the Proffers of his Love Oh with what an a king Heart will the Infidel then say Why did he dye for me since I was resolved to dye for my self If he had not died for me this Death had never been so terrible as now I feel it O that any one would bring an Argument and convince me now that Christ died not for me then should I escape the greatest part of my Torment I would not torment thee with such thoughts as these now if it were not in hope to prevent such tormenting thoughts when time is past Let me earnestly entreat thee whoever thou art that art in this doleful condition either speedily to believe in Christ or believe it thine own Conscience will one day prove thy most terrible Executioner So much for the First Motive that should Teach us to prize and exercise Faith viz. Consider the Miseries of an Unbeliever But it is not my design to fright the Sinner unto Christ neither is it possible that Fear only should work true Belief and produce a justifying Faith All that I have said hitherto is to deter the Sinner from such a damning Sin as Unbelief but these be Arguments of another Nature to attract the Sinner unto Christ Consider therefore 2. Secondly What Christ hath done to draw the Heart of Sinners to him and to engage them to believe He hath given his Soul an Offering to the death and stood in the very flames of his Father's wrath that he might keep away the burning intolerable heat thereof from us and bore the grievous burden of our sins He stript himself even to the greatest Poverty and Nakedness that he might Cloth us and emptied himself that we might be filled 2 Cor. 8.9 Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that tho he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich When we were fallen into the deepest reproach and shame he made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the Form of a Servant that he might advance us to the highest dignity and honour 2 Phill. 6.7 He humbled himself to the death that he might procure our life he made a low stoop that he might lift us up when sin had cast us down He took upon him the humane Nature that he might make us partakers of the Divine Nature Heb. 2.14 compared with 2 Pet. 1.4 Forasmuch as the Children are partakers of Flesh and Blood he also himself likewise took part with them that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil and purchase for us exceeding rich and precious Promises that by them we might be made partakers of the Divine Nature It was no small Endearment of himself to us to pass by the Angels and put forth his hand to help us For verily he took not upon him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham 2 Heb. 16. He rejoyced in the habitable parts of the Earth and his delight was among the Children of Men Prov. 8.3 It 's his earnest desire that thou shouldst have the benefits of his Death and enjoy what he hath so dearly purchased and therefore he invites thee to believe in him because otherwise thou canst have no advantage by his Death If thou hast any understanding or ingenuity lay the Love of Christ to Heart and consider how unspeakably great it is it 's past words to express it it is so much beyond example let thy thoughts dwell upon it and never give over the serious consideration of his Sufferings and Death for such as thou art till thy Heart melt and yield and till thou canst with Love and Thankfulness resign thy self to him as one that doth deliberately resolve to be his Loyal Subject and Disciple Methinks after thou hast heard what he hath done for thee thou shouldst be ready to do any thing and stick at nothing that he bids thee do that thou mightst shew the most grateful resentment of his love But when he commands thee nothing but for thy greatest advantage that is to leave thy deadly Enemies and forsake thy self-destroying Courses and come unto him thy greatest Friend and live under his Government to refuse such a gracious Offer shews that thou art void of all true understanding ingenuity and sense of thy own Benefit and Advantage Hadst thou rather live under the cruel Laws of a deadly malitious Enemy and one that neither can nor will protect thee when the most dreadful storms are coming on thee Than under the Government of one that beareth the greatest love and compassion to thee and hath the greatest Wisdom to direct thee the greatest Power to protect thee and whose Laws are the most perfect Rule of Life and the greatest Tendency to the Peace Welfare and Perfection of Christ's loyal faithful Subjects Hadst thou rather serve a Tyrant and professed Enemy in Chains and Slavery than a rightful just and gracious Soveraign that hath given such Demonstrations of the most wonderful and â—â—â—pendious love to such as thou art whose Service is perfect Freedom who hath contrived all his Laws for the benefit of his true Subjects and sincere Disciples If the Love of Christ testified by such exquisite Sufferings and Death and thy own Welfare and Felicity will not prevail with thee to throw off the Yoke of Satan and the World and Flesh and to become a Believer and cause thee to say from thy Heart with those in the Prophet Isaiah 26.13 O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had Dominion over us but by thee only will we make mention of thy Name 3. Thirdly Remember that Faith is the first Grace that brings thee into a justified state Condition All that thou hast or canst do before thou dost believe in Christ is of no avail to thy Justification and Salvation It 's Faith that unites the Soul to Christ and till it be united to him it can receive no saving benefit from him when first the sinner doth heartily consent that Christ shall be his King and Teacher and he will be his Subject and Disciple he is morally joyned and united unto Christ as the Soveraign and Subject make one Body Politick of which every Subject is a Member and the King is the Head and as the Master and the Scholars are morally united then begins our union with Christ and our participation of the benefits which he hath purchased when we first enter our selves into his School and list our selves under his Government and Protection God hath peremptorily resolved that none shall have the special Benefits of his Death but those that submit themselves to him Amongst which Justification is the first and then th◠〈◊〉 follow in their due place and order 〈…〉 by Faith we have Peace 〈…〉 〈…〉 â—â—pt 〈…〉 the 〈…〉 of Eternal Salvation 〈…〉 â—se that actually obey him so neither 〈…〉 the Means of their Justification to any 〈…〉 as by Faith and Cordial Subjection resolve to obey
him when their obedience is required so that the subjection of the Heart to Christ and a deliberate purpose to serve him sincerely and constantly all our days is the first Foundation of our Union with Christ and specâ—â— Relation to him from whence Justification doth immediately flow And what a Mercy and Priviledge that is none but such as reap the Fruit of Justification perfectly in the other life can throughly tell Blessed is he whose Transgression is forgiven and whose 〈◊〉 is covered yea again Blessed is the Man 〈◊〉 David unto whom the Lord imputeth not Iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no Guile Psal 32.1 2. But as the Man is miserable and wretched for the present that is not justified so wo to him if he die in an unjustified state And this if he want true Faith he will certainly do Justification is the Act of the Supreme Rector none hath Authority to do it but he only and none can effectually remit or renounce the Penalty but he only who alone is both the Kingdom and the Power And this we have the Testimony of his certain and infallible Word that he will not do but upon the Condition of Faith and an unfeigned subjection to his Son which alone is the effectual Means to bring them off from their Sins and to reduce them to their Obedience to God Never hope to be justified till from the sense of your vile Nature and corrupt Inclinations and proneness to rebel against God and obnoxiousness to his just displeasure you do thankfully fly to Christ as your only Remedy and take his Person for your Ruler and his Laws and Example for your Rule and his Spirit for your Sanctifier For these are the only Terms on which a Sinner is made a true Member of Christ's Church and consequently justified and pardoned 4. Fourthly There 's no way whereby we can bring more honour to our Redeemer than by Believing For hereby we give him the Glory 1. Of his Love and Mercy and all the ways whereby he hath demonstrated his Bowels and Compassions towards us in his wonderful Condescention to be made like to us in the Assumption of our Nature in subjecting himself to the Law yea and to the Miseries of his Life Poverty Reproach and Shame and that in such a degree as never any one of us endured or could endure in suffering the most pitiful Usage the most sarcastical Taunts the most bitter Agonies and the most ignominious cursed Death and all to bring us into a salveable condition if we will believe Now as there can be no greater Affront nor Provocation given to him than to slight and make void his Grace and Mercy so unspeakably great so we can do him no greater honour than to close with it and accept it and be saved by it and so stand as the Eternal Monument of his Love 2. We hereby give him also the Glory of his Sovereignty that by his own Merit and Conquests as well as the Free Donation of God is advanced to the right hand of God and hath the Supreme Sovereignty and Lordship over all things both in Heaven and Earth And therefore he tells us Matth. 28.18 All Power is given unto me in Heaven and Earth And Paul tells us that to this End Christ both died and rose again and revived that he might be Lord both of Dead and Living Rom. 14.9 And Phil. 2.8 9 10. Because Christ was obedient even to the Death of the Cross Therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name That at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth Matth. 11.27 All things are delivered to me of my Father and so Luke 10.22 Now to believe on him is practically to acknowledge his Sovereignty that he is Lord of all Acts 10.36 That he is gone into Heaven and is on the right hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject to him 1 Pet. 3.22 When we subject our selves to him by Faith we own him whom God hath made a little lower than the Angels and crowned him with Glory and Honour and did set him over the Works of his hands and hath put all things in subjection under his feet 2 Heb. 7.8 9. Did we know what a Blessing and Priviledge it is to come under his Protection and live in subjection to him we should need no other Argument to perswade us to believe As we honour him so we ease our selves and rid our selves of those Fears that we are otherwise exposed to and therefore our Saviour that he might comfort his Disciples exhorts them John 14.1 Let not your Hearts be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me When we believe we do in effect say He hath satisfied the Justice of God and he hath given Sinners into his hands and laid the Government upon his shoulders and that he can save to the utmost all that come unto God by and through him since he ever liveth as an immutable and everlasting Priest to make intercession for them Heb. 7.25 3. Hereby we give him also the Glory of his Skill when by Faith we bring our diseased Souls to him with confidence of a Cure For that is one of the Chief Ends of Faith that we may be purified from all our Corruptions and perfect Holiness in the Fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 As it was one of Christs great Ends in dying so it should be ours in believing that we might be saved from our sins Matth. 1.21 It must be a skilful Physitian indeed that knows how to free the Soul of Man from such a Mass of Corruption from such a Chronical and Inveterate Disease that 's made up of such a complication of Distempers It must be no less than a Divine Skill indeed that must raise such an Earthly Mind that must Cure a Heart so full of Contradiction to the Will of God and that must tame the Affections to God that are grown so carnal It must be one that knows all the windings and turnings of the Heart and is throughly acquainted with its Pulse and all its secret Motions that can Cure its Selsishness and take it off from its inordinate pursuit of Earthly Things and make it submissive to the Will of God that can dispel the darkness of Mans Mind and heal the Confusion of his Thoughts and awaken him to an impartial Consideration of Things and fortifie Reason against the Flesh and rectifie his Judgment both as to present and future things and recover him out of Delirancy and Madness O how much do holy Souls admire his skill whom he hath perfectly recovered and how much will they that are now languishing in Selfishness and Pride and the doting Love of this World and under all that Litter of Corruptions wherewith their Souls are daily disquieted when he shall have restored them to Integrity again and to their right Mind Come unto him
judgment may be passed upon other Nations if this great Relation every Soul stands in to God were well thought upon and all things that have a power to inchant the mind and controll the mighty power of this truth upon the soul were in a good measure disgraced and turned out of the heart It could not be that heart and mouth and life should be so intollerably backward to any serious service of God as they are in the most 2. Secondly They forget God that overlook his Sovereignty and forget that he is the holy just and righteous Governour of Mankind 1. That he is the absolute and universal Sovereign that hath the most unquestionable authority to command and govern the Creatures he hath made 2. The greatest wisdom to contrive the most perfect Laws for the good of all his Subjects 3. And the most irresistible power to see them executed 4. And the highest justice to see that neither Law nor Subject shall receive any detriment or damage And if this were believed and considered would men either desire or dare to cast off such a Yoke and transgress such a Law and provoke such impartial justice What a monstrous pride must it needs be that makes a man unwilling to submit to such a Government And what a presumptuous befooled lying heart must that be that can promise it self indemnity and think to speed well in a state of disobedience Let the deceived heart that hath turned thee aside from such an honourable gainful service tell thee whom thou canst serve to better purpose and under whose command thine own welfare would be better promoted I know thou wouldst abhor the thought of being his servant who is the first-born of all pride insolence and cruelty and yet there is no possible way of escape if the Yoke of thy rightful Sovereign be too heavy for thee May be thou mayst be so void of understanding as to think if thou hadst none to controll thine actions but wert thine own Lord and accountable to none other but thy self and that thou mightst let out thy heart with a full Rein to all that it desireth it were a condition to be desired above any other but hast thou wit enough to manage all thy affairs strength enough to protect thy self soresight enough to keep out of a thousand evils that thy own blindness and nakedness would expose thee to Thy Lusts and thy Passions would make worse work with thee than all thy other enemies when they were under no restraint and thou couldst not long keep out of the fore-mentioned Tyrants hands the mention of whose dominion over thee made thee so much to start before But it may be thou meanest that this State were the most desirable if thou hadst wisdom enough to direct thee and power enough to protect thy self and fulness enough to supply all thine own wants and art thou not now ashamed of such a prodigious pride as would sit down in the Throne of God and aspire to the divine perfections Thou seest whither this inclination leadeth and what a symtom of destruction it must needs be and yet be thy case never so bad and desperate they that will habitually overlook that divine right and sovereignty and their necesssity of subjection and both from the wisdom and justice of the Laws and power of the Law-giver and that there is no wisdom nor happiness like theirs that chearfully obey must needs entangle themselves in these woful consequences fall into the absurdest sins that will but humour and gratifie this proud inclination 3. They forget God that are not prevailingly under the power of this thought that God is their happiness and that if all the world were theirs and God should deny the light and beatifical presence of himself they could never find rest or satisfaction Let the honour and Majesty of a King and the Glory of a Kingdom be given unto David and let him have all the assistance that such a power can afford to compass the pleasures that the heart of man can wish for yet this will not do In the midst of this fulness and sufficiency he is in streights Job 20.22 If God withdraw When thou hidest thy face I am troubled Psal 30.7 And when this was wanting his moisture was turned into the draught of Summer and his bones were broken hence he prayeth to God to restore the joy of his salvation and uphold him with his free spirit and to make him to hear of joy and gladness that the bones that he had broken might rejoyce Psal 51.8 12. Who that hath any experience in the world can be fool enough to believe that his soul will be quieted with such a Weathercock and Rattle as the world is and popt off with noise instead of substance and listen with full contentment to the Sounding Brass and Tinkling Cymbal Alas The Bias of a Mans Soul is after something that the world hath not something like it self and cannot be truly satisfied with these things because they have no proportion with it self They are flesh and that is spirit nor thoroughly comforted with these shews because the time is at hand when it shall be truly said as Rachel said of her Children they are not Give the Child that cryes for the Breast what you will and it gives not over because this is the only thing it wants The Soul will never be still nor give over its muttering and complaints till it hath the very thing that fully supplies its want and that only is God and they that live not under the power of this perswasion will run after every shadow and be ticed into mortal sin and yet at last lose their labour and hope and all this because they forget that God is their Rest and that their Happiness is bound up in him Jog thy self a little and consider what it is to be God but to have All-sufficiency and to have all Satisfying Ravishing Excellency in the greatest Transcendency without any Bounds or Ends what it is to be God but to have all imaginable Perfection And therefore to think we remember God when we forget those Perfections which are his very Being is a lie with a witness and will prove one with a vengeance if thou dost not pray to God and prevail with him to have thy Memory restored and to heal this defect thereof 4. They forget God that live not under a daily sense of his Omniscience and forget that his Eye pierceth the thickest darkness and that nothing is hid from his distinct Observation For he that denieth this denieth God and he that forgetteth this forgets that without which God cannot be God Tell me thou that abhorest Atheism with thy Tongue why art thou so notoriously guilty of it in thy practice Why dost thou with-draw from the Eyes of Men when thou hast some filthiness to commit which thou art ashamed they should see or know Why dost thou shut thy self up in thy Closet that there thou mayest hide thy Vanity
amongst the Forgetters of Gods Word For Faith or Subjection to the Person of Christ and Obedience to his Laws and abrenunciation of all that would hinder this Subjection of our Hearts and Obedience of our Lives are Three great ends for which the Word of God was ordained and appointed and a high Reverence of its Authority and deep Sense of its Importance and firm perswasion of its certainty would most undoubtedly bring to pass For it is most unquestionable that God would not fail these his own means 1. First They must read or hear these Instructions slightly and unworthily that are not deeply wrought upon by the consideration of their Author and the Divinity that is instamp'd upon them It 's not enough that you believe and acknowledge this but that you be frequently under the thought of it And it is a weighty truth worthy your remembrance That the Soul is never wrought upon to any purpose either in its Understanding Will or Affections but by frequent serious and repeated Acts. The main difficulty therefore in the work of Conversion and a saving change on our part lies here in bringing our thoughts to a devout and frequent meditation of these Objects which God hath resolved shall do the work if ever it be done And though he can change the Heart by a word and in a moment if he please yet he hath told us flatly he will not do it ordinarily without these means And therefore he awakens every Soul to such Meditations whom he will shew mercy to A Mans Thoughts are the means that God makes most use of in renewing his Heart Do thou not presume whoever thou art that God will infuse Sanctification into thy Heart by a miracle when thou art thinking all the day yea all the week long upon meer vanity if not doing worse But this by the way He that doth not strike his heart into superlative Reverence of this Word by thinking often of that Holy Spirit by whom it was word for word inspired will never be made fit to take it into his heart and chew upon it when he lies down and riseth up to curb every base Inclination of his Soul by it and to resolve they shall bend to this Word or have no quiet The Heart is so prone to Earth and Vanity and the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts are so strong and masterless that they will never obey unless such Authority be produced Yea there 's none that are well vers'd in their own Hearts but will find how they will slight such Authority and sometime venture to contemn it But as he that doth wisely govern a Family or other Society much more a Kingdom will not suffer his Authority to be trampled on nor his Laws to stand for Ciphers but will vindicate them with the greatest Power and Majesty that he can put on much more will the Lord of Heaven and Earth stand up in the behalf of his own Authority and vindicate the best Laws that ever were made from contempt And if any sinner be so sottish as to think that his Wit or Pedigree or Riches or Esteem in the World will bear him out in such irreverence let me say to such a one as once Samuel said to Saul 1 Sam. 15.16 Stay and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said of such a one Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall lightly be esteemed 1 Sam. 2.30 Be as wise and as great as thou wilt the Lord will shame thee sooner or later and kick thee down into Scorn and Disgrace 2. Secondly They are forgetful of the Word of God that are not considerably moved with the most important matters which it sets before them If thou readest it not frequently thou forgetest it in the grossest sense and thine own Conscience will fall upon and condemn thee And if thou dost read it yet if thy very Heart be not affected with those matters in the Word which more concern thee than all the World so as to shew it in thy Life I would not for all the World hear that Judgment that thou shalt shortly hear Doth it so much concern thee what thou shalt Eat and what thou shalt Drink and wherewithal thou shalt be cloathed and how thou shalt Sleep or enjoy thy Health much more how thou shalt visit this or that Friend do this or that petty business as how thou shalt save thy Soul how thou mayst get thy Heart affected with its Sin and Misery and set a value upon Christ as he deserveth this is not easily done how thou mayst break off thine Affections from these things that will abuse them and certainly blast every good work in thy Heart and turn thy Religion into meer Hypocrisie For it is impossible that the Love of God should be in that Heart where the love of any worldly thing doth prevail Hearken therefore and listen attentively what necessity the Word of God layeth upon Self-denial 〈◊〉 mortification of the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts He that will be my Disciple must deny himself take up his Cross and follow me Luke 9.23 And if ye live after the Flesh ye shall die Rom. 8.13 If thine Estate Life or Credit only were here concerned thy neglect would not prove thee so perfectly mad and distracted as now it doth when the Eternal Life and Welfare of thy Soul is so much concerned 3. Thirdly They that live not under any serious thoughts of the certain accomplishment of all that is threatned or promised in the Word cannot but forget the Word The things that are contained in the Scripture if they were liable to some doubt yet were worthy to be thought on because they concern so much if they should prove true And this is an Argument that will stop their Mouths that chuse a Romance or vain Ballad before the Word of God to be the matters of their thoughts But when God will certainly make good every Judgment he hath threatned to the impenitent sinner and when every wicked person that dies in his sin shall as certainly feel those dreadful Woes as now he hears or may hear them pronounced O what an advantage is here to beget a Resolution to withstand every Temptation that would draw us to those things that are thus threatned Though it were a pleasing and profitable Lust it 's stark madness to fulfil it O if we had 〈◊〉 or felt the wrath of God in another World it would be Armour of Proof against all wilful presumptuous sin for ever afterwards and would awaken the Soul to any pains or diligence to escape it And is it not as certain as if we had seen or felt it Hath the Lord said that he will laugh at the destruction of a sinner and mock when his fear cometh Prov. 1.26 Hath he said that he will shortly come with his Fan in his hand and thorowly purge his Floor and gather his Wheat into the Garner but that he will burn up the
such thoughts Such as these have their Hearts frequently filled with Laughter and their Tongues with Rejoycing Psal 126.2 Hence those unimitable strains of David so frequent in the Psalms I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live I will sing praise unto my God whilst I have my being My Meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord Psal 104.33 34. The more bright and glorious the Object is upon which the thoughts do dwell the more it doth exhilerate and refresh In a word The more God is in thy Remembrance the more of Content and substantial Joy thou shalt feel in thy Heart So much for the means by way of consideration to help forward in this duty I now come to the means by way of Exercise or the more practical Directions And these are either more positive and such as directly concern the Duty or else negative and such as comprize the hinderances which are to be carefully avoided And as these are first in practice so they shall be first in the directions First If you would get the pleasure of these Thoughts into your Heart you must not allow your selves to live in any known sin whatsoever because such sin is of an oblivious nature and will extinguish the Memory of God The love and voluntary entertainment of an Enemy and Traytor will not consist with the Love and Loyalty we owe to God and which a worthy Remembrance doth imply Even Men will question your Love and Friendship and take you for a double dealer and a false hearted dissembler if you take an utter Enemy of theirs into your Fellowship and use him as your Intimate and Companion And though it may consist with Friendship to fall into the company of one that is an Enemy to your Friend now and then when it is not your choice and seeking but surprize or some other reason drew you into his company not any special love to or complacency in his Person and you are glad when you have an opportunity to be rid of such a Guest yet you plainly violate such Love and Friendship and are like to lose all interest in your Friend if you chose his known Adversary for your allowed ordinary Companion And as Love will not consist with such allowance and tolleration of that which is destructive of the thing or person which you love so much less is Loyalty and true Subjection consistent with wilful and allowed Contradiction to the command of him that hath just Rule and Authority over us A discret Master will not take him for a Servant but for a Rebel that will ordinarily oppose and cross his Just and Righteous Command Neither will a Parent that doth not dote take that for an obedient Child that lives in the constant violation of a reasonable Command And thus it is in all Government here on Earth and there can be no true Subjection where there is such perpetual Contradiction in any one particular that falls within Bond and Obligation and is plain Duty Though the case is otherwise if the point be disputable and it is no Rebellion if any one case there be 1. No Command 2. No right to Command if a Servant does that to which he believes he hath no contrary Command or humbly refuseth that which his Master hath no right to command him his Credit is still good notwithstanding in any mans account that judgeth Righteous Judgment I know it argues a Rebellious Inclination and some degree of Disloyalty to question that Command where it 's plain and evident yet where it 's certain we have no Command from God it 's as certain that we are under no Obligation But there is a deeper taint of Rebellion in the Heart and more of enmity to God that lives in the constant breach and violation of a known Duty and allows himself in the practice of that which he knows God is displeased with This will not suffer him to live in the Remembrance of God whom he doth daily provoke If you are therefore such as can live constantly in known sin you will thrust all thoughts of God out of your mind as those which will but create fear and terror in you But if you have a sincere though not a perfect respect to all Gods Commands you may take Comfort and Pleasure in the Thoughts and Remembrance of God though you do fail if you allow it not but oppose your sin and confess it and pray and strive against it this will consist with the Love of God which must be in the Heart that will worthily Remember him Secondly As you must in the General resist all known Sin so in Particular Ignorance or want of the knowledge of God is an utter Enemy to this Remembrance and therefore must be carefully avoided Can a Man think that which he hath no knowledge of and love where he sees no Beauty and obey he knows not whom nor why He that knows not the Holy Nature of God and what a Perfection and Happiness it is to be like him yea what an absolute necessity there lies upon every man to be like him if he will be happy must make haste and get a cure for such Ignorance or else he can never perform the Duty we are upon If you know not that you are indebted to God for all that you have that he gave you your Being and Reason and expects Obedience and will judge you according to your present Life and Conversation and that he doth spy out the thoughts of the Heart and knows all your Imaginations If you know not what bowels of Compassion are in him and how much he taketh pleasure in your welfare and what course he hath taken to bring it to pass If you know not what Christ hath suffered for Sin and Sinners that God might pardon it without any Dishonour to his Justice and Holiness if the Sinner do repent and beg mercy you can never Remember God aright and therefore Ignorance is fearfully threatned in Scripture as the Mother of all Ungodliness And the Prophet Esay complains of this sin in the Jews and pronounces a heavy Sentence on them for it Esay 27.11 It is a People of no understanding saith he what then therefore he that made them will not have mercy and he that formed them will shew them no favour If you love your selves and have any compassion for your own Souls or do believe a Life to come take heed of this sin for without knowledge the Soul cannot be good Prov. 19.2 There are so many and excellent Books that are fitted to the cure of this Distemper that will shame this sin one day and leave it without all excuse The truths that are necessary to Salvation are so few and so plain and so agreeable to the very light of Reason and are pressed so much in the writings of so many that he or she that can but read cannot miss instruction yea they that cannot read though their case be sad yet
run upon the vengeance of Eternal Fire and take no care to get the Crown that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5.14 They are inconsiderate and will not suffer their Hearts to muse on these things O if these things were considered to any purpose your worldly business which you now pretend so much against these things would seem light and trivial and meer Childs-play in comparison or that work which is of Ten thousand times higher concernment You would not on the one hâ—nd neglect the opportunities of your Souls and of getting Grace and Peace with God thorough our Lord Jesus Christ and making your felt for ever If these thoughts did but dwell in your Minds and if Consideration did but open your Eye and shew you the worth and excellency the force and necessity of these big and most concerning Truths Neither would you on the other hand attend the means of Grace with such sleepy inattentive wandring Hearts Is not that Man a sot indeed that can sleep upon a Scaffold when he is going to Execution Is not that Man a careless stupid wretch indeed that will give no attention or heed what the Judge says when he is passing Sentence either of Life or Death upon him And yet it is the case of many a sinner that 's careless and inconsiderate when he is dying and going into another World and therefore he makes none or but foolish preparation Consideration if it were followed would bring home these Truths and give them a power to pierce and become sensible and make the Man that doth consider them to live answerably to them Physick worketh not in the Prescription or Doctors Bill no nor in the Apothecaries Shop where it is prepared till it be taken and let down into the Stomach or some way taken into the Body for it nourisheth not in the Dish or on the Table no nor though it be taken into the Mouth if it be not transmitted into the Stomach and there concocted Neither will the greatest Truths cure the Distempers of a sinful and perverted Heart or nourish up the Soul to any Spiritual Life and vigour in the Book nor in the Mouth of the Teacher nor yet if they be taken into the Brain till Meditation bring them to the Heart and the Soul by Consideration look frequently upon the worth and weight of them and enforce Subjection and Obedience thereto For want of this Consideration of these few plain and important Truths it is that Men forget God and never attain to a due Remembrance of him and for want of this they relapse and lose their first Love and Memory of him And therefore Consideration is the best way to beget this Remembrance at first and to restore it afterwards Secondly Such Consideration is very soveraign and powerful to bring a Man at first to Remember God or to recover his Thoughts and Affections again after a decay and relapse because in both these cases the Word of God calls to Consideration and insists perpetually upon this Duty When the Prophets of God are sent to call Men to their first or after Repentance they usually deliver their Message in terms that express or imply Consideration After the return of the Jews from the Babilonish Captivity from the which the Lord had brought them by such a mighty hand they forgat the Lord and grew presently careless and negligent of his House and Worship and the Prophet Haggai is sent 1. To censure and reprove the sin and 2. To prescribe the Remedy and Means to cure their sin and bring them to Repentance Their sin is taxed pretty sharply and is charged on them by a cutting Interrogation Hag. 1.4 Is it time for you O ye to dwell in your cieled Houses and Gods House lie waste and consequently his Service neglected which was then so much confined to the Temple In the next verse he proposeth the Remedy ver 5. Now therefure thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your ways Nay to shew the vertue and necessity of it he urgeth it the second time ver 7. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your ways And the Prophet Isaiah implieth the excellency of this Remedy in that he doth lay the blame of Israels Rebellion and Ingratitude upon the want of this They were grown to a strange pass of monstrous Wickedness and Ingratitude which the Prophet knew not how to express and therefore calls upon Heaven and Earth to take notice that God had nourished and brought up Children and yet they rebelled against him Esa 1.2 and fetcheth his proof from the Brutes and irrational Creatures to convince them of their sin The Oxe knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib 1. saith Vatablus the Master of his Crib But Israel doth not know and what 's the reason of such shameful miscarriage My People doth not consider And Moses intimateth that Death and Judgment which are the most powerful means to awaken Men to Repentance and the Remembrance of God will do no good without Consideration but if he could bring them to this Duty to consider of these things he did not doubt their Welfare and Happiness Deut. 32.29 O that my People were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end This act of Consideration applied to this Object is a most excellent means to bring Men to Wisdom and Understanding which are insolent with an Impenitency and Forgetfulness of God And without this leading act of the Soul there can be no beseeming Apprehensions of him nor Service rightly performed to him And where there is least of this there is most of Formality and slightness in his Worship and most of Irreligion and Athiesm in the Life And therefore Moses when he is Exhorting the Children of Israel to a due Remembrance of God and Veneration of him he gives them this Advice Know therefore this day and consider it in thine Heart that the Lord he is God in Heaven above and upon the Earth beneath and there is none else Deut. 4.39 When Men flee off from this and will not set themselves to consider and understand neither Correction nor Instruction nor Mercies will succeed but all will lose their designed end and leave a Man under Impenitency and Forgetfulness And therefore Moses adviseth Israel thus to consider Deut. 8.5 Thou shalt not consider it in thine Heart that as a Man chasteneth his Son so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee The same word in the Hebrew signifieth to Consider and Vnderstand because the one so much dependeth upon the other And as 1 Correction will not prosper without it so neither will 2. Instruction which is another means to to produce this worthy Remembrance of God Hence it is that the Apostle urgeth to consider what he had taught them or else the Instructions he had given them were like to be as Water spilt upon the ground 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Consider what I say and the Lord give you understanding in all things 2 Tim. 2.7
for what the World will give thee instead of it thou shalt consider when it is too late and say with that unhappy King that sold away his Kingdom for a draught of water Alas must I for so short a pleasure lose so great a Kingdom Ninthly Another thing that it concerns thee much to roul about and consider with thy deepest thoughts is the horrour and confusion of those that must be banished for ever from the face of God and sentenced to everlasting misery There 's none that escape that place but those that frequently think on it and believe it it s well worth thy serious Consideration to preserve thy soul from such a fearful destruction Many a man whom God hath awakened to believe those terrible endless torments have retired themselves from all worldly noise and disturbance that they might live under the power of these thoughts as the best preservative against these torments And is not thy Soul as dear and precious to thee as their's to them and deserve as much compassion from thee Surely though it is not thy duty to think actually of the woful and miserable estate of unbelievers all the day long Yet it 's of absolute necessity that some serious thoughts should be spent on that subject till the fear thereof make void and prevail over all Carnal worldly fears whatsoever And make thee more industrious to prevent that misery than thou art to escape the scorn and and reproach and all the sufferings and miseries of this life otherwise thou art never like to escape it And methinks thou should'st easily believe that Hell is more to be feared than all the Calamities of this Life and the loss of this Life it self But thus it will never be if thou art not one that dost often represent it to thy thoughts A danger though it be never so great yet if it be both out of sight and mind also will fright no body nor have any the least influence upon our endeavours to escape it The evil must be before the eye of our sense or understanding that works upon us to take the best course for our security and defence And the nearer we apprehend it to be the more hast we make to get away from it And whether a wicked man hath no reason to think his woful misery near even at the door I leave any man to Judge that hath any competent use of his understanding what can you name almost that 's more uncertain then this Life and so soon as ever it ends then begins his distress that shall never end But yet let him not be too confident that it shall not begin before Many a man hath felt the torments of Hell on this side the grave and this Judgment hath commenc'd before his life hath been concluded some mens sins go before them to Judgment saith the Apostle and some mens follow after 1 Tim. 5.24 There is some men feel the Vengeance of a righteous Judge even in this Life Spira professed that he felt the consuming fire of Gods wrath in his heart and Conscience whilst he was alive and openly blasphemed his Maker wishing that he was above him for he knew as he said that he would have no mercy on him O Sirs the intollerable pains that every impenitent Sinner must speedily undergo are well worth the pains of a few hours Consideration to prevent and if you think it not so you may spare your pains a little longer till your lamentable experience shall put you quite out of all doubt If indeed the diversion of your thoughts from so sad an object were the way to secure your Souls and to keep out of that devouring and unquenchable fire then you might well excuse your selves from troubling your minds with such thoughts as these But though you may quench the spirit of God that moveth you to Consider of this and to let it sink into your heart that you may seek for mercy whilst it may be had yet you cannot quench the flames of Hell nor extinguish that fire that must feed upon your soul and body for ever O how much better is it cooly to Consider the intolerableness of Gods wrath then to feel the burning heat and extremity of his indignation when there is no remedy If it were indeed but a flea bite you might slight it and keep your thoughts for something of more weight and moment Or if it were unavoidable perhaps you might do wisely not to torment your selves before the time nor invite such a guest till it comes of his own accord 'T is to no purpose to think of such sufferings which thinking will not prevent But believe it it is no flea-bite nor a matter to be slighted Fire and Sword and Rack and all the inventions of Cruelty that were ever found out are but Sport and Recreation to the Judgment and Condemnation of the Life to come And because the loss of God and Heaven seems such a tolerable punishment to these Vessels of wrath Let me tell them that there 's no part or member either in their Soul or Body that shall not be racked with perpetual and eternal pain And can thine heart endure or thine hands be strong when he shall come to deal with thee Ezek. 22.14 Thou would'st eat thy bread with trembling and drink thy drink with terrour and astonishment if he should pour out on thee some few bitter drops of his displeasure now in this life Thou even thou saith the Psalmist to Almighty God whose Judgments thou despisest art greatly to be feared and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry Psal 76.7 what trembling eyes and what a failing heart have they whom God doth a little terrifie with some frowns of his anger here on earth you may hear them cry out in the morning would God it were evening and in the evening would God it were morning for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear and for the fear of thine eyes which thou shalt see Deut. 28.6 51 67. How dolefully doth Job complain under his outward sufferings though he had Integrity to support him and the root of Comfort was within him Job 19.28 Death it self it seems would have been welcome to him under the heavy pressures which he felt as we may see in Job 3.20 21. c. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life to the bitter in Soul which long for death but it cometh not and dig for it more than for hid treasures which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Why is life given to a man whose way is hid and whom God hath hedg'd in for my sighing cometh before I eat and my roarings are poured out like water And how David was ready to faint away many a time under the apprehensions of Gods displeasure it 's the design of many a passage in the Psalms to tell you Psal 51.8 Make me to hear of joy and gladness that the
quickly end and then thou wilt begin to rejoyce that a Soul is born into the Spiritual World And then thou wilt forget all thy former Sighs and Groans and Fears and the bitter Agonies of thy Soul becaufe God hath now answered thee in the joy of thy Heart And taken thee into his special care and pardoned all thy sin Eccles 5.20 Or if thou beest one that hath pass'd the New Birth already thy speedy repentance after sin committed will be like a Shower in Summer after the Ground is parched with heat and drought The Winter-Rain though the Ground be well soaked therewith may indeed prepare the Earth to bring forth its Encrease which Men expect from it in Summer and Harvest But if there fall not some Showers now and then especially after violent hot Seasons all the hopes of a good Harvest may come to nought So it is in the Case of sin your first Repentance and Tears are like the Winter-Rain that is of long continuance and doth throughly soak into the Heart and make it soft and fertile But your after-Repentance is like the Summer-Showers and the more the heat is parched with sin and hardned through the Sun-shine of Prosperity the more it must be watered with fresh Showers of Holy Repentance and Sorrow or else you will lose your hopes of Future Joy and Happiness Seeing then the Necessity of a first and after Repentance refuse not the Mercy that 's offered to thee upon such fair Terms For shame disown that Faculty of Sorrow and Weeping if it will not serve thee and stand thee in stead in this greatest Necessity Shall thine Eyes trickle and run down with Tears if thou hast but lost a dear Friend and Acquaintance Yea if thou hast but parted with him for a time and hast not quite lost him or her And shall not thy Heart melt and thine Eyes pour down when God is departed from thee though it should be but for a certain time Alas thou wantest him every Moment more than thou canst do the most useful helpful Friend that ever thou hadst in the World And if thou knowest not thus much the greater is thy need of repentance and sorrow for such a wicked deadly ignorance as this will prove if the Tears of Repentance do not clear thine Eyes and cause thee better to see and understand what need thou hast of the Divine Grace and Comfort every hour And then thou wilt be as ready to say as David I am poor and needy make hast unto me O God Thou art my help and my deliverer make no long tarrying O my God Psalm 70.5 And when thou hast well considered and had a little more experience thou wilt say as he did Vnless the Lord had been my help my soul had long since dwelt in silence 1 death Psalm 94.17 It 's easie to see if thou regardest either Scripture or Experience That in the multitude of thy troublesome thoughts within he only can comfort and rejoyce thy soul Psalm 94.19 If thou canst not therefore weep in the want and absence of him better thou hadst had no Eyes nor a Faculty to sigh or weep Yea the very Children of the Bride-chamber though they have no need to weep whilst the Bride-groom is with them that is whilst they seel the effects of God's gracious Presence and Favour yet when the Bride-groom is gone from them and driven away by some sinful unkind usage in these days they must mourn or the Comforter will not return again How much more must they weep that are none of the Children of the Bride-chamber that never yet repented in all their life Well there is no Remedy Except you repent you will certainly perish Luke 13.3 5. This is the First Consideration to provoke Repentance and to stir up this Affection Secondly Consider how foolishly thou hast done and then refrain thy deepest Sorrow and Tears if thou art able This Consideration stirr'd up David's repentance after that carnal confidence and distrust of God he had been guilty of in numbring the People 2 Sam. 24.10 And David 's heart smote him after he had numbred the People And David said unto the Lord I have sinned greatly in that I have done And now I beseech thee O Lord take away the iniquity of thy servant for I have done very foolishly Is it not a ridiculous foolish Act to set our strength and wit against him that made us For the Stubble to quarrel with the Fire And the Dust to fight against the Wind that scattereth it on the Face of the Earth 'T is just such a piece of wisdom to provoke God wilfully And when he calls to give him no answer And when he hath given us a Law to direct us how to live Never seriously to enquire what it is nor to trouble our selves with such Thoughts If an Earthly Master should command his Servant to do any thing that were just and reasonable and he should peremptorily refuse to do it you would call that plain Rebellion and say that Servant deserves to be used accordingly And is it much better do you think if he should send him Instructions written in black and white what he would have him do And he should let them lye by and never read them Wilful ignorance of what we may and are bound to know lives at next door to direct and open Contradiction and Rebellion Now judge whether that Man be not void of understanding or stark mad That dare stand up and contradict and say he will not obey when God commands him I know there 's not a Man believes there is a God and knows what he is that dares say plainly as Pharaoh did Who is the Lord that I should obey him Exod. 5.2 But are there not many thousands that will go their ways and never consider or regard what God commands them I would it were not a very common Case And Mens ordinary course in the World And what 's the reason that Men are so exceeding bold and adventurous The plain reason is becaufe they are foolish Children and have no knowledge they are sottish and have no understanding Jer. 4.22 And yet it follows They are wise enough to do evil but to do good they have no knowledge What canst thou say for thy self that art yet an impenitent wretch If thou art one that doest believe thou hast a Soul to save and a God to serve and that the Day is coming when thou must account for these things and yet regardest them not will not thy Tongue be forced to say thou hast done very foolishly Is he not a Fool that neglects his greatest Concernments and spendeth all his Time without any Thoughts of them Suppose a Merchant should send a Factour into a far Countrey to negotiate his Affairs and transact his Business there and to carry on his Trade with the Inhabitants of that Countrey and there should live gallantly upon the Cost and Expences of his Master that sent him and when he should