that by the next night thou maist make thy bed in hell Is it a just matter to live in such a fearful ease to stand tottering upon the brink of the bottomless pit and to live at the mercy of every disease that if it will but fall upon thee will send thee forthwith into the burnings Suppose thou sawest a condemned wretch hanging over Nebuchadneâ—ar's burning fiery furnace by nothing but a twine thread which were ready to break every moment would not thine heart tremble for such an one Why thou art the man This is thy very case O man woman that readest this if thou be yet unconverted What if the thred of thy life should break Why thou knowest not but it may be the next night yea the next moment where wouldst thou be then whither wouldst thou drop Verily upon the crack but of this thread thou fallest into the lake that burneth with fire and Brimstone where thou must lie scalding and sweltering in a fiery Ocean while God hath a being if thou die in thy present case And doth not thy soul tremble as thou readest Do not thy tears bedew the paper and thy heart throb in thy bosom Dost thou not yet begin to smite on thy breast and bethink thy self what need thou hast of a change O what is thy heart made of Hast thou not only lost all regard to God but art without any love and pity to thy self Oh study thy misery till thy heart do cry out for Christ as earnestly as ever a drowning man did for a boat or the wounded for a Chirurgeon Men must come to see the danger and feel the smart of their deadly sores and sickness or else Christ will be to them a Physician of no value Mat. 9. 12. Then the man-slayer hastens to the City of râ—fuge when pursued by the avenger of blood Men must be even forced and fired out of themselves or else they will not come to Christ. 'T was distress and extremity that made the Prodigal think of returning Luke 15. 16 17. While Laodicea thinks her self rich increased in goods in need of nothing there is little hope She must be deeply convinced of her wretchedness blindness poverty nakedness before she will come to Christ for his Gold raiment eye-salve Rev. 3. 17 18. Therefore hold the eyes of conscience open amplifie thy misery as much as possible Do not flie the sight of it for fear it should fill thee with terror The sense of thy misery is but as it were the suppuration of the wound which is necessary to the cure Better fear the torments that abide thee now than feel them hereafter Dir. IV. Settle it upon thine heart that thou arâ— under an everlasting inability ever to recover thy self Never think thy praying reading hearing confessing amending will do the cure These must be attended buâ— thou art undone if thou restest in them Rom. 10. 3. Thou art a lost man if thou hopest to escape drowning upon any other plank but Jesus Christ Act. 4. 1â— Thou must unlearn thyself and renounce thine own wisdom thine own righteousness thine own strength and throw thy self wholly upon Christ as a man that swimmeth casteth himself upon the water or else thou canst not â—scape While men trust in themselves and establish their own righteousness and have confidence in the fleshâ— they will not come savingly to Christ Luke 18. 19. Phil. 3. 3. Thou must know thy gain to be but loss and dung thy strength but weakness thy rightâ—ousness rag's and rotteness before 〈◊〉 will be on effectual closure between Christ and â—hee Phil. 3. 7 8 9. 2 Cor. 3. 5. Esay 64 6. Can the liveless carcase shake off his grave cloths and loose the bonds of death Then maist thou recover thy self who 〈◊〉 dead in trespasses and sins and under an impossibility of serving thy maker acceptably in this condition Rom. 8. 8. Heb. 11. 6. Therefore when thou goest to pray or meditate or to do any of the duties to which thou art here directed go out of thy self call in the help of the spirit as despairing to do any thing pleasing to God in thine own strength Yet neglect not thy duty but lie at the pool and wait in the way of the spirit While the Eunuch was reading then the Holy Ghost sent Philip to him Act. 8. 28 29. when the Disciples were praying Act. 4. 31. when Cornelius and his friends were hearing Acts 10. 44. then the Holy Ghost fell upon them and filled them all Strive to give up thy self to Christ. Strive to pray strive to meditate strive an hundred and an hundred times try to do it as well as thou canst and while thou art endeavouring in the way of thy duty the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee and help thee to do what of thy self thou art utterly unable unto Prov. 1. 23. Dir. V. Forthwith renounce all thy sins If thou yield thy self to the contrary practice of any sin thou art undone Rom. 6. 16. In vain dost thou hope for life by Christ except thou depart from iniquity 2 Tim. 2. 19. Forsake thy sins or else thou canst not find mercy Prov. 28. 13. Thou canst not be married to Christ except divorsed from sin Give up the traitor or you can have no peace with Heaven Cast the head of Sheba over the wall Keep not Dalilaâ— in thy lap Thou must part with thy sins or with thy soul. Spare but one sin and God will not spare thee Never make excuses thy sins must die or thou must die for them Psal. 68. 21. If thou allow of one sin though but a little a secret one though thou maist plead necessity and have a hundred shifts and excuses for it the life of thy soul must go for the life of that sin Ezek. 18. 21. and will it not be dearly bought Oh sinner hear and consider If thou wilt part with thy sins God will give thee his Christ Is not this a fair exchange I testifie unto thee this day that if thou perish it is not because there was never a Saviour provided nor life tendered but because thou preferredst with the Jews the Murderer before thy Saviour sin before Christ and lovedst darkness rather than light Iohn 3. 19. Search thy heart therefore with candles as the Jews did their houses for Leven before the Pass-over Labour to find out thy sins Enter into thy Closet and consider what evil have I lived in what duty have I neglected towards God! what sin have I lived in against my brother and now strike the darts through the heart of thy sin as Ioab did through Absalom's 2 Sam. 18. 14. Never stand looking upon thy sin nor rolling the morsel under thy tongue Iob 20. 12. but spit it out as poyson with fear and detestation Alas what will thy sins do for thee that thou shouldst stick at parting with them They will flatter thee but they will undo thee and cut thy throat while they smile upon thee and poyson
with thee A short Soliloqui for an unregenerate sinner Ah wretched man that I am what a condition have I brought my self into by sin Oh! I see my heart hath but deceived me all this while in flattering me that my condition was good I see I see I am but a lost and undone man for ever undone unless the Lord help me out of this condition My sins My sins Lord what an unclean polluted wretch and I more loathsome and odious to thee than the most hateful Venome or noisome carcass can be to me Oh! what a Hell of sin is in this heart of mine which I have flattered my self to be a good heart Lord how universally am I corrupted in all my parts powers performances All the imaginations of the thoughts of my heart are only evil continually I am under an inability to averseness from and enmity against any thing that is good and am prone to all that is evil My heart is a very sink of all sin and oh the innumerable hosts and swarms of sinful thoughts words and actions that have flown from thence Oh the load of guilt that is on my soul my head is 〈◊〉 and my heart full my mind and my memâ—ers they are all full of sin Oh my sins How do they stare upon me How do they witness against me Wo is me my Creditors are upon me every commandment taketh hold upon me for more than ten thousand Talents yea ten thousand times ten thousand How endless then is the sum of all my debts If this whole world were filled up from earth to Heaven with paper and all this paper written over within and without by Arithmeticians yet when all were cast up together it would come unconceivably short of what I owe to the least of Gods Commandments Wo unto me for my debts are infinite and my sins are increased They are wrongs to an infinite Majesty and if he that committeth Treason against a silken mortal is worthy to be tacked drawn and quartered what have I deserved that have so often lifted up my hand against Heaven and have struck at the Crown and dignity of the Almighty Oh my sins my sins Behold a troop cometh Multitudes multitudes there is no number of their Armies Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold upon me they have set themselves in array against me Oh! it were better to have all the Regiments of Hell come against me than to have my sins to fall upon me to the spoiling of my Soul Lord how am I surrounded How many are they that rise up against me They have beset me behind and before they swarm within me and without me they have possessed all my powers and have â—ortified mine unhappy soul as a Garrison which this brood of Hell doth man and maintain against the God that made me And they are as mighty as they be many The sands are many but then they are not great the mountains great but then they are not many But wo is me my sins are as many as the sands sand as mighty as the Mountains Their weight is greater than their number It were better that the Rocks and the Mountains should fall upon them than the crushing and unsupportable load of my own sins Lord I am heavy loaden let mercy help or I am gone Unload me of this heavy guilt this sinking load or I am crushed without hope and must be pressed down to Hell If my grief were thorowly weighed and my sins laid in the ballances together they would be heavier than the sand of the Sea therefore my words are swallowed up they would weigh down all the rocks and the hills and turn the ballance against all the Isles of the Earth O Lord thou knowest my manifold transgressions and my mighty sins Ah my soul Alas my Glory Whither art thou humdled Once the Glory of the Creation and the Image of God now a lump of filthiness a Coffin of rottenness replenished with stench and loathsomness Oh what worâ— hath sin made with thee Thou shalt be termâ— Forsaken and all the rooms of thy faculties â—â—solate and the name that thou shalt be called 〈◊〉 is Icabod or where is the Glory How 〈◊〉 thou come down mightily My beauty is turned into deformity and my Glory into shame Lord what a loathsom Leper am I The ulcerous bodies of Iob or Lazarus were not more offensive to the eyes and nostrils of men than I must needs be to the most holy â—od whose eyes cannot behold Iniquity And what misery hath my sins brought upon me Lord what a case am I in Sold under sin cast out of Gods favour accursed from the Lord cursed in my body cursed in my soul cursed in my name in my estate my relations and all that I have My sins are unpardoned and my soul within a step of death Alas what shall I do Whither shall I go Which way shall I look God is frowning on me from above Hell gaping for me beneath Conscience imiting me within temptations and dangers surrounding me without Oh whither shall I fly What place can hide me from Omnisciency What power can secure me from Omnipotency What meanest thou O my soul to go on thus Art thou in league with Hell Hast thou made a Covenant with death Art thou in love with thy misery Is it good for thee to be here Alas what shall I do Shâ—ll I go on in my sinful ways Why then certain damnation will be mine end and shall I be so besotted and bemadded as to go and sell my soul to the flames for a little Ale and a littlâ— ease for a little pleasure or gain or content to my flesh shall I linger any longer in this wretched estate No If I tarry here I shall die What then is there no help no hope None except I turn Why but is there any remedy for such woful misery any mercy after such provoking iniquity Yes as sure as Gods Oath is true I shall have pardon and mercy yet if I presently unfeignedly and unreservedly turn by Christ to him Why then â—â—hank thee upon the bended knees of my soul O most merciful Iehovah that thy patience hath waited for me hitherto for hadst thou took me away in this estate I had perished for ever And now I adore thy Grace and accept the offers of thy mercy I renounce all my sins and resolve by thy grace to set my self against them and to follow thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life Who am I Lord that I should make any claim unto thee or have any part or portion in thee who am not worthy to lick up the dust of thy feet Yet since thou holdest forth the golden Scepter I am bold to come and touch To despair would be to disparage thy mercy and to stand off when thou biddest me come would be at once to undo my self and rebel against thee under pretence of humility Therefore I bow my soul unto
heart unto all that I shall testifie unto thee this day for it is not a vain thing it is your life Deut. 32. 4. 6. This is the end of all that hath been spoken hitherto to bring you to set upon turning and making use of Gods means for your Conversion I would not trouble you nor torment you before the time with the forethoughts of your eternal misery but in order to your making your escape Were you shut up under your present misery without remedy it were but mercy as one speaks to let you alone that you might take in that little poor comfort that you are capable of here in this world But you may yet be happy if you do not wilfully refuse the means of your recovery Behold I hold open the door unto you arise and take your flight I set the way of life before you walk in it and you shall live and not die Deut. 30. 19. Ier. 9. 16. It pities me to think you should be your own murderers and throw your selves headlong when God and men cry out to you as Peter in another case to his master Spare thy self A noble Virgin that attended the Court of Spain was wickedly ravished by the King and hereupon exciting the Duke her Father to revenge he called in the Moors to his help who when they had executed his design miserably wasted and spoiled the Country which this Virgin laying so exceedingly to heart shut her self up in a Tower belonging to her Fathers house and desired her Father and Mother might be called forth and bewailing to them her own wretchedness that she should have occasioned so much misery and desolation to her Country for the satisfying of her revenge she told them she was resolved to be avenged upon her self Her Father and Mother besought her to pity her self and them but nothing would prevail but she took her leave of them and threw her self off the battlements and so perished before their faces Just thus is the wilful destruction of ungodly men The God that made them beseecheth them and cryeth out to them as Paul to the distracted Jaylor when about to murder himself Do thy self no harm The Ministers of Christ forewarn them and follow them and fain would hold them back But alas No expostulations nor obtestations will prevail but men will hurl themselves into perdition while pity it self looketh on What shall I say Would it not grieve a person of any humanity if in the time of a reigning plague he should have a receipt as one well that would infallibly cure all the Countrey and recover the most hopeless patients and yet his friends and neighbours should die by the hundreds about him because they would not use it Men and Brethren though you carry the certain symptoms of death in your faces yet I have a receipt that will cure you all that will cure infallibly Follow but these few directions and if you do not then win Heaven I will be content to lose it Hear then Oh sinner and as ever thou wouldst be converted and saved embrace this following counsel Dir. I. Set it down with thy self as an undoubted truth that it is impossible for thee ever to get to Heaven in this thine unconverted state Can any other but Christ save thee And he tells thee he will never do it except thou be regenerated and converted Mat. 18. 3. Iohn 3. 3. Doth he not keep the keys of Heaven And canst thou get in without his leave as thou must if ever thou comest thither in thy natural condition without a sound and through renovation Dir. II. Labour to get a thorow sight and lively sense and feeling of thy sins Till men are weary and heavy laden and pricked at the heart and stark sick of sin they will not come to Christ in his way for ease and cure nor to purpose enquire What shall we do Mat. 11. 28. Acts 2. 37. Mat. 9. 12. They must set themselves down for dead men before they will come unto Christ that they may have life Iohn 5. 40. Labour therefore to set all thy sins in order before thee Never be afraid to look upon them but let thy spirit make diligent search Psal. 77. 6. Enquire into thine heart and into thy life Enter into a thorow examination of thy self and of all thy wayes Psal. 119. 59. that thou maist make a full discovery and call in the help of Gods spirit in the sense of thine own inability hereunto for it is his proper work to convince of sin Iohn 16. 8. Spread all before the face of thy conscience till thine heart and eyes be set abroach Leave not striving with God and thine own soul till it cry out under the sense of thy sins as the enlightned Jaylor What must I do to be saved Acts 16. 30. To this porpose Meditate of the numerousness of thy sins David's heart failed when he thought of this and considered that he had more sins than hairs Ps. 40. 12. This made him to cry out upon the multitudes of Gods tender-mercies Psal. 51. 1. The loathsom carcase doth not more hatefully swarm with crawling worms than an unsanctified soul with filthy lusts They fill the head the heart the eyes and mouth of him Look backward where was ever the place what was ever the time in which thou didst not sin Look inward what part or power canst thou find in soul or body but it is poisoned with sin What duty dost thou ever perform into which this poyson is not shed Oh how great is the sum of thy debts who hast been all thy life long running upon the hooks and never didst nor canst pay off one penny Look over the sin of thy nature and all its cursed brood the sins of thy life Call to mind thy Omissions Commissions the sins of thy thoughts of thy words of thine actions the sins of thy youth the sins of thy years c. Be not like a desperate Bankrupt that is afraid to look over his books Read the records of conscience carefully These books must be opened sooner or later Rev. 20. 12. Meditate upon the aggravations of thy sin as they are the grand enemies against the God of thy life against the life of thy soul in a word they are the publick enemies of all mankind How do David Ezra Daniel and the good Levites aggravate their sins from the consideration of their injuriousness to God their opposition to his good and righteous Laws the mercies the warnings that they were committed against Nehem. 9. Dan. 9. Ezra 9. O the work that sin hath made in the world This is the enemy that hath brought in death that hath robbed and enslaved man that hath blacked the devil that hath digged hell Rom. 5. 12. 2 Pet. 2. 4. Iohn 8. 34. This is the enemy that hath turned the creation upside down and sown dissension between man and the creatures between man and man yea between man and himself seting the sensitive part against the
course you could wish that you were as some others be and could do as they can do How long will you rest in idle wishes and fruitless purposes when will you come to a fixed full and firm resolve Do not you see how Satan gulls you by tempting you to delays How long hath he toll'd you on in the way of perdition how many years have you been purposing to amend what if God should have taken you off this while Well put me not off with a dilatory answer Tell not me of hereafter I must have your present consent If you be not now resolved while the Lord is treating with you and woing of you much less are you like to be hereafter when these impressions are worn out and you are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin Will you give me your hands Will you set open the doors and give the Lord Jesus the full and present possession Will you put in your names into his Covenant Will you subscribe What do you resolve upon If you are still upon your delays my labour is lost and all is like to come to nothing Fain I would that you should now put in your adventures Come cast in your lot make your choice Now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation to day if you will hear his voice Why should not this be the day from whence thou shouldest be able to date thine happiness why shouldest thou venture a day longer in this dangerous and dreadful condition What if God should this night require thy soul O that thou mightest know in this thy day the things that belong unto thy peace before they be hid from thine eyes Luke 16. 42. This is thy day and 't is but a day Iohn 9. 4. Others have had their day and have received their doom and now art thou brought upon the stage of this world here to act thy part for a whole eternity Remember thou art now upon thy good behaviour for everlasting If thou make not a wise choice now thou art undone for ever Look what thy present choice is such must thine eternal condition be Luke 10. 42. Luke 16. 25. Prov. 1. 27 28 29. And is it true indeed is life and death at thy choice yea 't is as true as truth is Deut. 30. 19. why then what hinders but that thou shouldest be happy Nothing doth or can hinder but thine own wilful neglect or refusal It was the passage of the Eunuch to Philip See here is water what doth hinder me to be baptized So I may say to thee see here is Christ here is mercy pardon life what hinders but that thou shouldst be pardoned and saved One of the Martyrs as he was praying at the stake had his pardon set by in a box which indeed he refused deservedly because upon unworthy terms But here the terms are most honourable and easie O sinner wilt thou burn with thy pardon by Why do but forthwith give up thy consent to Christ renounce thy sins deny thy self take up the Yoak and the Cross and thou carriest the day Christ is thine pardon peace life blessedness all are thine and is not this an offer worth the embracing Why shouldst thou hesitate or doubtfully dispute about the case Is it not past controversie whether God be better than sin and glory better than vanity Why shouldst thou forsake thine own mercy and sin against thine own life When wilt thou shâ—ke off thy sloth and lay by thine excuses Boast not thy self of to morrow thou knowest not where this night may lodge thee Prov. 27. 1. Beloved now the holy Spirit is striving with you He will not always strive Hast thou not felt thy heart warmed by the word and been almost perswaded to leave off thy sins and come in to God Hast thou not felt some good motions in thy mind wherein thou hast been warned of thy danger and told what thy careless course would end in It may be thou art like young Samuel who when the Lord called once and again he knew not the voice of the Lord 1 Sam. 3. 6 7. but these motions and items are the offers and essays and the calls and strivings of the spirit O take the advantage of the tide and know the day of thy visitation Now the Lord Jesus stretcheth wide his arms to receive you He beseecheth you by us How movingly how meltingly how pitifully how passionately he calleth The Church is put into a sudden extasie upon the sound of his voice The voice of my beloved Cant. 2. 8. O wilt thou turn a deaf ear to his voice it is not the voice that breaketh the Ceders and maketh the mountains to skip like a Calf that shaketh the Wilderness and divideth the flames of fire it is not Sinai's Thunder but the soft and still voice It is not the voice of Mount Ebal a voice of cursing and terror but the voice of Mount Gerizim the voice of blessing and of glad tidings of good things It is not the voice of the Trumpet nor the noise of War but a message of peace from the King of peace Eph. 6. 15. 2. Cor. 5. 18 20. Methinks it should be with thee as with the spouse My soul failed when he spake Cant. 5. 6. I may say to thee O sinner as Martha to her sister The Master is come and he calleth for thee Iohn 11. 28. Oh now with Mary arise quickly and come unto him How sweet are his invitations He cryeth in the open concourse If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink Iohn 7. 37. Prov. 1. 21. He broacheth his own body for thee Oh come and lay thy mouth to his side How free is he he excludeth none Whosoever with let him come and take the water of life freely Rev. 22. 17. Whoso is simple let him turn in hithâ—r Come eat of my bread drink of the wine which â— have mingled For sake the foolish and live Prov. 9. 4 5. 6. Come unto me c. Take my yoak upon you and learn of me and ye shall find rest unto your souls Mat. 11. 28 29. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Joh. 6. 37. How doth he bemoan the obstinate refuser O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered thy Children as a Hen guthereth her Chickens under hot wings and ye would not Mat. 23. 37. Behold me behold me I have stretched out my hands all the day to a rebellious people Esay 65. 1 2. O be perswaded now at last to throw your selves into the arms of love Behold O ye sons of men the Lord Jesâ—s hath thrown open the prisons and now he cometh to you as the Magistrates once to them Acts 16. 39. and bâ—â—eeâ—heth you to come out If it were from a Palace or a Paradise that Christ did call you it were no wonder if you were unwilling and yet how easily was Adam tolled from hence but it is from your prison sirs from your chains from the
his way and walk are sensual and carnal you may trace him in his secret haunts and his footsteps will be found in some by-paths of sin The work is thorowout with him 3. Thorowout the motives or the life and practice The new man takes a new course Eph. 2. 2 3. His Conversation is in Heaven Phil. 3. 20. No sooner doth Christ call by effectual grace but he strait way becomes a follower of him Mat. 4. 20. When God hath given the new heart and writ his law in his mind he forthwith walks in his statutes and keeps his judgments Ezek. 36. 26 27. Though sin may dwell God knows a wearisome and unwelcome guest in him yet it hath no more dominion over him Rom. 6. 14 7. He hath his fruit unto holiness Rom. 6. 22. and though he makes many a blot yet the law and life of Jesus is that he eyes as his copy Psal. 119. 30. Heb. 12. 2. and hath an unfeigned respect to all Gods commandments Ps. 119. 6. He makes conscience even of little sins little duties Psal. 119. 113. His very infirmities which he cannot help though he would are his souls burden and are like the dust in a mans eye which though but little yet are not a little troublesome O man Dost thou read this and never turn in upon thy soul by self-examination The sincere Convert is not one man at Church and another at home he is not a Saint on his knees and a Cheat in his shop he will not tithe mint and cummin and neglect mercy and judgment and the weighty matters of the Law he doth not pretend piety and neglect morality Mat. 23. 14. but he turns from all his sins and keeps all Gods Statutes Ezek. 18. 21. though not perfectly except in desire and endeavour yet sincerely not allowing himself in the breach of any Rom. 7. 15 Now he delights in thy word and sets himself to prayer and opens his hand if able and draws out his soul to the hungry Rom. 7. 22. Psal. 109. 4 Esay 58. 10. He breaketh off his sins by righteousness and his iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor Dan. 4. 27. and hath a good conscience willing in all things to live honestly Hâ—b 13. 18. and to keep without offence towards God and men Here again you shall find the unsoundness of many professors that take themselves for good Christians They are partial in the law Mat. 2. 9. and take up with the cheap and easie duties of religion but they go not thorow with the work They are as a cake not turned half roasted and half raw It may be you shall have them exact in their words punctual in their dealings but then they do not exercise themselves unto godliness and for examining themselves and governing their hearts to this they are strangers You may have them duly at the Church but follow them to their families and there you shall see little but the world minded or if they have a road of family duties follow them to their closets and there you shall find their souls are little looked after It may be they seem otherwise religious but bridle not their tongues and so all their religion is in vain Iam. 1. 26. It may be they come up to closet and family prayer but follow them to their shops and there you shall find them in a trade of lying or some covert and cleanly way of deceit Thus the hypocrite goes not thorowout in the course of his obedience And thus much for the subject of Conversion 6. The terms are either from which or to which 1. The terms from which we turn in this motion of Conversion are sin Satan the world and our own righteousness first Sin When a man is converted he is for ever out with sin yea with all sin Psal. 119. 128. but most of all with his own sins and especially with his bosom sin Psal. 18. 23. Sin is now the But of his indignation 2 Cor. 7. 11. he thirsts to bathe his hands in the blood of his sins His sins set abroach in sorrows It is sin that pierces him and wounds him he feels it like a thorn in his side like a prick in his eyes he groans and struggles under it and not formally but feelingly cries out O wretched man he is not impatient of any burden so much as of his sin Psal. 40. 12. If God should give him his choice he would choose any affliction so he might be rid of sin He feels it like the cutting gravel in his shooes pricking and paining him as he goes Before Conversion he had light thoughts of sin he cherished it in his bosom as Vriah his lamb he nourished it up and it grew up together with him it did eat as it were of his own meat and drank of his own cup and lay in his bosom and was to him as a daughter but when God opens his eyes by conversion he throws it away with abhorrence Esay 30. 22. as a man would a loathsome toad which in the dark he had hugged fast in his bosome and thought it had been some pretty and harmless bird When a man is savingly changed he is not only deeply converted of the danger but defilement of sin and O how earnest is he with God to be purified He loaths himself for his sins Ezek. 36. 31. He runs to Christ and casts himself into the fountaine opened for sin and for uncleanness Zecâ— 13. 31. If he fall what a stir is there to get all clean again He flies to the word and washes and rubs and rinches labouring to cleanse himself from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit He abhors his once beloved sin Psal. 18. 23. as a cleanly nature doth the trough and mire wherein he sees the swine delight The sound Convert is heartily engaged against sin He wrestles with it he wars against it He is too often foiled but he never yields the cause nor lays down the weapons but he will up and to it again while he hath breath in his body He will never give quiet possession he will make no peace he will give no quarter he falls upon it and fires upon it and is still disquieting of it with continual alarms He can forgive his other enemies he can pity them and pray for them Acts 7. 60. but here he is implacable here he is set upon revenge he hunteth as it were for the precious life his eye shall not pity his hand shall not spare though it be a right hand or a right eye Be it a gainful sin most delightful to his nature a support to his esteem with carnal friends yet he will rather throw his gain down the kennel see his credit fall or the flower of pleasure whither in his hand than he will allow himself in any known way of sin Luke 19. 8. He will grant no indulgence he will give no toleration but he draws upon sin where ever he meets it and frowns upon it with
art not only without God but God is against thee Ezek. 5. 8 9. Nah. 2. 13. Oh if God will but stand a neuter though he did not own nor help the poor sinner his case were not so deeply miserable Though God should give up the poor creature to the will of all his enemies to do their worst with him though he should deliver him over to the tormentors Mat. 18. 34. that devils should tear and torture him to their utmost power and skill yet this were not half so fearful But God himself will set against the sinner and believe it 't is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10. 31. There 's no friend like him no enemy like him As much as Heaven is above the Earth Omnipotency above Impotency Infinity above Nullity so much more horrible is it to fall into the hands of the living God than into the paws of Bears or Lions yea furies or devils God himself will be thy tormentor thy destruction shall come from the presence of the Lord. 2 Thes. 1. 9. Tophet is deep and large and the wrath of the Lord like a river of brimstone doth kindle it Esay 30. 33. If God be against thee who shall be for thee If one man sin against another the Iudge shall Iudge him but if a man sin against the Lord who shall intreat for him 1 Sam. 2. 25. Thou even thou art to be feared and who shall stand in thy sight when â—â—ce thou art angry Psal. 76. 7. Who is that God that shall deliver you out of his hands Dan. 3. 15. Can Mammon Riches profit not in the day of wrath Prov 11. 14. Can Kings or Warriours No they shall cry to the Mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Rev. 6. 15 16 17. Sinner methinks this should go like a dagger to thine heart to know that God is thine enemy Oh whither wilt thou go where wilt thou shelter thee There is no hope for thee unless thou lay down thy weapons and sue out thy pardon and get Christ to stand thy friend and make thy peace If it were not for this thou mightest go into some howling wilderness and there pine in sorrow and run mad for anguish of heart and horrible despair But in Christ there is a possibility of mercy for thee yea a proffer of mercy to thee that thou maist have God to be more for thee than he is now against thee But if thou wilt not forsake thy sins nor turn throughly and to purpose unto God by a sound Conversion the wrath of God abideth on thee and he proclaims himself to be against thee as in the Prophet Ezek. 5. 8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God Behold I even I am against thee I. His face is against thee Psal. 34. 16. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them Wo unto them whom God shall set his face against When he did but look upon the host of the Egyptians how terrible was the consequence Ezek. 14. 8. I will set my face against that man and will make him a sign and a proverb and will cut him off from the midst of my people and you shall know that I am the Lord. 2. His heart is against thee He hateth all the workers of iniquity Man doth not thine heart tremble to think of thy being an object of Gods hatred Ier. 15. 1. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me yet my mind could not be towards this people cast them out of my sight Zech. 7. 8. My soul loathed them and their souls also abhorred me 3. His hand is against thee 1 Sam. 12. 14 15. All his attributes are against thee First His Iustice is like a flaming sword unsheathed against thee If I whet my glittering sword and my hand take hold on judgment I will render vengeance to mine adversaries and will reward them that hate me I will make mine arrows drunk with blood c. Deut. 32. 40 41. So exact is Justice that 't will by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34. 7. God will not discharge thee he will not hold thee guiltless Exod. 20. 7. but will require the whole debt in person of thee unless thou canst make a Scripture claim to Christ and his satisfaction When the enlightned sinner looks on justice and sees the ballance in which he must be weighed and the sword by which he must be executed he feels an earth quake in his breast But Satan keeps this out of sight and perswades the soul while he can that the Lord is all made up of mercy and so â—ulls it asleep in sin Divine Justice is very strict it must have satisfaction to the utmost farthing it denounceth indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish to every soul that doth evil Rom. 2. 8 9. It curseth every one that continueth not in every thing that is written in the law to do it Gal. 3. 19. The justice of God to the unpardoned sinner that hath a sense of his misery is more terrible than the sight of the Bailiff or creditor to the bankâ—rupt debtor or than the sight of the Judge and Bench to the robber or of the Irons and gibbet to the guilty murderer When justice sits upon life and death Oh what dreadful work doth it make with the wretched sinner Bind him hand and foot cast him into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Mat. 22. 13. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire Mat. 25. 41. This is the terrible sentence that justice pronounceth Why sinner by this severe justice must thou be tryed and as God liveth this killing sentence shalt thou hear unless thou repent and be converted Secondly The holiness of God is full of antipathy against thee Psal. 5. 4 5. He is not only angry with thee so he may be with his own children but he hath a fixed rooted habitual displeasure against thee he loaths thee Zech. 11. 8. and what is done by thee though for substance commanded by him Esay 1. 14. Mal. 1. 10. As if a man should give his servant never so good meat to dress yet if he should mingle filth or poyson with it he would not touch it Gods nature is infinitely contrary to sin and so he cannot but hate a sinner out of Christ. O what a misery is this to be out of the favour yea under the hatred of God! Eccles. 5. 4. Hos. 9. 15. that God can as easily lay aside his nature and cease to be God as not to be contrary to thee and detest thee except thou be changed and renewed by grace O sinner how darest thou to think of the bright and radiant Sun of purity upon the beauties the glory of holiness that is in God! The Stars
thee while they please thee and arm the justice and wrath of the infinite God against thee They will open hell for thee and pile up fuel to burn thee Behold the gibbet that they have prepared for thee Oh serve them like Haman and do upon them the execution they would else have done upon thee Away with them crucifie them and let Christ only be Lord over thee Dir. VI. Make a solemn choice of God for thy portion and blessedness Deut. 26. 17. With all possible devotion and veneration avouch the Lord for thy God Set the world with all its glory and paint and gallantry with all its pleasures and promotions on the one hand and set God with all his infinite excellencies and perfections on the other and see that thou do deliberately make thy choice Iosh. 24. 15. Take up thy rest in God Ioh. 6. 68. Set thee down under his shadow Cant. 2. 3. Let his promises and perfections turn the scale against all the world Settle it upon thy heart that the Lord is an all-sufficient portion that thou canst not be miserable while thou hast a God to live upon Take him for thy shield and exceeding great reward God alone is more than all the world Content thy self with him Let others carry the preferments and glory of the world place thou thy happiness in his favour and the light of his countenance Psal. 5. 6 7. Poor sinner thou art fallen off from God and hast engaged his power and wrath against thee Yet know that of his abundant grace he doth offer to be thy God again in Christ. 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. What sayest thou man Wilt thou have the Lord for thy God Why take this counsel and thou shalt have him Come to him by his Christ Ioh. 14. 6. Renounce the idols of thine own pleasure gain Reputation â— 1 Thes. 1. 9. Let these be pulled out of the Throne and set Gods interest upermost in thine heart Take him as God to be chief in thine affection estimations intentions for he will not endure to have any set above him Rom. 1. 25. Psal. 73. 25. In a word thou must take him in all his Personal relations and in all his essential perfections First In all his personal relations God the Father must be taken for thy Father Ier. 3. 4. 19. 22. O come to him with the Prodigal Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am not worthy to be called thy Son but since of thy wonderful mercy thou art pleased to take me that am of my self a dog a swine a devil to be thy child I solemnly take thee for my Father I commend my self to thy care and trust to thy providence and cast my burden on thy shoulders I depend on thy provision and submit to thy corrections and trust under the shadow of thy wings and hide in thy chambers and fly to thy name I renounce all confidence in my self I repose my confidence in thee I depose my concernments with thee I will be with thee and for no other Again God the Son must be taken for thy Saviour for thy redeemer and righteousness Iohn 1. 2. He must be accepted as the only way to the Father and the only means of life Heb. 7. 25. O then put off the rayment of thy captivity on with the wedding garment and go and marry thy self to Jesus Christ. Lord I am thine and all that I have my body my soul my name my estate I send a bill of divorse to my other lovers I give my heart to thee I will be â—hine undividedly thine everlastingly I will set thy name on all I have and use it only as thy goods as thy loan during thy leave resigning all to thee I will have no King but thee reign thou over me Other Lords have had dominion over me but now I will make mention of thy name only and do here take an oath of fealty to thee promising and vowing to serve and love and fear thee above all competitors I disavow mine own righteousness and despair of ever being pardoned and saved for mine own duties or graces and lean only on thine all-sufficient sacrifice and intercession for pardon and life and acceptance before God I take thee for mine only guid and instruction resolving to be led and directed by thee and to wait for thy counsel and that thine shall be the casting voice with me Lastly God the Spirit must be taken for thy sanctifier Rom. 8. 9 14. Gal. 5. 16 18. for thine Advocate thy Counsellor thy Comforter the teacher of thine ignorance the pledge and earnest of thine inheritance Rom. 8. 26. Psal. 73. 24. Iohn 14. 16. Eph. 1. 14. Iohn 14. 26. Eph. 4. 30. Awake thou Northwind and come thou South and blow upon my Garden Cant. 4. 16. Come thou Spirit of the most high here is a house for thee here is a Temple for thee Here do thou rest for ever dwell here and rest here Lo I give up the possâ—ssion to thee full possession I send thee the keys of my heart that all may be for thy use that thou maist put thy goods thy graces into every room I give up the use of all to thee that every faculty and every member may be thine instrument to work righteousness and do the will of my Father which is in Heaven Secondly In all his essential perfections Consider how the Lord hath revealed himself to you in his word will you take him as such a God O sinner here 's the blessedst news that ever came to the sons of men The Lord will be thy God Gen. 7. 17. Rev. 21. 3. if thou wilt but close with him in his excellencies Wilt thou have the merciful the gracious the sin-pardoning God to be thy God O yes saith the sinner I am undone else But he further tells thee I am the holy and sin-hating God If thou wilt be owned as one of my people thou must be holy 1 Pet. 1. 16. holy in heart holy in life Thou must put away all thine iniquities be they never so near never so natural never so necessary to the maintaining thy fleshly interest Unless thou wilt be at defiance with sin I cannot be thy God Cast out the leven put away the evil of thy doings cease to do evil learn to do well or else I can have nothing to do with thee Esay 1. 16 17 18. Bring forth mine enemies or there is no peace to be had with me What doth thine heart answer Lord I desire to have thee as such a God I desire to be holy as thou are holy to be made partaker of thy holiness I love thee not only for thy goodness and mercy but for thy holiness and thy purity I take thy holiness for my happiness Oh! be to me a fountain of holiness set on me the stamp and impress of thy holiness I will thankfully part with all my sins at thy command My willful sins I do forthwith forsake and for
renew me by the power of his Grace this man is in the likeliest way to win Grace Obj. But God heareth not sinners their prayer is an abomination Ans. Distinguish between sinners 1. There are resolved sinners their prayers God abhors 2 returning sinners these God will come forth to and meet with mercy though yet afar off Luke 15. 20. Though the prayers of the unsanctified cannot have full acceptance yet God hath done much at the request of such as at Ahabs humiliation and Ninevehs fast 1â— Kings 21. 26. Ionah 3. â— 9 10. Surely thou maist go as far as theseâ— though thou hast no Grace and how dost thou know but thou maist speed in thy suit as they did in theirs Yea is he not far more likely to Grant thee than them since thou askest in the name of Christ and that not for temporal blessings as they but for things much more pleasing to him viz. for Christ Grace Pardon that thou maist be justified sanctified renewed and fitted to serve him Turn to those soul incouraging Scriptures Prov. 2. 1. to 6. Luke 11. 9 10 11 12 13. Prov. 8. 34 35. Is it not good comfort that he calleth thee Mark 10. 49. Doth he set thee on the use of means and dost thou think he will mock thee Doubtless he will not fail thee if thou be not wanting to thy self O pray and faint not Luke 18. 1. A person of great Quality having offended the Duke of Buckingham the King 's great Favourite being admitted into her presence after long waiting prostrates himself at his feet saying I am resolved never to â—isâ— more till I have obtained your Grace's favour with which carriage he did overcome him With such a resolution do thou throw thy self at thee feet of God 'T is for thy life and therefore follow him and give not over Resolve thou wilt not be put off with bones with common mercies What though God do not presently open to thee Is not grace worth the waiting for Knock and wait and no doubt but sooner or later mercy will come And this know that thou hast the very same encouragement to seek and wait that the Saints now in glory once had for they were once in thy very case And have they sped so well and wilt thou not go to the same door and wait upon God in the same course Dir. XV. Forsake thy evil company Prov. 9. 6. and forbear the occasions of sin Prov. 23. 31. Thou wilt never be turned from sin till thou wilt decline and forgoe the temptations to sin I never expect thy Conversion from sin unless thou art brought to some self-denial as to fly the occasions If thou wilt be nibling at the bait and playing on the brink and tampering and medling with the share thy soul will surely be taken Where God doth expose men in his providence unavovidably to temptations and the occasions are such as we cannot remove we may expect special assistance in the use of his means But when we tempt God by running into danger he will not engage to support us when we are tempted And of all temptation one of the most fatal and perniclous is evil company Oh what hopeful beginnings have these often stisled Oh the souls the estates the families the Towns that these have ruined How many a poor sinner hath been enlightned and convinced and hath been just ready to give the Devil the slip and hath even escaped his snare and yet wicked company have pull'd him back at last and made him sevenfold more the child of Hell In one word I have no hopes of thee except thou wilt snake off thy evil company Christ speaketh to thee as to them in another case If thou seek me then let these go their way Iob. 18. 8. Thy life lies upon it Forsake these or else thou canst not live Prov. 9. 6. Wilt thou be worse than the beast to run on when thou seest the Lord with a drawn sword in thy way Num. 22. 33. Let this sentence be written in Capitals upon thy conscience A COMPANION OF FOOLS SHALL BE DESTROYED Pro. 13. 20. The Lord hath spoken it and who shall reverse it And wilt thou run upon destruction when God himself doth forwarn thee If God do ever change thy heart it will appear in the change of thy company Oh fear and fly this Gulf by which so many thousand souls have been swallowed into perdition It will be hard for thee indeed to make thine escape Thy Companions will be mocking thee out of thy Religion and will study to fill thee with prejudices against strictness as ridiculous and comfortless They will be flattering thee and alluring thee but remember the warnings of the Holy Ghost My son if sinners entice thee consent thou not If they say come with us cast in thy lot among us Walk not thou in the way with them reâ—rain thy foot from their path Avoid it pass not by it turn from it and pass away For the way of the wicked is as darkness they know not at what they stumble They lay wait for their own blood they lurk privily for their own lives Prov. 1. 10. to the 18. Prov. 4. 14. to the 19. My soul is moved within me to see how many of my hearers aâ—e like to perish both they and their houses by this wretched mischeif even the haunting of such places and company whereby they are drawn into sin Once more I admonish you as Moses did Israel Num. 16. 26. And he spake unto the Congregation saying Depart I pray you from the Tents of these wicked men Oh! flie them as you would those that had the Plague sores running in their foreheads These are the Devils Panders and decoys and if thou dost not make thine escape they will toll thee into perdition and will prove thine eternal ruine Dir. XVI Lastly Set apart a day to humble thy soul in secret by fasting and prayer and to work the sense of thy sins and miseries upon thy heart Read over the Assemblies Exposition of the Commandments and write down the duties omitted and sins committed by thee against every Commandment and so make a Catalogue of thy sins and with shame and sorrow spread them before the Lord. And if thy heart be truly willing to the terms joyn thy self solemnly to the Lord in that Covenant set down in the 9. Direction and the Lord grant thee mercy in his sight Thus I have told thee what thou must do to be saved Wilt thou not now obey the voice of the Lord Wilt thou arise and set to thy work Oh man what answer wilt thou mâ—ke what excuse wilt thou have if thou shoulâ—â—st perish at last through very wilfulness when thou hast known the way of life I do not fear thy miscarrying if thine own idleness do not at last undo thee in neglecting the use of the means that are so plainly here prescribed Rouze up oh sluggard and ply thy work Be doing and the Lord will be
to take up with present reproach and poverty if it lie in thy way to Heaven and to follow the Lord with humble self-denial in a mortified and flesh-displeasing life if so all is thine and that for ever And art not thou fairly offered Is it not pity but he should be damned that will needs go on and perish when all this may be had for the taking In a word wilt thou now close with these proffers Wilt thou take God at his word Wilt thou let go thy hold-fast of the world and rid thy hands of thy sins and lay hold on eternal life If not let conscience tell thee whether thou â—rt not distracted or bewitched that thou shouldest neglect so happy a choice by which thou mightest be made for ever 3. God will settle unspeakable priviledges at present upon thee 1 Cor. 3. 22. Heb. 12. 22 23 24. Though the full of your blessedness shall be deferred till hereafter yet God will give you no little thingâ— in hand He will redeem you from your thraldom Iohn 8. 36. He will pluck you from the paw of the Lyon Col. 1. 13. the serpent shall bruise your heel but you shall bruise his head Gen. 3. 15. He shall deliver you from the present evil world Gal. 1. 4. Prosperity shall not destroy you adversity shall not separate between him and you Rom. 8. 35 37 38. He will redeem you from the power of the grave Psal. 49. 15. and make the King of terrors a messenger of peace to you He will take out the curse from the Cross Psal. 119. 71. and make affliction the fining-pot the fan the physick to blow off the choff purifie the metal and purge the mind Dan. 12. 10. Esay 27. 9. He will save you from the arrests of the Law and turn the curse into a blessing to you Rom. 6. 14. Gal. 3. 14. He hath the keys of hell and death and shutteth that no man openeth Rev. 3. 7. 1. 18. and he will shut its mouth as once he did the Lions Dan. 6. 22. that you shall not be hurt of the second death Rev. 2. 11. But he will not only save you from misery but install you into unspeakable Prerogatives He will bestow himself upon you he will be a friend unto you and a father to you 2 Cor. 6. 18. he will be a Sun and a shield to you Psal. 84. 11. in a word he will be a God to you Gen. 17. 7. and what can be said more What you may expect that a God should do for you and be to you that he will be that he will do She that marries a Prince expects he should do for her like a Prince that she may live in suitable state and have an answerable dowry He that hath a King for his Father or friend expects that he should do for him like a King Alas the Kings and Monarchs of the earth so much above you are but like the painted butterflies amongst the rest of their kind or the fair coloured Palmer-worm amongst the rest of worms if compared with God As he doth infinitely exceed the glory and power of his glittering dust so he will beyond all proportion exceed in doing for his favourites what ever Princes can do for theirâ— He will give you grace and glory and withhold no good thing from you Psal. 84. 11. He will take you for his sons and daughters and make you heirs of his promises Heb. 6. 17. and establish his everlasting Covenant with you Ier. 32. 40. He will justifie you from all that Law Conscience Satan can charge upon you Rom. 8. 33 34. he will give you free access into his presence and accept your persons and receive your prayers Eph. 3. 12. Eph. 1. 6. 1. Ioh. 5. 14. He will abide in you and make you the men of his secrets and hold a constant and friendly communion with you Iohn 14. 23. Ioh. 15. 15. 1 Ioh. 1. 3. His ear shall be open his door open his store open at all times to you His blessing shall rest upon you and he will make your enemies to serve you and work about all things for good unto you Psal. 115. 13. Rom. 8. 28. 4. The terms of mercy are brought as low as possible to you God hath stooped as low to sinners as with honour he can He will not be thought a fautor of sin nor stain the glory of his holiness and whither could he come lower than he hath unless he should do this He hath abated the impossible terms of the first Covenant Ier. 3. 13. Mark 5. 36. Acts 16. 31. Acts 3. 19. Prov. 28. 13. He doth not impose any thing unreasonable or impossible as a condition of life upon you Two things were necessary to be done according to the tenour of the first Covenant by you 1. That you should fully satisfie the demands of Iustice for past offences 2. That you should perform personally perfectly and perpetually the whole Law for the time to come Both these are to us impossible Rom. 8. 3. But behold Gods gracious abatement in both He doth not stand upon satisfaction he is content to take of the surety and he of his own providing too what he might have exacted from you 2 Cor. 5. 19. he declares himself to have received a ranson Ioâ— 33. 24. 1 Tim. 2. 6. and that he expects nothing but that you should accept his Son and he shall be righteousness and redemption to you Iohn 1. 12. 1 Cor. 1. 30. And for the future obedience here he is content to yield to your weakness and to remit the rigour He doth not stand upon perfection as a condition of life though he still insists upon it as due but is content to accept of sincerity Gen. 17. 1. Prov. 11. 20. Though you cannot pay the full debt he will accept you according to that which you have and will take willing for doing and the purpose for the performance 2 Cor. 8. 12. 2 Chron. 6. 8. Heb. 11. 17. and if you come in his Christ and set your hearts to please him and make it the chief of your cares he will approve and reward you though the vessel be marred in your hands Oh consider your makers condescention Let me say to you as Naaman's servant to him My father if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldest thou not have done it how much rather when he saith unto thee wash and be clean 2 Kings 5. 13. If God had demanded some terrible some severe and rigorous thing of you to escape eternal damnation would you not have done it suppose it had been to spend all your days in sorrow in some howling Wilderness or pine your selves with famine or to offer the fruit of your bodies for the sin of your souls would you not have thankfully accepted eternal redemption though these had been the conditions Yea further if God should have told you you should have fryed in the fire for millions of ages or been
tormented so long in Hell would you not have gladly accepted it Alas all these are not so much as one sand in the glass of eternity If your offended Creator should have held you but one year upon the rack and then come and bid you take your choice whether you would renounce your sins accept his Christ and serve him a few years in self-denyal or lie in this case for ever and ever do you think you should have stuck at the offer and disputed the terms and have been unresolved whether you were best to accept of the motion O sinner return and live why shouldest thou die when life is to be had for the taking and mercy should be beholding to thee as it were to be saved Couldst thou say indeed Lord I knew that thou wast an hard man Mat. 25. 24. thou hadst some little excuse but when the God of heaven hath stooped so low and bated so far if now thou shouldest stand off who shall plead for thee Obj. Notwithstanding all these abatements I am no more able to perform those conditions in themselves so easie of faith and repentance and sincere obedience than to satisfie and fulfil the Law Answ. These you may perform by Gods grace enabling whereas the other are naturally impossible in this state even to believers themselves But let the next consideration serve for a fuller answer 5. Wherein you are impotent God doth offer grace to enable you I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded Prov. 1. 24. What though you are plunged into the ditch of that misery from which you can never get out Christ offereth to help you out he stretcheth forth his hand to you and if you perish it is for refusing his help Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open to me I will come in Rev. 3. 20. What though you are poor and wretchâ—d and blind and naked Christ offereth a cure for your blindness a cover for your nakedness a remedy for your poverty he tendereth you his righteousness his graces I counsâ—l thee to buy of me gold that thou mayest be rich and white â—aiment that thou maist be cloathed and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou maist see Rev. 3. 17 18. Do you say the condition is impossible for I have not wherewith to buy You must know that this buying is without money and without price Esay 55. 1. This buying is by begging and seeking with diligence and constancy in the use of Gods means Prov. 2. 3 4. God commandeth thee to know him and to fear him Dost thou say yea but my mind is blinded and my heart is hardned from his fear I answer God doth offer to enlighten thy mind and to teach thee his fear that is presented to thy choice Prov. 1. 29. For that they hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord So that now if men live in ignorance and estrangement from the Lord it is because they will not understand and desire not the knowledge of his ways Iob 21. 14. If thou cryest after knowledg if thou seekest her as Silver c. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledg of God Prov. 2. 3 4 5. Is not here a fair offer Turn you at my reproof Behold I will pour out my spirit unto you Prov. 1. 23. Though of your selves you can do nothing yet you may do all things through his spirit enabling you and he doth offer his assistance to you God bids you wash you and make you clean Esay 1. 16. you say you are unable as much as the Leopard to wash out his spots Ier. 13. 23. yea but the Lord doth offer to purge you so that if you be filthy still 't is through your own wilfulness Eze 24. 13. I have purged thee and thou wast not purged Jer. 13. 27. O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean when shall it once be God doth wait when you will be made clean when you will yield to his motions and accept of his offers and let him do for and in you what you cannot do of your selves You do not know how much God will do upon your importunity if you will but be restless and instant with him Luke 11. 8. and 18. 5. If God hath not bound himself by express promise to wicked men to give them Grace in the diligent use of the means yet he hath given them abundant encouragement to expect it from him if they seek it earnestly in his way His most gracious nature is abundant encouragement If a rich and most bountiful man should see thee in misery and bid thee come to his door wouldst thou not with confidence expect at thy coming to find some relief Thou art not able to believe nor repent God appoints thee to use such and such means in order to thy obtaining â—aith and repentance doth not this argue that God will bestow these upon thee if thou dost ply him diligently in prayer meditation reading hearing self-examination and the rest of his means Otherwise God should but mock his poor creatures to put them upon these self denying endeavours and then when they have put hard to it and continued waiting upon him for grace deny them at last Surely if a sweet-natured man would not deal thus much less will the most merciful and gracious God I intended to have added many other arguments but these have swoln under my hands and I hope the judicious reader will rather look upon the weight than the number The Conclusion of the whole And now my brethren let me know your minds What do you intend to do Will you go on and die or will you set upon a thorow and speedy conversion and hold on eternal life how long will you linger in Sodom how long will you halt between two opinions 1 King 18. 21. Are you not yet resolved whether Christ or Barabbas whether bliss or torment whether the land Cabul 1 Kings 9. 13. or the Paradise of God be the better choice Is it a disputable case whether the Abana and Pharphar of Damascus be better than all the streams of Eden or whether the vile puddle of sin be to be preferred before the water of life clear as Crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb Can the world in good earnest do that for you that Christ can Will it stand by you to eternity will pleasures titles lands treasures descend with you Psal. 49. 17. 1 Tim. 6. 7. If not had you not need look after somewhat that will What mean you to stand wavering to be off and on Foolish Children how long will you stick between the womb and the world Shall I leave you at last no farther than Agrippa but almost perswaded Why you are for ever lost if left here As good not at all as not altogether Christians You are half of the mind to give over your former negligent life and to set to a strict and holy
dungeon from the darkness that he calleth you Esay 42. 6 7. and yet will you not come He calleth you unto liberty Gal. 5. 13. and yet will you not hearken His yoke is easie his Laws are Liberty his service freedom Mat. 11. 30. Iames 1. 25. 1 Cor. 7. 22. and Whatever prejudices you have against his ways if a God may be believed you shall find them all pleasure and peace and shall taste sweetness and joy unutterable and take infinite delight and felicity in them Prov. 3. 17. Psal. 110. 165. 1 Pet. 1. 1. Psal. 119. 103. 111. Beloved I am loath to leave you I cannot tell how to give you over I am now ready to shut up but fain I would drive this bargain between Christ and you before I end What shall I leave you as I found you at last Have you read hitherto and are not yet resolved upon a present abandoning all your sins and closing with Jesus Christ Alas what shall I say what shall I do Will you turn off all my importunity Have I run in vain Have I used so many arguments and spent so much time to perswade you and yet must sit down at last in disappointment But it is a small matter that you turn off me you put a slight upon the God that made you you reject the bowels and beseechings of a Saviour and will be found resisters of the Holy Ghost Acts 7. 51. if you will not now be prevailed with to repent and be converted Well though I have called long and ye have refused I shall yet this once more lift up my voice like a Trumpet and cry from the highest places of the City before I conclude with a miserable Conclamatum est Once more I shall call after regardless sinners that if it be possible I may awaken them O earth earth earth hear the word of the Lord Ier. 22. 29. Unless you be resolved to die lend your ears to the last calls of mercy Behold in the name of God I make open proclamation to you Hearken unto me O ye Children Hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not Prov. 8. 32 33. Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Hearken diligently unto me and eate ye that which is good and let your soul delight it self in fatness Incline your ear and come ye unto me hear and your soul shall live and I Will make an everlasting covenant with you even the sure mercies of David Esay 55. 1 2 3. Ho every one that is sick of any manner of disease or torment Mat. 4. 23 24. or is possessed with an evil spirit whether of pride or fury or lust or covetousness come ye to the Physician bring away your sick Loe here is he that healeth all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people Ho every one that is in debt and every one that is in distâ—ess and every one that is discontented gather your selves unto Christ and he will become a Captain over you He will be your protection from the arrests of the Law He will save you from the hand of Justice Behold he is an open sanctuary to you he is a known refuge Heb. 6. 18. Psal. 48. 3. Away with your sins and come in unto him lest the avenger of blood seize you lest devouring wrath overtake you Ho every ignorant sinner come and buy eye-salve that thou maist see Rev. 3. 18. Away with thine excuses thou art for ever lost if thou continuest in this estate 2 Cor. 4. 3. But accept of Christ for thy Prophet and he will be a light unto thee Esay 42. 6. Eph 5. 14. Cry unto him for knowledge study his word take pains about the principles of Religion humble thy self before him and he will teach thee his way and make thee wise unto salvation Mat. 13. 36. Luke 8. 9. Iohn 5. 39. Psal. 25. 9. But if thou wilt not follow him in the painful use of his means but sit down because thou hast but one talent he will condemn thee for a wicked and sloathful servant Mat. 25. 24 26. Ho every prophane sinner come in and live Return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon thee Be entreated Oh return come Thou that hast filled thy mouth with oaths and execrations all manner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven thee Mark 3. 28. if thou wilt but throughly turn unto Christ and come in Though thou wast as unclean as Magdalen yet put away thy Whoredoms out of thy sight and thine adulteries from between thy breasts and give up thy self unto Christ as a vessel of holiness alone for his use and then though thy sins be as scarlet they shall be as wooll and though they be as crimson they shall be as white snow Luke 7. 37. Hos. 2. 2. 1 Thes. 4. 4. Esay 1. 18. Hear O ye drunkards How long will you be drunken put away your wine 1 Sam. 1. 14. Though you have rolled in the vomit of your sin take the vomit of repentance and heartily disgorge your beloved lusts and the Lord will receive you 2. Cor. 6. 17. Give up your selves unto Christ to live soberly righteously and godly embrace his righteousness accept his government and though you have been swine he will wash you Rev. 36. Hear O ye loose companions whose delight is in vain and wicked societie to sport away your time in carnal mirth and jollity with them come in at wisdoms call and choose her and her ways and forsake the foolish and you shall live Prov. 9. 5 6. Hear O ye scorners hear the word of the Lord. Though you have made a sport of godliness and the professors thereof though you have made a scorn of Christ and of his waies yet even to you doth he call to gather you under the wings of his mercy Prov. 1. 22 33. In a word though you should be sound among the worst of that black roll 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. yet upon your through Conversion you shall be washed you shall be justified you shall be sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of ouâ— God ver 11. Ho every formal professor that art but a luke-warm and dough-baked Christian and restest in the form of godliness give over thy halving and thy halting be a throughout Christian and be zealous and repent and then though thou hast been an offence to Christ's stomach thou shalt be the joy of his heart Rev. 3. 16 19 20. And now bear witness that mercy hath been offered you I call Heaven and Earth to record against you this day that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that you may live Deut. 30. 19. I can but woo you and warn
you I cannot compell you to be happy if I could I would What answer will you send me with to my Master Let me speak unto you as Abrahams servant to them and now if you will deal kindly and truly with my Master tell me Gen. 24. 49. Oh for such a happy answer as Rebekah gave to them Gen. 24. 57 58. And they said we will call the damsâ—l and enquire at her mouth And they called Rebekah and said unto her Wilt thou go with this man and she said I will go Oh that I had but thus much from you Why should I be your accuser Mat. 10. 14 15. who thirst for your salvation Why should the passionate pleadings and wooings of mercy be turned into the horrid agâ—avations of your obstinancy and additions to your misery Judge in your selves Do you not think their condemnation will be doubly dreadful that shall still go on in their sins after all endeavours to recall them Doubtless it shall be more tolerable for Tire and Sydon yea for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Iudgment than for you Mat. 11. 22 24. Beloved if you have any pity for your perishing souls close with the present offers of mercy If you would not continue and increase the pains of your travelling Ministers do not stick in the birth If the God that made you have any authority with you obey his command and come in If you are not the despisers of grace and would not shut up the doors of mercy against your selves repent and be converted Let not Heaven stand open for you in vain Let not the Lord Jesus open his wares and bid you buy without money and without price in vain Let not his Ministers and his Spirit strive with you in vain and leave you now at last unperswaded lest the sentence go forth against you The Bellows are burnt the Lead is consumed of the fire the Founder melteth in vain Reprobate Silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them Ier. 6. 29 30. Father of Spirits take the heart in hand that is too hard for my weakness Do not thou have ended though I have done Half a word from thine effectual power will do the work O thou that hast the key of David that openest when no man shutteth open thou his heart as thou didst Lydia's and let the King of glory enter in and make this soul thy happy captive Let not the Tempter harden him in delays Let him not stir from this place nor take his eyes from these lines till he be resolved to forgâ— his sins and to accept of life upon thy self-denying terms In thy name O Lord God did I go forth to these Labours in thy name do I shut them up Let not all the time they have lost be but lost hours let not all the thoughts of heart and all the pains that have been about them be but lost labour Lord put in thine hand into the heart of this Reader and send thy spirit as once thou didst Philip to joyn himself to the Chariot of the Eunuch while he was reading thy word And though I should never know it while I live yet I beseech thee Lord God let it be found at that day that some souls are converted by these labours and let some be able to stand forth and say that by these perswasions they were woâ— unto thee Amen Amen Let him that readeth say Amen FINIS Reading Mr. Ioseph Allein Book entituled An Alarm to the unconverted REader who ere thou art dost chance to look Bless God directed thee to such a Book Be serious when thou readest 't is no droul But that which aimeth to convert thy soul. What mad besotted desperado can Take prejudice against this holy man Who did sincerely nothing else desire But to prevent thy leaping in the fire And pen'd this Book out of a true endeavour To keep thee from that lake which burns for I do beseech you read it over why ever Will you be obstinate and choose to dye Know you what Heaven is or can you tell The torments of those damned souls in Hell Now read and pray O pray that God will give A true repentance that your soul may live This Book needs no Commendum for no doubt You will commend it if you read it out What did I care so sinners understood If each word were a tear or drop of blood The terms of our Communion are either from which or to which The terms from which we must turn are sin Satan the World and our own Righteousness which must be â—husrenounced The Terms to which we must turn are either ultimate or mediate The ultimate is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost who must be thus accepted The mediate terms are either principal or less principal The principal is Christ the Mediator who must thus be embraced The less principal are the Laws of Christ which must be thus observed