Justification then now thou standest as afar off and darest scare look up to heaven but smitest on thy breast and saist Lord be mercifull to me a sinner Luke 18.11 12 13 14. Not that extortioners unjust adulterers or any that are ungodly are justified or can be saved while they are such Nor that a smiting on the breast with a Lord be mercifull to me a sinner will serve their turn while they continue in their wicked lives But when thou art brought to accuse and condemn thy self thou art prepared for his grace that must renew and justifie thee None sped better with Christ then the woman that confest her self a dog and begged but for the childrens crums And the Centurion that sent friends to Christ to mediate for him and as being unworthy to come himself and unworthy that Christ should enter under his roof For of the first Christ said O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt Mat. 15.27 28. And of the second he saith with admiration I have not found so great faith no not in Israel Luke 7.6 7 8.9 Though thou art ready to deny the title of a child and to number thy self with the dogs yet go to him and beg his crums of mercy Though thou think that Christ will not come to such a one as thou and though thou beg prayers of others as thinking he will not hear thy own thou little thinkest how this self-abasement and self-denyal prepareth thee for his tenderest mercies and his esteem When thou art contrite as the dust that 's trodden underfeet and poor and tremblest at the Word then will he look at thee with compassion and respect Isa 66.2 For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones For I will not contend for ever neither will I be alwayes wroth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls which I have made Isa 57.15 When thou art using the self-condemning words of Paul Rom. 7.14 to 25. I am carnal sold under sin what I would that do I not and what I hate that do I. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing I find a law that when I would do good evil is present with me A Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin when thou criest out with him O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death thou art then fitter to look to thy Redeemer and use the following words I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. When thou didst exalt thy self thou wast obnoxious to the stormes of Justice which was engaged to bring thee low But now thou humblest thy self thou liest in the way of Mercy that is engaged to exalt thee Luke 14.11 18.14 Mercy looketh downard and can quickly â—pie a sinner in the dust but cannot leave him there nor deny him compassion and relief Art thou cast out as helpless wounded by thy sin and neglected by all others that pass by Thou art the fittest object for the skill and mercy of him that washeth sinners in his blood and tenderly bindeth up their wounds and undertakes the perfecting of the cure though yet thou must bear the Surgeons hand till his time of perfect cure be come Luke 10.33 34 35. Now thou perceivest the greatness of thy sin and misery thou art fit to study the greatness of his mercy with all Saints to strive to comprehend what is the breadth length depth height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge Ephes 3.18 19. Now thou hast smitten upon the thigh and said What have I done Jerem. 31.19 8.6 thou art fitter to look unto him that was wounded and smitten for thy transgressions and to consider what he hath done and suffered how he hath born thy grief and carried thy sorrows and was bruised for thy iniquities the chastisment of our peace was laid upon him and we are healed by his stripes All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of 〈◊〉 all Isa 53.4 5 6 c. Art thou in doubt whether there be any forgiveness for thy sins and whether there be any place for Repentance Remember that Christ is exalted by Gods right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentnace unto Israel and forgivness of sins Act. 5.31 And that he himself hath spoken it that All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men except the Blasphemy against the Spirit Math. 12.32 And this Forgiveness of sins thou art bound to believe as an Article of thy Creed that it is purchased by Christ and freely offered in the Gospell Mercy did but wait all this while till thou wast brought to understand the want and worth of it that it might be thine When a Peter that denyeth Christ with oaths and cursing goeth out and weepeth he speedily finds mercy from him without that he but now denyed within When so bloody a persecuter as Paul findeth mercy upon his prostration and confession and when so great an offender as Manasseh is forgiven upon his penitence in bonds when all his witchcraft Idolatry and crueltyes are pardoned upon a repentance that might seeme to have been forced by a grievous scourge what sinner that perceives his sin and misery can question his entertainment if he come to Christ Come to him sinner with thy load and burden Come to him with all thy acknowledged unworthyness and try whether he will refuse thee He hath professed that 〈◊〉 that cometh to him he will in no wise 〈◊〉 out Joh. 6.37 He refused not his very murderers when they were pricked at the heart and enquired after a remedie Act. 2.37 And will he refuse thee Hath our Physicion poured out his blood to make a medicine for distracted sinners and now is he unwilling to work the cure Fusus est saâ—guis medici factum est medicamentâ—â— frenetici saith Augustine O siner 〈◊〉 thou art brought to know thy self know Christ also and the cure is done Let thy thoughts of the Remedie be deeper and larger and longer then all thy thoughts of thy Misery It is thy sin and shame if it be not 〈◊〉 Why wilt thou have twenty thoughts of sin and misery for one that thou hast of Christ and mercy when mercy is so large and great and wonderfull as to triumph over misery and Grace aboundeth much more where sin hath abounded Rom 5.20 Inspice vulnera pendentis sanguinem mâ—rientis pretium redimentes cicatrices reâ—â—â—gentis Caput habet inclinatum ad oscular dum cor apertum ad diligendum bracâ—id extensa ad
Saviour and of Enmity to the Holy Spirit while you call him your sanctifyer If you did but know that your sins are unpardoned and your souls unjustified and that you are condemned already and shall certainly be damned if you die as you are could you live quietly in such a state Could you sleep and eat and drink quietly and follow your trades and let time run on without repenting and returing unto God if you knew that you are past hope if death surprize you in this condition For the Lords sake Sirs rouze up your selves a little and be serious in a business that concerneth you more then ten thousand natural lives and tell me or rather tell your selves If you did but know that while you sit here you are unrenewed and therefore under the curse of God and in the bondage of the Devil and are hasting towards perdition and are gone for ever if you be not sanctified and made new creatures before you die could you then put off this Sermon with a sleepy careless hearing and go home and talk of common matters and no more mind it as you have done by Sermons untill now Could you forbear going alone and there bethinking your selves O what a sinful dreadfull condition are we in What will become of us if we be not regenerate before we die Had we no Vnderstandings no Hearts no life or sense that we have lingered so long and lived so carelesly in such a state O where had we been now if we had died unregenerate How near have we been oft to Death how many sicknesses might have put an end to life and hope Had any of them cut off the slender thread that our lives have hanged on so long and had we died before this day we had been new in Hell without remedy Could any of you that knew this to be your case forbear to betake your selves to God and cry to him in the bitterness of your souls O Lord what Rebells what wretches have we been We have sinned against Heaven and before thee and are 〈◊〉 more worthy to be called thy children O how sin hath captivated our understandings and conquered our very sense and made us live like men that were dead as to the Love and service of God and the work of our salvation which we were created and redemned for O Lord have mercy upon these blinded senseless miserable souls Have mercy upon these despisers and abusers of thy mercy O save us or we perish Save us from our sins from Satan from thy curse and wrath Save us or we are undone and lost for ever Save us from the unquenchable fire from the worm that never dieth from the bottomless pit the outer darkness the horrid gulf of endless misery O let the bowels of thy compassion yearn over us O save us for thy Mercy sake Shut not out the cries of miserable sinners Regenerate renew and sanctifie our hearts O make us new creatures O plant thine Image on our souls and incline them towards thee that they may be wholly thine O make us such as thou commandest us to be Away with our sins and sinfull pleasures and sinfull company We have had too much too much of them already Let us now be thine associated with them that Love and fear thee imployed in the works of Holiness and obedience all our dayes Lord we are willing to let go our sins and to be thy servants or if we be not make us willing What say you Sirs if you knew that you were this hour in a state of condemnation could you forbear making haste with such confessions complaints and earnest supplications to God And could you forbear going presently to some faithfull Minister or godly friend and telling him your case and danger and begging his advice and prayers and asking him what a poor sinner must do to be recovered pardoned and saved that is so deep in sin and misery and hath despised Christ and grace so long Could you tell how to sleep quietly many nights more before you had earnestly sought out for help and made this change How could you choose but presently betake your selves to the company and converse and examples of the godly that are within your reach For when ever a man is truly changed his friendship and company is changed if he have opportunity And how could you choose but go and take your leave of your old companions and with tears and sorrow tell them how foolishly and sinfully you have done and what wrong you have done each others souls and intreat them to repent and do so no more or else you will renounce them and fly from their company as from a Pesthouse Can a man forbear thus to fly from Hell if he saw that he is as near it as a condemned Traytor to the Gallows He that will beg for bread if he be hungry and rather 〈◊〉 by shame then famish would beg for grace if he saw and felt how much he needeth it And seeing it is the way to feel it He that will seek for medicines when he is sick and would do almost any thing to escape a temporal death would he not seek out to Christ the remedy of his soul if he knew and felt that otherwise there is no recovery and would he not do much against eternal death Skin for skin and all that a man hath he will give for this life was a truth that the Devil knew and maketh use of in his temptations And will a man then be regardless of his soul that knows he hath an immortal soul and of life eternal that knows his danger of eternal death O Sirs it is not possible but the true knowledge of your state of sin and danger would do very much to save you from it For 〈…〉 a wilfull-chosen state All the Deviâ—◠〈◊〉 Hell cannot bring you to it and 〈◊〉 you in it against your will You 〈◊〉 willing of the sin though unwilling of 〈◊〉 punishment And if you truly knew 〈◊〉 â—unishment and your danger of it you â—â—uld be the more unwilling of the sin for God hath affixed punishment to sin for this end that they that else would love the Serpent may hate it for the sting Wâ—ll you not say He is a beast and not a man that will avoid no danger but what he seeth Foreseeing is to a man what seeing is to a beast If he see it before his eyes a beast will not easily be driven into a Cole-pit or a gulf he will draw back and strive if you go about to kill him And is he a man or some monster that wants a name that will go on to Hell when he seeth it as it were before him and that will continue in a state of sin when he knows he must be damned in Hell for ever if he so continue to the end Indeed sin is the deformity and monstrosity of the soul He is a monster of Blindness that seeth not the folly and peril of such a
thy terror that it is the Gospel that speaks this terror to thee and excludes thee from salvation unless thou be made new It is mercy it self that thus condemneth thee and judgeth thee to endless misery You are mistaken Sirs when you say we preach not Mercy and say we preach not the Gospel but the Law It is the Gospel that saith Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and that if any man have not the spirit of Christ the same is none of his John 3.3 5. Rom. 8.9 The same Gospel that saith He that believeth shall be saved saith also that He that believeth not shall be damned Mark 16.16 Will you tell Christ the Saviour of the world that he is not mercifull because he talks to you of Damnation Mercy it self when it tells you that There is no condemnation doth limit this pardon to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8.1 It is sanctifying Mercy that must save you if ever you be saved as well as Justifying Mercy And will you refuse this Mercy and by no entreaty yield to have it and yet think to be saved by it What saved by that Mercy which you will not have And will you say We preach not Mercy because we tell you that Mercy will not save you if you continue to reject it To be saved by Mercy without Sanctification is to be saved and not saved to be saved by Mercy without Mercy Your words have no better sense then this And are those afraid lest Preachers should make them mad by shewing them their need of mercy that are no Wiser then to cast away their souls upon such senseless self-contradicting conceits as these I beseech you tell us whose words are they think you that say Without holiness none shall see God! Heb. 12.14 and that He that is in Christ is a new Creature 2 Cor. 5.17 and such like passages which offend you Are they ours or are they Gods Did we indite the Holy Scriptures or did the Holy Ghost Is it long of us if there be any words there that cross your flesh and that you call bitter Can we help it if God will save none but sanctified believers If you have any thing to say against it you must say it to him We are sure that this is in his word and we are sure he cannot lye and therefore we are sure its true We are sure that he may do with his own as he list and that he oweth you nothing and that he may give his pardon and salvation to whom and upon what terms he please And therefore we are sure he doth you no wrong But if you think otherwise reproach not us that are but messengers but prepare your charge and make it good against your maker if you dare and can you shall shortly come before him and be put to it to justifie your selves If If you can do it by recrimination and can prevent your condemnation by condemning the Law and the Judge try your strength and do your worst Ah poor worms dare you lift up the head and move a tongue against the Lord Did Infinite Wisdom it self want Wisdom to make a Law to rule the world And did Infinite Goodness want Goodness to deal mercifully and as was best with man And shall Justice it self be judged to be unjust And that by you By such silly ignorant naughty and unrighteous ones as you As if you had the Wisdom and Goodness which you think God wanted when he made his Laws And whereas you tell us of preaching terribly to you we cannot help it if the true and righteous Threatnings of God be terrible to the guilty It is because we know the Terrors of the Lord that we preach them to warn you to prevent them And so did the Apostles before us 2 Cor. 5.11 Either its true that the unquenchable fire will be the portion of impenitent unbelieving fleshly worldly unsanctified men or it is not true If it were not true the word of God were not true and then what should you do with any preaching at all or any religion But if you confess it to be true do you think in reason it should be silenced or can we tell men of so terrible a thing as Hell and tell them that it will certainly be their lot unless they be new creatures and not speak terribly to them O Sirs it is the wonder of my soul that it seemeth no more terrible to all the ungodly that think they do believe it Yea and I would it did seem more terrible to the most that it might affright you from your sin to God and you might be saved If you were running ignorantly into a Cole-pit would you revile him that told you of it and bid you stop if you love your life Would you tell him that he speaks bitterly or terribly to you It is not the Preacher that is the cause of your danger he doth but tell you of it that you may scape If you are saved you may thank him but if you are lost you may thank your selves It s you that deal bitterly and terribly with your selves Telling you of Hell doth not make Hell Warning you of it is not causing it Nor is it God that is unmercifull but you are foolishly cruel and unmercifull to your selves Do not think to despise the patience and mercy of the Lord and then think to escape by accusing him of being unmercifull and by saying It s terrible doctrine that we preach to you impenitent sinners I confess to thee it is terrible and more terrible then thy sensless heart imagineth or is yet aware of One day if grace prevent it not thou shalt find it ten thousand times more terrible then thou canst apprehend it now When thou seest thy Judge with millions of his Angels coming to condemn thee thou wilt then say his Laws are terrible indeed Thou hast to do with a holy jealous God who is a consuming fire Heb. 12.29 and can such a God be despised and not be terrible to thee He is called The Great the Mighty and the Terrible God Neh. 9.32 Deut. 7.21 With God is terrible Majesty Job 37.22 He is terrible out of his holy place Psal 68.35 He is terrible to the greatest even to the Kings of the earth Psal 76.12 It s time for you therefore to tremble and submit and think how unable you are to contend with him and not revile his word or works because they are terrible but fear him for them and study them on purpose that you may fear and glorifie him And as David Psal 66.3.5 Say unto God How terrible art thou in thy works Through the greatness of thy power shall thy enemies submit themselves unto thee Come and see the works of the Lord He is terrible in his doings toward the children of men Psal 99.3 Let them praise thy Great and terrible name for it
esteemed And the lesser will be misesteemed And while you are unthankfull for what you have you will be absurdly thanking God for that which indeed you have not What inestimable Mercies are daily trodden under feet by sinners that know not their worth because they know not their own necessities They have Time to Repent and make preparation for an endless life But they know not the worth of it but unthankfully neglect it and cast it away on the basest vanities As if worldly cares or wicked company or fleshly lusts or Cards or Dice or revellings or idleness were exercises in which they might better improve it then the works of Holiness Justice and Mercy which God hath made the business of their lives Or as if the profits and pleasures and vain glory of this world did better deserve it then their Creator and their own souls and the Heavenly inheritance But if their eyes were opened to see where they stand and what they are and what are their dangers and necessities how thankfull would they be for one year one moneth one day one hour to Repent and cry to God for Mercy and how sensibly would they perceive that a hundred years time is not too long to spend in serious preparation for eternity They have now the faithfull Ministers of Christ inviting them in his name to come to him and receive the riches of his grace and beseeching them in his stead to be reconciled unto God Mat. 22. 2 Cor. 5.19 20. But they stop their ears and harden their hearts and stiffen their necks and love not to be disturbed in their sins but are angry with those that are sollicitous for their salvation and revile them as too precise and strict that tell them of the One thing needfull and perswade them to choose the better part and tell them where their sin will leave them They take them for their friends that will encourage them in the way that God condemneth and be merry with them in the way to endless sorrow and flatter them into security and impenitency till the time of grace be past but they hate them as their enemies that faithfully reprove them and tell them of their folly and call them to a safer better way Alas Sirs there would not be so many Nations Congregations and Souls now left in darkness and misery by their own doing having driven away the Mercy of the Gospel and thrust their faithfull Teachers from them if they knew themselves Men would not triumph in their own calamity when they have expelled their faithfull Teachers the dust of whose feet the sweat of their brows the tears of their eyes and the fervent prayers and groans of their hearts must witness against them if they knew themselves They would not be like a mad man that glorieth that he hath beaten away his Physition and his friends and is left to himself if they knew themselves When they have the earnest Calls of the Word without and convictions and urgings of the Spirit of God and their Consciences within they would not wilfully go on and cast these mercies at their heels if they knew themselves They have leave to joyn in the Communion of Saints and to enjoy the benefit of holy Society in prayer and conference and mutual love and spiritual assistance and in the publick worship of God but they pass these by as having more of trouble and burden then of mercy because they little know themselves And their inferior Mercies of Health and Wealth and food and rayment and friends and accommodations they misesteem and misuse and value them but as provision for the flesh and the satisfaction of their sensual and inordinate desires and not as their necessary provision for their duty in the way to Heaven And therefore they are most thankfull for their greatest snares For that honour and abundance which are stronger temptations then they can overcome For those fleshly contentments and delights which are the enemies of grace and the prison of their noblest faculties and the undoing of their souls If they could for shame speak out they would thank God more for a whore or a succesfull gain or the favour of their earthen gods or for preferment or commodity lands or houses then ever they did for all the offers of Christ and grace and all the invitations to a holy life For there is much more joy and pleasure in their hearts for the former then the latter And Self-ignorance will also corrupt your Thanksgiving and turn it into sin and folly Is it not shame and pitty to hear an unpardoned enemy of Holiness and of God to thank God that he is Justified and Reconciled to God and Adopted to be his child and made a member of Jesus Christ And to hear a carnal unregenerate person give thanks for his Regeneration and Sanctification by the Holy Ghost As it is to hear a leper give thanks for perfect health or a fool or mad man thank God for making him wiser then his neighbours Is it not pitty to hear a miserable soul thank God for the Grace which he never had and one that is near eternal misery to thank God for making him an heir of Glory O how many have thankt God Pharisaitally for the pardon of their sins that must for ever suffer for those sins How many have thanked him for giving them the assured hopes of Glory that must be thrust out into endless misery As I having known many that by their friends and by theâ—â—selves have been flattered into consiâ—â—â— hopes of life when they were ready 〈◊〉 die have thankt God that the were 〈◊〉 well and the worst was past which in 〈◊〉 eyes of judicious standers by was not 〈◊〉 least aggravation of their sad and deploâ—â—â—ble state Methinks it is one of the sadâ—dest spectacles in the world to hear a 〈◊〉 thanking God for the assurance of salvaâ—â—â—on that is in a state of condemnation and like to be in Hell for ever These absurdities could not corrupt your highest duâ—ties and turn them into sin if you knew your selves A man that knoweth his own necessitiâ—â— and unworthiness is thankfull for a little to God and man Mercy is as no mercy when there is no sense of need or misery Sapienti notum est quanti res quaeque taxanda sit saith Seneca Therefore God useth to humble them so low in the work of conversion whom he meaneth ever after to imploy 〈◊〉 the magnifying of his grace And then that which is folly and hypocrisie from a Pharisee will be an acceptable sacrifice from a humbled gratefull soul and he that by Grace is differenced from other men may modestly thank God that he is not as other men For had he nothing more to thank God for then the ungodly world he would be rejected and perish with the world And if he have more then the world and yet be no more thankfull then the world he would be guilty of greater unthankfulness then the world Non
Are these the men that lately in distress did seem so humble penitent and sincere that seemed so much above these vanities that could speak with so much contempt of all the glory and pleasures of the world and with so much pitty of those vertiginous men that they now admire O what pillars have been shaken by prosperity what promises broken what sad eruptions of Pride and worldliness What openings and sad discoveries of heart doth this alluring charming tryal make And why is it that men know not themselves when they are exalted but because they did not sufficiently know themselves when they were brought low nor suspected enough the purposes and promises of their hearts in the day of their distress 4. We would little think when the Heart is warmed and raised even to Heaven in holy Ordinances how cold it will grow again and how low it will fall down And when we have attained the clearest sight of our sincerity we little think how quickly all such apprehensions may be lost and the mis-judging soul that reckons upon nothinâ— but what it sees or feels at present maâ— be at as great a loss as if it had never peâ—â—ceived any fruits of the spirit or lineamenâ— of the Image of God upon it self Hoâ— confident upon good grounds is 〈◊〉 an honest heart of its sincerity How ceâ—â—tain that it desireth to be perfectly Holy 1. That it would be rid of the nearest deareâ— sin 2. That it loves the Saints 3. That 〈◊〉 loves the light of the most searching Miniâ—stry 4. And loveth the most practical sanctâ—â—fying truths 5. And loves the Ministry 〈◊〉 means that have the greatest and most powerâ—full tendency to make themselves more 〈◊〉 all which are certain evidences of sinceâ—rity How clearly may the Heart perceiâ—â— all these and write them down and 〈◊〉 ere long have lost the sight and sense 〈◊〉 them all and find it self in darkness anâ— confusion and perhaps be perswaded thâ—â— all is contrary with them And when they read in their Diary or Book of Heart acâ—counts that at such a day in examination they found such or such an Evidence and such a one at another and many at a third yet now they may be questioning whether all this were not deceit because it seemâ— â—ontrary to their present sight and feeling â—or it is present light that the mind discernâ—â— by and not by that which is past and 〈◊〉 and of which we cannot so easily â—â—dge by looking back They find in their â—ccounts At such a time I had my soul â—â—larged in ptayer and at such a time I â—as full of Joy and at another time I had â—rong assurance and boldness with God 〈◊〉 confidence of his love in Christ and â—oubted not of the pardon of all my sins 〈◊〉 the Justification or acceptance of my â—erson But now no Joy no Assurance no â—oldness or confidence or sense of Love â—nd pardon doth appear but the soul â—â—emeth dead and carnal and unrenewed â—s the same trees that in Summer are beauâ—â—fied with pleasant fruits and flowers in Winter are deprived of their natural ornaments and seem as dead when the life is â—etired to the root The soul that once â—ould have defied the Accuser if he had â—old him that he did not Love the brethren â—or Love the sanctifying word and means â—or desire to be Holy and to be free from Sin is now as ready to believe the accusation and will sooner believe the tempter â—hen the Minister that watcheth for them 〈◊〉 one that must give account Yea now it will turn the Accuser of it self and 〈◊〉 as Satan and falsly charge it self with thâ— which Christ will acquit it of And 〈◊〉 Christ be put to Justifie us against our selvâ—â— as well as against Satan The same woâ—â— that a well composed believer hath in coâ—â—futing the calumnies of Satan the saâ—â— hath a Minister to do in confuting the faâ—â— accusations of disturbed souls against theâ— selves And how subtile how obstinaâ—â— and tenacious are they as if they 〈◊〉 learned some of the Accusers art such 〈◊〉 the uncharitable and malicious are agaiâ—â—â— their neighbours in picking quarrels wiâ—â— all that they say or do in putting the woâ—â— construction upon all in taking everâ— thing in the most uncharitable sense in aâ—â—gravating the evil extenuating the gooâ— in faining things against them that they 〈◊〉 not guilty of and denying or hiding all that commendable just such are poor disquieteâ— souls against themselves so unjust and 〈◊〉 censorious as that if they dealt as ill 〈◊〉 others they would have the more cause foâ— some of these accusations of themselves And there is not a soul so high in joâ— and sweet assurance but is lyable to faâ— as low as this And it makes our case to 〈◊〉 much more grievous then otherwise it woulâ— be because we know not our selves in the hour of our Consolations and think not how apt we are to lose all our joy and what seeds of doubts and fears and grief â—re still within us and what cause we have â—o expect a change And therefore when â—o sad a change befalleth us so contrary â—o our expectations it surprizeth us with â—error and casteth the poor soul almost â—nto despair Then cryeth the distressed â—â—nner Did I ever think to see this â—ay Are my hopes and comforts come to â—his Did I think so long that I was a child â—f God and must I now perceive that he â—isowneth me Did I draw near him as 〈◊〉 my Father and place my hope in his â—elief and now must my mouth be stopt with â—nbelief and must I look at him afar off â—nd pass by the doors of mercy with despair â—s all my sweet familiarity with the godly â—nd all my comfortable hours under the preâ—ious means of grace new come to this O how the poor soul here calls it self 〈◊〉 O vile apostate miserable sinner O that 〈◊〉 had never lived to see this gloomy day It â—ad been better for me never to have known â—he way of righteousness then thus to have â—lapsed and have all the prayers that I â—ave put up and all the Sermons I have heard and the books that I have read 〈◊〉 aggravate my sin and misery O how maâ—ny a poor Christian in this dark mis-judgeâ—ing case is ready with Job to curse the daâ— that he was born and to say of it Let it 〈◊〉 darkness let not God regard it from aboâ—â— neither let the light shine upon it Let it 〈◊〉 be joyned to the dayes of the year let it 〈◊〉 come into the number of the moneths â—â—â—cause it shut not up the doors of the womb 〈◊〉 hid not sorrow from mine eyes Why dyâ— I not from the womb Why did I not give 〈◊〉 the ghost when I came out of the belly 〈◊〉 did the knees prevent me or why the 〈◊〉 that I should suck For now should I haâ—â— lain still and been quiet Wherefore is ligâ—â— given to him that is in misery
terrible avenger and you may confess his judgements to be just but can you amicably embrace the consuming fire and love to dwell with the everlasting burnings O therefore as ever you would have the Love of God to animate and sanctifie and delight your souls study the greatness of his Love to you and labour with all possible speed and diligence to find that Christ by his spirit is within you It is the whole work of sanctification that Satan would destroy or weaken by your doubts And it is the whole work of sanctification that by Love would be promoted if you knew your interest in the Love of Christ 12. It is the knowledge of Christ dwelling in you and so of the special Love of God that must acquaint you with a life of holy Thankfulness and prase These highest and most acceptable duties will be out of your reach if Satan can hide from you that mercy which must be the chiefest matter of your Thanksgiving Will that soul be in tune for the high Praises of the Lord that thinks he meaneth to use him as an enemy Can you look for any cheerful thanksgiving from him that looks to lie in hell will he not rather cry with David Psal 6.5 In death there is no remembrance of thee in the grave who shall give thee thanks Psal 30.9 What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit shall the dust praise thee shall it declare thy truth shall the damned praise thee or shall they give thee thanks that must be scorched with the flames of thine indignation Can you expect that Joy should be in their hearts or cheerfulness in their countenances or praises in their mouths that think they are Reprobated to the fire of Hell Undoubtedly Satan is not ignorant that this is the way to deprive God of the Service which is most acceptable to him and you of the pleasures of so sweet a life And therefore he that envyeth both will do his worst to damp your spirits and breed uncomfortable doubts and fears and wrongful suspitions in your minds Whereas the Knowledge of your interest in Christ would be a continual storehouse of thanksgiving and praise and teach your hearts as well as your tongues to say with David Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile Be glad in the Lord and rejoyce ye Righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart Psal 32.1 2 11. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits Who forgiveth all thine iniquities Who healeth all thy diseases Who redeemeth thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies Psal 103.1 2 3 4. O Lord my God I cried unto thee and thou hast healed me O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the grave thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit sing unto the Lord O ye saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness for his anger endureth but for a moment in his favour is life Psal 30.2 3 4 5. Thanksgiving would be the very pulse and breath of your assurance of Christ dwelling in you You would say with Paul Eph. 1.3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in celestials in Christ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in Love having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved In whom we have redemption through his blood the remission of sins according to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded toward us c. Thus faith and assurance as they have an unspeakable store to work upon so it is natural to them to expatiate in the praise of our Redeemer and to delight in amplifications and commemorations of the ways of grace Just so doth Peter begin his first Epistle Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you who are kept by the power of Goâ— through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time wherein ye greatly rejoyce c. No wonder if the Heirs of Heaven be inclined to the language and the work of Heaven I think there are few of you that would not rejoice and by your speech and countenance express your joy if you had assurance but of the dignities and dominions of this world And can he choose but express his Joy and Thankfulness that hath assurance of the crown of life What fragrant thoughts should possess that mind that knoweth it self to be possessed by the Spirit of the living God! How thankfull will he be that knows he hath Christ and Heaven to be thankfull for What sweet delights should fill up the hours of that mans life that knows the son of God liveth in him and that he shall live in Joy with Christ for ever How gladly will he be exercised in the praises of his Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier that knows it must be his work for ever No wonder if this Joy be a stranger to their hearts that are strangers to Christ or strangers to their interest in his love No wonder if they have no hearts for these celestial works that have no part in the celestial inheritance or that know not that they have any part therein How can they joyfully give thanks for that which they know not that they have or ever shall have or have any probability to attain But to that man that is assured of Christ within him Heaven and Earth and all their store do offer themselves as the matter of his Thanks and do furnish him with provisions to feed his Praises What a shame is it that an assured heir of Heaven should be scant and barren in comfort to himself or in Thanks and Praise to Jesus Christ when he hath so full a heap of Love and mercy to fetch his motives from and hath two worlds to furnish him with the preciousest materials and hath no less then Infinite goodness even God himself to be the subject of his Praise O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good because his mercy endureth for ever what ever others do Let Israel say let the house of Aaron say let them that fear the Lord say that his mercy endureth for ever Psal 118.1 2 3 4. The
if you â—ere ofter in your hearts Prayer would not â—eem needless if you knew your needs Know your selves and be prayerless if you can When the Prodigal was convinced he presently purposeth to Confess and Pray When Paul was converted Ananias hath this evidence of it from God Behold he prayeth Act. 9.11 Indeed the inward part of prayer is the motion of a returning soul to God saith Hugo Oratio est piae mentis humilis ad Deum conversio fide spe charitate subnixa Prayer is the turning of a pious humble soul to God leaning upon faith hope and love It is Oranti subsidium Deo sacrificium daemonibus flagellum The relief of the Petitioner the sacrifice of God the scourge of Devils And self-knowledge would teach men how to pray Your own hearts would be the best Prayer-books to you if you were skilfull in reading them Did you see what sin is and in what Relation you stand to God to Heaven and Hell it would drive you above your beads and lifeless words of course and make you know that 〈◊〉 pray to God for pardon and salvation 〈◊〉 not a work for a sleepy soul saith 〈◊〉 Ille Deo veram Orationem exhibet 〈◊〉 metipsum cognoscit quia pulvis sit 〈◊〉 videt qui nihil sibi virtutis tribuit 〈◊〉 He offereth the truest prayer to God 〈◊〉 knoweth himself that humbly seeth he is but dust and ascribeth not vertue to himself c. Nothing quencheth prayer more then to be mistaken or mindless about our selves When we go from home this fire goes out But when we return and search our hearts and see the sins the wants the weaknesses that are there and perceive the danger that is before us and withall the glorious hopes that are offered us here 's fuell and bellows to enflame the soul and cure it of its drowsiness and dumbness Help any sinner to a clearer light to see into his heart and life and to a livelyer sense of his own condition and I warrant you he will be more disposed to fervent prayer and will better understand the meaning of those words Luke 18.1 That men ought alwayes to pray and not to faint and 1 Thes 5.17 Pray without ceasing You may hear some impious persons now disputing against frequent and fervent prayer and saying What need all this ado But if you were able to open these mens eyes and shew them what is within them and before them you would quickly answer all their arguments and convince them better then words can do and put an end to the dispute You would set all the prayerless families in Town and Country Gentlemens and poor mens on fervent calling upon God if you could but help them to such a sight of their sin and danger as shortly the stoutest of them must have Why do they pray and call for prayers when they come to die but that they begin a little better to know themselves They see then that youth and health and honour are not the things nor make them not so happy as befooling prosperity once perswaded them Did they believe and consider what God saith of them and not what flattery and self-love say it would open the mouths of them that are most speechless But those that are born deaf are alwayes dumb How can they speak that language with desire to God which they never learn't by faith from God or by knowledge of themselves And self-knowledge would teach men what to ask They would feel most need of spiritual mercies and beg hardest for them and for outward things they would ask but for their daily bread and not be foolishly importunate with God for that which they know not to be suitable or good for them Fideliter supplicans Deo pro necessitatibus hujus vitae miserecorditer auditur miserecorditer non auditur Quid enim infirmo sit utilius magis novit medicus quam agrotus saith Prosper It s mercy to be denyed sometimes when we pray for outward things Our Physition and not we must choose our Physick and prescribe our diet And if men knew themselves it would teach them on what terms to expect the hearing of their prayers Neither to be accepted for their merits nor yet to be accepted without that faith and Repentance and desire that seriousness humility and sincerity of heart which the very nature of Prayer to God doth contain or presuppose He that nameth the name of Christ must depart from iniquity 2 Tim. 2.19 and must wash himself and make him clean and put away the evil of his doings from before the eyes of God and cease to do evil and learn to do well Isa 1.16 17. As knowing that though a Simon Magus must Repent and Pray Acts 8.22 and the wicked in forsaking his way and thoughts and returning to the Lord must seek him while he may be found and call upon him while he is near Isa 55.6 7. and the prayers of a humbled Publican are heard when he sets his prayer against his sins Yet if he would cherish his sin by prayer and flatter himself into a presumption and security in a wicked life because he useth to ask God forgiveness iâ— he thus regard iniquity in his heart God will not hear his prayers Psal 66.18 and we know that such impenitent sinners God heareth not John 9.31 And thus the prayers of the wicked as wicked which are not a withdrawing from his wickedness but a bolster of his security and as a craving of protection and leave to sin are but an abomination to the Lord Prov. 17.8 28 9. Ferrum prius extrahendum The bullet the thorn must be first got out before any medicine can heal their wounds Saith Augustine Plus Deo placet latratus canum mugitus boum grunnitus porcorum quan cantus clericorum luxuriantium The barking of dogs the lowing of beasts the grunting of swine doth please God better then the singing of luxuriant Clergy men Did men know themselves and who they have to do with in their prayers they would not go from Cards and Dice and gluttony and fornication and railing lying or reviling at the servants of the Lord to a few hypocritical words of prayer to salve all till the next time and wipe their mouthâ— as if one sin had procured the forgiveness of another Nor would they shut up a day â—f worldliness ambition sensuality or â—rofaneness with a few heartless words of confession and supplication or with the words of penitence while their hearts are impenitent as if when they have abused God by sin they would make him amends or reconcile him by their mockery Nor would they think to be accepted by Praying for that which they would not have for holiness when they hate it and for deliverance from the sins which they would not be delivered from and would not have their prayers granted 7. If you know not your selves it will unfit you for Thanksgiving Your greatest Mercies will be least