were very wicked and yet very prosperous Full of sin and yet full of pleasure and riches and all outward accommodation Whereas on the other side he observed that he was â—…fflicted and other of the Godly with him And was tempted from this that God did regard the wicked so much or more than he did the Godly And therefore 't is a very dangerous mistake among the multitude Many think on the one side that because God doth prosper them and bless them as he doth that therefore they are in the favor of God for if they were not he would never deliver them and carry them through so many troubles as he doth if he did not love them This is a dangerous mistake And so some on the other hand because God doth afflict them here that therefore he hath mercy for them hereafter They have their hell here and therefore they shall not go to hell hereafter Alass man thou mayst have thy hell begun here and lengthened out hereafter to all eternity Thou canst not say from this that thou shalt escape the torments of hell but notwithstanding all this thou mayst hear God say to thee at last as to Dives Son remember that thou in thy Life-time receivedst thy good things but now thou art tormented Third Prop. Gods favor or anger must be judged of rather from our carriage towards him than from his carriage towards us If our walk be according to Gods rule we may be sure that peace shall be upon us Gal. 6. 16. If we are such as fear God and work Righteousness then we may be certain that we are accepted with God Acts. 10. 35. If we do well we shall be accepted They that by patient contimâ—…nce in well-doing seek for glory honor and immortality shall have eternal life They are under promise Rom. 2. 6 7. But on the contrary tribulation and anguish upon every soul that doth evil Those that walk disorderly and in disobedience to the will of God however God may prosper them in their ways as they may seem yet they must know that Gods anger is against them They may know that his anger is against them because they walk against him against the flat command of his word For these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience Eph. 5. 6. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unright cousness of men Rom. 1. 18. So they that walk in ways of unrighteousness and ungodliness they may know by this that they are under the wrath of God however God may seem to carry it towards them Men may not conclude that because God doth not presently smite that therefore he is not angry with them God may speak never a word neither strike a blow and yet may treasure up wrath against them at the last and they never think of it Many a poor wretch thinks that God because he is silent that he approves of them Psal. 50. 21. These things hast thou done and I kept silence Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy self but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes God would make them know that though for the present he spake nothing and did not shew his anger yet he would make it known against them If our carriage be dutiful and humble toward God what ever his carriage be towards us we may be sure that his love is towards us God doth many times carry it as if he were angry for the tryal of his people to see whether they will trust him and walk by faith and not by sence Whether they will believe though it be against their own feeling He will many times put his Children upon this exercise not in anger but in Love As the tender Nurse doth the Child So on the other hand God may let men alone and let them prosper in the world though he be dreadfully angry with them Fourth Prop That the favor or anger of God is rather to be gathered from the book of Scripture and of conscience than from the book of providence Many times the book of providence is very dark and seems to speak that God favors those men whereas if we look into the Scripture we shall see that they are the vessels of his wrath And the book of providence may seem to tell us that such a people are the objects of his wrath which if we look into Scripture we shall find that they are the people of his love Therefore the Psalmist when he could not know by the book of providence he went to the Scripture to the Sanctuary to the oracles and had those things opened there This book was a key to open those riddles that he could not understand before He sees that those men that did prosper thus were the objects of his wrath And on the other hand that the poor and afflicted were the onely beloved of God Though this was against his mind before Psal. 77. 13. Thy way O God is in the Sanctuary That is in the place where thy word is preached and explained there is thy way the meaning and sence of thy providence is discovered Those that have the Scripture against them these are they that bear the marks of Gods anger upon them And those that have the Scripture for them what ever others judgements be these be the men of his delight Therefore let the word of God be your judge And with the book of Scripture compare the book of Conscience For saith the Apostle if our hearts condemn us not than have we confidence towards God But if our hearts condemn us God is greater then our hearts and knoweth all things Let conscience be consulted with when thou art trying thy case whether thou art in the favor or under the anger of God And that will be able comparing thy state with the Scripture to give a great guess to this whether God have favor for thee or be against thee Now I must adde six Conclusions in which the question shall be resolved How it may be known that God is angry with any people First Conclusion The Raign and dominion of sin is a most certain evidence that any person or people are under Gods anger Where sin is raigning and abounding gross and hainous sins abounding in any nation or place you need not any other evidence that God is angry with that people Especially when those Iniquities are tolerated by Magistrates or found in persons that are in a publick place then they are fearful signs of Gods anger then you may know there is great misery for such people though he may seem at present to prosper them And so for any particular person whether the sin be gross or close if thou art under the power of any one unmortified sin thou mayst be sure thou art under the anger and wrath of God Eph. 6. 5. For these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience Rom. 2. 8 9. But to
Christ Then here is matter of Reproof to reprove those that profess the name of Christ that lay out their zeal no more this way That lay not out their strength to gain Souls Yea that do not long for nor endeavor after the conversion of Souls Surely this speaks sadly to those that wholy neglect this duty But how exceedingly are many of the people of God themselves to be blamed for their Negligence in this doth not thy heart know that there is a brother of thine doth live in such a sin and yet thou never tel him of it What a great evil is this and unsutable to the pattern of the Lord Jesus Christ How did he go up and down doing good and so taken up with Souls that he could scarce spare time to eat his bread insomuch that his carnal friends began to take hold of him and thought that he had been beside himself O how far art thou from this that thy friends may live in their sins and dye in their sins before thou wilt labor to save their Souls The devil he laboreth to destroy Souls and how few be there that do labor to save Souls He may carry away the poor soul and none labours to take the soul from him We should be watchful and vigilant for souls for our own souls and others souls because this enemy is always taking opportunities to destroy souls Sure it argues that you have very little Lovâ—… to Jesus Christ that you do no more for souls That you have little zeal for Jesus Christ and that you have little Love for your Brethren that you take no more care for their souls It may be you are careful for the bodies of those that are under your charge but how little do you for their souls How many live without the worshi of God in their Families Without Catechizing their Children or instructing them And think they have done well if they provide for their bodies Oh but man God will find out thy neglects it was their souls that was thy charge also If you look onely after their bodies this you will do for your swine And will you do no more for your Childrens souls than for your swine many are ready to say as Cain am I my Brothers keeper If this be not the language of thy tongue is not this the language of thy Life What dost thou do for thy brother to save his soul from death Second Use is of exhortation To stir you up to perform this duty to labor to be skilful in this duty to win souls to Christ. Brethren if you would be wise indeed and if you will gain indeed labour to gain souls Oh look upon the woful condition of perishing souls How few of thy friends and acquaintance hast thou good grouâ—…ds to think they have a share in Jesus Christ What wilt thou have no compassion of thy Brothers soul Thou wouldst have compassion on the body of thy Neighbor If thou sawest the house on fire about them and they asleep wouldest thou not be stirred up and with zeal forget thy self and labor to call upon them and awake them O how many of our carnal friends do remain in a carnal state and we sit stilland let them alone I beseech you stir up your souls to relieve the souls of others This is the best Charity and best pleasing to Christ. It may be many of you have not wherewith to shew your Charity to the bodies of your brethren but this way thou mayst shew it in shewing kindnesse to their souls Exhort them and strengthen them in their duty comfort them support them If thou canst not give them an alms give them an exhortation But you will say what should we do or what means must we make use of to do good to to souls I answer you must do it First By Scripture demonstration When thou goest to deal with souls be sure to make use of Gods weapons Bring the word of God with thee Go forth in the name of God Pour out thy supplication to God to prosper the work And then shew thy brother the Scripture to convince him out of the Scripture as Apollos did Thou canst never throw down the devils strong holds but by the use of Gods own weapons No Cannon but this will batter down the strong holds of sin and Satan Therefore bring the Scripture with thee to him Secondly By earnest supplication This was Pauls course who did so earnestly thirst for the salvation of his brethren He strove mightily with God in prayer for them Rom. 10. 1. My hearts desire and prayer is that Israel may be saved Carry thy friends to God and go to God by prayer and weep over their carnal and unsanctified state Bring thy dead Husband and child c. to God and put up thy Request to God for them as Abraham did Ishmael O That they might live before thee How did the prophet prevail l y his prayers for the restoring the dead child As the prophet did pray in life into the dead child so thou shouldest strive with God in prayer for dead souls If thou didst but wrestle with God for thy dead wife or child or neighbor What dost thou know what God might do for them What knowest thou O man but thou mayest save thy Wife c. Thus we are taught by our Lord in that great petition Thy Kingdom come Thus if thou strive by the word of God and prayer then thou mayest be like to prevail mightily for the good of souls thou dost converse with 3. By kind Obligation This is another way by which thou shouldest labor to gain souls Observe that great rule of the Apostle be pittiful be courteous t is the Rule that he gives Labor by kindness and courtesie to gain upon all thou dost converse with that thou mayst get within him that thou mayst be in a capacity to do good to his soul. Shâ—…wing all meekness to all men And when thou art thuâ—… kind to all men this will be a means to do good to them by what thou dost If they be such as stand in need of thy Charity open thy hand to relieve their necessity and that will be a way to open their hearts to thee to receive in thy counsel Fourthly By faithful reprehensions Lev. 19. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbor and not suffer sin to rest upon him Observe that 't is quite contrary to Christian Lovo to suffer sin to lye upon him for 't is câ—…lled hating of him Oh Brethren shew your Love to the souls that you are among by this by the faithful rebuking of their sins that they fall into Manifest it not as a token of your displeasure but as an ordinance of God Deal with him in all gentleness and meekness Not gentle with their sins you must be plain and saithful with their souls You must shew them the danger of such a way but you must do
them that are contentious and obey not the truth indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish unto every soul that doth evil Art thou yet in thy Natural unconverted state unrenewed thou mayst go away with sadness thou goest up and down with Cain with certain marks of Gods displeasure upon thee for we are by Nature Children of wrath If thou art in the estate thou wert in by Nature thou art surely under the wrath of God If thou remainest in thy old unbeleef thou needest no more dispute about this matter the wrath of God abideth on thee The whole book of God and the threatnings of God do rise up with open mouth to condemn thee that livest in any unmortified sin Now sin is unmortified when persons go on in a purpose of sinning and in a willingness to practise sin Rom. 6. 16. Know ye not that to whom you yield your selves servants to obey his servants you are to whom you obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto Righteousness To whom you yield your selves servants to obey The servant of God is taken captive by his sin under a temptation but if you yield your selves servants to them you are the servants of sin Yield your selves servants to obey whom do you ordinarily obey If the devil can do more with you to draw you from God than God can to keep you to him if he can do more with you to make you neglect prayer than God can to keep you to it or if he can prevail with you to commit any sin more then God can to keep you from it you are under the wrath of God There is a two fold anger a stated anger and occasional anger or temporal anger Occasional and temporal anger and so the Children of God may fall under his anger but by their application to him in Christ that anger may be taken off again But there is a â—…ate of anger and that is with the wicked And this thou art under who dost live in unmortified sin Thou art in a state of anger in a state of wrath Second Con When the threats and menaces of Gods Word are against men this is a sure evidence of his anger You know we may discern the anger of men by their Rebukes and threats and the like If the word of God be against thee be sure the anger of God is against thee Therefore consult the Scripture If the Scripture do speak sadly of thy state that is an undeniable evidence of Gods anger Zeph. 2. 5. Wo to the inhabitants of the Sea coast the word of the Lord is against you O wo to them that the word of the Lord is against There is wrath from the Lord against that man Therefore if the Lord do speak against thee Make thy peace with speed Do as Haman when he saw the King rise up in hast he stood up to make request for his life to the Queen Est. 7 7 So if thou dost find that there is evil intended against thee by thy sins O fall down upon thy knees and make up thy peace Third Con. Publick calamities except when they come upon a people for Righteousness sake are the evident tokens of Gods anger When God doth strike a nation or a people with war or with pestilence or with famine or the like this is a manifest token of Gods anger with such a nation or people This you may see throughout the book of Judges Still it was when the people had sinned and God was angry that these publick calamities were brought upon them Judg. 2. 13 14 19 20 21. and 3. 7 8. and 10. 6. There you may see that publick calamities did proceed from the sins that were among them And if sin be a sign of Gods anger you may easily make application Should not we fear and tremble should not we humble our selves in the dust and cloath our selves with sackcloth God hath sent all his three greatplagues togetherupon our nation Famine Sword and War O apply this and see that you be sadly affected with Gods displeasure against our Nation But here I put in an exception When they come upon a people for Righteousness sake then though the calamities be common and publick Yet it is not a sign of Gods anger In the primitive times the Christians were fearfully persecuted every where and were killed by the thousands and therefore this was rather Martyrdome then signs of Gods anger Here two things must be considered whether these afflictions did find them cleaving to the Lord in their duty Or going off from him and declining their duty Now if they do find them decaying and remitting their zeal and diligence then those evils though they do come upon them for Righteousness sake yet they come for Gods anger too And so though they should rejoyce in them as coming from wicked men yet they should be humbled and take notice too of the hand of Godagainst them in correcting their vices Fourth Con. When God doth suffer men to prosper in an evil way this is a fearful sign of Gods anger Prosperity is so far from being a sign of Gods favor that when prosperity doth attend men and follow them in an evil way it is one of the most dreadfullest marks in the world against a person or people Whom the Lord loves he rebukes and chastens that is if they wander and go out of his way And we are judged of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world Cor. 11. 32. So when the Lord lets men go on in their evil ways unpunished it is a sign he intends they shall be condemned with the world Brethren be jealous of your selves if God let a person go on in a way of wickedness it is a fearful sign Hos. 4. 14. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whordome c. Therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall It is a sign that he intends higher displeasure against a person when he lets them go on in a way of sin and will not stop them but let them take their swinge in sin Those whom he intends love to shall be corrected here and stopped but others shall have the gibbet kept for them at last Fifth Con. Spiritual judgements are ever to be taken as sore evidence of Gods anger Many times God doth inflict temporal judgements with an intention to reform them and amend a people but when he gives up a person or people to Spiritual judgments this is a token of his highest displeasure God doth threaten as one of the sorest evidences of his displeasure a Famine of the word So Psal. 78. 59 60. When God heard this he was wrath and greatly abhorred Israel so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh the tent which he had placed among men When God forsook the tabernacle and deprived them of the former tokens of his presence in their ordinances this was a sign that he abhorred Israel So our Saviour as his tokens of his displeasure
callings make visits read or hear the word be sure you think on the rules that you are to read by or discourse by or hear by c. You cannot think of God in every motion but with a little pains watchfullness and prayer you may come to this to mind your rule and your end at the entrance of every solemn action And this I desire you to enjoyn upon your selves and take a daily account of your selves how t is performed This would be indeed to keep up the power of Christianity Oh be at the pains to put to this and you will know what it is to walk with God and to be in the fear of the Lord all the day long and will have learnt that happy â—…sson To walk up and down in the name of the Lord Prov. 23. 17. Zech. 10. 12. Rule 9. Be sure every morning to set out to a right point of the Compass If a Man takes a wrong turning and misseth his way at setting forth he goes miserably out it may be a great part of the day cut out your business in the moning and let your aym be well Set the hand of your watch to a right point and wind it up carefully and that will be a means to keep it right â—…oughout the day Never rise from your beds but with some such thoughts as these I will set sorth this day in the name of God Religion shall be my business this day I will surely spend this day for Eternity David would begin with God Psâ—…l 139. ver 18. 5. 3. Rule 10. Let the present days practice be still the meâ—…ding of the past daies errors If you would go through with the work of Religion you must take this course Every evening strictly to examine your selves about your whole carriage that day with reference to your Duties Sins Hearts Tongues Tables Callings as I have otherwhere directed you and when you find your selves tardy in any thing this day be sure to amend it the next day Was the Appetite too much indulged when you sit at meat the next day remember the error and hold the reins faster then Do you find that you were not heavenly in your discourse be sure that you be not caught in the same fault again the next day Have you let loose your Passions or given your tongues the reins be humbled and be sure that you be not caught again the next day in the same fault else to what purpose are all your self-examinations Psal. 119. 59. In vain doe we think on our waies except we turn our feet to Gods Testimonies Rule 11. You must deny your selves and keep under your carnal lusts and affections Where self bears the sway that will set you on work and you shall have enough to doe to follow its carnal designs If you 〈◊〉 your lusts and earnal assections to command you to be sure they will find you work enough you then will have little room and little leisure but these will be all the day long calling upon you to gratifie One while the appetite will be calling and there must be time to give to that what it craves another while revenge will be calling and employing you to contrive how to vent it and give it satisfaction another while pride will set you on work to satisfie that and then lust will be calling that you must gratifie and then covetousness will be chiding that you have neglected it and be putting you on satisfying that Thus your lusts will find you business night and day and your employment will be to make provision for the flesh Rom. 13. 14. Get these therefore under or else the business of Râ—…ligion will never can never go on Psalm 144. 3. Lord what is man that thou takest knowledge of him or the son of man that thou makest account of him THe Psalmist in the foregoing words had eminently set forth the strange goodness and Grace of God towards him upon which he breaks out into admiratâ—…n of him that ever God should look upon him What is man c. Hence observe Doct. That it is a wonder above all wonders that ever the great God should make such account of such a thing as man This I shall open to you in these three generals 1. It will appear if you consider what a great God the Lord is 2. What a poor thing Man is 3. What a great account the great God hath of this poor thing Man First If you consider what a great God the Lord is And here I may be confounded to think that I can speak no more of his greatness When I am studying to speak to you of his greatness that comes to my mind canst thou by searching find out God Alas we may all complain as Jobs friends did Job 8. 9. We are but of yesterday and know nothing yet notwithstanding though we are not able to comprehend much less to express the greatness of God yet some thing we may see and accordingly should conceive of it and should labour to set it out to others It is seen in his Works and Word 1. In his Works Herein God doth discover to us his wonderful greatness Job 36. 24. 25. Remember that thou Magnisie his work which men behold Every man may see it man may behold it afar off Man may see afar off if he dâ—… but cast his eye as he runs what a great God that is that made all the world If we doe but cast our eyes upon the Fabrick of the world that he hath made if we look down-ward and see how every creature serveth its end that it was made for if we see how the earth hangs upon nothing if we are in our wits what should we do but praise whatever we are doing whether plowing or eating c. this Hymn is to be sung to him It was he that gave me strength to work and appetite to eat Psal. 19. 1 2. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy work day unto day uttereth speech c. Every day cloth preach to us this Doctrine what a great wise good glorious God he is who doth order every season and their occurrences Rom. 1. 20. Dost thou find thy heart begin to be listed up with pride Doâ—…t thou begin to forget thy maker Do but behold his Works see if thou canst do any such thing say let there be light and see whether there will be light Try whether thou canst bring sorth such a thing as this This doth God demand of Iob Chap. 38. But if man cannot come near any of these works of God then let him adore his power and greatness and subject himself to him 2. In his word What glorious descriptions doe we find made of him in the Scriptures Psal. 104. 1. O Lord thou art very great c. Iob. 25. 4 5 6. Man in comparison of God is but a worm a vile worm as the word signifies such a thing is man A worm that is bred