courses whatever shall be told you to the contrary is little lesse dangerous and damnable than to come to the Sacramnent with such wicked purposes Let this then suffice to remove your first mistake that you may take liberty in some sinful waies you have a minde to before you have taken the Sacrament The second gross mistake which I finde in your objection is that you think though at present you have no great minde to be so serious as to set upon preparation for the Sacrament yet that hereafter you shall when you have had your swinge a while longer and have taken a little more pleasure being as yet perhaps but in the prime of your youth and thereupon you hope that God will bear with you yet a while since you have such good purposes to become his servants for the time to come Should I go about fully to shew you the vanity of this conceit and your folly in delaying to return to God I might fill many sheets wherefore that I may not be tedious I shall do little more than represent to you the very true language and import of this pretence of yours that so you may be ashamed of ever using it more or harbouring it any longer When you talk of staying yet a while before you cast off your old companions and courses and bind your selves to a godly life at the Sacrament what do you in effect but say That when you have contemn'd Gods mercy and griev'd his spirit a little longer and done somewhat more to dishonour his name then you will betake your selves to him and become his people when you have done Satan yet a little more service then you 'l shake him off and take Christ for your Master when you have a while longer trod under foot his precious blood then it shall wash you from all your sins when you have run deeper on the score and added something more both to the number and hainousness of your transgressions then you 'l come for a pardon when you have done somewhat more to make God your enemie then you 'l seek reconciliation when you have let your lusts take deeper rooting then you 'l pluck them up when you have made them a little stronger then you 'l subdue them when the sore is festered then you 'l apply the Plaister when the gangrene is almost got to your vitals then you 'l seek a remedy thus foolishly thus presumptuouslie and baselie do they argue who think it is too soon yet to come home to God and be religious in good earnest I know you would be asham'd to speak thus and will scarce be perswaded there lodges so much wickednesse in your hearts but for certain there does whil'st you retain secret purposes to go on in any way of known sin Ah poor sinner that thou didst but a little know what thou doest whilst thou standst thus unresolv'd whither thou shouldest yet bid farewell to thy lusts and come over heartilie to God by Jesus Christ. Oh disingenuous creature dost thou think thou hast not provokt and dishonour'd thy Maker enough yet Hast thou not yet sufficientlie abused thy Redeemers grace and patience Hast thou not yet thrown away time enough and sinn'd away mercies and offers enough Is sin so sweet and profitable a thing that it should be so hard to determine whether it was best be forsaken or not Is God so hard a Master and his service such a burdensome thing that sinners must be wooed to him with so much earnestness and all prove too little with the most Is it so safe and desirable a state to remain still in the gall of bitterness and under the wrath of God Can you keep off this wrath which you are plucking upon you Have you both repentance and time at your own beck And are you sure of acceptance how long so ever you stay before you seek it will holinesse be good for you hereafter and is it not now Or are you afraid of being happie too soon wherefore weigh things well Sirs and then resolve whether there be any wisdome in delaying that work which may be put off too long but cannot be too quickly done that work to which in all reason and conscience you stand engag'd every hour even to be divorc't from sin and Satan and firmly betrothed to the Lord Jesus How long must he seek and sue for thy consent Why should not he have thy youth as well as any other Doth Satan deserve it better than he Did not he die for thee in the prime of his years and why should'st not thou live to him whilst thou art young When wilt thou have put away that wretched disobedient answer that it 's yet too soon to entertain him Hath he stood knocking for entrance till his locks are wet with the dew of the night and is it still too soon to open to him and let him in Oh beware least thy continued stubbornnesse should even wear out his patience least thy perverse carriage should provoke him for ever to leave thee and least if still thou think'st it not time yet to break off thy sins and set upon a godly life he should think it time to cut thee off and sentence thee to everlasting death In the mean time know that all thy good designs what thou wilt do and be hereafter will not be the least excuse of thy present wickednesse nor make thy case any better with God nay rather they make it worse since it appears thou art convinced in thy Conscience that thou oughtest to live after another fashion than thou do'st and yet wilfully neglectest thy acknowledged duty I hope then I have said enough to shew that thou hast no refuge no excuse that will hold whilst thou absentest thy self from the Sacrament out of a lothnesse as yet to reform thy life and do the duties to which this would bind thee Wherefore to conclude If it be thy purpose to continue in any sinfull course come to the Lords Table if thou darest for farre be it from me to speak one word to encourage thee to forswear thy self But yet on the other hand Go on in thy sins and stay away if thou darest for thou art in danger every moment of dropping into Hell whilst thou remainest in such a state Thou seest then to what a strait sin brings thee so that turn thee which way thou wilt whilst thou willingly carriest it about thee an Angel with a flaming sword stands full in thy way threatning destruction whether thou comest or comest not whilst thou continuest a resolved sinner thy case is sad and deplorable But yet one way remains and but one that I know for thy safety even with all speed to cast away thy sins and change thy heart and life and then come as soon as thou wilt to the Lords Table there to professe this blessed change and to confirm thy self therein And for thy encouragement take notice of two things 1. It is not an absolute sinlesse perfection
this canst thou without tears and groans look back upon all the disorders of thy life whereby thou hast done all that in thee lay to make those wounds of thy tender compassionate Saviour bleed afresh which he first receiv'd upon thy account I believe thou thought'st not of this no if thou hadst one would think thou could'st never have done it Thy design was onely to please thy flesh by all thy sensuall courses thou wast onely full of projects to maintain and raise thy self and thy posterity by all thy worldly designs and businesses wherewith through thy whole life though hast been so swallowed up But thou seest how the case stands that this while thou hast been most viley rejecting and even trampling upon the Lord Jesus who would have have brought thee off from thy vain conversation from all thy ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and hath followed thee with his Word and Spirit to that end and hath prest thee with arguments drawn from his matchlesse love discovered by his Death and hath besought thee to regard him yea to take pity on thy self but thou hast made light of all and hast gone on as securely and quietly in the ways of sin as if thou hadst never heard what sin did upon Christ. And what art thou resolv'd to doe so still shall nothing stop thee in thy career wilt thou not stay to hearken what a way it is thou walkest in nor think what unvaluable mercies thou all this while treadest under feet Hast thou not yet sufficiently abused thy Redeemers love and patience hast thou not made him wait long enough in vain wilt thou still make shew of deafnesse to all those messages he sends thee If so yet be thou sure of this thou shalt not be able to say at thy appearance before him that thou never knewest that sin was such an evil thing and so provoking to him for beside all other warnings that thou hast had I now declare to thee who readest or hearest these words that if thou still continuest in thy loose ungodly life living in swearing cursing drunkennesse whoredome covetousnesse cozening malice or any other known sin and wilfully neglectest thy duty to God going whole days without prayer or reading Gods Word profaning the Lords Day neglecting Sacraments if thou hold on this course thou dost no better than again crucifie and deny the Lord that bought thee and so hast no reason to complain if thou fall under the same condemnation which thou thy self wilt acknowledge Judas and Pilate and the rest of Christs enemies deserve and therefore that thou maist not be found amongst them loaded with the same guilt at Judgement I doe once again in the name of Christ beseech thee with all speed to change thy heart and life and use all means appointed to that end and after all thy wandrings now at length return to him the good Shepherd of souls who laid down his life for his sheep 4. Lastly the Death of Christ may powerfully move thee to repent of and forsake all sin as it holds forth this weighty but sad truth That all those who are despisers of this Death and by living and dying in their sins reap no saving benefit by it shall in their own persons undergo insupportable torments for this their unbelief and wilfull impenitence If thou believest the Gospel thou canst not but acknowledge that all men had been in a most miserable condition if Christ had not died and thou wilt grant that sin is a most perilous mischievous thing and an unspeakable provocation to the most holy God since nothing could appease his wrath but the Death of Christ without whose bloodshed we had obtain'd no remission And what then dost thou think is like to be thy case if through thy own fault thou art never the better for all Christ hath done but must thy self answer for thy sins and bear the punishment they have deserved Let the Death of Christ I say instruct thee what thou art like to expect if this be thy condition If as he himself speaks such things were done to the green tree what shall be done to the dry If he who was without the least stain of originall or actuall sin drank such a bitter cup when he stood in our stead what will be the portion of their cup who being poor frail creatures must make satisfaction for their own sins How will they ever up under all the load of Gods hottest wrath when he shall meet them in judgement and cause his fury to rest upon them And above all thy impenitent obstinate continuance in sin and contempt of Christ will lie heaviest upon thee in the day of vengeance These sins aganst the Gospel against mercy the greatest and freest mercy are most provoking to God most inexcusable in themselves and will therefore prove most pernicious to sinners Methinks then if thou hadst but any regard to thy self to thy own ease and comfort this should make thee out of love with sin to consider how dear its like to cost thee how pleasant soever it may now seem It was not for nothing that Christ felt so much sorrow and pain as thou shalt know to thy everlasting woe if thou pluck the heavy judgements of God on thy own head by sleighting him who would have kept them from off thee Assure thy self poor sinner as bold and confident as now thou art thou wilt never be able to contest with that wrath which exercised even the strength of Christ to bear it thou art never like to go away lightly with that which he felt so heavy For shame at length leave thy foolish plea that God will be more mercifull than to torment his creatures for hast thou not seen how he bruised his own Son who never offended him how he bruised him I say for our iniquities and will he then spare thee who in thy own person hast been a most stubborn hard-hearted rebel and hast cast away with loathing the mercies that were again and again even prest upon thee Thou hast no reason for such fond expectations What wilt thou tell Christ at Judgement that thou didst not believe that ever God would be so severe as to punish thee so dreadfully and everlastingly as his Word threatned and that therefore thou took'st somewhat more liberty in thy life than he allowed thee Darest thou come with such a plea as this But if thou should'st what wilt thou answer to Christ when he shall lay open what he underwent for thy sake and how thou madest light of his love will not this soon silence thee If he ask thee whether thou hadst not evidence and proof enough of the evil and danger that was in sin by his suffering so much for others transgressions wilt thou have any pretence left to justifie thy self I may perhaps urge this consideration but I mention it now as offered to us by the sufferings of Christ which doe most plainly declare that dolefull are the miseries prepared for those who
a souâ— as well as a body and whether this soul must not remain in being and alive when thy body is rotting in the earth and whether then it doth not as much yea infinitely much more concern thee to seek out for somewhat that may at that time make thy soul happy than for what may now please thy senses Yea since thou must live somewhere for ever think whether it is not more worthy thy care to provide for an everlasting well-being than for the comforts of a frail short life If thou art thus farre convinced then make an impartiall search whether there be any thing here below that 's able to make thee perfectly happy Thy houses and lands thy pleasures and honours will any or all of these give in all that felicity which thou desirest or needest Are they of the same nature with thy soul or will they last as long as it will last must not all thy merry days at length come to an end And wilt thou be ever the better for all thou hast enjoy'd when once it 's over will the remembrance give thee any satisfaction In that night wherein thy soul will be required of thee what advantage wilt thou have from the goods thou hadst laid up for many years yea or from those goods thou hadst liv'd upon the years before When the earth and all its works shall be burnt up where will all thy possessions and treasures be If thou hast nothing to live on but what will be turned into flames what wilt thou then fix upon At that day when there shall be no marrying or giving in marriage no wives or children no relations or friends whose society will afford any such comfort as here it did when the interest of Princes and great ones whose favour was here thy shelter and thy pride shall all be vanisht what will thy confidence in men avail thee Examine these or any other outward prop whereon thou leanest and see whether it be not a broken reed And if so except thou art resolv'd against thy own happinesse methinks thou should'st now onely make choice of that which will never give thee cause to repent what thou didst as all things will but the eternall glory which God hath promised to those that love him But he that can once upon good grounds say This heaven is mine I shall see the face of God with joy and live in his love for ever may now lead a serene and chearfull life in the midst of all occurrences and need not be daunted at Death it self but rather rejoyced as it takes him to the possession of his treasure wafts him to his own home Wherefore if thou love thy life be perswaded to aim at this highest glory let nothing short of it content thee think no condition hard to get it rest not till thou hast made it as sure as thou canst that it 's thine and then having thus fixt thy end thou maist travell on with alacrity and speed and take abundance of comfort in the fore-thoughts of thy future blisse in using all helps afforded in thy journey to it and in the remembrâ—nce of that precious blood which was shed to purchase it and by consequence wil be fitted to celebrate the Sacrament CHAP. IX V. It must be a thankfull Remembrance IT is not possible that the death of Christ can be remembred as it ought without the most hearâ—y and unfeigned thankfulnesse to God for so great and glorious a mercy Hath he the heart of a man that can coâ—template the sufferings of Christ and the infinite unspeakable benefits thereby procured for poor sinners and not find himself raised to return thanks and praise to God for his gracious dealings with mankind This duty is so proper to the Lords Supper that hence it antiently obtained the name of Eucharist a return of thanks Since then every man who partakes thereof ought to be thus truly thankfull to God for his love revealed in Christ this again acquaints us what kind of persons Communicants must be namely such who are capable of rendring acceptable praise to God which doth but give farther evidence of the necessity of those qualifications before laid down None but such as have been made sensible of the evil of sin and of the danger they were thereby liable to will be heartily thankfull for that mercy which preventâ— this misery by purchasing and vouchsafing the forgivenesse of their sins How formall and hypocriticall are his thanks like to be for Christ who never yet saw what need he stood in of him Will he thank you for a plaister who never felt himself wounded Can he have any gratefull sense of the love that plucks poor sinners as brands out of the fire who never perceived himself in any such danger Can he be thankfull for ease and rest who never felt his strong lusts nor the curse of the Law and wrath of God as any load or burden upon him Nor can he be thankfull for the grace that is given by Christ who had farre rather keep his sins than be renewed and sanctified Little thanks will he return for the light who is but disturbed and troubled with it and so far shamed by it that he cannot pursue his wicked designs with that freedome and eagernesse as he could before whilst he was more in the dark where he had still rather remain How can he thank God for grace who rejects and despiseth it For being taken out of the snares of the Devil who wilfully fastens himself into them Will he praise God for liberty and ability to serve him who saith of his service what a wearinesse is it and thinks it would be better for him if he might live as he list and never be put upon so much trouble as godlinesse brings along with it Nor can he be thankfull for the glory to be had by Christ who hath not a sound perswasion of the certainty and excellency of it and who hath not firmly resolved to take it for his portion He that knows nothing better than bodily enjoyments and would think himself undone was he stript of these is like to be very cold in giving thanks for spirituall blessings In a word he that is sensible of no great benefit he shall have by Christ either here or hereafter cannot be expected to have any great measure of thankfulnesse for this mercy which he so little understands And this is the case of all unhumbled unsanctified ones to whom the Gospel is hid their minds being darkned by the God of this world And if these poor senslesse creatures should with a few feigned words pretend to give God thanks for Jesus Christ yet would it be but the sacrifice of fools a meer lip service and therefore no way acceptable to the most holy God Yea indeed they would hereby but very solemnly mock the Divine Majesty whilst they thank him for those mercies which they will not accept at his hands praising him for Jesus Christ and the benefits
to stay away But this is a Parable shewing what entertainment the most do give to the Gospel whereby we are invited not only to a wedding feast but to be even married our selves to the Lord Jesus Christ the everlasting Son of the Father And yet this message the matchless mercy whereof may astonish men and Angels I say this message is sleighted Men will not come to Christ that they may have life Adulterous souls go after other Lovers and will not be espoused to the Lord of glory They see no form nor comeliness in him why they should desire him They hear great commendations of him indeed what an excellent glorious person he is no less than the Son of God made man whose love was so great to mankind that he laid down his life for them but in the mean time What has he what 's to be got by him what estates will he settle on them what honours will he advance them to what why they shall through him have their sins pardoned and subdued their hearts sanctified and at length shall be receiv'd into everlasting glory Nay if this be all they have no mind to come on but when their consent is desired they have some excuse or other ready at hand and either they will not come at all or else not yet or not so thorowly and heartily as they are commanded and in such a wilful refusal of grace do thousands persist and perish And though I suppose this fore-mentioned Parable doth not directly and primarily belong to the Lords Supper yet it may by consequence be very well applied thereto Since here is a Marriage-feast of the Kings Son here are the great blessings and mercies of the Gospel held forth and offered and all who come duly prepar'd and sincerely dispos'd to accept the same shall be assur'd of them and hither do Gods Ministers exhort all to come in the appointed regular way And what 's the effect of their Message why the most make light of it Hither to this holy Table are people call'd to give up themselves to God to testifie the truth of their sorrow for sin and to renew their resolutions against it and so to receive a sealed pardon and a title to life everlasting but for their parts they have no such liking to these spiritual good things which are so freely tendered them The truth is their sins as yet they are loath to leave for they see no great hurt in them nay they think they find much good at present and do not use to trouble themselves much with the thoughts of that mischief they may hereafter do them and therefore they have no such high thoughts of Christ for his being able to mortifie and remove their lusts and so to save them from the misery these would bring them to They can very hardly be perswaded that there is any such excellency in an holy life that they should so speedily and solemnly resolve upon it And though they can like well enough to go to heaven when they must needs leave this world yet they look upon that day so far off that they are in no great haste of making sure their future happiness but think it may bee time enough to do that a great while hence And can any man wonder if those who are no more sensible of any benefit they have by Christ are very slack and negligent in a thankful remembrance of his death and of those benefits which thereby we enjoy and hope for which is the great end of Celebrating this Sacrament No marvel if such as these alwaies finde one excuse or other to keep away from that which they have no more love to and the necessity and advantage whereof they are no more acquainted with If there was but any matter of gain to be got by it any thing which made for the flesh wee should need no such ado to get them thither We may be sure if the King should but proclaim that he would give six pence a piece to all the poor throughout London that would repair to White-Hall there would need nothing but the knowledge of it to get them together Oh what running and crowding and craving would there be He need not send any Messengers to beseech and perswade them to receive his Charity But when the Soveraign Majesty of Heaven and Earth by his Heraulds Proclaims to all Ho every one that is willing let him prepare himself and come hither to receive an earnest of infinite and everlasting treasures there are few will accept the offer as if it was of no value and as if the Apostle was mistaken when hee prefers the blood of Christ before such corruptible things as silver and gold Nay I 'le warrant you in those Parishes where you shall find so few at a Communion did but any rich man amongst them make a feast and invite the whole Town to it you should finde but few stay at home But now when God himself calls them to his Table and there hath provided them food which came from Heaven true Spiritual Manna even the Body and Blood of Christ which is meat and drink indeed they finde no great appetite to this Banquet All the great words they hear of it work not with them For in all such cases 't is not other mens words and opinions that we judge by but our own relish and feeling And whilst men have got such corrupt dispositions and carnal affections that they savour onely those things which are grosse and earthly like themselves What wonder is it if they undervalue that which is so unsuitable to them and in which they can feel no more taste than in the white of an Egge A Swine prefers his own swill before the greatest dainties that can be provided And a voluptuous sinner that is wallowing in the mud of fleshly pleasures would not willingly exchange conditions with the glorious Angels that alwaies behold the face of God Oh whither is the Soul of man degenerated Into what a low and sad estate is it faln that it findes sweetness in any thing rather than in that which is truly pleasant How chearfully and contentedly can people set themselves to any thing rather than to that only work which God hath appointed them even the working out of their Salvation From morning to night they can follow their worldly business without complaining and yet know not how to spend one day in seven nor one half hour in a day in the service of God for the saving of their own Souls Oh what pains do many poor men take only to get a livelihood in the world and yet think everlasting life worth no regard or care at all They can bee content to spend their thoughts and strength and time upon vanity to lay out their money for that which is not bread and to labour for the wind but when God saith but give me your hearts he is denied If this careless generation had but Houses and Lands Money and Goods
to be faithfull and obedient Even thus hath it pleased the Lord Jesus Christ the Redeemer of rebeâ—lâ—ous degenerate mankind to proclaim free and full pardon to all that will heartily repent of and turn from their wicked ways and take him for their Lord and Saviour and submit to his directions for their attainment of happinesse and withall he hath commanded all that will thus become his disciples first to be listed under him by Baptisme whereby they are visibly entred amongst the number of professing Christians and afterwards they who were baptized in infancy are to come to this Sacramental Feast and there to joyn with their fellow-believers in a personall profession of their willingness and resolution to stand to that Covenant whereinto they were engaged by Baptisme in testimony whereof they eat the Bread and drink the Wine whereby the Body and Blood of Christ is represented as I shall further shew anon Now would it not in like manner be a strange piece of folly and monstrous hypocrisie for any man to rest satisfied with his having been baptized or his receiving the Lords Supper and think himself therefore a Christian good enough without taking care to perform those promises which he then made but rather encourage himself in sin by the consideration of what he had done as if he might the more safely rebell against God because he had expresly vowed against all such rebellion Could there be a more desperate dangerous wickedness than to make such a wilfull mistake And yet I wish there be not thousands guilty of it Alas alas how few that have taken the earnest-peny and wear Christs Colours that ever think to any purpose what they are hereby bound to How many in effect renounce their Baptisme by their ungodly lives and either neglect the Lords Supper or come to it to pacifie their Consciences that they may sin the more freely rather than to strengthen and engage themselves against every sin As for Bapâ—isme I shall not insist on it though I grant that this is the leading Sacrament appointed for the testimony of our being first devoted to God which engagement we ought to call to remembrance and renew at the Lords Supper whereof according to my promise I now come to speak CHAP. II. What it is to doe this to celebrate the Communion in reremembrance of Christ. And I. That it includes the true knowledge of him AND being desirous to contribute some assistance to those that need it to bring them through Gods blessing to a conscientious performance of this great duty I observe there are two sorts of persons faulty herein either such as neglect it or that miscarry and fail in the manner of doing it Those that neglect it are either such that doe it out of meer wilfulness as the grossely vicious that will not come to this Sacrament because they think this would lay an obligation upon them to forsake those sins which they never intend to part with whatever come on 't and the stupid sensless ones that know not the worth nor see the need of this Ordinance or any other duties of Religion who live as heathenishly as if they had never heard of God and Christ and another world nor doe they care to be instructed in these points as if they were not at all concerned in them or else they are such that abstain from it out of doubting and fear not thinking themselves worthy or not knowing whether they are worthy or not Of this sort there are many excellent Christians who too much indulge to their own melancholy and despondent apprehensions and also many weaker but I hope honest well-meaning people who seem to have a great esteem for this Sacrament but having always heard what a dangerous thing it is to receive it unworthily dare not venture upon it not being well acquainted wâ—th the nature and reason of it and being doubtful whether they are fit to come or not being also I fear too languid and heartless in desiring after it or in making preparation for it and for such as these principally doe I intend my Directions By those that are guilty of miscarriage in the doing of this duty I mean such as rush upon it ignorantly and rashly not well weighing what they doe and who notwithstanding their customary attendance at the Lords Table continue their old sinfull course of life These also I hope may receive some benefit from the following Discourse together with the most profane and ignorant whilst I shall endeavour plainly to shew the intention of this Sacrament and perswade them to attend thereupon in a regular manner For since in behalf of those for whom especially I write this my great business is to shew who it is that is worthy to partake of this Ordinance and wherein this worthiness doth consist the method I will â—ake shall be this namely to shew for what purpose it was appointed by Jesus Christ and thence to discover those qualifications and graces which are required in the Communicants that they may receive it aright to those purposes for which it was appointed and after I have done this I shall lay down some arguments or motives to quicken all to come to and celebrate it in this due manner and then briefly direct those that intend to come As to the first what was the reason and end why this Sacrament was appointed I know not whence we should be better informed than by looking back to the time of its first appointment and to see what Christ tells us he did ordain it for and this we may find expresly set down Luke 22.19 when he had broke the Bread and distributed he addes This doe in remembrance of me And the same words he used also after the delivery of the Wine as appears by the Apostle S. Paul's relation who delivered unto them what he had received of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.24 25. where after the giving of the Cup is added This doe ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me and so again ver 26. saith the Apostle As often as ye eat thâ—â— Bread and drink this Cup ye doe shew the Lords Death till he come that is you publish and represent it to the world you acknowledge and commemorate it So that by this it is plain that the great end of this Sacrament to which all others may be reduced is that by the celebrating thereof we may remember Jesus Chrâ—st and especially that we may keep up the memory of that inestimable mercy to mankind his dying for us a mercy which should never be forgotten by those on earth and shall never be forgotten by those in heaven Now hence it follows that they who are in a capacity and fitness rightly to remember Christ and his Death are worthy to partake of this Sacrament which was set apart for that purpose wherefore without going any farther I shall shew what is necessarily required to contained in or immediately flows from this remembrance of Christ that
it not enough to be able to say the bare words to repeat your Creed without book or the like but labour well to understand them and fix them deeply upon your minds as those things which are of greatest necessity to be known and remembred of any in the world But yet barely to know and remember them will not profit you except you so digest and improve them that they move your affections and guide you in your conversation It s a most lamentable mistake to think that the meer saying of what you believe and what you are to doe will save your souls as if there was some strange force in the very words which would make them usefull to all that should patter them over for by this means a Parrot might passe for a good Christian. If you had a Receipt given you directing you how to cure the Toothache doe you think it would take away the pain to get it without book and say it over by rote would you not rather see to read it and make use of the medicine which it should appoint Even thus must you read Gods Word and good Books to know what is your duty that you may set with all your might to the doing of it And indeed your knowledge is defective till it come thus to affect your heart wherefore let that be the mark by which you may judge of its truth and sincerity if it raise your affections and leads you forth to action 1 Joh. 2.3 4. For if you know that God hath in himself all fulnesse of goodnesse and know that you are needy and indigent and can onely receive supply and satisfaction from him you cannot but desire after him and seek how to get a part in his love If you know that you are in your selves lost undone creatures and that Jesus Christ and he alone is able and willing also to recover and save you you will then betake your selves to him for healing and saving mercy If you know that sin is your disease bondage and dishonour and holinesse your glory liberty and health you will readily comply with the Spirit of God to be freed from sin and to be made as holy as your nature is capable This then is true and saving knowledge which must be in all that can affectionately remember Christ at the Communion Of this knowledge Christ speaks Joh. 17 3. This is life eternal to know thee the onely true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent And of this the Prophet speaks Isa. 53.11 By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many that is he shall justifie those who have such a sound and working knowledge of him as leads them to the performance of what he requires of them For if men once come indeed to know that Christ is the Son of God who earnestly desires their good and enjoyns them nothing but what makes thereto surely they will readily then hearken to and obey him All this I adde to knowledge because it is very imperfect till it become thus fruitfull and will not vindicate those in whom it is from the imputation of ignorance Now to get your knowledge to be thus powerfull upon your hearts and lives I cannot advise you to any more necessary course than these two 1. Humbly to beg of God to work the truth with power upon your souls that you may receive it in the love thereof When you go to hear or sit down to read beseech God to accompany the Word by his mighty Spirit that it may sink into your minds and not become unprofitable but that it may enlighten and awaken you and reach to the very inwards of your souls and give you such insight into your selves and such a discovery of your duty that you may vigorously be carried on to the performance of it And then 2. You must often consider of those truths that you know you must dwell upon them in your minds till you are moulded changed and wrought upon by them For want of this Consideration chiefly it is that so many remain in ignorance and that many others who have some sleight knowledge are no more bettered by it for you must meditate upon what you read or hear that you may more clearly and distinctly understand it which you cannot doe if words slip out of your thoughts as soon as they are out of your ears And then after the doctrines of the Gospel are well understood you must farther consider wherein they concern your particular case and what use you are to make of them for otherwise how is it possible they should profit you Though you have never so much book-learning and brain-knowledge what are you the better for all if you improve it not your own good by this serious consideration Can you think ever to have a profitable saving knowledge of Christ if you use not seriously to think of him what need you stand in of him and what benefit he will be to you and what must be done to make him yours Can you get your sins mortified and pardoned if you will not so much as bethink your self what an evil thing sin is and what your particular sins are Can you be move with the hopes of glory if you have it not in your thoughts Can you escape your danger if you forget it and so are out of fear If then you would ever have any profit by your knowledge follow the Apostles advice to Timothy 2 Tim. 2.7 Consider what is said to thee at at any time and that 's the next way to obtain from the Lord understanding in all things so likewise 1 Tim. 4.15 Meditate on these things give thy self wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all If you have not time to spare purposely for meditation yet take time as you are upon the way or about any businesse which will permit you And let this be the chief subject of your thoughts which I am sure deserves them most even how you should doe to obtain salvation by Jesus Christ and never leave following on this enquiry till you be fully resolved to set about what 's required of you to that purpose As there must be this sound knowledge of Christ and of the chief points of Christian Religion in all that can duely remember Christ at a Sacrament so it will be readily granted that this Jesus Christ must be believed to be indeed the Saviour of the world as is declared in the Scriptures and all that is there laid down of his Incarnation Life Death Resurrection Ascension Intercession and coming again to Judgement must be believed to be true I will not make a distinct Head of this because it s necessarily supposed in the former as I have explained it for our knowledge of these truths is never like to be effectuall with us if we are not first of all perswaded that they are truths And the Reader might be offended if I should make any question whether he believes the Christian Religion and
any other condition than forsaking them If bare confession and begging of mercy might serve turn or if coming to the Sacrament might serve turn and yet still they might live as they list few would go without a pardon But remember God nowhere assures pardon to any man absolutely but upon a certain condition which except we perform we cannot look for the promised mercy What this condition is I have before told you even that you should repent of and give diligence to forsake all sin and receive Christ to be your perfect Saviour upon no other terms therefore expect to have a pardon confirmed to you by the Sacrament which will no farther avail you than as it receives power and efficacy from the promise without which it is a seal to a blank paper that will warrant you to claim nothing Suppose a Landlord should make you a Lease of an House upon condition that you would own your self his Tenant yearly pay him some small quit-rent should set his seal to this Lease all this would stand you in no stead if you denied that you was his Tenant and refuse to pay the Rent he required Wherefore to know whether your hope of pardon be upon good grounds and such as will not fail you examine whether you are such kind of persons as I have before described whether you are humbled for and brought out of love with every sin and doe with firm purpose of heart cleave to the Lord Jesus To bring you thus to depend upon Christ for a pardon in a right manner and upon sure grounds the considerations I laid down under the last particular may be of use since this is one part of that faith in Christ which I there exhorted you to that was an acceptance of him in all his Offices this hath a peculiar respect to his Priestly Office and is called Faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 Onely to adde a word or two more for the quickning of all such who have not much laid it to heart how to get their sins pardoned as if they thought it was a thing of no great consequence Consider I beseech you whether the Incarnation Life and Death of Christ was not a matter of huge importance to the world and tell me Reader dost not think thou art as much concerned herein as any other man Hadst not thou as much need of his Death as any And therefore doth it not stand thee upon to see whether thou sharest in the benefits of it as much as it doth any man breathing And tell me farther if all this preparation in the Gospel had been made for thee onely and Christ had come down from heaven and suffered on the Crosse for thy sake alone that thou mightest be saved by him on the same terms that now thou maist and should have sent thee a message calling thee by thy particular name assuring thee of all this and beseeching thee to accept of these offers of life dost thou think all this would have convinced thee of the greatnesse of Divine love and of thy need of mercy And would it have awakened thee to make out after the same and to doe all that was required to obtain it If so why then wilt thou not now be perswaded to the same care Since the Gospel speaks to thee as particularly as if it named thee and the mercy is as great and thy need of it as much as if thou alone wast concerned in it and thou shalt never have the lesse benefit nay rather more by having others to share with thee in it but thy misery if thou misse of a pardon will be never the lesse for having many companions in the same sad case with thy self Once again let me ask thee thou who now art so insensible of thy need of a pardon that thou wilt not take pains to get it in the way thou art commanded wouldest thou be contented at any rates absolutely and expresly to part with all hopes and expectations of it If thou might'st be hired with a thousand or ten thousand pounds would'st thou for such a summe of money professe thou didst renounce all right and title to Jesus Christ and all hopes of mercy through him Or would'st thou give this under thy hand in writing to the Devil or to any man that would help thee to a great Estate what would'st thou think of those who should doe thus would'st thou not look upon them as most wretched forlorn creatures Why be it known to thee if through negligence and stupidity thou seek not out after an interest in Christ that thou maist be pardoned and saved by him thy condition will at length be found as miserable as theirs If there should be certain acres of ground in Ireland promised to any one that would go thither to possesse them he that would not take the pains to go over would have no more advantage by them than he that should formally renounce his righâ— thereto Even so by carelesnesse and sloth maist thou lose all benefit by Christ as certainly as those poor creatures that are drawn to make compacts with the Devil and sell away their souls for a thing of nought To conclude if nothing I have hitherto said will move thee consider I entreat thee whether this thy undervaluing of pardoning mercy will remain always Sins thou hast I know thou wilt acknowledge yea many and great sins such as would sink thee to the lowest hell if they be laid to thy charge Dost thou not grant this And thou canst not but know that there will at length come a day of reckoning for these thy sins and dost thou think when thou must stand before the Judge and give up thy account that thou shalt not earnestly desire a pardon then will it then seem as indifferent a thing as now it does Then I say when without it thou must be sentenced to keep company with the Devils in the midst of scorching flames for ever and ever And thou canst not sure be so ignorant as not to know that none shall have a pardon then but those who got it now that 's a day for examining and declaring what our estates are whether good or bad that we may be dealt with accordingly not a time for getting them made better if they were naught before Wherefore if thou beest not a very bruit onely to mind what 's before thee if thou hast any foresight any belief of this Judgement-day that thou art going to now rouze up thy self and with all speed and industry labour to get that pardon which within a while to thy own most lively sense will be so needfull and stand thee in so much stead And when thou art wrought to such a sight of thy misery as makes thee desire after mercy and to such a loathing of thy sins as fits thee for it then thou maist be assured that God for Christ sake will be gracious to thee and thou maist comfortably addresse thy self to the Sacrament and take
and steadily bent to chuse him as your onely portion if it be so you may be sure you grow in grace and are bettered by the means you enjoy and may be therefore encouraged to continue in the use of them 4. But lastly however it be with you yet be you patient and constant in doing your work and then leave the event to God Wherein upon examination you find you have been wanting to your selves be more carefull for the future in the due preparing and managing of your own hearts and so wait upon God in his appointed way Let your desires be carried out after that which is most needfull for you and which God hath promised to give chiefly after grace and secondarily after comfort remembring all you have is to come from the free mercy of a wise God to whom you must referre it what measures of these you shall receive and how soon it shall be Onely I say let it be your businesse quietly to wait his leisure in the use of those means he hath prescribed you for which I might give many reasons but I shall wave all onely demanding of you whether those spirituall blessings you so earnestly long after are worth the waiting for If you say no you deserve to go for ever without them but if you grant they are then pray tell me whether is it more likely to attain them by waiting in that way wherein they are to be found or by turning out of it This I hope is no difficult case to resolve If your friend be gone a journey and you have a mind to meet him upon his return are you not more likely to meet with him by holding on still in that road which he 'll be sure to come than by going back again or turning to some by path meerly to gratifie your lazinesse or impatience Wherefore when your hopes are at the lowest ebbe it is most unreasonable and foolish to cry with that wicked King Why should we wait on the Lord any longer there is no hope wherefore let us leave our duties and cast aside all Be sure there is no hope in such a course as this but rather a certainty of perishing whereas if there be safety in any way it is in an obedient patient dependance upon God yea in this way there is certain safety embrace it therefore as your wisest your onely course Do but see that you wait for the Lord and assure your selves you shall not be ashamed your eyes shall not always fail Get into the Psalmists frame Psal. 130.5 6. To wait for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning and at length shall the Lord manifest himself to the joy of your souls as sure as the morning light will appear to those who watch for it CHAP. XIV The Objection of unfitnesse answered As proposed by the doubting and the carelesse 3 Obj. SOme again there are and those not a few that will be ready to say They find themselves unfit for the Sacrament and therefore dare not come least it prove to their hurt rather than to their advantage Severall sorts of persons may upon different grounds raise this objection First the sincere and humble Christian whose soul is in the dark and through ignorance of himself or not considering the tenour of the Covenant and through the prevalency of temptation or melancholy he may without reason condemn himself as if his estate was worse than it is To these I have something to say 1. Why is it you judge your selves unfit for this Ordinance Is it because you are not so qualified as I have before shewn all Communicants ought to be I am confident upon a true enquiry you will find the contrary Wherefore be not hasty and rash in passing a censure upon your selves as if you were resolved to comply with the design of Satan to keep you in sorrow but examine things soberly and without passion and then give judgement upon your state according to true evidence If you be found faithfull Disciples and unfeigned lovers of Christ you will grant your selves meet to come to that Feast which is made for such Tell me then in one word Are you not from your very souls willing that Christ should be your Saviour and take his own course with you to bring you to God in glory Is there any thing in all the world that your heart is seâ— more upon than this even that you may be saved by Jesus Christ would you not account the assurance of this a richer mercy than to be made owners of the whole world Yea would you not give a thousand such worlds as this if you had them for the love of God in Christ Is not this it which lies heaviest upon your spirits and makes you walk so sadly even the fears least you are without true grace and should go without God and Christ for ever And yet can the Devil so befool you as to perswade you all this while that you love not God Have you got any thing here below more dear to you than his favour Do you take delight in any course that you know is displeasing to him Do you not long to be made more conformable to him To know and love and enjoy him more and do him better service in the world Would it not be the great joy of your souls always to walk closely with him and retain a strong sense of his presence and all his excellencies upon your minds To converse with him more feelingly and powerfully and in all your approaches to him to be filled with a suitable reverence humility seriousnesse and all holy affections Would any thing please you more than to please your God Are you not then best at ease when you find your hearts most enlarged and carried out after him Had you not rather be following after God in the ways of holinesse and the duties of Religion than to enjoy all the pleasures and merriments of sensuall ones Is there any duty from which you would be dispensed with Any command that you would have abolisht Had not you infinitely rather your heart was brought up to the fullest compliance with it Have you any lust which you would fain be allowed to keep Is it a trouble to you that you must part with your sins or else be damned for them Or rather is it not your greatest trouble that you lived so long without God and did so much against him in the daies of your unregeneracie And if you had that time to passe over again would you not prefer a life of the greatest suffering before such a life of sinning And is not your soul really burdened with those remnants of corruption which you yet feel in your selves Do you not strive against them and earnestlie desire to be rid of them Would you not account it a blessed priviledge to be more free from ignorance pride earthlinesse distrust self-will dullnesse and distractions in holy duties Would not a deliverance from these be
apposite Text Ezek. 16.62 63. And I will establish my Covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord That thou maist remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord God It is to be considered moreover that the promises of joy are principally made to this frame The spirit of the humble and contrite God hath promised to revive They that mourn shall be comforted And they who come to the Table of the Lord weeping are most likely to return from thence rejoycing 4. And when you are wrought to this humiliation for and hatred of sin you will easily be brought to the next part of your work which is stedfastly to resolve by the grace of God never more to give willing entertainment to the same but to be entirely devoted to God by Jesus Christ to love please and serve him all your days I have told you how at the Lords Supper you renew your Covenant to perform those duties which you were engaged to by being Baptized into the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Renouncing carnall self you professe to place your happinesse in the love of God and no farther to regard or please your selves than is consistent with his pleasure Renouncing the world your own abilities righteousnesse and worthinesse and all ways to to happinesse which are set up against Christ you professe to take him alone for your Redeemer and to resign up your selves to him that he may bring you to the fruition of God and therefore Renouncing the Devill who would draw you from God and Christ to gratifie your lusts with earthly things you professe your resolutions to be led by the Holy Spirit of God in those ways that lead to his everlasting kingdome You who are truly willing to all this for to such I speak I would have you in the most serious manner to professe the same before God and especially in the prayers that you make in preparation for the Sacrament Bind your selves over to him by the strictest vow that he shall be your God and you will be his people Professe to him that he shall be the portion of your souls that you will have none in heaven but him and will desire nothing on earth in comparison of him that if he will but vouchsafe you his saving love in Jesus Christ you shall be indifferent to all things here below as knowing that in his favour alone you are abundantly provided for Acknowledge his right to govern you and dispose of you being your Maker and Preserver infinitely wise and good and engage to take him for your Soveraign and Lord to render a sincere unlimited obedience to his commands and quietly to submit to his dispensations Professe to him that you relinquish all right to your selves and give up all into his hands to do with you what he pleaseth consecrating all to his glory whatever he doth or shall afford you being resolved through his assistance so to improve and employ it Promise to him that neither your own will nor the will of any mortall man shall be obey'd in contradiction to his And bethink your selves of those sins whereof you have been more especially guilty in thought word or deed and of the duties you have omitted and engage your selves particularly against those sins and to the performance of those duties And then Remember under what notion you enter into Covenant with God and what kind of creatures you are even poor lost sinners loaded with much guilt which you could never by any satisfaction of your own making take off from your selves and also exceeding weak so that you cannot by your own strength give that obedience to God which he requires nor vanquish the difficulties which you will meet with wherefore it is of absolute necessity that you accept of Jesus Christ as your Deliverer and your Strength for he onely who hath the Son hath the Father also Professe then before God your unfeigned willingnesse to close with the Lord Jesus to all those ends for which he offers himself to the world Acknowledge to him that you neither expect mercy for any merit of your own nor set upon duty in your own might nor look for acceptance of any service for its own worth but that you humbly depend upon Christ the Mediatour for all that you stand in need of Acknowledge his right to rule over and in you as having bought you out of slavery with his own most precious blood to whose mild and gracious government you will therefore submit your selves Professe your willingnesse and earnest desire to have your hearts purged and sanctified by his Holy Spirit and your lives thereby directed according to the precepts of the Gospel Thus professe your acceptance of Christ and submission to the Spirit that you may be brought into the favour of God and be enabled to please and glorifie him by your holy conversation for all tends to this even to make you holy in heart and life Therefore are we married to Christ that we may bring forth fruit unto God Râ—m 7.4 And the fruits of righteousnesse are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God Phil. 1.11 In him we are created unto good works This is the effect of his death and resurrection that we might be dead to sin but alive unto God Rom. 6. throughout They are Christs Disciples that bring forth much fruit to the glory of God the Father Joh. 15.8 And therefore is the Spirit of life given us through Jesus Christ that we may be made free from the power of sin and death that the carnall mind might be taken away and we made subject to God and able to please him yea that we might rise up to an higher kind of life more spirituall and heavenly than was ordinarily attainable under the Law Rom. 8. the former part of that Chapter This being then the summe of all to devote your selves to God by Jesus Christ to live in his love and fear and in strict obedience to his laws till you shall be taken glory you that are firmly purposed to do this and have made promises thereof betwixt God and your own souls Do you eat thâ— Bread and drink the Wine in the Sacrament as a confirmation of these promises Let this be remembred I beseech you whatever you forget That hereby you do most straitly engage your selves to live a Righteous Sober and Godly life from this very day and to the end of your days This some give as the reason why the Name Sacrament is put upon Baptisme and the Lords Supper because they are of a like nature with that Oath which Souldiers were wont to take to be obedient to their Generall and rather to die than to forsake their Colours which military Oath was called a Sacrament and thus both by Baptisme and the Lords Supper are we consecrated to the service of God
thou dar'st not affirm either of these beware how thou mincest and lessenest thy sins when thou should'st repent of and bewail them for by so doing thou dost in effect thus blaspheme God Oh then let sin be call'd to the barre indict it for a murtherer as well thou mayst accuse it as guilty of the bloody death of the Lord of Life shew all the wounds and stabs that it gave him and see that thou pronounce sentence against it even utter death without any pity or remorse and heartily lament thy own basenesse in having so long given loving entertainment to such a monstrous murtherer and traitour And when ever thou find'st any favourable thoughts of sin arising in thy breast call to mind what it did against Christ and let that make thy heart rise against it and even boil with an holy hatred and desire of revenge And let the frequent remembrance of those streams of blood which thy sins fetcht from him open thy eyes to shed streams of tears or however work thy heart to an unfeigned sorrow for all thy iniquities for which thy Saviour was thus wounded 2. The next thing I would have have thee to enlarge thy meditations upon in the sufferings of Christ in order to the bringing of thee to a kindly repentance is that unspeakable love which is hereby manifested to the lost sons of men when I speak of Repentance I mean not meerly thy shedding of a few tears but an inward change of thy mind as I before shewed that thou should'st turn from Sin to the love of God and I know not what can be more likely to produce this than to shew thee the intolerable evil and mischief of sin that thou maist turn from it and the infinite goodnesse of God that thou maist be drawn to him Both these the Crosse of Christ most admirably holds forth so that well might the Apostle call Christ crucified the wisdome of God and the poweâ— of God 1 Cor. 1.23 24. How it shews the evil of sin to bring us to loath and leave it I have already shown and shall doe more in two following particulars That which I would now set thy thoughts upon is the inconceivable love of God in giving Christ for us and of Christ in being willing to lay down his life that as many as believe in him might not perish but have everlasting life Consider seriously how the great God hath sent after thee a poor worm the God whom thou hadst sinn'd against makes thee offers of peace the God who needs thee not yet appears desirous of thy happinesse when he might have poured out everlasting wrath upon thee he was willing to shew his compassion And see what he hath done in order to thy recovery He hath sent his own Son made of a woman made under the Law and delivered him to death for our offences and accepted of the satisfaction he hath made on the behalf of all that shall by him come to that God from whom they are faln and by his death not onely pardon of sin and deliverance from hell but a glorious Kingdome that shall never fade is purchast for all true Believers So that here 1. Thou seest plainly there is hope of pardon and acceptance upon thy hearty sorrow for and resolutions against sin And whom would not this encourage to come in freely acknowledging and protesting against their former backslidings and rebellions If indeed thou wast past hope it were as good keep thy sins while thou maist and make thy best of them But this is not yet thy case and if it hereafter should be thou maist thank thy own wilfulnesse For Jesus Christ hath brought in a better hope there is by him liberty proclaim'd to the captive freedome to all that are bound ease and rest to all that are burdened a pardon to all that are penitent And what will not this make thee stirre Is a golden Scepter held forth and wilt thou not lay hold of the opportunitie Is God willing to put up all the affronts he hath received from thee if thou wilt now come and submit thy self and will not this bring thee in Is he ready to be reconcil'd and art thou backward what dost thou rather hold off because he doth so invite and importune thee to him Because he is pleased with so much earnestnesse and compassion to call thee off from sin to himself dost thou the more securely run on in wickednesse Oh base ingratitude and meer madnesse Because there is hope of pardon discovered by the Gospel as procured by Christ therefore even therefore doe wretched sinners harden their hearts and embolden themselves to continue at a distance from God as if it was a matter of nothing to get their peace made with him or as if he must of necessity pardon and save them let them live as they list Thus vilely doe they pervert the very design of the Gospel Whereas were they ingenuous and reasonable they would acknowledge it to be a most forcible motive and engagement to cast away sin to hear that there was hopes of having forgivenesse and favour from God If a company of Subjects should rebell against their Prince what course would be more effectuall in all probability to reclaim them than to assure pardon to all that would throw down their arms But if they should be so base as to abuse the mercy of their Prince and think because he was so compassionate they might the safelier persist in their rebellion it is but just they should be destroy'd If thou love thy soul then beware how thou abusest the grace of God Wilt thou put away from thee the evil of thy doings wash thee and make the clean and so with humility and submission flie to God for mercy if so this mercy through Christ shall be assuredly thine But otherwise know there is not a word of comfort for thee in the whole Gospel nothing but what may strike thee with terrour For remember well that the death of Christ gives all the encouragement in the world to Repentance but not the least to Sin Yea it hath done more to destroy sin than all the terrours and threatnings of the Law Well then though thou art a lost sinner departed from God once without hope yet behold the God of heaven and earth takes pity on thee he would not have thee utterly perish though thou hast done so much to destroy thy self He calls thee back to him if thou wilt hearken and obey and humble thy self before him for thy departure from him and for all the dishonours done to his holy Name and wilt now at length devote thy self to his fear thou need'st not doubt of his favour So then here 's hope of mercy that may encourage all that hear it to Repentance 2. And in the next place there is so much love and goodnesse manifested in that way whereby this mercy is procured and tendered that may serve to work upon the hearts of all but flat
Infidels or bruitish sinners that will not be brought so much as once to consider of it or seriously regard it Here is love that passeth the full comprehension of Men or Angels Here are mysteries and unsearchable treasures of goodnesse Wherein could God commend his love more to the faln World than in giving his Son to die for us when we were without help And what greater love can be shewn than that which Christ hath manifested in laying down his life for his friends nay for enemies that they might be made friends for the ungodly that he might reconcile them to God Vile wretches that we are no more to be affected with this amazing discovery of divine bounty It s true indeed there are many things we are yet ignorant of which makes this love the lesse apprehended in its due dimensions Did we know more the infinite Majesty of God and our meannesse compared to him and how provoking a thing Sin is and how contrary to his nature did we know more what strange condescension there was in God's manifesting himself in flesh what bitter things our blessed Saviour endured for our sakes did we know the greatnesse of that misery he hath sav'd Believers from and of the glory he hath prepar'd for them did we clearly know these and all other heightning circumstances our admiration and astonishment would be unexpressible as it will be when they are more fully reveal'd to us But though at present we â—re much in the dark yet so much of them we know that would we duly ponder them we should even amazed cry out oh the depth of the riches of the wisdome and goodnesse of God! And what will not this prevail with thee oh back-sliding sinner to deal ingenuously and dutifully with that God who hath revealed such abundant mercies to win thee to himself when thou hadst undone thy self and the Law which thou hadst broke had past its sentence upon thee when thou mightest justly have expected the execution behold without thy seeking a gracious reprieve And more than so when thou might'st have had a Pursuivant speedily dispatcht to hurry thee to deserved torment behold a Saviour interposing to prevent thy ruine Instead of an unchangeable doom behold an Act of oblivion assuring pardon upon easie conditions Doe but deliberately weigh these things with that seriousnesse which becomes a man and see if there be nothing in them that may perswade thee to a sound repentance for sin and a speedy return to the God of love What dost thou think if thou wast a mean Tenant and hadst wilfully in some discontended fit pluckt down the House thou liv'st in so wast in danger to lie in the open fields and to be severely punisht as thou hadst deserved what now if after all this thy Landlord pitying the misery thou hadst brought thy self to should courteously come to thee and offer to build up thy House again in a more sumptuous manner than ever and set it at a lower Rent onely requiring thee to confesse thy former folly and promise to be so guilty no more but to live thy new-built House and doe thy best to keep it in repair and to accept of his help for what thou could'st not doe thy self and suppose he should even impoverish his own children through this courtesie to thee what dost thou think thou should'st now doe in this case is it any hard matter to determine would'st thou not think he dâ—served to be taken for a mad-man that should stand justifying his former offence and would not thankfully accept these courteous offers I dare say Reader if this was thy case thou art not so foolish or stubborn but thou would'st quickly resolve what to doe and this mercy and bounty of thy Landlord would even win thy heart for ever and thou would'st think thou could'st never be sufficiently thankfull for his kindnesse nor doe enough to make him amends And would indeed the gentlenesse and liberality of a man thy fellow-creature thus affect thee and shall not the loving kindnesse of God which hath appeared in Jesus Christ have much more power upon thee Dost thou not believe that our God hath done as much to engage his creatures to himself as this comes to Hath not he shewn as much pity and tendernesse to the souls of men as that would be to the body If thou doubt it look back upon the state of man and consider Gods gracious dealings with him Did not he by his own folly and disobedience cast himself out of Paradise and by wilful sin deface and even destroy the workmanship of God And yet did not God take pity on us in our blood when we were cast forth to the loathing of our persons Did not he contrive the way for our reconciliation to himself and beseech us to accept of it And doe we not read that in order to our enriching tâ—e Son of God did as it were impoverish himself and that we might be fill'd with the fulnesse of God emptied himself and became of no reputation And what an heart must that prodigall Son have who will not be affected with the kindnesse of his Father who takes care for and seeks after him when he had foolishly forsaken his Family and done what he could to put himself out of his Fathers care And is courteously entreated to return back to that comfortable â—tate and relation whence he had banisht himself and upon condition of his return sees another better estate provided for him instead of that he hath wasted and finds his arms opened to embrace him against whom he had lift up his hand Methinks if thou believ'st that God hath shewn such love to man it cannot but have some force upon thee to bring thee back again to him from whom thou hast run away and so long kept at a distance and must needs prevail with thee to cast away with grief and shame whatever is displeasing to him and doth estrange thee from him And except thou be an unreasonable Infidel thou canst not but believe it for it is plainly revealed in Gods holy Word where also we find the greatnesse of this love inculcated in Gods having regard to us and first looking after us when we took no thought for our selves how to get his favour 1 Joh. 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins Rom. 5.6 8. For when we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly God commendeth his love toward us in that whilst we were yet sinners Christ died for us And as Christ died to bring us to God so the consideration of this love should drâ—w us to him By this mercy chiefly we are engaged to offer up our selves a living sacrifice to God which is our reasonable service Judge thy self is it not most reasonable that we should give up our selves to that â—od who spared not his own Son but delivered him up for