and apprehend and be apprehended of Christ I will not say as Moses Stand still but go on and thou shalt see the salvation of God But yet as there is hope so there is also hazard thou art still between hope and fear let both joyn together and force out thy stronger cryes When Lord when Lord I see thou hast dealt graciously by others now one 's brought in then another but my Soul still sticks though something be done yet how little is it wo is mē I am but as a Cake half bak'd half perswaded half resolved O when shall this almost come up to altogether Shall this be the day when it shall be said Salvation is come into this heart O come Lord when so many be taken let not me be left when so many be brought home let not me be left at half-way though I have been so long a coming towards thee I doubt I am not yet come to thee though I be come to thy door do I not hitherto stand without Lord take me in Lord take me in make me one of thy Disciples an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile Cry thus lift up each one his Soul and beg this Grace of the God of Grace Beg and believe believe and hope hope and run and wait for the Salvation of the Lord but pray in fear run in fear wait in fear lest after all this you should fall short of the Grace of God Heb. 4.1 Let us therefore fear lest a Promise being left us of entring into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it 2. Take encouragement to seek Grace from the Promise of obtaining Matth. 7.7 Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened to you for every one that asketh receiveth c. Jam. 1.5 If any of you lack Wisdom let him ask it of God who gives to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him If any man lack Grace let him ask it he that will not be a Beggar shall ever be poor Let him ask and it shall be given him it is not to be had without asking and it is to be had for the asking There are four especial Encouragements in this Promise 1. The Lord giveth He is not like to him that sets up himself above God Antichrist who Sells all he has God giveth you shall have it freely without money and without price Isa 55.1 2. To all men to any man that asks and asks aright to the worst as well as the best Those that need it most if they be duely sensible of their need are most like to speed the emptiest Vessels are those that God will fill the foulest Vessels are those that God will cleanse he will give Grace to any that seek it as they ought to the worst as well as the best 3. Liberally A drop is more than thou deservest but if thou wilt the whole Fountain shall be thine thou as poor as thou art mayst have Grace and have it in abundance these dry trees these pining and perishing and starveling Souls that sit lamenting your poverty go to God and you may all have enough every Vessel shall be filled with the water of Life 4. And upbraideth not he will not upbraid any man nor upon any account that is a serious suitor to him 1. He will not upbraid any man with boldness or sauciness If a poor man come to a Prince to beg any great Favour from him what is his ordinary entertainment What a saucy Fellow is here here 's a bold Begger indeed get you gone you are a saucy fellow God will not upbraid any of you so you may come boldly to the throne of Grace 2. He will not upbraid any man with his unworthiness Sirrah you are a Rebel and mine Enemy remember how you have carried it to me and besides you are such a poor and inconsiderable thing that you are never like to do me much service if I should give you never so much get you gone thus men upbraid but God will not do so he hath gifts for Rebels Grace for his Enemies the unworthiest among them all he hath put them into the hands of his Son on purpose to distribute amongst such Psal 68.18 How is it Sinner that thou hast gotten no grace all this time how is it that thou art not yet before the throne of Grace a begging for it O I am an unworthy wretch a vile sinner a rebell against God sure he will not look upon such a one as I No yes he will look upon any one that comes he upbraideth no man 3. He will not upbraid any man with coming too often or asking too much He will not say as men to Beggers Why you were here but yesterday my door can never be empty for you He will not say Can you not be content with a little will not one Alms suffice you God will rather say why have you stay'd so long ere you came why have I heard no sooner or why hear I no oftner of you Go Sinner speak to the Lord for that poor graceless Soul of thine beg thy pardon ask his Grace and Mercy knock at his door and lye at his door take no other answer but an Alms God doth not use to send away his Beggers that will not be deny'd but sooner or later he will surely give unto them 2. For Believers who have already obtained Grace in truth my word to them shall be Follow on towards perfection in fear of falling back from or walking unworthy of that Grace wherein you stand Hast thou obtained Grace hast thou so indeed May be now thine heart will be ready to say to thee Fear not thou art now out of danger of miscarrying for ever thou art pass'd from Death to Life and shalt not come into condemnation But yet take heed for 1. If thou be so secure from condemnation as thou thinkest thou art yet thy Fear is one of those necessary Means by which thou must be preserved from it As the Apostle saith concerning Faith 1 Pet. 1.5 so may we say concerning Fear We are kept by the mighty power of God through Fear unto salvation Consider that Scripture Jer. 32.40 I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from me 2. If thou be indeed secur'd from wrath art thou secur'd from sin also Is there no fear that sin may hurt thee though thou shouldst not die for it Is there nothing to be feared but Hell is there no fear but that of a Slave If thou be a Child of God is there no fear of disingenuity and unworthiness If thou be his Servant is there no fear of ill husbandry if thou be his Disciple is there no fear of non-proficiency He hath nothing of Christ that thinks nothing is to be feared but wrath and damnation Fear Sin fear to be unworthy unthankfull unfruitfull fear sinfull decayes and declinings and negligences
Lord and I know not where they have laid him Grace is not Peace is no more to me a good Conscience where is it become I can neither Believe nor Love nor Pray nor Hope nor any thing else but Fear and Lament O had I feared alway this Fear had never come upon me Christians Are there no such Instances no such Cases in the World And is there no fear that this may be any of your cases Do not you also travel with Charge have you not a Treasure within you What have you been Professors so long Believers so long have you been Hearing and Praying and Fasting and Labouring all this while and have not gotten something you would be loth to lose And is not the World still as very a Thief as ever Does not the Devil lye in wait for you as well as for others Is not his Eye upon that Chain about thy Neck that Jewel in thy Bosom and those Bracelets upon thy Hands the Graces that appear upon thee and hath he not a mind to beguile thee of them all Are his Temptations so weak or art thou so strong that thou needest not fear them As I told thee once heretofore so I now tell thee again He that is so weak as not to fear Temptations is certainly not so strong as to resist them Look to thy self they are all standing at the catch for thee thy Companions are catching thine Estate is catching thy Businese is catching thy Pleasures are all catching at thee to spoil thee of all that ever thou hast Objection But he that hath nothing hath no need to fear the Thief As for me saith the Sinner I have nothing to lose neither Grace nor Peace it 's for the Rich to fear but I am so poor that I cannot be poorer my Estate is so bad that the Devil can hardly make it worse than it is I need not fear whither or among whom I go I cannot come amongst those that are worse than my self why then should such an one as I Fear Answer 1. Hast thou nothing to lose thou hast the more to get Art thou content to be thus poor for ever Hitherto thou hast no Grace thou hast no part in Christ nor the Salvation of God but what if thou shouldst never have That which hath kept thee from Christ hitherto and so wholly void and empty of the Grace of God hitherto is like to keep thee so for ever and O what if it should do so If the Devil and this evil World should serve thee all thy days as they have serv'd thee to this day What if thou shouldst continue thus blind and thus hard and in such a poor and wretched state of Soul to thy dying day Darest thou go down thus to thy Grave Darest thou stand thus in the Judgment When it shall be then demanded of thee What good hast thou done or what good hast thou gotten wouldst thou stand speechless Consider in time the less thou hast the more thou hast to get 2. Thou hast yet much to lose As poor as thou art thou mayest be poorer thy case is not so bad but it may be much worse than ' t is For 1. Thou hast a day of Grace to lose Though thou hast no Grace yet thou hast a day of Grace thou art yet under the means thou art yet in a possibility of Grace as wretched as thy state is it is not desperate The Word is nigh thee the Door of Mercy is yet open Behold the Lord stands at the Door and knocks behold he calleth thee Come unto me and be saved what is thy time for Doth not the Lord say as Rev. 2.21 I give this Sinner space to repent What are Sabbaths Ordinances Ministry for Is not the Acceptable Day yet proclaimed Is not the Word of Reconciliation yet preached unto thee and do all these give thee no hope no opportunity of obtaining Mercy What if these were all lost and gone if it were said unto thee Time is past What if thou shouldst never hear a Sermon more never keep a Sabbath more never see the face of a Minister of Christ more if thou shouldst never again be instructed or invited to Christ but shouldst be irrevocably given up to a Reprobate Mind and an Heart that cannot repent Is it nothing to thee that Repentance is yet preached to thee in the Name of the Lord Jesus that the Ambassadours are still before thy Door beseeching thee from the Lord and praying thee in Christ's stead Be thou reconciled to God How would such a Day be prized in Hell If the Ministers that are now sent to thee were sent down amongst those damned Souls that are bound in Chains of Darkness to carry down the Gospel to them O if those miserable Souls might have one Sabbath more one hour of Grace more one Sermon more of Repentance and Reconciliation preached unto them how would their shrieks and howlings be turned into shouts and acclamations of joy Why Sinner thou hast yet the Blessed Day before thee when 't is past and gone then thou wilt know too late of what price it was 2. Thou hast a Soul to lose As poor as thou art thou hast yet that which is more worth than all the World Matth. 16.26 Thou dost not know the price of a Soul who sayest Thou hast nothing to lose Sinners value their Souls at a low rate 't is the cheapest pennyworth that the Devil can buy in the World Men sell them as cheap as Esau sold his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage as the Rich Men sold the Poor for a piece of Silver or a pair of Shooes a Soul for a Lust a Soul for a Whore a Soul for a Name the lowest price the Devil bids will hardly be refused But as low as Men rate it a Soul is worth a Kingdom all the Kingdoms in the World will not buy it from his hands who knows it's worth All the Crowns and Scepters and Thrones and Dominions of all the Earth put all together one poor Soul will weigh them all down And this is it O Sinner that thou hast to lose and yet dost thou say thou hast nothing to lose How canst thou also but live in Fear Yea who in the World hath greater reason to fear than thou Is thy Soul so precious Is thy Soul in danger of being lost Is it so near gone almost past recovery every day every hour ready to drop down into that Pit from which is no Redemption How is it that such a thought shakes not thy Soul IV. What you should Fear 'T is too long to tell you of every thing that is to be feared Fear especially these Things following Fear 1. Your Delilahs or your beloved Sins 2. Your Jezebells or your painted Sins 3. Your Isaacs or any beloved Creature 4. The Cross or Affliction 5. The Curse or Damnation 1. Fear your Delilahs or your beloved Sins You have reason to fear every Sin greater Sins smaller Sins common and ordinary
have attained it before you have Be sure before you be confident whilst the case is doubtful suspect your selves whilst you hope the best fear the worst Put it out of doubt by searching more narrowly and a more diligent improving True Grace where 't is weak is hardly discernable the narrowest search will not do it What-ever Arguments there may be for there will be so many Objections against it that will darken the evidence of them The Confidence of a truly gracious Soul that is but weak may be a kind of Presumption though he doth not presume he hath what he hath not though he hath it indeed yet his Confidence that he hath it may be a kind of Presumption because the Evidence is not so clear that he can rationally bottom a peremptory conclusion upon it To conclude this matter Art thou perswaded that thou hast Faith and that there is a gracious saving change wrought upon thee Fear that thou mayest be mistaken and in this Fear search whether thou art mistaken or no lest thou also at last should be found and have thy portion with the Presumptuous and self-deceiving Souls But of this more in its place 2. There is a Presumption on future Mercy how bad soever Mens present condition be There are some self-condemned Persons the Die of whose Sins is so deep that it cannot be varnished over nor hid from their own eyes their Consciences pass Sentence upon them for Hypocrites and Ungodly and yet though they see they be stark naught abominable Branches reprobate Silver at present they are still without Fears but it shall be well with them hereafter Though their Consciences condemn them yet they hope God will justifie them Conscience charges them as God did those ungodly ones Psal 50.17 Thou batest Instruction and casteth the Word of the Lord behind thee when thou sawest a Thief thou consentedst to him and hast been partaker with the Adulterer Thou hast been a Thief an Adulterer a Lyar a Scoffer a Slanderer these things thou hast done Canst thou deny it Or as Jer. 2.23 How canst thou say I am not polluted How canst thou say I am not a Transgressor See thy way in the Valley trace thy Foot-steps consider the course of thy Life and see if all thy wayes do not speak thee a wicked Man But though Conscience charges them thus and they cannot deny the Charge but are forc'd to acknowledg all is true and to confess if there be ever a wicked Man in the World I am one if there be ever a vile Person in the Earth I am one if there be ever a graceless one under Heaven I am the Man yet though they know that they are wicked Ones and have no Grace at present they still presume they shall have Mercy at last God is a God of Pardons if he should be extream to mark Iniquities who then shall stand God is a merciful God for whom did Christ die but for Sinners Wo be to the World if God were no more merciful if Christ were no more gracious than Men speak This was the Confidence of those pointed at before Deut. 29.19 Who bless themselves in their Hearts saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine own heart and add drunkenness unto thirst Mich. 3.11 The heads of the People judg for Reward the Priests thereof teach for Hire the Prophets thereof divine for Money they build up Zion with Blood and build up Jerusalem with Iniquity Here were a wicked Generation Perverters of Judgment Covetous Oppressors Bloody Men. What could these Men think of themselves Could they be ignorant that they were abominable in the sight of God What hope can they have of themselves Yes they have hope yet they will lean upon the Lord yet they trust in God no evil shall come upon them This is a more common case than is imagined Men could not be so hardy nor so venturous upon a course of known Iniquity as we see them to be did they not maintain in their hearts a secret hope of Mercy yet I shall have Pardon yet I shall have Peace the Lord I trust will spare me notwithstanding all that I have done But let such Men consider that by this their hope of obtaining Mercy in a state of Sin 1. They make the Scriptures a lye 2. They make Christ to do the Work of the Devil 1. They make the Sciptures a lye Thou doubtest not but that thou shalt be saved But what art thou It may be thou art an ignorant Soul all this while one that knowest not God nor his Gospel But what sayes the Scriptures of such Look into Job 18.21 Surely such are the Dwellings of the Wicked this is the Place of him that knoweth not God Where is his Dwelling what is his Place Look back into the former verses vers 14 c. His Confidence shall be rooted out it shall bring him to the King of Terrors Brimstone shall be scattered upon his Habitation he shall be driven from Light to Darkness and chased out of the World This is the place of him that knoweth not God Thou sayest no this is not my place my Confidence shall never be rooted out it shall bring me to the King of Glory I shall go out of Darkness into Light I shall see the Salvation of God What dost thou herein say but Scripture thou lyest this is not my place this dark and dismal Habitation shall be none of my Dwelling I shall dwell with God in the Land of the Living It may be thou art one that walkest after the Flesh a Person of a carnal worldly Life a Drunkard an Epicure an Earth-worm given to thy pleasure and ease and mirth a vain Person yea and one of the most vile of the Earth and what saith the Scriptures of such Why look into Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the Flesh ye shall die Colos 3.5 6. Mortifie therefore your Members which are upon the Earth Fornication Vncleanness inordinate Affections evil Concupiscence and Covetousness for which things sake the Wrath of God cometh upon the Children of Disobedience Rom. 2.8.9 Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth evil Psal 9.17 The Wicked shall be turned into Hell with all the Nations that forget God Thou art a wicked Man thou canst not say but thou art and yet thou art perswaded thou shalt to Heaven when thou diest What then dost thou make of the Scriptures dost thou not herein say 't is a lying Word there is no heed to be given to what it speaks Whilst the Saints build their hopes on the Truth what are thy hopes built upon but on a supposition of the falshood of the Scriptures And so this Word must prove the Word of that God that cannot lye must prove a false Word or thou wilt be damned for ever 2. They make Christ to do the Work of the Devil to help to fill the World with wickedness Whilst God sent Christ
to repent at last who wilt not now accept of it And thus you have the Grounds and Reasons why Men Fear not It is from their Ignorance Unbelief and Presumption III. The Grounds and Reasons why we should Fear These are such as follow 1. We have reason to Fear because of our Ignorance Mens Ignorance is the reason why they Fear not as before and yet it 's a great reason why they should Fear Who have so great reason to fear as the Blind Every Bush may be a Thief every Sheep may be a Wolf every Lamb may be a Lion for ought he sees to the contrary every step may be into the Ditch or into the Fire or into the Water where-ever he stands or sits or dwells he knows not who or what may be near him and have not such Men reason to Fear Particularly by reason of Ignorance 1. We know not our way 2. We know not the Dangers that are in our way 1. We know not our way John 12.35 He that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth Whither art thou bound Soul Thou art a Traveller but to what City to what Countrey art thou travelling O I am going to Canaan to the New Jerusalem I am travelling Heavenwards But dost thou know the way to that good Land Some of the most ignorant will answer as Christ said to his Disciples Wither I go I know and the way I know when the truth is they neither understand the one nor the other The way to God though it be a strait way and leads directly on by a line yet it 's hard to hit upon If I were to give but one general direction for finding the way to Heaven this should be it Take your first turning upon the right hand and then keep strait on without turning either to the right hand or to the left The way that thou art now going is to Hell but there is a turning on the right hand just before thee Repentance which is our turning out of the way of Death into the way of Life take that turning and then turn no more but keep strait on to the end of thy Life But as strait a way as the way of Life is it is not so easie to keep us in it There are many turnings out on either hand and at every Turning stands a Deceiver calling to Passengers as they go Turn in hither this is the way walk in it The Pharisee stands at one Turning and sayes This is the way The Law of Carnal Commandments the formal and superstitious observation of the Externals of Religion The Hypocritical Zealot stands at another and sayes This is the way The Spirituals of Religion believe in Christ love God and then live to thy self The Sectary of whatsoever Sect he be sayes Here is Christ this is the way of Life turn in hither be one of Us and thou shalt do well The Flesh stands and cries Hearken to none of these they are all blind Guides and will lead thee into their own Ditch come take this great and beaten Road in which thy Fore-fathers have gone before thee Follow the Wise Men and the Learned Men and those multitudes that thou seest going before thee Trust in the Mercy of God and trouble thy self no farther And the Devil stands at every one of these Turnings and if he can but perswade thee to take one of them it comes much alike to him which it be Now what shall a poor ignorant Soul do in this case to hit the right when there are so many false wayes He does not know the way himself and he is like to meet with so many false Guides how can he but Fear he may be misled and lost It fares with these Ignorant Souls as with the Hosts of the Syrians that were going to Dathan to slay Elisha 2 Kings 6.19 Elisha smites them with blindness and then leads them whithersoever he pleases Out he goes to them and tells them This is not the way neither is this the City come along with me and I will bring you to the Man whom you seek but he led them to Samaria This blind Host thought they had been right and going to Dathan but when their eyes were opened they saw themselves betrayed into Samaria into the hands of their Enemies Poor blind Soul thy hope is Heaven that 's thy journeys end thy Home to which thou sayest thou art travelling and thou perswadest thy self thou art in the way thither but for all this thou mayest be mistaken thou mayest be going to Samaria to Sodom to Hell and not to Heaven thou art in darkness and knowest not whither thou goest thou dost not know thy way how then canst thou but fear whether thou art in the right way or the wrong 2. By reason of Ignorance we know not the dangers in our way If we have some apprehension that the way is dangerous yet we know not in particular where the danger lies and so ere we are aware may fall into it Some young Travellers though they be told they be going a dangerous Road yet know not the dangerous Places nor the dangerous Persons that they fall upon a Thief starts up out of a Bush where they never suspected him and when he comes by his fair Language and Carriage they take him for a Friend and suspect not he comes upon any evil Intention till their loss too late teach them what he is What harm is there in such a vain fashion in such a questionable recreation in Cardings Dicings Dancings What harm is there in a little carnal Mirth or in vain and merry Company they be not Drunkards nor Swearers nor Adulterers there 's nothing amongst them but honest mirth and pleasantness what hurt is there in that why what harm is there in falling among Thieves what harm is there in being rob'd of all thou hast hast thou never been a loser by such friendly Thieves hast thou lost none of thy precious Time amongst them which thou couldst ill spare nay have they not stollen away thy heart It may be thou hast found thou wert of a better Spirit when thou camest amongst them thou hadst some sense and savour of God and Religion upon thine heart and some holy seriousness and tenderness and when thou returnest thou seest it's lost thou hast left all thy Religion behind thee Is this no harm when thou hadst been serv'd so once wouldst thou be content to be serv'd so again If thou hadst a cup of pleasant Wine before thee and one should tell thee Take heed there 's poison in the Cup wouldst thou say what harm is it if there be If one should meet thee in a Wood or a Desert and should offer thee Money or Pleasure or what-ever thou wilt if thou wilt be rul'd by him and do what he would have thee and a Friend should tell thee this may be the Devil that comes to truck with thee for thy Soul wouldst thou say what harm is it if it be
our selves to God Yet he will not take the account we give without trying whether it be a true account 2 Cor. 5.10 We must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must be made manifest and laid open as the word imports that it may plainly be seen what we are And this severe search that shall be made in the Judgment the Apostle calls in the next verse the terror of the Lord. 'T would shake the securest Hearts to understand what a thorow search will be made of them in that day God will bring all things to light God will lay all in the Ballance What a dreadful Word was that to that King Dan. 5.27 Thou art weighed in the Ballance and found wanting What if that should be your case at last if God's Light should find you to be Darkness if God's Ballance should find you too light What if whilst you count your selves Children God should find you Bastards if whilst you count your selves Vines he should find you Thorns if while you count your selves Believers Beloved and Chosen of God that day should declare you to be Infidels and Reprobates What if it should be so you are stark Fools and worse than mad if you think such a question may not be put What if I should be mistaken Is such a mistake on which your eternal state depends of so little consequence with you as not to need such a question to be put about it Are you so little concerned how matters shall go with you in the Judgment Are you so little concerned what your final Sentence shall be which of you for Life and which for Death who for Blessedness and who for Burning What Rocks are those Hearts of yours if they do not rent and quake for fear And if you do fear to think what if I should be mistaken let that Fear set you a searching whether you have hitherto been mistaken or no. Beloved whether you fear or no give me leave to tell you I am afraid concerning you 1. Some of you I fear there are upon whom there hath been no good wrought no nor any thing done towards it not a Clod broken not a Thorn rooted out not a Grain of good Seed fallen upon your Hearts Upon whom the Lord hath been ploughing as upon Rocks sowing as upon Heaths hammering as upon Anvils hewing as upon Iron who with those Rebels Isa 48.4 have Brows of Grass and Iron Sinews who have hitherto resisted the Holy Ghost and put from you the Word of Life whom both the Seed and the Showers that have fallen upon you have left hard and barren bringing forth nothing but Briars and Thorns In whom Oaths and Lyes and Drunkenness and such like are all the Fruits that have been brought forth who are far from God and yet far from fear whom a very little search might be enough to convince you that you are in the Gall of Bitterness and the Bond of Iniquity If you would but cast an Eye upon God's Glass your foul Faces would quickly shew you what you are O Sinners if you your selves yet fear not let others fears concerning you thus far prevail with you as to cast a serious Eye upon your selves Make a little enquiry Is it not thus with me Is not my Soul in this very case If I should ask Where are my Sins Behold they compass me round about they are in mine Heart and in my Mouth and my whole Life is filled up with Iniquity But if I should ask Where is my Faith where is my Repentance where is the new Heart and the new Life Where is the Knowledg and Love and Life and Fear of God What could I say what answer could I give Make a little enquiry thus a very little to a Man in thy case me-thinks should be enough to convince and awaken thee 2. Others of you I fear there maybe upon whom the Lord hath been at work but the Work is not yet brought thorow Upon whom though the Plough hath entred and made some sign yet it hath not gone deep enough though the Thorns some of them are cut down yet their Root remaineth though the Seed of God hath fallen upon you and some Blades have sprung up yet it hath taken no root upon whom though there appear some dawning towards the Day yet you are not come to Sun-rising As for you it is a mercy that there is something done especially if there be still more a-doing It is a mercy that the Lord hath made a motion of Love to you and that he is not totally rejected that there is a Treaty for Peace whereof you have so far accepted as to yield to a Cessation of Arms and a forbearance of those open Acts of Hostility against God which have been that the Drunkards are become sober that the Swearers now fear an Oath that the Enemies of God and of all Righteousness are now content to hear of a Reconciliation This is a mercy Much more That any of you are so far convinced of the misery of Sin of the excellency and necessity of Religion and Godliness that you are wrought to some good liking of the Holy Wayes of God and are wishing and waiting and making out after the Lord. This is a Mercy because there is hope that he that hath brought you hitherto will bring you on farther and farther till he hath brought you home But yet there is matter of great fear too lest presuming you have already attained you should sit down short of Saving-Grace and so perish at last With a special respect to such as these I shall shew 1. How such Persons may be wrought to this Fear 2. How this Fear will work to a farther Search 1. To work this Fear in such let these following Particulars be considered 1. There are preparations to Grace that are not Grace 2. There are Images of Grace that are not Grace 3. There are some properties of gracious Persons that are no certain Evidences of Grace 4. There is no one Grace that is really so which will put us out of doubt 5. What-ever we have that is short of Saving-Grace it may go back and we may be reduced to a worse State than ever before 1. There are preparations to Grace that are not Grace God usually takes time and leads Men on to Christ by degrees we are not presently Converts as soon as we cease to Bedlams There may be awakenings of sleepy Souls there may be enlightnings of dark Souls there may be shakings of obdurate and hardned Souls which though they may have a tendency to farther good yet may be far enough short of it There may be the pangs of travel which may never bring to the Birth In particular 1. There may be Conviction of Sin and yet no Grace Conviction is not Conversion Ahab was once a Convinced Person and so was Judas also but never Converts 2. There may be a good Opinion of Grace where there is no Grace The Way
of Christ may be right in your Eyes and yet your Hearts not be upright in his Eyes You may be perswaded in your Hearts concerning the Way of Godliness that this is the Good Way that this is the Right Way and an Excellent Way that the Life of a Christian led according to the Rules of the Gospel is an Excellent Life Rom. 2.18 Thou knowest his Will and approvest the things that are more Excellent And to this good Opinion Men may be wrought 1. From the Self-evidencing Light of that Holy Doctrine which prescribes and requires Godliness 2. From the convincing Lives of the Sincere Professors of Godliness 3. From the Self-condemnation that is to be observed in all other wayes 1. From the Self-evidencing Light of the Doctrine of Godliness The Doctrine of Christianity proves it self to be of God by that Divine Light that shines forth in it there is a stamp of Divinity imprinted upon it Is God an Holy God So is this Doctrine an Holy Doctrine Is God a Merciful and Gracious God So is this Doctrine a Doctrine of Mercy a Doctrine of Grace there is Grace and Mercy runs through the whole Body of it nay they are the very Soul and Life of it Is God a God of Wisdom The Doctrine of Christianity is the Wisdom of God in a Mystery Is God a God of Truth and of Righteousness Such is the Doctrine of the Gospel that not only is according to Truth and reveals the Righteousness of God but requires Truth and imposes Righteousness upon all that will embrace it What is more contrary to this Word of Truth than a Lye or than Hypocrisie and Guile What is more contrary to this Word of Righteousness than Unrighteousness Doth the Word of the Gospel allow any Iniquity Is there any guile found in it or any toleration whereof in its Professors Doth it not command all Righteousness and condemn all Unrighteousness even while it justifies the Sinner it condemns the Sin This Religion is pure Religion and undefiled before God Jam. 1.25 Teaching us that denying all ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live righteously soberly and godly in this present World Tit. 2.13 14. Now he that knows that God is an Holy and Wise God a God of Grace of Truth and of Righteousness and does but understand the Scriptures may without any great difficulty be led into a good opinion of that Godliness which is there held forth and required 2. From the Convincing Lives of the Sincere Professors of Christianity I do not say from the Lives of all Professors some Professors of Christianity there are who are not Christians Some such there are amongst Professors who are disorderly walkers whose Wayes are so evidently contrary to their Profession as if the Devil had led them into their Christianity on purpose to disgrace the Gospel and 't is like enough 't was his doing indeed to make Professors of them This Tempter may tempt Men into Religion as far as may sewe his own ends and Mens Lusts may make them Disciples Such I mean who while they pretend to the Spirit do walk after the Flesh who hold the Truth in Vnrighteousness Rom. 1.18 who are proud self-conceited self-willed heady giddy wandring and unstable Souls like crooked Lines that in some points touch with the Rule but for the most part do swerve from it on this hand and on that Who are scrupulous about some smaller Matters which they fancy to have an appearance of evil and yet allow themselves in apparent Evils straining at a Gnat and swallowing a Camel insisting much on some Circumstances and neglecting the weightier Matters of the Law like those Mat. 23.23 24. 'T is but little that Godliness is beholden for the good Opinion it hath obtained to such as these But to the sincere and single-hearted Professors whose Lives are a Copy or Pattern of wholsom Doctrine holding forth the Word of Life exemplifying the Holy Rules laid down in Scripture and shewing forth the Vertues of Christ before the World Who are in the World as he was in the World who live by Faith and walk in Love being humble meek peaceable merciful temperate true righteous and holy in all manner of Conversation These are the Persons whose Lives do commend Godliness to the World and force their very Hearts many of them to acknowledg Sure this is the Way of God that these Men walk it cannot be but God is in them of a very truth sure these are the Servants of the Living God this is Religion indeed if there be any way of Life this is the way It 's true this way is every-where spoken against by the malicious but the more like to be of God for that So 't was in the Apostles dayes Acts 28.22 As for this Sect we know it is every-where spoken against Mark it Christianity was counted by the malicious but a Sect or a Faction and Christians but Sectaries so they were counted and called about 1600 years ago and therefore 't is no disparagement if they be counted so still But sayes the considering Sinner let them be called what Men please Sectaries Seducers Hypocrites or what else malice can invent yet as it was said of Christ John 10.21 These are not the words of him that hath a Devil so it may be said of his Followers Call them what you will yet these are not the Lives of Schismaticks or Hypocrites these Men are the Servants of the most High God and their way is the way of Life 3. From the Self-condemnation that all other wayes carry in them If this be not the way of Life there 's none if these be not the Servants of God there are none such in the World For where are they else to be found Are the Ignorant and the Earthly and the Irreligious are these the Religious Are the Carnal and the Formal and the out-side Worshippers that will give Christ the Cap and the Knee and yet can Drink and Riot and Swear and Scoff are these the sincere Worshippers of God This must be the Good Way or which else can it with any tolerable probability be imagined to be Surely if this be not it we must even all count to be damn'd for there is no other that so much as looks like the Path of Life The Atheist must say I am not in the way to God this Fool hath said in his Heart There is no God The Pope with his Doctrine must say I am not the Way I am Antichrist 't is Christ only that brings us to God Formality must say I am not the Way for God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth John 4.24 Profaneness must say I am not the Way to God I am the Way of Death and my steps lead down to Hell If there be any Way of Death in the World profaneness is it Drunkards and Swearers and Revellers and Rioters if their Consciences may but have the priviledg of their
be many that say God is my portion I have chosen him for my inheritance and they think as they speak and yet do but deceive themselves I hope I have sincerely chosen the Lord but yet am in fear lest I also may be deceived How may I know whether it be so or no To this I answer you may know that you have sincerely chosen the Lord 1. If you have chosen him deliberately 2. If you have chosen him absolutely 3. If you carefully pursue your choice 4. If you measure your present happiness by the communion you have with him and the clearness of your title to him 5. If you be willing and resolved to forsake all things for his sake 1. If you have chosen God deliberately if your choice be not in a sudden fit but be the result of the deepest consideration Suddain bargains are often as suddenly repented of A light unadvised choice is not like to hold and while it holds there 's no great heed to be given to it Some men are such unstable Souls that their whole life almost is nothing else but choosing and changing when we choose understandingly and deliberately when we have throughly considered the great reasons for our choosing God his worthiness and excellency and our own necessity and have also weighed all the inconveniencies thereof and all the objections against it and do find that the reasons for do infinitely over-ballance all that can be said against it and hereupon determine for God that 's like to be found a sincere choice 2. If you have chosen him absolutely as that which you will stand to to the last whatever inconveniencies may follow When there are no ifs nor ands no reserves in your heart nor place lest for repentance When your choice runs not as Jacob's conditional vow Gen. 28.20 If the Lord will be with me and will keep me in the way that I go and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I return to my Fathers house in peace then the Lord shall be my God but without any such if's whether he will feed me or no cloth me or no let him do with me as he will for that I am resolved however the Lord shall be my God And indeed so was Jacob too however the words sound This was never intended by him as the condition of his Religion there 's no other condition of that but if or since the Lord will be my God he shall be my God Jacob was in bond to God before and here he enters into a new bond layes a new obligation upon himself every one of these Mercies shall be so many new cords to bind me fast to the Lord but whether these new cords were added or no whether the Lord would keep or feed or cloth him or no 't was never his intent but his old bond should stand however that the Lord should be his God And as there are no reserves nor conditions in this our choice of God so is there a resolution against repenting of our choice whatever should happen A Christian chooses once for all chooses and changes not His choice of God is like to Gods choice Psal 110.4 I have sworn and will not repent sayes he concerning Christ The gifts and calling of God much more the Election of God are without repentance Rom. 11.29 where we choose God absolutely we leave no place for repentance 3. If you carefully pursue your choice Thus was it with Paul who had chosen for himself above and taken his aim at the right mark the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus he sayes Philip. 3.12 13. I follow after I reach forward I press to the mark Some vain men perswade themselves that they have chosen God and yet seldom or never look after nor take any care to obtain and make sure of him whom they have chosen they choose God but never follow God nor take the way that leads to the blessedness to come Sincere choice takes in both end and means When the choice of our hearts doth govern the course of our lives and doth effectually bend our course towards the obtaining of him whom we have chosen when this becomes our main drift and scope This I pray for this I wait for this I labour for this I live for I have nothing else to do but to serve and make sure of God if I can but so live as to please God here and get to Heaven when I dye whatever I miscarry in 't is all I look for this argues such a choice of God as will certainly argue us to be of God To choose God and yet to live to our selves to choose Heaven for our portion and yet to have our conversation in the earth an idle and inefficacious choice that doth not effectually command us after him whom we have chosen but let us run our old carnal course is a vanity and a delusion 4. If you measure your present happiness by the communications of God to you and the clearness of your title to him He that hath chosen God for his happiness look how much he possesses and enjoys of God and to what degree of clearness he is come concerning his Evidences for Heaven to such a degree of happiness he counts himself to have arrived whilst he can love and please and serve the Lord and maintain a confidence of his acceptance with him so long he can rejoyce when he is estranged from God he is as a man undone Therefore is it that Christians set themselves to get as much of God here and as sure a claim to the inheritance of the Saints in light as possibly they can Every one would make as sure of happiness as he can and would be happy as soon as he can would get as much as may be into present possession Hence are those breathings and thirstings and rejoycings of the Saints which we read of in Scripture As the hart panteth after the water brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God my Soul thirsteth for God for the living God Psal 42.1 2. My Soul thirsteth for thee my Flesh longeth for thee thy loving kindness is better than life My Soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness when my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips Psal 63. O that my wayes were so directed to keep thy Statutes O let me not wander from thy Commandments Psal 119.5.10 For in keeping them is great reward Psal 19. I have set the Lord alwayes before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved therefore mine heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth Psal 16.8 9. Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me thou hast put gladness in my heart Psal 4.6 7. Christians can never have good dayes longer than they are walking with God and beholding his face in righteousness this is their Heaven on Earth The reflection of the face of God in his Holy Image that appears upon them
come and we are tempted to them they find the door left open to them we wink at them and swallow them down even this must be interpreted an allowance of them He that sees the Thief at the door though he do not say pray come in yet if he shut not the door against him is accessary to his own Robberie It is a vain thing for thee to say the evil which I do I allow not when thou do'st nothing to withstand it If thou wilt not resist thou do'st thereby invite the tempter and his temptations Grace in the nature of it is an enemy against Sin These two are contrary Gal. 5.17 and though it be too weak wholly to overcome yet will it make opposition against it It 's true that actual allowance especially of some lesser sin is not utterly inconsistent with the truth of grace in this our imperfect state but he that resolves not to watch against to strive against every sin that hath any standing reserve of a liberty for any one in this thing the Lord pardon me how dwelleth the grace of God in him Mens allowing themselves thus in any sin is an argument that they are in a league with sin and he that is in a league with any sin his heart is not right with God Our engaging our selves to the Lord doth necessarily include in it our breaking with sin and our walking in friendship with God is our living in the defiance of Sin Hast thou friendship with Sin where is then thy friendship with God Do'st thou say thou hast not friendship with Sin nor art in any league with it how is it then that it hath such free access to thee Consider it well didst thou maintain in thine heart an enmity against sin thou would'st take more heed how thou gavest it entertainment Wilt thou open thy bosom to a viper would'st thou spread forth thine arms to a Serpent sure thou art of kin to these venomous beasts or thou would'st never allow them such freedom with thee It is at least a shrewd suspition that thou art of the seed of the Serpent or thou would'st never take into thy bosome these young Serpents thy lusts to be thy play-mates And if thus thou do'st and thine heart will not hear of being totally shut of its liberty with them the case is then plain thou art in such a league with sin as will conclude thee out of Covenant with God 2. He that lives a Godly life doth heartily resolve and endeavour never to allow himself in the neglect of any known duty By duties I mean not only those special acts of worship Prayer Hearing c. but all acts of obedience to the will of God both those more general and complexe Duties of working out our salvation of walking as becometh the Gospel of making sure our Calling and Election c. and every particular duty comprehended under these those which have a more immediate respect to God our living in the faith fear and love of the Lord those also which have an immediate respect to our selves our living soberly temperately in patience c. and those which respect others doing good to all men admonishing reproving comforting shewing mercy c. as there is occasion and we have opportunity As we are Christians we are indebted to others to our Families to our Neighbours to our Friends and to our Enemies I instance in all these in special in second-table Duties both because there can be no proof made of the uprightness of our conversations without looking into particulars and because there are many professors who pretend to great heights in the matters of the first table who in second-table duties are sadly remiss and negligent Even these latter are so essential to true Godliness that whatever proofs we seem to have of our sincerity our neglects of these especially our allowed neglects will call all into question Those that will live Godly in Christ Jesus must live in all good Conscience towards God and towards men also God will have his people to stand compleat in his whole will that they may herein both approve themselves in his sight and also shew forth his vertues before men so that the world may see that the spirit of Christianity is not a fanatick and feeble thing but hath a power in it to make a visible and universal change in the manners and wayes of those that are possessed with it that Christians may appear to be the mercy and the blessings and the beauty of the world That Countries may see that Families may see that it is a mercy that there are some Godly ones among them that the unbelieving Wife may see that it is a mercy to have a believing Husband that Grace hath made him better natur'd more loving more gentle more tender of her good that the unbelieving Husband may see what a blessing it is to him to have a believing wife that grace hath made her both a better woman and a better Wife more meek more patient more careful to please her Husband that the unbelieving Families or persons may find that it is a comfort and advantage to them to have so good a Master to live by so good a neighbour that pities them that prays for them and even Preaches to them by his holy life and good example To be professors of Christianity and yet to be all one in our conversations towards others as quarrelsome as contentious as unmerciful as unsavoury and unuseful as those that pretend to no Religion to have those about us to say if there be grace in them 't is all one as to us as if there were none it had been all one for me if my Father or my Master or my Husband or my Wife or my Neighbour had never medled with any thing of Religion he is the same man she is the same woman as proud as pettish as unkind as unmerciful as negligent of my good that it could not have been worse with me if there had been no such thing as Religion in them What do'st thou think of all the Godliness thou hast if thou give occasion to have it thus said of thee Well all these particulars and every other thing required in the Word of God I understand by duties Now this is a man of a Godly life he who having chosen God and embraced Christ Jesus the Lord doth set his heart in all things to walk uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel without allowing himself in the neglect of any thing that he knows pro hic nunc to be his duty whose prayer it is Hide not thy Commandements from me whose study it is to know the whole will of God and whose endeavour it is to walk in all the Commandements of God blameless this is a man of a Godly life This is according to the plain intent and meaning of his covenant with God and this is his faithfulness in the covenant Then shall I not be ashamed when I
have respect unto all thy Commandements Then shall I not be ashamed that is then shall I be upright in the way and have boldness both before God and Men when I shall have respect that is when it is in mine heart to do thy whole will without giving my self leave to turn aside either to the right hand or the left He that Lives in the neglect of the acts of worship that prayes not and hears not he that neglects the general duties that sets not himself to seek the Kingdom of God to work out his own Salvation to walk as becometh the Gospel but takes up with a careless carnal worldly sloathful life whether he finds he allows himself in these great neglects or thinks he does not though his heart smites him and will not suffer him to be quiet or go out with such a life in peace the very neglect or not engaging in these great and most necessary duties does prove him an ungodly man and 't will not help this man to say I allow not my self in these neglects for where-ever there is grace there will be praying and hearing and something done towards the working out our Salvation 'T will never be found any man's godliness that he allows not himself to live thus ungodlily when yet he does it Though he gives not himself a deliberate toleration if yet his heart take leave to live thus without God in the world his wayes will betray him whose and what he is Yea and those that do something in those great and general duties yet if they allow themselves in the neglect of any particular duties that they know to be such in the neglect of Righteousness in the neglect of Mercy in the neglect of their Families and the duties they owe to them in the neglect of Neighbour or Strangers and the duties they owe to them and can wink at and dispense with themselves herein such men can never prove but their Religion is vain Art thou a Godly man who art an unrighteous and unmerciful man Art thou a good Christian who art no good Husband Art thou a good Woman who art an evil Wife Art thou a good Man who art a bad Neighbour and givest thy self leave to be so Art thou a Godly man whom halting after the Lord must serve thee instead of walking with God Art thou a follower of Christ who wilt have him abate thee some of his demands abate thee truth abate thee mercy abate thee self-denyal or if he will not abate it to thee any thing that thou likest not thou wilt abate it to him Is this to be undefiled or entire in the way of the Lord will God call that uprightness which cannot be called integrity and that sure cannot be counted integrity which advisedly leaves out any one of the Commandements of God But now he that gives himself to Prayer Hearing and praising the Lord who makes it the scope and business of his life to please God and make sure for eternity studying and endeavouring to approve himself in every thing to him who searcheth the heart and tryeth the reins and to keep himself unspotted of the world this is a Godly man this is Religion indeed Though through infirmity in many things he fall short he prayes but is sick of his praying he hears but is asham'd to think how he hears his Spirit is so often clouded and clog'd with corruptions and infirmities that he can feel no life nor take any comfort in any thing he does though by the power of corruption and temptation he be at times put besides praying and other duties and be sometimes found in the field when he should have been in his Closet in the Market when he should have been at Church though he find his heart too often running off from his work and slinking away after his earthly businesses and gaines and the vigorous prosecution of his design for heaven be sometimes intermitted though he sometimes fail in the ruling of his spirit in the governing of his thoughts and passions and hereupon be surprised by fits of pride or of anger or impatience the more it is thus the more doubtful will he unavoidably be touching his state and therefore dread to let thy lusts get head or take incouragement from their word yet if the bent of his heart and his course be towards the Lord and his intention and indeavour be to fulfil after him not indulging but judging himself for all his failings and striving within himself to stand compleat in all the will of God this man is a godly man and because he will not pardon himself God will certainly pardon and overlook all his infirmities and failings and graciously accept him in Christ Jesus to whom be glory for ever amen Now brethren to gather up all that hath been said for I would not have you to try by one but by all three marks laid down and so to bring this trial to an issue That soul that hath deliberately and absolutely chosen the Lord for his portion resolving to stand to his choice and not to change for ever that makes it the business of his life to pursue his choice and counts it the onely happiness of his life to serve and enjoy that God whom he hath chosen and for his sake is willing to suffer the losse of all things that so heartily approves of Christ and his Gospel that he accepts and adventures his soul and his hopes upon him alone that hath so dedicated himself and given up both the right and the possession of himself to him that he accounts himself no longer his own but is a servant and follower of Christ in righteousness and holiness of life heartily resolving and endeavouring never to allow himself in any known sin nor in the neglect of any known duty though his weaknesses be great his falls and failings be many this man is beyond all question a sincere godly man Doest thou yet fear whether thou be the man let that fear set thee a searching once and once again let it follow thee into thine heart and through all thy wayes let it lay thee in the ballance and compare thee with this pourtraicture of a godly man which is now set before thee if this will not serve to quiet and satisfie thee I know no more to say to thee but that thou diligently set thy self by increasing in the grace of God and outgrowing thy sinful weaknesses and failings to outgrow thy fears and thy doubts And when at length thou art come to a clear judgment that this is thy case then Son be of good comfort thy sins are forgiven thee if God have ever a child if there be ever an heir of the Kingdom of heaven in the world thou art one If thou be not mistaken in thy self but this be a true character of thee I am mistaken in the Gospel if thou be not a Godly and a blessed man Thou hast sincerely chosen the Lord and that 's a sure sign that
out upon me in vain Behold the winter is past and the spring comes on the flowers appear the fig tree putteth forth and the vines with the tender grapes give a goodly smell Behold the fruits of that blessed blood and spirit in the reviving of this dead heart in the fructifying of this barren heart My Soul make thy boast of God though I have nothing of mine own but what I loath and am asham'd of yet here 's through rich mercy something of his fruits I have brought forth yet not I but the grace of God which was with me and his grace hath not been bestowed on me in vain Come on thou withering Soul cry out with the Spouse Awake thou North-wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden let the Spirit of the Lord breath upon me that my Spices may flow forth and my fruits may appear and then thou mayest go on now let my beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant fruits I cannot enumerate the particular fruits that you should bring forth they are all the fruits of righteousness but in hope that after all that hath been said your fear of being found among the barren may prepare you to receive some farther instruction for your growth and fructifying in every good work I shall only lay before you seven things which if they be in you and abound will make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ Follow after 1. Power 2. Activity 3. Severity 4. Simplicity 5. Ingenuity 6. Spirituality 7. Pleasure 1. Power Grace in the very being of it includes power 1 Cor. 4.20 The Kingdom or grace of God is not in word but in power Natural men have natural powers but there is nothing of spiritual power in them wishes and velleities they may have after that which is really and spiritually good O that I could forsake this world and crucifie this flesh and follow God and walk worthy of the Gospel in all things thus they may wish and desire but for their hearts they cannot come to it they cannot bring forth their wish into a will nor their will into performance The least child of God hath more of the power of God in him than the most knowing and the very best of natural men all the parts and vertues of a natural man do fall as much short as to this spiritual vital power of the least of Saints as a dead man does of a living child But yet where there is grace in the beginnings of it in comparison of what it may grow to its power may be small and its strength may be but weakness How great is the power of the healthy above the sickly and faint how much is the power of a man above the power of an infant 'T is well thou art alive but wilt thou still be but a child O what weakly Souls are many amongst the living Souls How ordinary is this complaint To will is present with me but how to perform I find not O how many frustraneous attempts and ineffectual offers do we make at an holy fruitful life we wish for more care and more diligence and more usefulness but still we fall short we are reaching towards but cannot reach to it We judge our selves for our failings we groan under our imperfect duties we are sick of those corruptions that are mingled with them but we cannot overcome them we lament our barrenness we hunger and thirst after more fruitfulness and yet we cannot obtain we cannot do the good that we would we cannot forbear to do the evils that we would not so weak is our heart that though we can weep over our falls and failings yet we cannot amend them But art thou not afraid to continue thus what if death should overtake thee thus how would'st thou dye when thy sin is so much alive yea how canst thou live in any peace whil'st thou seest thou livest to so little purpose Therefore my Brethren let me exhort you in the words of the Apostle Ephes 6.10 Be ye strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Put forth the power that you have receiv'd trust on God for more Put forth that power that you have that 's the way to encrease your strength Do not make your selves to be weaker than you are say not 't is for want of power that 't is no better with you when 't is for want of care and industry much more certainly might be done if we were better Stewards of what we have Let there not be a pretence of weakness to excuse your laziness do what thou canst thou canst do more than thou do'st and if indeed thy strength be but small thou knowest whether to go for more Study well and lay hold on that word Isa 40.28 29.31 Hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as the Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not be faint Christians let it not suffice you that you are men of understanding and good affections get a Spirit of power as well as of love and of a sound mind 2. Activity An unactive spirit is next to impotence Awaken from thy liveless wretchless temper put away sloth thou sluggard wilt thou still be a drone this drone hath a sting thine own Soul will feel it sooner or later that thy sloth will sting thee to the heart Christians let it appear that the spirit of the living God is in you by your sprightfulness and vivacity Shall the evil spirit be the only active spirit shall sinners flow forth in vanity and wickedness shall their filthy waters be such a quick and running stream and shall the waters of the Sanctuary be but as a standing pool Be bent for holy action be prepared and ready for every good work It 's said Ephes 2.10 that Christians are created unto good works in the very make and constitution of the new creature we may read its use and end we are new made for this very end and purpose we are adopted and prepared for an active useful life for those good works which God hath ordained that we should walk in them Thou had'st need stir up thy self and put thy self on lest thou quickly come to question whether thou be a new creature or no if thou continuest so backward and unready to that for which the new creature is Hast thou grace indeed blow off the ashes from that living coal that it may burn and shine out in a gracious life Fire it the most active of all the elements it will not be inclosed but will find a vent for its flames sure thou hast little of that divine fire in
in Christ am I in Covenant have I broken my Covenant with Death and disannulled my Agreement with Hell Am I no longer in League with my Sins and this evil World have I broken with them all and am I gotten within the Bond of the Covenant of God If I think I have yet am I not mistaken Many Souls have been mistaken have thought themselves within who have yet dyed without and am not I mistaken also Is the thing sure Is Christ mine indeed How is it that there is no more asking the way to the City of Refuge How may I get into Christ Or how may I know whether I be in Christ or not O how is it that we do not awaken our slumbring Spirits and call upon our careless Hearts Come on O my lingring Soul make haste get thee up to the Rock to Sanctuary to Sanctuary Awake thou Sleeper carest thou not that thou perish Come my Soul enter thou into thy Chamber hide thy self till the Indignation be over-past How is it that there is no more such care taken Are we so solicitous as we should be about this matter How is it with you Friends Are you busie in considering and fore-casting and enquiring how you may escape What is it that your fear of a Deluge hath put you upon to provide your selves against it Is there any more circumspection and heedfulness in your goings any more tenderness of Sin Are you throwing off those weights that will sink you with the multitude Are you busie in breaking down your Sins and building up your selves in hope of the Salvation of God Behold how generally our other Matters do still take up our Time and Thoughts we are building of Houses and planting of Vineyards and Buying and Selling and Marrying and giving in Marriage seldom giving our selves leave to think of a Flood that 's coming to take us all away O fear and let your fear set you on work to save your selves from Misery and Ruine The foolish World laugh at this Fear What jealous-headed melancholick Souls are these What Dreams and Fancies do they fright themselves withal And so did the old World doubtless laugh at Noah to see him such a Fanatick to amuse himself and others with such a strange conceit of a Flood and to go build an Ark to save himself from that Dream of a Deluge What laughing and mocking think you was there then amongst them to hear this Preacher of Righteousness to Preach and prepare for such a strange incredible thing Such mockings are there of the Men of this World at the fears and preparations of the Saints against the Judgments of God I but when the Ark was finished and Noah and his Family gotten in and the Flood came in earnest when they saw the Rain pouring down the Waters swelling the Seas roaring and tumbling in in whole Mountains of Waters upon them where was the laugh of the World then What a cry was their laugh then turned to Let Sinners laugh at last when they shall see all these things come upon them when the overflowing Scourge cometh and they shall then see the derided Saints gotten into the Ark and themselves left out to perish in the Waters Well by this time you may see what this Fear is or who is this Man that feareth The Man of Understanding that so knows God his Goodness and Severity that so knows Sin its Malignity and the Misery that it exposes to that so believes God that hath such a love for God and his own Soul and such an aversation from Sin that so foresees the danger he is in of running into Sin and falling into Misery that he wisely and warily looks to himself keeps himself from Iniquity and hides himself from those Mischiefs and Miseries which the rest of the World foolishly venture upon and are destroyed by in the end This is the Man that feareth this is the happy Man 2. What is that blessedness that is pronounced to him that feareth Happy is the Man that feareth To Happiness two things are required 1. Sufficiency 2. Security 1. Sufficiency He that is in want is in misery what-ever he hath how greatly soever he abounds yet if he hath not all that he needs yea all that he desires In the fulness of his Sufficiency he is in straits The pain of what he desires and hath not imbitters the pleasures of what he hath No Sufficiency no Satisfaction short of Satisfaction so far short of Happiness He must have all things that would find rest in any thing He that possesses what-ever he can desire that 's an happy Man only to this must be added 2. Security What we have to day may be lost to morrow He that hath most and holds it by such an uncertain Tenure is so far from finding rest in what he hath that he may be in greater perplexity than he that hath nothing Therefore can there be no happiness in any thing under the Sun for besides the insufficiency of these worldly things the whole Earth is too little to fill the Soul all this great World is not enough to fill the little World Man but besides this were they sufficient what security can be had for the continuance of them to us They are all but casualties they come and go they have all their Wings and who knows how soon they may take their flight At the best The things that are seen are but Temporal 2 Cor. 4.18 There must be permanence durableness in the matter of our Happiness The durable Riches the enduring Substance an Inheritance that fadeth not away and there must be security against their being lost or taken away Now this is the happiness of him that feareth he hath sufficient and what he hath is in safety 1. He hath a sufficiency This Fear as appears from what hath been spoken is a Religious Fear the Fear of God is sometimes taken for all Religion here only for one particular Branch of it yet such as argues the Truth of Religion and intitles the Soul to the whole income and revenue of Religion He that knows believes and loves God and therefore fears and flies from Sin and Wrath is certainly a Godly Man and shall have his Inheritance with the Just The first Sermon that ever we read that Christ Preached begins with an enumeration of the Beatitudes of this very Man He shall inherit the Earth he shall be comforted he shall be filled he shall obtain Mercy he shall see God his is the Kingdom of Heaven All these Graces that are there mentioned Poverty of Spirit Purity in Heart hunger after Righteousness Meekness c. are the particular Qualifications of this very Man And we may write down after that Copy Blessed is the Man that feareth for his is the Kingdom of God Blessed is the Man that feareth for he shall be comforted he shall obtain Mercy he shall see God This is the Man who shall inherit all things Rev. 21.7 and shall want nothing Psal
34.10 He is provided for for Soul and for Body for this Life and that to come The Promise is his Portion and in the Promise there is all things There 's Bread in the Promise and Cloaths and Houses and Lands and Friends there 's Grace and Glory in the Promise And to have an Inheritance in the Promise is to him as good as to have it in hand and in some respects better Thou art a Fool Soul who sayest with the Prodigal Give me my Portion 't is better where 't is God will look better to thee than thou to thy self 2. He hath Security All that he hath is in safety He that hath most and is in danger of losing all as I said before is in greater perplexity than he that hath nothing to lose The Poor Man sleeps in more quiet than he that hath his House full of Treasure if he be in danger of the Robber Enough is not enough 't will never content whilst there is hazard of losing all The Man that feareth hath enough and all he hath is in safety Prov. 1.33 Whoso hearkneth to me shall dwell safely he shall be quiet from fear of evil He that feareth shall be most free from fear the Fear of God will fortifie him against the Fears of the World Particularly consider these two things 1. The Matters wherein his Happiness lies are sure The Mercies of God are sure Mercies that will neither fade away nor can be taken away If there be uncertainty in what a Christian hath of this World he is well enough notwithstanding these are not his Happiness he may be as happy in his greatest penury as in his greatest plenty This is easily said O that it were but soundly believed What a calm and serene state might Christians then live in in the greatest tempests The Matters of a Christians happiness are sure and certain Things The portion of the World is not capable of being made sure As one sayes well The World flies Mr. Gouge sometimes it pitches upon one Family and then how happy do they account themselves shortly after it takes its flight thence and away to another and thence to another and another and who knows whither Come to a Family this year and behold as Job 21.10 Their Bull gendereth and faileth not their Cow calveth and casteth not her Calf Their Fig-Tree blossoms their Vine flourisheth there are Flocks in the Fold there are Herds in the Stall and then they are all merry and at rest They send forth their little Ones as a Flock and their Children dance they are cloathed with Purple and Scarlet and fare sumptuously every day they take the Timbrel and the Harp and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ Come to the very same Family a few years after and all 's gone and then their Purple is turned into Sack-cloth their Musick into Mourning and their Mirth into Heaviness The World runs upon Wheels The Wheel of Providence is ever turning now one 's at the top of the Wheel and then another comes up and he that was just now at the top by and by tumbles and the Wheel runs over him How often do Rich Men break and Poor Men get up for a while in their rooms and then tumble down after them To day then hast an Estate and dwellest at ease in thine own cieled House but who can tell where he may find thou to morrow To day thou livest and art in health and nothing ails thee to morrow thou mayest die the Grave may cover thee and Worms may be feeding upon thee Such an uncertain World this is and at such uncertainties are the things thereof and there 's no preventing of it It cannot be otherwise the wisest the wariest the most provident and industrious Man in the World do what he can can never be at a certainty for two dayes together The Thief the Moth the Fire Sickness and Death may quickly divide betwixt him and his portion and take away either him from it or it from him But the Treasure of the Man that fears God is a Treasure that faileth not an enduring Substance 2. His very Fear is a means to keep what he hath in safety Jer. 32.40 I will put my Fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Though when God hath hold of us he will never lose his hold yet he holds us by certain Cords which should they break or give off we should certainly be gone and be lost One of these Cords is Faith 1 Pet. 1.5 We are kept by the mighty Power of God through Faith unto Salvation Another of these Cords is this of Fear I will put my Fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from me Whereupon we may say also We are kept by the mighty Power of God through Fear unto Salvation God makes use of our Fear of losing all to prevent our loss As if we should cease to believe so if we should cease to Fear we should be undone at last Upon a little loosening of this Cord how often do we suffer great loss When we take head and grow bold and venturous when we do forget our danger and so lay by our Armour how much mischief do we run our selves into Hast thou never lost thy Peace and all sense of the love of God Hast thou never lost thy Affections and all thy delight in God Hast thou never fallen by thy folly into Sin into a vain and carnal frame into a dead and barren state and thereby provoked the Lord to withdraw and hide his Face from thee and been cast back in the state of thy Soul Dost thou not often see this to be thy case thou winkest if thou dost not why thou shouldst not have been so venturous thou should'st have feared in time and all this mischief might have been prevented Whilst Fear stands Centinel the Enemy hath the less hope of making an Invasion upon thee But where this Fear is not that Soul dwells like the wealthy Nation Jer. 49.31 without care and having neither Gates nor Bars and so becomes a booty and a spoil to the Enemy Where Care is the Gate and Fear hath bolted the Gate there all is in safety This Fear may expose and make more obnoxious to temporal Evils How much do Christians often lose by their Fear They lose their Friends and lose their Estates and their Liberties and sometimes their Lives upon this very account that they are afraid to sin against God And yet all this while they are in safety and when they have cast up their Accounts they find they are no losers though they have lost all that ever they had their Souls are in safety and that 's enough to save them harmless under all their Sufferings He whose Face is filled with the contempt of the Proud whose back is bowed down that the ungodly may go over it whose Name is made a scorn and derision whose Goods become a booty and a spoil and his very