with me to be bound to me to save me harmless or you shall make over such houses or such lands for my security that if I be called upon or the Bond be put in suit against me I might save my self But as Christ did tread the wine-press of Gods wrath alone so did he alone undertake to ransom and redeem us from our bondage and captivity 8. Christ did never repent of this undertaking nor desired to stand bound no longer Men engaged for others when they fear they will fail make all means they can to get out of the bond and to stand surety no longer they will scarce sleep till they have got themselves free though the party that is the principal debtor be arrested and put in prison But Jesus Christ our Lord-Redeemer and Surety to bring us out of bondage was constant to the death and when Peter did disswade him from suffering which was the payment of our ransom how sharply did Christ rebuke him Mat. 6. 21 22 23 Yea he was desirous of the time of actual performance Luk. 12. 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straitned till it be accomplished Christ never said it doth repent me that I did ever undertake to ransom Captive sinners God said indeed it did repent him that he made man Gen. 6. 6 but Christ never did repent that he had engaged himself to redeem sinners 9. Consider what it was that was the price that Christ did give to make you free from your captivity Men might be Surety for men to pay a sum of money but Christ became our Surety to the shedding of his own most precious blood Men might give some money to redeem a Captive from Turkish slavery but Christ himself his life his soul and body to bring us from our bitter bondage and miserable captivity Thus take some time to ponder upon the Lord your surety that did so freely undertake the ransoming of your captivated Souls Which was the fourth head to get your hearts affected with this priviledg of being set at liberty Fifthly Consider That God was pleased to accept of the undertaking of Christ and what he hath laid down for your ransom from captivity God might have exacted the debt from man that did owe it It is a voluntary act for a man to become a surety no man is to be compelled to it and it is a voluntary act of the creditor to accept of such a surety they are both free and at their choice but when the one offers himself to become bound and the other doth accept of his suretiship then is the debtor or prisoner relieved It was free love in Christ to become our Redeemer it was grace in God to accept of Christs ransom for us The Son might have said Man hath sinned why should I suffer man hath deserved the wrath of God let him undergo it And the Father might have said Man hath transgressed my Law and violated my Covenant and I will make him suffer for it they have brought themselves into bonds of misery and they shall lie therein and they that sinned themselves shall die Oh wonder then at this blessed agreement between the Father and the Son for the bringing forth poor Souls in Bondage from their Captivity Seventhly From all the former it follows the Salvation of such as are made free is sure and certain Heaven now belongeth unto you and the glory above you have a title to Doth Satan object against you that you have sinned and deserved to lie in everlasting Chains you might reply it is true but Christ is my Surety and Redeemer and hath set me free Doth the Law or Conscience accuse you you might answer all from the Ransom of your Redeemer Do you fear the Justice of God why your Debt is paid by your Surety and then the Debtor cannot be cast into Prison The Surety and the Debtor in Law are but one Person and the Surety is liable to make satisfactory payment Prov. 22. 26 27. and Christ hath done it and you discharged God hath given some to Christ whom he is to bring to Heaven and they shall not perish John 6. 38 39 40. as Judah did engage to Jacob for Benjamin Gen. 43. 9. I will be Surety for him of my hands thou shalt require him if I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee then let me bear the blame for ever And therefore when Benjamin was to be detained by Joseph Judah pleads hard and offers himself to abide in his stead and to be a Bondman there so that Benjamin might return to his Father with his Brethren Gen. 44. 33. Christ hath undertaken to bring all those out of their Bonds and Fetters which the Father gave unto him and to set them in Heaven before him The price is paid the Bonds are broken the Chains fallen from your Souls in which you were held while unconverted as he hath opened the Prison-doors that you might come forth so he will open to you the Palace-gates that you may enter in for hopes hereof be thankful be exceeding thankful and rejoyce in the Lord your Redeemer Second Exhortation The next Duty I would press upon you is to be compassionate and to put on tender bowels of pity towards those that yet are bound in the Fetters and Chains of their sin and guilt whilest you do rejoyce in that you are free do not forget to commiserate them that yet are Captives 1. Let Ministers think of this when they are studying for and praying for and preaching to their people how they be in Bondage and in slavery and that except their Chains be loosed and their Fetters broken and knocked off their souls are lost for ever and that they will be faster shortly bound hand and foot and cast into a place of outer and eternal darkness some serious and believing thoughts of their present danger and their future misery would put more life into all we do for their recovery and prevention of their everlasting condemnation Should we then preach unto them with such lukewarmness as if we were telling them a tale or saying such things in that manner as if we did not believe our selves the things we do declare or as if it were no matter whether our hearers did believe receive and obey the Message we deliver to them or no when yet they be the great and weighty truths of everlasting Life or Death to preach a Redeemer to Captive souls what skill and life and love doth it require what zeal and pity to their souls doth it call for Oh that God would pardon the want of these in me give me that belief of their eternal state and seriousness of heart that I may ever speak and preach the Doctrine of Redemption to enslaved sinners as to those that are undone for ever except they be prevailed with to come to him submit to him accept of him and give up themselves to be His wholly and to be his only that
shall be damned and except ye be converted ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God you do remain captives still and do you not repent nor believe nor are converted and yet will you hope you are freemen and shall be saved The truth is if you do not believe Christs ministers preaching Christs own words neither would you believe Christ himself Luk. 10. 16 He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me not to hear is to despise and whom do you despise when you do not hear and obey the doctrine preached according to the Scripture is it poor mortal men No but you despise Christ and God himself Believe me then or believe rather Christ himself that tells thee without converting-grace thou shalt be damned and except thou art converted do not hope thou art delivered out of thy Captivity or that thou shalt be saved and so be befooled by the Devil and thereby be kept still in bondage by him 2. What if God should send an Angel from heaven to thee and tell thee while thou art a drunkard swearer profane a lyar an hypocrite a worldling art unsanctified Thou art a captive to the Devil and abiding so shalt not be saved Wouldst thou after such a message from God by a glorious Angel still hope thou art made free and shalt be saved Or would you then leave your sins and look after Grace and make it your business to get out of bondage Why if an Angel should come from Heaven he would preach this Doctrine to you the very same that is contained in the Word of God or else a blessed Angel would be a cursed Creature Gal. 1. 8. But behold you have a surer and more certain way of knowing the mind of God and that is the Scripture 2 Pet. 1. 17 18 19. For if an Angel came from Heaven you would be doubting whether he came from God or no but that the Scripture is from God we have plain full and undeniable reasons to believe and the truth is if you will not believe the Scripture neither would you believe an Angel that should come from Heaven 3. What if thou couldst with safety draw near to the gates of Hell and take a view of those thousands there in restless torments that lived once as now thou dost and were perswaded that they were redeemed and made free and that they should be saved as confidently as now thou art Wouldst thou still continue in thy sinful state and course of life and yet hope after such a sight as this That though thou sawest so many thousands damned before thee for the same sins as thou livest in wouldst yet be confident that thou shalt be delivered Poor sinner what shall I do for thee What shall I say unto thee Will nothing convince thee nor awaken thee on this side the flames of Hell Wilt thou believe none of these truths till thou shalt feel them all made good upon thee Wilt thou be more brutish than thy very Beast which thou canst not force nor drive into a burning fire And yet when thou art told there is a fire that is kindled into which the slaves of sin and Satan shall be cast will voluntarily walk in that way that leads thee to it What if God should take thee to some place and bid thee stand and see so many millions rolling in a lake of Brimstone and bid thee stand and hearken and hear their groans and hideous howlings their doleful out-cries and dolorous complaints one confessing God hath justly damned me for my Drunkenness and my Oaths and another I am here tormented for my Sabbath-breaking and pleasing of my flesh and another I am suffering in these flames for my Hypocrisie and Unbelief and a thousand thousand making of the same complaints After thou hadst heard such things as these wouldst thou remain a Drunkard a Swearer a Sabbath-breaker an Hypocrite and an Unbeliever a Captive in thy bonds of sin and yet perswade thy self that thou art free and that thou shalt never be one of the number of this cursed Crew Methinks such sights and hearings of such things should awaken and alarm thee Why tell me then Why shouldst thou not believe the True Eternal God as well as thy own eyes and ears Such are there that died without Repentance and Faith that died in their bondage-state and the same God that hath already damned them doth also threaten thee for the same sins with the same damnation and yet shall Satan still keep thee bound with this false hope of a better place Oh! let him not do it as thou lovest thy soul and as thou wouldst escape this place let him no longer do it 4. What if God should send one of thy Acquaintants and Companions that hath been in Hell a year or two a month or two one that thou wast wont to swear and swagger with to drink with and carouse whose Corps not long since thou followedst to the grave whose soul when separated from the body went down to Hell should come to thee and say I was wont to be merry and jovial in thy company with thee I was wont to game and sport and waste and spend my precious time and I hoped I should be saved when I died as now thou dost but wo is me I find I was mistaken to my everlasting shame and sorrow I find I was deceived I find I find I did but flatter and delude my self I would not believe it but now I find it I would not believe it but now I feel it Ministers did warn me of this place and told me I was going thither but I would not be convinced till I came to Hell I hoped still I should go to Heaven but now I am convinced alas when it is too late to be converted I am at last convinced Believe me though a damned soul believe me The Word of God is true the threatnings of God are true and what your Ministers preach out of Gods Word concerning sin and misery by sin it is all true believe me now that have been in Hell ever since the day I died that the bondslaves of the Devil that dye in their captivity do all go down to this dark and dreadful Dungeon If one of thy Neighbours not long since departed and damned should thus appear unto thee in thy Chamber in the silent night and bring thee such tidings as these wouldst thou believe him and repent and refuse thence-forwards to be a servant and slave unto the Devil It may be thou thinkest thou shouldst believe this Doctrine then and take warning and reform and mend thy ways Tell me then Should not the True Eternal God of Heaven be believed sooner rather more than a damned soul in Hell But certain it is if thou wilt not believe the Scriptures nor the Ministers of God that preach the Truths of God unto thee nor repent and turn from the drudgery of the Devil
and after him God shall God have the Devils leavings wilt thou give the Devil the best of thy time and God the dregs 7. Doth not God require your present turning and present repentance Heb. 4. 7. Eccles 12. 1. 8. If you be poor would you not be presently rich and if in pain would you not have present ease and is not God and Christ and Grace more desirable 9. If you had drunk a cup of poyson would you not have a present remedy to save your lives 10. Might not God give thee up to spiritual judgments to hardness of heart and to the reigning power of sin and say be filthy still Rev. 22. 11. and say his Spirit shall strive no longer with thee Gen. 6. 3. 10. Another Chain that keeps them fast indeed is their Vnbelief a wilful refusing to accept of Christ the only Lord-Redeemer as he is offered to them in the Gospel This is the Chain that binds the guilt of all other sins upon their souls To break this Bond Consider 1. There is no other Redeemer than Christ Acts 4. 12. If you will not own him nor submit unto him you must perish in your Bonds and die without Redemption For other sins the wrath of God comes upon men Col. 3. 5 6. But by reason of Unbelief the wrath of God abideth on them John 3. 36. and they abide in their captivity 2. This is greatest folly Is it not folly to prefer Bonds before Liberty especially when you might come out free freely without any price paid down by you but by the ransom which the Redeemer hath already given to God and the benefit offered unto you But you thrust the Redeemer from you as the Israelites did Moses that came to bring them out of bondage Acts 7. 27. 3. This is highest Ingratitude That the Son of God should be bound that thou mayst not be for ever bound he condemned that thou mayst be acquitted he suffered that thou mayst be saved and offers to thee the benefit of his Redemption and calls and commands and waits for thy acceptance but thou preferrest the world and sin before him and wouldest rather keep thy sins with chains of bondage than accept of him for Lord and Saviour with a crown of glory Thou seest by this time what are the Bonds with which Satan hath held thee bound so long Oh now beg they may be broken if not Consider further that which followeth CHAP. X. Shewing that the Captivity of sinners by Satan is worse than the Captivity of men in corporal Slavery HAving set before you the resemblance of Sinners to Captives and several of the chains by which they are bound in this captivity I shall next proceed to shew you wherein the condition of these Captives is far worse than any Captives under the Sun besides and I beseech you in the fear of God seriously weigh your danger and in good sadness consider your misery before you are past remedy recovery and redemption If all I have already said be forgotten and hath been slighted by you yet do not stop your ears stiffen your necks and harden your hearts against what shall further be propounded to you to awaken your Consciences In respect of civil Liberty you are all free-born and many of you are free Citizens but yet being Satans Captives and Sins Bond-men your case is deplorable though yet through Mercy tendered to you and waiting to this day upon you it is not desperate If it should move compassion in us to hear of any carried captive by a cruel Enemy as Jeremiah's eyes were filled with tears and his heart with sorrow when he did consider of the captive-state of Gods people Jer. 13. 17 But if ye will not hear it my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride and mine eye shall weep sore and run down with tears because the Lords flock is carried away captive Lam. 1. 18 hear I pray you all people and behold my sorrow my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity Much more should it be lamented with abundant tears and sorrow of heart that sinners are captivated by the Devil by how much this captivity is sorer than any other as appeareth by these particulars following 1. It is spiritual bondage and the captivity of the soul If a man be a slave to men they have power only over his body and outward man his soul may be free the more noble the subject is the more grievous is the bondage Things that concern the soul if good they be the best as promises of blessings to the soul are the best promises and mercies for the soul are the best mercies so if things that concern the soul be bad they are the worst threatnings against the soul are the sorest threatnings and punishments upon the soul are the sorest and the heaviest punishments and the loss of the soul is the greatest loss Mat. 16. 26 What is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul It were better to have the body fettered with as many chains as it could carry if the soul be free than to have the body be at liberty to go up and down where you will if the body be in bondage to Satan and to Sin Sinner it is thy soul thy only precious and immortal soul that is in chains and canst thou be at rest eat drink and sleep with so much peace while thy soul is carried captive Canst thou be so merry and so jovial with fetters on thy soul Canst thou buy and sell and trade with so much earnestness after worldly gain while Satan hath possession of thy soul If thy Lands were mortgaged wouldst thou not be careful to redeem them If thy Jewels were in pawn wouldst thou not be mindful to have them to be restored to thee What! dost thou prize and value a few acres of Land the very Earth thou treadest upon above thy soul Are a thousand Jewels better than this one only Jewel of thy Soul Wouldst thou not be moved with pity to see Malefactors whose time of execution is approaching card and dice carowse and drink and sing with chains ratling at their heels And hast thou no pity for thy self and no compassion for thy self whose time of death and execution draweth nigh and will quickly come and yet canst be so light-hearted when the Devil hath thy soul in worse than Iron-fetters Doth not this lightness of thy heart plainly prove the hardness of thy heart Remember thou hadst better have thy body possessed by a thousand Devils or torn by a thousand Devils into a thousand pieces than to have thy precious soul led captive by the Devil and held his Prisoner by the reigning-power of any one lust whatsoever Wilt thou think of this It is thy soul that is a Captive and in bonds 2. This captivity and bondage to Satan and to Sin is worse than any other in that these
him God did make thee a Creature but he did not make thee a Drunkard he did not make thee a Worldling nor a Lyar therefore let Gods creature be holy and God will not damn his creature but if thou be a drunkard or an hypocrite and God shall damn the drunkard or the hypocrite what will become of Gods creature God doth peremptorily answer this and I will give it thee in his own words Isa 27. 11. It is a people of no understanding therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour Is not this directly contrary to the reason of thy hope wilt thou then plead this no more while thou continuest in thy sin and let not Satan keep thee bound with this cord any longer if thou dost remember it hath been told thee that this is but a sandy foundation of thy hope that thou shalt have the everlasting mercy that shall be shown to Gods redeemed ones that are indeed delivered from their bondage and captivity 2. Another Link in this Chain of false hopes whereby Captives are bound is a strong though false perswasion of salvation by the death of Christ the Redeemer If you ask many carnal ignorant and ungodly persons why they perswade themselves that they shall be saved they will tell you because Christ died for sinners and I am a sinner saith one God help me as all men are yea I am the chief of sinners and therefore I hope it shall go well with me and so will a second say and a third and multitudes will give no better account without care or knowledg of applying the death of Christ unto them and the virtue and power of it for the killing of their sins and thus the very means for the redeeming of captives is abused to make their bonds the stronger and keep them faster bound in their Captivity By way of Concession it is granted 1 that the death of Christ and the satisfaction made to the justice of God thereby is the only meritorious cause of mans Redemption from his bondage and of Salvation and whosoever is saved is saved by Christs death for there is no other Saviour nor Redeemer besides him Act. 4. 12. and if Christ had not died we had certainly been for ever captives without redemption 2 It is true that this Redeemer is offred unto all where the Gospel is preached none are excluded from the offers of grace and pardon and benefits of Redemption and his death shall be sufficient and effectual for deliverance from bondage and making of them free that do obey his call and accept of him for Lord Redeemer as offered in the Gospel Act. 10. 43. Joh. 3. 16. But yet that you might not through your own mistake be the more enthralled by the means of Redemption and be the faster bound by the misunderstanding of the way of Salvation by the death of Christ Consider 1. If this were enough to prove your Redemption and Salvation because Christ died for Sinners and you acknowledg your selves to be such then the damned souls in Hell might have hope of being delivered and saved for they know that Christ died for Sinners and they are now sensible that they are Sinners and miserable the pains they feel do convince them that they are sinners I know as I have already said that there is a difference betwixt the state of Devils and damned Souls and of sinners upon earth Christ is preached to the one and not to the other freedom from bondage is possible to one but not to the other mercy doth entreat and the Spirit doth strive and patience doth wait upon the one but not upon the other mercy and patience hath done with them for ever no more asking them what will you have Christ now and will you be pardoned now which yet through mercy is not your condition but yet as to the ground of your plea for Redemption and Salvation by Christ before alledged Christ died for sinners and you are sinners what is the difference all men upon earth and the damned in hell that ever heard of Christ might say as much and is it not matter of great astonishment to sober serious men to see poor sinners bound so fast in a captive-state with this vain confidence of being set free by Christ and yet can say no more than damned Souls might say That they are sinners and Christ died for sinners 2. Consider that all shall not be saved by the death of Christ that are sinners Christ hath died yet thousands shall for ever be tormented Mat. 7. 13 14. and the damnation of many shall be the greater than it would have been if Christ had never suffered 3. Know and understand that the benefits of Redemption and the compleating of all in salvation at the last is propounded by God in the Gospel conditionally and why then should you be so confident when you have not come up unto the condition there is pardon to be had by the blood of Christ but there is a condition without which you shall never be pardoned Act. 10. 43. there is Salvation by Christ but there is a condition without which you shall never be saved Joh. 3. 16 36 Mar. 16. 16. Act. 16. 31. there is justification to be had by the blood of Christ but remember still there is a condition without which you shall never be justified Rom. 5. 1. all along in the Word of God offers and grants of pardon deliverance from Hell and the curse of the Law offers and grants of Salvation and Eternal life are made conditionally if you do believe and if you do repent and if you are converted and born again but not else Christ did not die that sinners meerly as sinners should be saved for then all sinners should be saved and that which is the reason of mens condemnation should be a qualification of mens salvation buâ— Christ did die that believing sinners might be saved and repenting and returning sinners might be saved Christ did die that unholy ones might be made holy and so be saved that unbelievers might believe and so be saved and not that unholy and impenitent and unbelieving persons living and dying so should have Salvation by his death Know therefore O vain man that if thou hadst a thousand souls they should all be damned though Christ hath died except thou dost believe repent and be converted unto God for the effusion or shedding of the blood of Christ upon the Cross saveth no mans soul without the application of it to the Conscience and Faith in Christ and Regeneration and Holiness and repairing of the Image of God in the Soul are necessary to Salvation in their place as the death of Christ is necessary in its place and for its end As when mâ—ny persons be in bondage and are taken capâ—ives that cannot give a ransome for themselves the Kings son pays it down for them but the King and his Son do propound
continue in this prison 4. This prison-gates shall be made fast and strong by the Power of God There shall be no getting out by force nor by any opposition that they can make the same power that sent them thither shall keep them that they shall neither dye in this prison nor escape out of it If then the gates of this prison be fastened by the unchangeable decree of God by the Justice Truth and Power of God the prisoners might set their hearts at rest or rather shall never be at rest because they never shall come forth from prison 5. This prison is far worse than any other prison because of the company that is there and yet in many prisons there is a very wicked crew of swearing cursing and cursed company if a godly man were in some prisons amongst such company the company would be a greater affliction to him than the prison But if the company of Devils and Souls hating and blaspheming God be wicked company this shall be found in hell all bad not one good amongst the millions that are there as in heaven all good not one bad amongst the thousands that are there Here these captives sin together and they shall be in prison all together one cursing and crying out against another that ever they were on earth acquainted with them Nay then the Devil and his Slaves shall be in prison together the conquerer and the conquered both cast into a lake of brimstone Mat. 25. 41. 6. The remembrance of the facts for which these captives shall be cast into this prison will make it worse than any other To remember here we are for obeying the Devil rather than God for hearkening to the temptations of the Devil when we stopped our ears against all the cries and calls and counsels of God had we but hearkened to the voice of mercy to the entreaties of Christ or to the exhortations of his Ministers we had now beenfree from this torment and this pain Had we served God as diligently daily and faithfully as we served the Devil we had been now in a better place and we should now have had a better reward Oh What are we damned for our pleasing of our flesh to the displeasing of God! Do we suffer eternal pains for our folly in preferring the short pleasures and profits of the world before God the greatest and the chiefest good for my pleasing of my palate This is the fruit of my drinking bouts The wine in the glass was not so sweet as the wrath of God in this cup is bitter which I have been a thousand years a drinking off but cannot drink it off but cannot drink it down but cannot drink it up Oh better I had had so much scalding lead poured down my throat than those pleasant cups for which I am now in greatest pain The thoughts of what they shall be in prison for will make the prison the more unpleasant 7. The remembrance of a price and ransom that was given for captives and the benefit thereof often tendered unto them will make this prison still the more intolerable There and then to remember the Son of God came down from heaven and did give himself his blood his Soul to redeem sinners out of bondage and this was tendered unto me saith one and to me saith another but I like a cursed and unthankful wretch did slight it and refuse it saith one and I like a miserable Caitiff did prefer my sins and lusts before the Redeemer saith another we were often warned of this place and often asked and intreated to accept of Christ and deliverance by him time was that Ministers in the Name of God did come unto us Sabbath after Sabbath and in his name did offer liberty unto us how often did they ask us to be willing to leave our bonds how earnestly did they beg that we would be but willing to have our fetters knocked off and if we had been but willing it should have been done but that time is past those seasons are gone and here we lye bound in fetters for ever O time time whither art thou fled Can it not be recalled can it not be recalled O no no it cannot be recalled and those offers never shall be repeated but to our greater aggravation by the gnawing worm CHAP. XI Shewing what freedom Captives set free by Christ enjoy and hope for Doct. 2. THe second general Head containing the glad tydings to these miserable Captives is that there is Liberty to be had by Christ or that it is by Christ and Christ alone that poor captive sinners are delivered and set at liberty Had it not been for Christ we must have perished in our Bonds and remained in perpetual slavery while we had lived and been for ever bound in chains of darkness when we die Isa 59. 20. applied to Christ Rom. 11. 26. Acts 4 12. John 8. 36. Man might be considered in a four-sold State 1. In his first condition as created by God then man was a free-man bondage came in by sin when man sinned he lost his freedom And in this estate there was a three fold Liberty that man had 1. Man was free from sin not the least spot or stain by creation in this pure nature of man he was then free from pride and free from the inordinate love of the world and from every thing offensive and displeasing to God Eccles 7. 29. God made man upright The uprightness of a man renewed by sanctifying grace denotes the sincerity of his heart though there be sin inherent in him So Job was an upright man Job 1. 1. But the uprightness of man at first created by God denoteth the perfect Image of God in the presence of that which was good and absence of all sin Gen. 1. 26 27. 2. Man had a freedom or liberty of will to will and to do what God did require from him 3. A freedom from all misery calamity and punishment Man had then a freedom from sickness from sorrow and from affliction and death for all these are the fruits of sin Man had never been in bondage to these if he had not become a bond slave to Satan and to sin And in this state man had no need of a Redeemer because he was not then a captive 2. Man might be considered in a state of Corruption and so his condition is quite contrary to what it was in his first estate as before he was free so now he is a slave before at liberty but now in bondage and this bondage is opposite to the former three-fold Liberty 1. In man there is now a bondage to sin in slavery to his own lusts and to his own vile affections that there is no part in him free from sin his understanding is not free from ignorance darkness and errour his will is not free from obstinacy and rebellion his affections are not free from disorder and confusion hating what he should love and loving what he should hate
it doth exceed all worldly glory 4. It is a more exceeding weight of glory more than can be conceived 5. It is a far more exceeding weight of glory 6. It is eternal too All this is not for a little while only or for some thousands of years only but for ever and for ever The glory of the world as it is but light if weighed with this so it is but fading and transitory and but short if compared with this that is eternal Thus you have a little view and alas it is but little of the positive freedom and liberty that you have by Christ CHAP. XII Containing the Vses of the whole Vse 1. THen search your hearts and examine narrowly and throughly what you are bond-men or free whether yet Captives or redeemed and set at liberty The misery of spiritual Captives you have heard doth exceed the misery of Captives by men And the good estate of such as are made free by Christ you have also heard Now say to thy self Tell me O my Soul which of these two is thy state and thy condition one of them is thy condition but which it is is worthy of thy strictest search and most diligent enquiry Are thy fetters knocked off and thy bonds broken and thy chain â—ut and thou delivered or art thou yet held fast by them Take heed O my Soul of being mistaken in this point If thou takest it for granted that thou art made free when yet thou art in bonds and leavest thy body in this mistake thou art lost for ever if on the other hand thou sayest thou art a captive still when thou art made free thou will lose the comfort of thy freedom and wilt spend thy time and life in complaints and griefs and fears which thou shouldst spend in praising and admiring God for his love and mercy in bringing thee out of thy captivity For your help herein take these few marks to try your selves by for the resolution of this question 1. Freemen have their spiritual eye-sight restored unto them When Christs opens the prison-doors to let the Captives out he doth also open their eyes to let them see that in sin in God in Christ in grace and holiness that before they never saw That the redeemed Captive crieth out Oh I never thought my heart had been so bad so bad so very bad as now I see it is I never thought that sin had been so vile so very vile and so deformed as now I plainly see it is I never thought that Christ was so excellent and so necessary so absolutely necessary for me as now I see he is Oh methinks he is now altogether lovely altogether desirable after I have had a view of the beauty and the excellency of Christ methinks all the glory of the world and all the delights in pleasure and sin is darkened and doth vanish and disappear Oh how was I blinded in my captivity that I never saw the excellency of Christ and deformity of sin till now Isa 42. 6. Act. 26. 18 23. Col. 1. 13. Rev. 3. 18. 2. When Christ breaks the bonds wherewith poor Captives were held he also breaketh their hearts that they have been kept and held thereby in the service of Satan and sin from God and Christ so long As the eye doth see and weep so the heart doth consider and bleed and grieve at the remembrance of his former folly and sin Oh what did I do to sin against this blessed gracious merciful God! Oh what did I mean so long to stop mine ears against all the calls and wooings and intreatings of this Lord-Redeemer who was so kind to suffer bleed and dye for such a wretch as I for such a wretch as I for such a rebellious disobedient and delaying wretch as I. Oh there is no love like his there is no mercy like to his there is no kindness like to his Oh why did I slight him so much so long so very much so very long as I have done Oh what a fool was I to prefer the world the pleasures and the profits of the world before this blessed Redeemer Oh what a beast was I to prefer my very lusts and sins and the service of the Devil before this glorious gracious Saviour and the serving of him that died to deliver me from my bondage O Lord I am grieved that ever I did so it is the burden and the breaking of my heart that ever I did so Oh now I could wash my self in tears at the remembrance of my folly and my madness but if I should that will not wash me from my guilt and from my filth and because that would not do this blessed Saviour shed his blood for the cleansing of me from my guilt and my pollution I weep but not enough my heart is troubled but not enough my Soul is humbled within me but not enough for so great rebellion against and slighting of this Lord Redeemer But I am troubled because I am no more troubled Lord I grieve because my heart is yet so hard and can grieve no more my sin is bitter unto me now which once was sweet and pleasant to my Soul 3. Such as are made free by Christ are delivered from the reigning power of sin For it is impossible to be a willing voluntary servant of sin and yeild obedience to the Law of sin and to be made free by Christ 2 Pet. 2. 19. Rom. 6. 16 18. Doth sin command you and you obey hath sin the chiefest room and place in your affections and your hearts you are then yet in your bondage 4. Such as are made free by Christ have resigned up themselves their hearts their love their all to him accept of him for Lord as welâ— as for their Saviour and to consent to take him in all his Offices for Prophet Priest and King and giving up themselves to him do become his servants and consequently yeild obedience to him they have changed their master and they have changed their work and ways and are become new creatures having new hearts wills and affections ends and designs than what they had before For the Condition of sinners being partakers of Christs Redemption is their believing on him and consenting to him as Lord and Saviour chusing him before all and loving him above all and if this you do not do you are yet in your bondage to Satan and to sin For is it not reasonable you should be his Servants that brings you from this slavery And if he purchase and buy you out is it not reasonable you should take him for your Lord and obey him and that universally submitting to all his Laws even those that are most spiritual and cross to your corrupt hearts and most beloved sins not pick and chuse but to have respect unto them all Psal 119. 6 constantly not by fits and starts not only when in straits and sickness but at all times to have the frame and bent and inclination of your hearts to yeild