that are brought home to God under the constant Dispensations of the Gospel will find that between Fifteen and Thirty is the Age in which most of the Elect become Called ones But as nothing is more Soveraign than the Free-Grace of God He calls both Whom and When he will and He leaves many Civil and Moral people in their Vnbelief when He Renewes the Worst of men and those that not only have done evil an hundred times but likewise an hundred years been in the rebellious Tents of the Ungodly So nothing is more glorious than that Free-Grace which pardons without bounds and forgives the Sins which no Conscience has vigour enough to describe all the Aggravations of Let no man that begins to have sad Thoughts about the State of his own soul â—espair of Mercy from God in Christ it reaches even to she Chief of Sinners It is for a Cain to roar My sin is greater than can be forgiven but perphaps his Despair was not inferiour to his Murder and Austin well replied upon him mentiris Cain Cain Thou liest The Tempâ—er that once told thee T is too soon may now tell thee T is too laâ—e to repent and thou mayest have in thy Thoughts the Voice which once a flagitious man had in his Ears a little before he dyed No Mercy No Mercy But When he speaketh hard unto thee beleeve him not Come and Confess and forsake all thy sins and thou shalt have mercy Come and cast the Burdens of a Guilty and Wretched soul upon the Lord Jesus and thou shalt have Rest. Unto the Greatest and the Oldest Sinners yet Return unto me saith the Lord. Exemple I. A while since there dyed at Lancaster a man whose name was Richard Lenten arrived in age to so many years above an hundred That he had lived in Wedlock with his wife for Sixty three years and yet she was Thirty five years younger than himself and he was able to follow his toils at Husbandry very livelily but about a month before his End This man had been all his dayes a poor ignorant carnal and sottish man and unacquainted with the very Principles of his Caâ—echism after he had satt under so many hundreds of Sermons as he had Nevertheless when he was about an hundred years old God blessed the Ministry of His Word unto this mans awakening and he became a diligent Enquirer after the things of the life to come and a Constant Serious Attender on all that was Religious He arrived unto such measures of a well-informed Devotion that the Church which was very strict in the terms of their Communion yet received him into their Fellowship about Two years before he dy'd Wherein he continued under a good Character so long as he continued in the World Exemple II. There dwelt at a Village in this Countrey one who dyed in December 1688. This man had been remarkable for his bad Life till he had spent fifty years in the lewd and rude Courses if notorious Ungodliness Though he had the Benefit of a christian and pious Education yet he had shaken off all the yokes which that had laid upon him Hee became a foul-mouth'd Scoffer at all good men and good things and a great mocker of Church-Members in particular The Vices of Drunkenness and Swearing and Lying made the Characters of his Conversation Sabbath-Breaking and Promise-breaking made him infamous among honest people and his Disobedience to his Parents was not unequal to the rest of his miscarriages Original Sin in the furthest efforts of it fill'd his whole man and his whole way for half an hundred years at which age he left the world and he had sat under sinn'd against the meanes of Grace all this while But yet which you will admire to hear Yet this enormous liver was iudg'd to be converted unto God some few weeks before he died The great God so blessed owned the Ministry which he enjoyed that the Efficacy of it on him became conspicuous to Astonishment He became a serious Paenitent and so devout so pensive that every one saw a New-Creature in him He mourned for all his former faults and caused his Complaints to reach unto the Plague of his Heart as the Root of all He reformed what was amiss in him and applyed himself with an exceeding Vigour to the Saviour for the Salvation of his soul. While the Grace of God was thus beginning its Impressions on him he fell mortally sick and it was not long before he passed out of this world with a marvellous Assurance of his Interest in a better It were Endless to reckon up the extraordinary Expressions that fell from him Behaviours that he had in the sick and last dayes of his life but some of them were such as these O said he What a wonder of Mercy is it to my soul that God halh not cast me immediately into Hell and given me no Time to repent or to beg for an Heart to Repent But 〈◊〉 Mercy hath spared a great Sinner The stoutest man said he that ever lived should he but seriously think on ETERNITY and have no Christ to fly unto it will so sink the the Heart of him that he could never bear it but the Lord will show Mercy to my distressed soul. He gave himself wholly to Prayer and would excuse Watchers from sitting with him that he might be at leisure for Communion with God alone Sometimes he would give a start as he lay and being asked the Reason of it he said O I have a great work to do and but a little time to do it The Conflicts which he endured in his Spirit were unutterable under which heâ— day night kept wrestling with God for His Mercy One morning his Brother enquiring of him how he did he replied O I have had as doleful a night as ever man had I have had three great enemies this night encountering with me the World the Flesh the Devil I have been this night both in Hell in Heaven and I can truly say with David all this night long I have watered my couch with my â—â—ars but as the day broke my Saviour came vanquished the Devil told him that he had no right in me for He had Redeemed with His own Blood To his Father
shall be clean But what follows Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquired of to do it We must enquire of God and entreat of God if we would not perish without a Pardon forever There is no sign of a Pardon in any man till it can be said of him as in in Acts 9. 11. Behold he Prayes T is in Prayer that we confess our Sins 't is in Prayer that we renounce our Sins 't is by Prayer that we cast all our Sins upon the Lord Jesus Christ and with out this the least Sin in the World is utterly unpardonable Even those that have been already Pardoned are to continue praying for a Pardon still T is a thing which none among the Disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ are to be excused from They need the comfort of a Pardon to be sensibly Renewed unto them and tho' it have been once told unto a David The Lord has put away thy sin yet he keeps praying still in the terms of the fifty first Psalm a Prayer fitted for the lips of all that want a Pardon Luther sometimes distinguished between a Secret pardon an open pardon a secret Pardon every true Believer has but an open Pardon implies an Assurance and Evidence of a Pardon which many a Believer wants Well if we want Assurance we are to pray that it may be vouchsafed if we have Assurance we are still to pray that it be continned A Prayer for a pardon is never out of Season Conclusion 3. The sleep of Death brings upon men so great a change that they had need make sure of a Pardon before they are overtaken with it To set this Conclusion home there are three Assertions which methinks may sound like so many Claps of the loudest Thunder in the Ears of all this Numerous Auditory but especially of that poor man that must never come within these Walls again Assertion 1. The Death of Men is a kind of sleep unto them This is a Scheme of speaking used by the Holy Spirit of God Death is a Sleep to the Godly therefore it was said in Iohn 11 11 12. Our Friend Lazâ—rus sâ—eepeth Howbeit Iesus spake of his death Death is a Sleep to the Wicked also Hence it is said in Dan. 12. 2. many of them that sleep in the Dust shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt Our Burying places are therefore not unfitly termed Caemeâ—ries or Dormitories or Sleeping places Thus the Psalmist feared in Psal 13. 3. Lest I sleep the sleep of Death Death is a Sleep How T is not for the Spirit so A Psychopannychia a sleeping of the Soul on Death is too gross and sad a thing to be imagined it is it self a Dream The Active Apostle would never have said as in Phil. 1 23. I desire to be dislodged and be with Christ if he should have had nothing to do but Sleep in the Lodging which he was thus desirous to go unto Let no man imagine that his departed Soul shall become stupid and senseless and with out all Apprehensions after Death God forbid it should be so Nâ—r do YOU that are here a dying Prisoner expect that within a few Hours you shall be fallen into a Deep Sleep of all your Faculties No the Souls of Mâ—n at the hour of Death do rather begin to Awake out of the Slumbers and Phanâ—aâ—ms which they are here buried in and they have a most exquisite feeling of the condition which they then pass into How then is Death a sleep T is thus for the Body The Body then has a Rest in a Bed a Rest from a million weary Travels but as a Sleep will have an End so this Rest will be not perpetual not eternal the Resurrection when the Almighty God will call Awake yee that ly in the Dust that is the Morning which will put a period thereunto Assertion 2. The Pardon of Sin is not after Death a thing to be obtained As 't is said in Isa. 38. 18 19. They that go down into the Pit cannot hope for thy Truth The Living the Living he shall praise thee Even so The Living the Living he may get a Pardon but if once a man be gone down to the Pit he is past hope of such a thing The Dead must cry out as the Dying have sometimes done with a woful Desperation 'T is all too late all too late When once a man is Dead what is the next thing 'T is answered in Heb. 9. 27. After Death the Iudgment A Iudgment and not a Pardon is the thing to be then attended unto And what kind of Iudgment will it be Truly 't will be a Iudgment which no Pardon will Reverse none can Repeal We read an amazing property of it in Heb. 6. â— Eternal Iudgment even the Iews in their Confession of Faith call it so When once we are Dead we pass into a VVorld where all is Eternal there we are fixed like Rocks in an astonishing Ocean of Eternity 't is an Eternity of VVeal or an Eternity of Wo nothing but Eternity which remains before us And O how awful should the mention of Eternity Eternity be to YOU forlorn and setter'd man who if you do not get a Pardon of the Great God before this week be ouâ— must unto all Eternity be deprived of it Assertion 2. But infiniâ—e and Horrible Woes must be the Portion of those whom Death findâ— Vnpardoned Aâ— the Prophet said Wo unto the Wicked even so I say Wo unto the Vnpardoned it shall be ill with him if Death find him so It is testify'd unto us in Rom. 6. 23. The wages of sin is Death Our Sins are every Day crying in the Ears of the Lord of Hosts pay us our wages pay us our wages When Death arrives unto an Unpardoned Man then pay-day comes and the Wages of Death and Hell for ever are pay'd unto the Sinner whom 't is due unto That Good Man took it for granted If I be Wicked wo unto me So may a man upon the Brinks of Death and ONE of you is very certainly so assure himself Wo unto me if I now be found Vnpardoned Then He that made me will not have mercy on me and He that formed me will show me no Favour Where Sin is the Needie there Destruction is the Thred if a pardon have not cut it off before the Tâ—â—ed of our Lives be broken Wo to us Nothing will then remain for an Unpardoned Sinner but A Fearful Expectation of a Fiery Indignation to devour him Nothing will remain but Everlasting Fire with the Divel and his Angels Nothing will remain but The Worm which Dyeth not and the Fire which never shall be Quenched But no Tongue maâ— Express or Heart conceive the Doloâ— the Torment and Anguish of that Estate which after Death is reserved for the Unpardoned By the Help of an Exalted Fancy a man may represent unto himself Racks and Boots and Fires and Rivers of Ardent Brimstone and Running Bel-metal to
cruciate a Malefactor in but all of them are little things in comparison of That which is the portion of the Vnpardoned and the Heritage appointed unto Him by God As One in Trouble of Conscience for Sin hearing some Discourse about Burning to Death cryed out This is but a Metaphor to what I feel Truly the most hideous Tortures in the world are but Metaphors unto the terrible Blows and Wounds which with immediate Impressions of Divine Indignation will in the other world be inflicted upon the Unpardoned World without End Indeed as a Painter being asked to draw unto the Life the Horrors of the Spanish Inquisition only besmeared his Table with Blood intimating that the Thing was too Bloody to be otherwise Described So could I cover my Pulpit with nothing but Blood and Fire it would give some little expressive Characters of what the Vnpardoned at their Death are Doom'd unto But all words are here swallowed up What Remains must be the APPLICATION Of the Truths which have been thus cleared unto us And 1. There is an USE of these things which every one of us All are to be addressed with 'T is this Let every man among you seek and Secure a Pardon before the Sleep of Death shall overtake you We all own our selves to be Sinners before that God whose Eyes are like a Flame of Fire It was begg'd by one and may be begg'd by us all as in Psal 19. 12 13. Cleanse thou me from Secret Sins keep back thy Servant also from presumptuous Sins Besides the Corruption brought with us into the world which Concupiscence the Apopostle to the Romans in two or three Chapters together calls by the Name of SIN more than twice seven times there have been Actual Sins of all sorts which we have defiled our selves withal And besides our presumptuous sins many thousands of times Repeated in our Lives whereof I may say to every man as once 't was said unto One Thou knowest the wickedness which thy own Heart is privy to there are also our Secret Faults which every day without Humble Recollections we fall into Some Sin thro' Ignorance and thus do many among us with whom Clip'd Oathes are such frequent Things Their common interjection is Marry and they think not that they Swear by the Virgin Mary ever now and then a God so passes from them and they do not think that they swear by Gods Soul in speaking so Others do sin thro' Carelesness and Heedlesness and hence they let more Spiritual Sins wonderfully have Dominson over them Pride Passion Malice and By-Ends do strangely carry them away In short it is impossible to reckon up how many Regards there are wherein we have cause to Acknowledge before the Great God Father we have sinned But why then do not we seek a pardon for our many and our mighty Sins know we not That we shall quickly Sleep in the Dust As we are Sinners we are also Mortal and we are Mortal Sinners too Let me then urge a few Counsils upon you all and Let That man who is now just upon taking an Eternal Farewel of such Counsils give â— very particular Attention thereunto Counsel 1. Seek a Pardon and seek it EARNESTLY O be in Good Earnest to speak Scripturally be in Agonies about this Grand Concern To awaken your zeal hereabout Consider The vast Blessings and Comforts which a Pardon is accompanied withal T is an iterated Exclamation about a pardoned Man in Psal. 3. â— 1 2. O the Blessednesses of such a man There are Blessednesses in this Life which a pardon will bring unto us A pardon will be the Sugar of all our mercies This was that which made Health to be Health indeed unto Hezekiah he could not only say I am alive and Healthy but he could say therewithal as in Isai. 38. 17. Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back A Pardon will also be the sweetner of all our Troubles It will be a piece of wood from the Cross of our Lord Jesus to dulcifie the waters of Marah whiâ—h are usually so bitter to us When a man lay sick of a sore Disease this Word was enough to make his Bed for ever easy to him in Maâ— 9. 3 Son be of good cheer thy Sins be Forgiven thee But there are more marvellous Blessednesses which a pardon brings in the Life to come 〈◊〉 a Link which the Apostle finds it that which the Ancients call The Golden Chain of Salvation Rom. 8. 30. Whom he Iustified Them he also Glorified There is no less than a Kingdom to follow upon a Pardon Tho' the Sinner were here in the Fetters of Affliction yet his very Chains will be turned into Crowns when once a Pardon has made him capable thereof O 'T is well worth your while to be in Earnest about so Desirable a Thing as this What shall I say more A Malefactor once receiving Sentence of Death did with a most Earnest Noise cry to the Iudge for mercy and being rebuked for being so clamorous replyed Why it is for 〈◊〉 it is for my Lifeâ—l and shall not â— be in Earnest for it So and more thâ—n that may I say concerning a Pardon from the Hands of God Seek it it 〈◊〉 for the life of a precious 〈◊〉 Immortal 〈◊〉 which is worth your being in 〈…〉 Counsel 2. Seek a Pardon and seek it PRESENTLY Be able to say concerning your Seeking a Pardon from as the Psalmist said about his Keeping the Precept of the Eternal God I made Hast and did not Delay to do it To awaken your Hast here-about Consider the Incredible Dangers of all Delays Your main Business is to become well provided of a pardon for your Sins Let me now say unto you as in 2 Cor. 6. 2. Behold Now is the Accepted Time Behold Now is the Day of Salvation If you slip thâ—s Nâ—w you may never have another you may miss of Acceptance and Salvation for ever more O do not say as 〈◊〉 Unhappy Faelix did I 'll concern my self about these matters at a more convenient season for a More convenient Season will never comâ— The Great God says To Day and our To morrow cannot be a more convenient season than that which the all-wise God hath pointed us unto You have Now about you a thousand conveniencies for the getting of a Pardon which no Season hereafter will have blowing in the Sails thereof Nay t is possible you may never have any other season at all We are told in Eccl. 9. 12. Man knoweth not his time We are bid in Prov. 27. 1. Boast not thy self of Tomorrow We do not know that the â—ime which is future will ever come to be present with us and he was but a well-advised man who could say I have not had a To morrow for these many years It was a prudent Admonition given by a Rabbi to a Scholar among the Jews Child Be sure to Repent at least a day before you Dy. That person is worse than
you let not one more be lost You are Hearing for your last O let it be as for your Life Look out for a Pardon before it be too late and let not the Divels cheat you of a Never-dying Soul Every Drop of that innocent Blood in which you have imbrued your merciless Hands has a Tongue in it and it makes a fearful hideous Clamour in the Ears of the Great God saying Vengeance O Lord Vengeance on the cruel Murderer Methinks you should be concerned for a Saving Interest in that Blood that speaks better things Nothing but the Blood of the Lord Jesus will drown the voice of that horrible Cry This Blood speaks for A Pardon to them whom it belongs unto 〈◊〉 O do you now speak for a Title to that Blood I say again Before it be too late What shall I say that may stimulate the Christward motions of youâ— Fettered Soul I am to tell you First That your Slit is very Great The Sin for which you now stand Condemned is a sin of a deep bloody Dye Murder is the most Barbarous and Divelish among all the Crimes that are Iniquities to be punished by the Iudge Will a Wolf kill a Wolf no and the very Bears agree among themselves But shall a Man than be worse than a Wolf unto a Man If He that loves another fulfils the Law 't is easy to tell what he does that Murders another The most Wretched Pagans have observed of the Murderer That Vengeance will not suffer him to Live But your Murder is one hardly to be parallel'd in an Age 'T is said No Man if he have but the Heart of a MAN in him ever hated his own Flesh. What then are you that have Murdered yours Find a Name for yourself if you think it possible You have Murdered Her whom you should have Loved above all the world Her whom you should have Cherished with all the Kindness and Goodness of an Holy Conversation Her whom you should have been willing even your self to have Dy'd for the preservation of And with Her 't is said you have Murdered an Infant which never saw the Light This is your Sin And Doubtless they were not few or small Sins for which God left you unto This. You had long before been guilty of those Impious both Omissions and Commissions which gave the Divel at last a very entire Possession of you O Consider of them all aâ—d especially Trouble your own Soul for your Unbelief in Rejecting the Saviour of it You have sat long under the Gospel but you have Refused yea you have Crucify'd the blessed Redeemer who therein besought you to be Reconciled unto God How should the Remembrance of this be to you as the Wormwood and the Gall and cause your Soul to be Humbled in you I am to tell you Next That your Case is very sad Look round about and say Is there any Sorrow like your Sorrow Your House you have Troubled it and it is turned upside down by what you have done and what Anguish what Horrour have you fill'd the Hearts of your scattered Children with Your Name you have Blemish'd it it must Rot without a Grave-stone among Civil People you must hereafter be known by this Description The Man that Murdered his Wife Your Body it has undergone the pains of Chains and Gaols there is a little more pain reserved for it before it feed the Worms But above all your SOUL your Soul is brought into Dangers too affrighting to be patiently thought upon What is it that the Word of God pronounces upon the Murderer No Murderer has Eternal Life It says The Murderer shall not Inherit the Kingdom of God It says The Murderer shall have his portion in the Lake that burns with fire and Brimstone Surely Thy very Heart must be moved out of its place to hear of such an End as this which indeed will never have an End What think you of Changing your Fetters for the Chains of Darkness in the Dismal Vault below What think you of changing your Prison your Dungeon for the Outer Darkness in which there is gnashing of Teeth for eevermore Truly it becomes you to lay your self in the Dust and cry out Wo is unto me that I have Sinned I may tell you Thirdly That your TIME is very short You may not Entertain the least Thought of having your Life now prolonged in the world the very World will be defiled if you continue in it Were there a City of Refuge among us which you were fled into yet we ought to fetch you thence and see you made a Sacrifice The Great God has Required this coâ—cerning you Let him hasten to the Pit Let no man stay him and you must before this Day Sâ—'nnight be gone thither Whence you cannot Return As it was said unto a better man than you Set thy House in order for thou shalt Dy and not Live Thus I would say to you that cannot possibly set your Desolate House in order any more Set thy Soul in order for thou shalt Dy before this Week expire Undone man where shalt thou be within a few Hours Tho' this Day Se'nnight you should Roar Lord Lord One Sabbath more or Lord Lord One Sermon more and one Season more it will be in vain for ever and ever And yet let me tell you Lastly That there is a May be of Mercy for you Tho' with Cain you have been a Murderer yet let not the out-cry of Cain be with you My sin is greater than can be forgiven You may be made a Manasseh for Blessedness as you have been such an one for Wickedness A Pardon is to be had if you slight it not and how should that melâ— your very Heart within you In an English Plantation that is not far from New-England a while ago there were two or three Menâ— Condemned to Dâ— as I have heard for Piracy After their Condemnation they broke Prison and fled into the Woods from whence after some weeks they returned of their own Accord and Surrendred themselves unto the Authority saying We got away only that we might have time to make our peace with God and get the pardon of our Sins assur'd unto us which thro' Grace we have done and now we tender our Lives to satisfie the Justice of the Law The Iudges were so pleased with this Ingenuity that first they bestow'd a Reprieve on them and then procur'd a Pardon for them For your part you are utterly for ever uncapable of a Pardon from the Hands of Men but were you in earnest about it you might yet get a Pardon from the Hands of God without flying any whither but unto the Horns of the Altar the Lord Jesus for it One which Died of Bleeding had that Expression about the Blood of the Lord Jesus One Blood kills me and another saves me Truly as the Blood of the person whom you have Murdered calls for your Death so the Blood of our dearest Jesus will