as you shall have no occasion afterwards to overturn In these two consists the whole of Gospel Conversion therefore you had the more need see that both be of the right stamp When you set about the work of Repentance and closing with Christ by Faith do it with all your might that you may have no cause to repent of your Repentance or to say Ah! it is a great question whether ever to this day I have truly repented or believed if my Repentance had been real I had not relapsed into such and such Sins I have been but a meer Hypocrite and I must begin anew again as if I had never known or profess'd any thing of God at all Let your Repentance be such that you may say these five things of it 1. There 's no known Sin that ever I have been guilty of but it hath cost me some Tears and my Heart has been even like to break with Sorrow for it Oh! wo is me for what I have brought from the Womb into the World with me and wo is me for what I have added to it since O! what cause of Self-abhorrency is there that I am born with inbred Principles of Enmity and Rebellion against the most High The Seeds and Spawn of all Sins are in my Soul and accordingly what Sin is it but either I have actually committed or would have committed if left to my self and not under some restraint 2. There 's no Sin but I have forsaken at least in Affection and Endeavour the Lord knows there 's no Sin which I love but I do hate every false way it s my Soul's desire to be rid of every thing that offends and my strivings in the stnength of Christ are in some measure suitable to my desires 3. It s Love to the Lord Jesus makes me thus to mourn for Sin and to study Reformation of what is amiss Oh! there 's an infiniteness of Evil in Sin it strikes against the very being of Divine Majesty it robs him of the Glory of all his Attributes it s the transgression of the righteous Law of a great and good God that has loved me so as to send his Son to dye for me Oh! its Sin that crucified the Lord of Glory Zech. 12.10 therefore I cannot any longer continue in it for a thousand Worlds Ah and alass that I have acted so disingenuously against a God of so great Mercies Love Long-suffering and Patience I would not do as I have done if it were to do again for ever so much if there were no Hell to punish Sin nor Heaven to reward Holiness I would forsake the one and follow after the other 4. This Sorrow for and forsaking of Sin is not for a flash when the hand of God is upon me in Sickness or otherwise but it is a continual lasting soaking sorrow Psal 51.2 Mine iniquity is always before me God is the same still and therefore there is reason for me to be a repenting still for Sins committed twenty years ago as if they had been committed but last Hour 5. There 's no Sin but I can freely confess and acknowledge either openly if it has been a publick Sin 1 Tim. 1.13 or secretly to God if it has been only a secret Sin Psal 32.5 1 John 1.9 or to particular Persons if I have injur'd them I am willing to make restitution and reparation for the wrong done Luke 19.8 I am not ashamed to take shame to my self when God's Glory and the Edification of others calls for any such thing at my Hands James 5.16 Josh 7.19 And so for your Faith see that you may say these five things of it 1. It s a Faith of God's working Col. 2.12 it s that that never grew in Nature's Garden it s a thing I was not born with Time was when I had it not but was an Unbeliever it s the gift of God Ephes 2.8 Phil. 1.29 2. This Faith of mine gives a cordial assent unto and compliance with the whole will of God so so far as it is revealed to me in the Word I close with Divine Precepts to be found in the Practice thereof Psalm 119.66 with threatnings to tremble thereat Isa 66.5 as well as Promises to taste the sweetness and comfort thereof 2 Peter 1.4 Heb. 11.13 3. This Faith of mine closes with Christ in all his Offices I am a poor Ignoramus in the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven I do therefore enter my self a Scholar in Christ's School to be taught and instructed by him who is anointed with an unmeasurable measure of the Spirit to open the Eyes of the Blind and unstop the Ears of the Deaf Isa 61.1 Ps 45.7 this is to close with him in his prophetical Office Sin has caus'd such an estrangement between God and Me that if all the Angels in Heaven and Creatures on Earth would offer up themselves as a Sacrifice for my Sin they could never satisfie Divine Justice nor work Reconciliation for me but there 's virtue enough in the Lamb's Blood for effecting the same this is to close with him in his priestly Office Hitherto my Heart has been greatly at Enmity against Holiness but am now through Grace made willing to submit to the Scepter of Christ's Government and to acknowledge him for my King Lord and Law-giver Isa 26.13 Other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us but by thee we will make mention of thy Name this is to close with him in his Kingly Office 4. this Faith of mine is operative and working Gal. 5.6 fruitful James 2.14 I am not a Solifidian but would have Faith and Works go together a Heart-purifying and Soul-sanctifying Acts 15.9 as well as a justifying Faith a Soul-humbling Faith Habak 2.4 Conquering and Victorious 1 John 5.5 a Faith that in some measure fits me for doing and suffering what Christ and his cause calls for See the whole Eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews 5. This Faith of mine is that which highly calls and sublimates my Spirit far beyond what Nature improved to the utmost could ever do that through it I cannot only rejoyce in the hope of Glory but also glory in Tribulation as knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope and Hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in my Heart by the Holy Ghost which is given me Rom. 5. begin 1. Pet. 1.8 whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of Glory Rom. 15.13 Now the God of hope fill you with all Joy and Peace in believing that ye may abound in Hope through the power of the Holy Ghost 6. When once you are clear in this Soul-concerning Business of the soundess of your Conversion and solidity of the Foundation which you have laid let it be your great care ever after to demean your self in all things as it becometh one that 's dignified with so high and holy
in sparing me this one day more And what is the work carved out for this day And how shall I manage it When you are putting off or on your Cloaths have these or the like thoughts O that I could cast off the works of Darkness and put on the Armor of Light O that I might be devested of the Old Man and invested with the Righteousness of the Lord Jesus When you are Washing your Hands send up this or some such Ejacluation to Heaven O that all my sinful pollutions may be done away this Morning by the Blood and Spirit of the Lord Jesus 2. Drive some Trade with Heaven oftner than once every Day by Private Prayer Ps 55.17 Evening and Morning and at Noon will I pray and cry aloud First Chuse the most seasonable times for it and what time is thus spent account it no hinderance but rather a furtherance to your oher Business Secondly Shun Formality and Pharisaicalness in it Mat. 6. begin 3ly Let the whole Heart be engaged in it with all possible seriousness and Spirituality without Distracting Carnal Roving Wandering and Worldy thoughts 4ly Consider your Soul-wants before-hand that you may know what to say to God when you go to him 5ly Go in a most humble self-abasing Sense of your own vileness and unworthiness but with some Holy confidence upon the account of Divine precepts and promises Christ's Death and Intercession Look upon God in Christ as a Fountain of all supplies 6ly Do not give over wrestling till you can say that more or less your Soul has found something of God in this duty 7ly Rest not on the Duty done but study to keep your Heart from Morning to Night in a praying temper Luke 18. begin Thess 8. O for the Lord's sake let me engage you to perseverance in this so Soul-concerning an exercise Eighthly Take heed of frequent intermissions upon pretence of Business present indisposition or any other account whatsoever He or She that will leave off Praying for one or two whole Days together may come to do so for Months together I have known some professors my self that have sadly smarted under the experience of laying side Private Prayers 3. Be diligent in the duties of some Lawful Calling Prov. 10.4 The Hand of the diligent maketh Rich Be just and honest in it Make conscience of following it close because of God's command to work Six Days This you will experience to be an excellent preservative from many evils and inconveniencies which Idleness would expose you unto An Idle Person lies open to all temptations he is a cushion for the Devil to sit down on and a Horse ready Sadled to Ride to Hell on 4. Be critical in the observation of every Days Sins for exciting an assiduous renual of repentance for the same and of every Days mercies not forgetting to give thanks unto God for them Say thus towards the close of the Day O that I might not go to Bed with guilt upon my Conscience this Night whatever in me has been offensive to thy Holy Majesty in Thought Word or Action pardon for Christ's sake the carnality of my thoughts When first Ia woke in the Morning my backwardness formality and deadness in Private Prayer the Earthliness Vanity Frothiness and Levity of my Spirit all Day long And so for mercies say thus O Blessed be God for Food and Rayment Health and Strength and Liberty and Relations Protection and Preservation O Blessed be God that I have been keept from the actual commission of such sins as many others are wallowing in and I my self might have been if not restrained by Grace 5. Take heed of the first rising and beginning of every the least sin Keep a continual strict watch over your Hearts take present notice of what you discover amiss within check your selves for it dally not with any temptation without making some vigorous resistance That which may be easily nipt in the Bud may cost you Thousands of Prayers and Tears afterwards Custom in sin is not conquered with a wet Finger Have a Holy jealousie of your selves as to every sin otherwise you know not what height of impiety you may come to ere you be aware Luke 21.34 1 Cor. 10.12 1 Pet. 4.7 And 5.8 6. Study mortification especially of your Beloved Sins and Lusts such as your Natural temper or education or strong temptations with which you are continually haunted or such as your Calling most prompts you unto that so you may approve your Hearts unto God in something beyond what is attainable by the most refined Hypocrite Ps 18.23 Keep under your Bodies make no Provision for the Flesh to fulfill the Lusts thereof Deny your selves of carnal pleasures rather than suffer an interruption of your inward peace and communion with God Rest not satisfied with a bare cessation from the external acts of sin for a season with the silence of a secure Conscience ceasing to trouble you with the removal of temptation or the exchange of one sin with another But get the unclean Spirit totally dispossessed lay the Ax to the Root of the Tree and strike at the most inward close unmortified corruptions of the Heart Pray for the fin-mortifying Spirit of Jesus Christ and draw virtue from him whereby you may be enabled to mortifie the deeds of the Body Rom. 8.13 7. Look well to the government of your affections First Never desire things sublunary but with submission to the Will of God but let your desires after God and Christ Grace and Glory know no bounds or limits being enlarged to a kind of infinitness Secondly Lay not out your Love so inordinatly upon any Creature Person or thing so as to bereave the Lord of Glory of his due Love Creatures for what of God is in them for what of God you may have from or by them and so as contentedly to part with them when Providence would have it so Thirdly Hare the Persons of none in the World but so as that you can cordially pity and pray for the vilest Sin is to be the only object of your hatred in whatsoever Subjects your selves or others Fourthly Moderate your joy for outward enjoyments and also your Sorrow for outward Crosses and Losses all excess in carnal mirth and melancholy is discommendble 1 Cor. 7.29 Phil. 4.4 Fifthly Give not way to servile fear where there is no cause of fear neithere be too Foolishly bold or venturous when there is just cause of fear Sixthly be Angry at no thing but sin and sin not in being Angry at sin Eph. 4.26 27. If at any time you are Angry let not the Sun go down upon your wrath lest by that time you have slept a little upon it it turn into malice Labour to subdue your Passions so as that you can patiently bear with affronts and indignities without a Passionate retribution of like for like Seventhly Be never too hotly zealous in pleading for your own Private Personal concerns but be zealous in the cause of God
raised from the Dead according to my Gospel wherein I suffer as an evil-doer even unto bonds but the word of God is not bound Therefore I endure all things for the elects sake that they may also obtain the Salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal Glory Phil 2.17 Yea and if I be offered up upon the Sacrifice and service of your Faith I joy and rejoyce with you all 1 Tim. 12 13 14. 2 Tim. 1.8 Be not ashamed of the Testimony of our Lord nor of me his Prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the Power of God Are you now Members of a Gospel-Church and in Communion with Saints Consider the Duties of this relation 1. In Reference to God and the dignity of a Church state 2. To those that are over you in the Lord. 3. One to another Duties of the first sort are these 1. God hath made over himself by a most solemn covenant-engagement unto you put a high estimate upon this more than ordinary privilege and make a due improvement thereof let the thoughtful remembrance of this overaw you to a constant walking in his Holy ways and observation of his Statutes Deut. 26.17 18 19 20. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God and to walk in his ways and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar People and that thou shouldest keep all his Commandments and to make thee high above all Nations in Praise and in Name and in Honour that thou mayest be a Holy People unto the Lord thy God Let the memory of this be always recent and fresh upon your Spirits and it will much influence persiverance in Holiness and prove an excellent Antidote against Apostasy 2. The Gospel Church is often called the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 3.2 and 5.19 and 11.12 and 13.14 and 16.19 And if God hath made you Members hereof it is a vertual declaration of his Mind and Counsel concerning your Election from Eternity and Salvation to all Eternity which calls aloud upon you for Spiritual Rejoycing more than if you had been made Earthly Kings and Queens Luke 10.20 In this rejjoyce not that the Spirits are Subject unto you but rather rejoyce because your Names are written in Heaven 2 Thes 2.13 14 15. We are bound to give thanks unto God alway for you Brethren Beloved of the Lord because God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth whereunto he called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the Glory of our Lord Jesus Ephes 1.4 5 6. 2 Tim. 1.9 10. 3. Though once ye were Darkness yet now ye are all the Children of Light and of the Day Therefore sleep not as others but watch and be sober 1 Thes 5.5 6 7. They that sleep sleep in the Night and they that are Drunken are Drunken in the Night but let us who are of the Day be sober putting one the Breast-plate of Faith and for a Helmet the hope of Salvation Rom. 13.12 13. The Night is far spent the Day is at hand let us therefore cast off the works of Darkness and put on the armour of Light let us walk honestly as in the Day not in Rioting and Drunkenness not in Chambering and Wantonness not in Strife and Envying but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the Flesh to fulfill the Lusts thereof 1 Pet. 2.9 10. Ye are a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an Holy Nation a Peculiar People that ye should shew forth the praises of him that hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light which in time past were not a People but are now the People of God which had not obtained mercy but have now obtained mercy Dearly beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from Fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul having your conversation honest among the Gentils that whereas they speak against you as evil doers they may by your good works which they shall behold Glorifie God in the day of visitation Math. 5.16 4. You are made sharers and copartners with Christ in all the Privileges and Precious things which he has purchased with his Blood 1 Pet. 1.18 19 20. And wherein will you testifie your thankfulness to him Has he Died for you and will not love constrain you to live unto him 2 Cor. 2.5 14. As he Died for your sins so he Rose for your justification Rom. 4.25 And will not you Dye to Sin and ascend in your Hearts after him Will not you study to know the Power of his Resurrection and the Fellowship of his Sufferings being made conformable to his Death Phil. 3.10 11 Rom. 6.10 11 12 13. In that he Died he Died unto sin once but in that he Liveth he Liveth unto God Likewise ye also reckon your selves to be Dead unto Sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord Let not Sin therefore reign in your Mortal Bodies that ye should obey it in the Lusts thereof neither yield your Members as Instruments of unrighteousness unto Sin but yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the Dead and your Members as Instruments of Righteousness unto God He hath now broke the Serpents Head triumphed over Principalities and Powers taken away the Hand-Writing of the Old Covenant that was against you Nailing it to his Cross has conquered the World and delivered you from it Has made Death stingless and has swallowed up the Grave in victory has abolished the condemning Power of the Law himself being made a curse for you What hinders then but that you take up that Apostical Triumph Rom. 8. to the end Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth It is Christ that Died Yea rather that is risen again who is even at the Right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Who shall separate us from all the Love of Christ shall tribulation who are the Enemies and what are the evils which the Church redeemed with the Blood of God should be afraid of Heb. 10.19 21 22. Having therefore Brethren boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us though the Veil that is to say his flesh and having a high Priest over the House of God let us draw near with a true Heart in full assurance of Faith having our Hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our Bodies washed with pure water with the thing it self that was signified by legal washings 5. God has reposed this great trust in you to be Instrumental conservators of his Truths and Ordinances Rom. 3.2 1 Tim. 3.15 Shew fidelity in preserving truth among your selves keeping your Understandings and Judgments untainted with errours and heresies Acts 20.19 30 31. Eph. 4.14 Heb. 13.9 Be not carried about with strange Doctrines
honestly But I beseech you the rather to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner Phil. 1.19 20 5. Give obedience to their Doctrine and submission to their censures which are according to the Gospel and adminstred in the name of Christ Heb. 13.17 Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give account that they may do it with Joy and not with Grief for that is unprofitable for you 6. If they devote themselves Souls Bodies Strength Time Talents with whatever is dearest to them wholly for the service of your Souls and to comunicate Spiritual things unto you its agreeable to the mind of Christ and sound reason that you should communicate temporal things unto them according to your abilities and as the necessities in doing or suffering do require Gal. 6.6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teaches in all good things 1 Cor. 9.6 7 8. Have not we Power to forbear working Who goeth a Warfare at any time on his own charges Who plants a Vineyard and eats not the Fruit thereof And who feedeth a Flock and eateth not of the Milk of the Flock Say I these things as a Man Or saith not the Law the same also For it is written in the Law of Moses thou shall not muzzle the Mouth of the Ox that treadeth out the Corn Doth God take care for Oxen Or saith he it altogether for our sakes For our sakes no doubt this is written that he that Ploweth should Plow in hope and he that Thresheth in hope should be partaker in hope If we have Sown unto you Spiritual things is it a great matter if we should reap your carnal things Do not ye know that they which Minister about Holy things live of the things of the Temple and they which wait at the Altar are partakers with the Altar even so hath the Lord Ordained that they which Preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel 1 Tim. 5.17 18. Let the Elders that Rule well be counted worthy of double Honour especially they who labour in the Word and Doctrine for the Scripture saith Deut. 25.4 Thou shall not muzzle the Ox that treadeth down the Corn. And Matth. 10.10 The labourer is worthy of his reward If these or the like expressions were only the words of a Man whose interest led him so to speak they might well be suspected as savouring of selfishness but by this time you and I know one another so well that ther 's no need for me to Apologize for my thus writing Though my administrations amongst you have been attended with many other infirmities yet in time I know you will bear me witness that I have not sought yours but you neither indeed needed I to do so for I must bear you this Testimony that since my necessities have called for supply you have been more ready to communicate than I to receive My end is to inform you of the Mind of God in this thing and to confirm your Faith in your Practice doing what you do as an Ordinance of God upon which you may expect a Blessing according to Matth. 10.40 41. He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophet's reward And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a Cup of cold Water only in the name of a Disciple verily he shall in no wise lose his reward And though you are sufficiently instructed yet this may be of use to others Duties of Church Members towards one another 1. Study unanimity or oneness of Mind as much as is possible 1 Cor. 1.10 I beseech you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same Mind and in the same Judgment Phil. 2.1 2. If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of Love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any Bowels and mercy fulfil ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same Love being of one accord of one mind Rom. 15.5 The God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus that ye may with one Mind and Mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Make conscience of that necessary but so much neglected Duty of Brotherly Admonition Matth. 18.16 17. If thy Brother Trespass against thee go and tell-him his fault between thee and him alone If he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother but if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established And if the shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the Church But if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as a Heathen Man and a Publican Rom. 15.14 I my self am perswaded of you Brethren that ye also are full of Goodness filled with all Knowledge able also to admonish one another 2 Thes 3.15 Col. 3.16 3. Mutual Exhortation is another Duty Heb. 3.12 13. Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil Heart of unbelief in departing from the living God But exhort one another Daily while it is called to Day lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulless of Sin And 10.24 25. Let us consider one another to provoke unto Love and to good Works not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as ye see the Day is approaching 4. Let not them that are strong in respect of Knowledge Gifts Graces Experiences Attainments and Enjoyments Undervalue or Disesteem the Weak and let not the Weak envy them that are Strong Rom. 15.1 2. We that are Strong ought to bear with the Infirmities of the weak and not please our selves And 12.3 I say through the Grace given unto me to every Man that is among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think but to think Soberly according as God has dealt to every Man the measure of Faith v. 10. In Honour preferring one another 1 Cor. 12. Chap. throughout Especially v. 18.21 22. God hath set the Members every one of them in the Body as it hath pleased him The Eye cannot say to the Hand I have no need of thee nor again the Head to the Feet I have no need of you nay much more those Members of the Body which seem to be more feeble are necessary and those Members of the Body which we think to be less Honourable upon these we bestow more abundant Honour and our uncomly parts have more abundant comliness Phil. 2.3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory but in