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
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
of Hell is unspeakably great methinks you should break forth into holy admirations of the grace and love of God and say O Lord I was indebted unto thee in the debt of sin and of that I am discharged and freed and now I am indebted in the debt of thankfulness unto thee O the riches of this grace O the greatness of this love and favour Was ever love like this Was any kindness ever comparable to the kindness and the bounty which thou hast shewed to my soul O Lord I am forced to cry out I never had and never can have in heaven or in earth such another friend as thou hast been and art unto my soul But alas O Lord I find my heart exceeding dull and dead a smaller kindness from a fellow-creature would have greatly affected me and have made deep impressions on my heart but by sad experience and to the grieving of my Soul I find I am too too stupid and unsensible of this manifest and matchless mercy which thou hast freely vouchsafed unto me I believe that there are many now in the hellish prison as certainly as if I saw them with mine eyes where I also might have been and I see others in this world still Captives to the Devil fast bound in the cords and chains of lust and sin that are going to the place of that cursed damned crew of lost souls eternally separated from the enjoyment of thy blessed Majesty amongst whom thou hast given me good hope through grace I shall never be thou shewest mercy unto me while thou pourest out thy wrath and fury upon them Oh whence is this and how comes this to pass why am I poor silly wretch partaker of this love what didst thou see in me but filth and sin that might have provoked thee to deal with me as thou hast done with them surely Lord thou hadst mercy on me because thou wouldst have mercy on me when I did lye in my blood and bonds in my fetters and my chains of sin and guilt thou didst pass by me but didst not pass me by but shewedst grace and goodness to me When thy Servant and Apostle Peter was in prison bound with chains and the keepers before the door kept the prison thou didst send thine Angel who came upon him and a light shined in the prison and he said unto him arise up quickly and his chains fell off from his hands but when I was in a worser case and sorer condition having fetters on my Soul and darkness in my understanding and the Devil the keeper of the prison stood to watch me to keep me in his strong hold thou didst send thy Son for an Angel could not do it to knock off thy chains wherewith I was held and thy Spirit came upon me and a light did shine into my mind and he said Arise up quickly and the chains fell off from my Soul all this thou didst for me a Captive and a Prisoner and it was long before I knew that it was true which was done for me but while I think and muse hereon how I was bound and now am set at liberty how I was inthralled and in great distress and thou hast enlarged me I begin to find and feel my love to kindle in my breast and my heart to be enlarged with thy praise and as thy Apostle did sit in the prison and sing so shall my soul being brought forth and delivered from captivity magnifie thy name Come then awake O my soul triumph and sing be glad and greatly rejoice since thy loving holy Blessed Lord hath opened the Prison-doors and brought thee forth into the liberty of the Sons of God Oh! Bless the Lord O my soul and and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies To quicken your hearts to real thankfulness for deliverance from this Bondage and captivity dwell in your thoughts upon these Particulars following 1. The greatness of your Debt for which you were exposed to everlasting imprisonment Consider here the kinds of your sins the number and the aggravations of them 2. Work upon your thoughts your utter inability and incapacity to make payment of your Debt for want of which you might have been a Prisoner for ever You could not say to God as the servant did to his fellow-servant that demanded his Debt of him Have patience with me and I will pay thee all Mat. 18. 29. There was a double Debt that you owed unto God one as a reasonable creature the other as an unreasonable sinner the first was the debt of obedience required by the Law the other the debt of punishment for the transgression of the Law and you could have paid neither of them Not the debt of perfect and perpetual Obedience First because all that you can do is due for the present and that which is due for the present will not be accepted as payment for that which is past as if a Tenant owe for Rent due many quarters past the payment of what is the rent of the last quarter will not satisfie for all that was due before Secondly all that you could do is less than what you ought to do and in strict justice a part of payment is not accepted for the whole every living man comes far short of his duty to God and runs more and more in arrears with God and therefore so far from paying that we run daily behind hand Thirdly man in bondage had not the least mite of that kind which the Law requireth and accepts to wit sinless spotless and perfect Obedience without mixture of sin pure gold without any dross and if the Prisoner offer for his liberty money that is not current the Creditor may refuse it and keep him in the Prison still And as you could not pay the debt of obedience to the Law so neither could you satisfie for the debt of punishment due to you for your disobedience thereunto the payment or satisfaction must be equivalent to the wrong that was done God that was offended is an infinite God therefore that which satisfieth that the Offender might be free must be something of an infinite value which no meer man had to give to God and therefore those Prisoners that are not set free by Christ shall be always paying but can never fully pay satisfying but can never fully satisfie and therefore such shall never be released but must lie in Prison for ever Thirdly weigh also this satisfaction must be made or the Prisoner never have his liberty God might and did demand his Debt When Adam sinned Hue and Cry was made after the Offender Adam Where art thou was apprehended and arraigned at the Bar What hast thou done Hast thou eaten of the fruit of the Tree of which I commanded that thou shouldst
CAPTIVES bound IN CHAINS Made FREE by CHRIST THEIR SURETY OR The Misery of Graceless Sinners AND Their Recovery by Christ their Saviour By T. DOOLITTEL Isa 42. 6. I the Lord have called thee in righ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and will hold 〈…〉 hand and will keep thee and gâ—â—◠〈…〉 for a Covâ—â—anâ—â—f the people for a light of the Geâ—â—â—â— 7. To open the blind-â—yes to bring out 〈◊〉 â—â—â—soners from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the â—â—â—â—â—â—-house Isa 49 â—â— That thou mayest say to the prisoners Go forth to them that â—re in darkness Shew your selves Zac. 9. 11. As for thee also by the blood of thy â—â—â—â—nant 〈◊〉 have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein 〈…〉 12. Turn ye to the strong-hold ye prisoners of hope LONDON Printe◠〈…〉 A. M. for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and three â—â—â—wns in Cheapside near Mereâ—â— Chappel and aâ—â—he Bible on Londoâ—-Bridg 1674. To the Congregation to whom these Sermons do belong whether Bond or Free 〈…〉 â—earâ—â—â—eloâ—â—d and longed-for my Joy and Crown THE serious consideration of the immortality of your Souls the captivity of many amongst you to Satan and to sin the eternity you are approaching to the necessity of being made free from spiritual bondage the shortness and uncertainty of your abode upon earth your capacity of being set at liberty by Christ whilst you are on this side the grave thâ— impossibility of redemption and deliverance◠〈…〉 sinful and hellish â—â—raldom after death moved me at first t 〈…〉 aâ—h these Sermons on this Subject to your 〈…〉 and now to present them to your eyes hoping that as the having of them in your hands to view what hath been said unto you will be an help unto your memories so also a means to continue further and increase that sense of the evil of Soul-captivity that sorrow that you had been Captiâ—â—â—o Sat 〈…〉 ong and those desires to change your Master and have your fetters knocked off and be brought into the liberty of the Sons of God by Christ the Son of God all which many of you through the grace of God for his work it was and the glory thereof is due alone to him did manifest and declare â—ot only in your earnest desires for Gods sake and for Christs sake that the Congregation if they had any lâ—â—e for oâ—â—ity to miserable enthralled Souls would soâ—â—â—nly and fervently pray to God that the chains of sin wherewith you had been held might now be cut and the bonds broke but also in your private converse with me Which is here related the Lord knows not that I may be accounted any thing for I know that I am nothing or that I do put any great esteem upon any thing that I can do for I do judg my self as to gifts or grace or both to be the meanest 〈…〉 se employed in the work of the Lord and â—â—vice of immortal Souls But that if God be pleased to work by a weak and silly man the Glory might be ascribed unto him 〈◊〉 Man at first was made the most noble and most excellent creature of all Gods visible works endued with such powers that he was capable of knowing loving and enjoying God his maker as his happiness felicity and end created free from sin and corruption and free from sorrow and affliction tâ—ough not free from temptation nor from a possibility of losing his freedom yet he had a power and a liberty to have continued in that condition without any necessity of coaction to depart from it But this free and noble creature assaulted and set upon by the crafty and malicious Serpent and left to the freedom of his own will was prevailed with and overcome by Satan to transgress the law of his maker and violate his Covenant proved an Apostate and turned rebel against God that gave him his being and that good condition in which he was created who by the abusing of his liberty lost his freedom and brought himself and all his posterity into an estate of slavery and bondage out of which he was no way able to help himself Man lying in this pitiful plight in this forlorn miserable and deplorable condition the God of grace and mercy of his meer grace and mercy did commiserate seek after him find him out and made known a way of Redemption for him even by the Incarnation Passion and Crucifixion of his own Son which he did more and more clearly in several ages discover to the captivated children of enthralled Adam whereas he provided no Redeemer for fallen Angels but where they fell there they lye bound in chains of darkness without hope of help or possibility of recovery to all eternity Behold ye Captive Sons of men a remedy for you but not for Devils for God sent not his Son to take upon him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham and that when the Apostatizing Angels sinned and were falling down to hell Christ did not take hold on them but on man when by reason of sin he was tumbling and sinking into everlasting misery he did take hold and snatched him from the flames of eternal burnings from the curse of the Law and from the intolerable wrath of an angry and provoked God This God and Saviour that did foresee your thraldom and bondage did from all eternity agree and covenant betwixt themselves in this way of Redemption to afford you succour and relief that Christ should become your Surety and be bound for you that were bound and died for you that should eternally have died and set you at liberty by paying down a valuable ransom for you of which you should be partakers if you turn from sin to God from Satan to his Son heartily consenting to take him for your Lord-Redeemer for your Prophet Priest and King to rule instruct sanctifie and save you resigning up your selves and all you have and are to him preferring him before all loving him above all believing on him and obeying of him sincerely constantly and universally without partiality and sinful secret reservations and if you like not him and accept not of deliverance from your bonds and fetters upon these conditions you must lye and perish in your chains of sin and guilt for ever This is that Redeemer that is preached published and tendered unto you This is He and He alone that can make you free and if he do you shall be free indeed accept him as he is offered and deliverance and salvation is come unto you refuse him slight him or neglect him finally and you are Captives without ransom irrecoverably All of you by nature were in this state of spiritual Captivity and all of you now are Bond or Free For as there are but two places in the other world appointed by God to be receptacles of mens Souls namely Heaven and Hell so in this world there are but two sorts of men so distinguished by their spiritual state Captives or Free the one continuing so so
Lord and Saviour here are tidings in the Gospel brought by Christ himself of pardon and salvation Joh. 3. 16. But what if we do not hath Christ brought any sad and heavy tidings Yes verily as you may read Mark 16. 16 He that believeth not shall be damned It was sad tidings when news was brought that the Ark was lost 1 Sam. 4. 19. But oh what heavy tidings will it be to the refusers of mercy to the slighters of Christ and his grace when it shall be told them Now your Souls are for ever lost and God and Christ is for ever lost and heavens happiness is for ever lost In a word Christ came principally to preach good tidings to poor sinners but yet he bringeth also terrible tidings to the impenitent and unbelieving He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted When man by sin had broke Covenant with God he broke the peace with God and all mankind did break in Adam and proved Bankrupts and though all are broken by sin yet few are broken for sin all of us put up broken duties but few of us have broken hearts many are broken in their estates through poverty and many mens bodies are broken through age and sickness but yet their hearts do not break for their sin But this is the comfort of broken-hearted sinners that Christ himself was sent to bind you up to dress and to heal your wounded broken hearts Chyrurgions may set and bind broken and dis-jointed bones but Christ alone can set and bind and give ease to broken hearts When by sinning thou dost break the commands of God he is highly offended and provoked Num. 15. 30 But the soul that doth ought presumptuously the same reproacheth the Lord and that soul shall be cut off from among his people 31 Because he hath despised the word of the Lord and hath broken his Commandment that soul shall be utterly cut off his iniquity shall be upon him But when by sorrowing and repenting thy heart is broken because thou hast broken the command of God he is well-pleased with thee Psal 51. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and a contrite heart O God thou will not despise When thou didst break the command of God thou didst despise God 2 Sam. 12. 9. But when thy heart is broken for thy sin God will not despise thy broken-heart but God himself will come and bind and heal thee Psal 147. 3. He will come and revive thy contrite spirit Isa 57. 15. He will come and be nigh unto thee and will save thee Psal 34. 18. The sum of all is this if thou be broken for thy sins thou shalt not dye of the wounds by sin made in thy Soul To proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound This might partly refer to the temporal deliverance by Cyrus from the Babylonian Captivity but chiefly denotes the spiritual freedom from the bondage and thraldom of Satan and sin by Christ In these words you may observe 1. A choice and precious priviledg Bondage and thraldom is a sore evil liberty as great a good but the spiritual bondage and slavery of the Soul to Satan and to sin is far worse than corporal bondage than Turkish slavery therefore spiritual liberty by Christ is far beyond in its excellency and desirableness any outward deliverance from bodily bondage 2. The persons that this priviledg is for For those that are Captives The blessings and priviledges that sinners have by Christ are suitable to their necessity restoring of sight to the blind limbs to the lame health to the sick ease to the pained and liberty to the Captive are all seasonable and suitable mercies 3. The publishing declaring and making of it known by way of proclamation The great God that might have kept sinners in bonds for ever and in prison for ever doth pass an act of grace and sent his own Son into the world to proclaim liberty to spiritual bond-men proclamation hath been made by Christ himself that prisoners may be released that those that are bound in Chains may have their fetters knocked off and such as have been taken Captive by the Devil the common enemy of mans salvation may be set at liberty and the Ministers of the Gospel are given by Christ and sent by him as the Heralds of the great King of Heaven and Earth to proclaim pardon to the penitent healing to the wounded ease to the burdened liberty to the captives This Christ did in person in the days of his flesh upon earth Joh. 7. 37 and now the Ministers of Christ do proclaim the same things in Christs stead 2 Cor. 5. 18 19 20. Cyrus King of Persia put forth a proclamation throughout all his Kingdom to give free liberty to the Captive Jews to go back unto Jerusalem to build the House of the Lord saying Who is there among you of all his people the Lord his God be with him and let him go up 2 Chron. 36. 22 23. So the Lord the King of Nations hath made a proclamation and put it in writing and commands his Servants to go up and proclaim return ye sinners unto me and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord God and I will not keep anger for ever Jer. 3. 12. I might be angry with you as long as I am God but if you will repent and turn I will not I might pour out my wrath upon you for ever but if you will forsake your wicked ways Iniquity shall not be your ruin Ezek. 18. 30 31. Isa 55. 1 2 3 5 6 7. Who is there among you that are weary of the service of sin you might be received into better service and have a better reward Who is there among you that are weary of your Chains and Fetters be but willing and you shall be freed from them Who is there among you that hath lain long in the Gaol of Satan in the filthy darksome dungeon of an unconverted state behold Christ is come to open the prison doors Go ye forth come away sinners come away not only one by one which yet would be matter of joy to see one one Lords day and another on another Lords day to come out of prison but since the prison doors are open and Christ is come to knock off your fetters come come away by companies come come away in numbers come who steps out of this prison first who would not Methinks I see one he is loth to come forth and another he regards it not What ails you Sirs Is a prison delightful Are bonds pleasant Is a dungeon so delicate that you are loth to leave it What ails you sinner Art thou thy self thine own man Art thou in thy wits Thou art worse than mad that wilt not put off Chains of Iron for Chains of Gold that wilt not leave a Prison for a Palace thick darkness for marvelous glorious shining
to safe-guard your selves Captives lye at the mercy of those whose slaves they be but Satan hath no such thing as mercy or pity to the souls of men malice enough but no mercy cruelty enough but no favour If God should have no mercy for you the Devil will have none Except the God of mercy and pity and patience had restrained the enemies of your souls they would have dragged you down to the bottomless pit long before this day There is no armour of proof against those that have taken you captive but the armour of God but this is your misery you have not one piece thereof neither the girdle of truth nor the breast-plate of righteousness nor the helmet of salvation and though you may have the Sword of the Spirit the word of God in your hands yet you know not how to use it against the assaults of your spiritual adversaries Think then of this Captives are naked and unarmed men 2. Captives lose the riches they had when taken Captives That though they were rich before yet are made poor and are stripped of all If a rich Merchant at Sea have many goods in a Ship costly Jewels precious Pearls and be taken prisoner and carried captive he is spoiled of all and loseth all Man at first was exceeding rich rich in the knowledg of God rich in love and likeness to God The holiness of man was his riches the enjoyment of God was his riches the spiritual endowments of man at first were not to be valued with the gold of Ophir with the precious Onyx or the Saphire Gold and Christal could not equal them they were not to be exchanged for Jewels of fine Gold the Topaz of Ethiopia could not equal them neither were they to be valued with pure Gold Coral or Pearls were not worthy to be mentioned with them for their price was above Rubies as Job setteth forth the excellency of wisdom Job 28. 15 to the 20th verse But when man was overcome by the Devil and taken captive by him he was spoiled of all all was taken from him that he became miserably poor lost his knowledg of God the image of God the favour of God communion with God the gracious comfortable presence of God his abode in Paradise and though before he was Lord of all and had dominion over all inferiour creatures yet being captivated by the Devil he lost his right to all and was turned out of all So it is with all unregenerate men whatever be their outward riches and worldly enjoyments as to spirituals they are miserably poor very beggars indeed Rev. 3. 17 the true riches they have not suitablâ— riches for their Souls they have not durablâ— riches they have not no man is rich indeedâ— till he is good indeed and free indeed God iâ— the free-mans riches Christ is the free-manâ— riches the graces of the Spirit the priviledgeâ— purchased by Christ the promises of God thâ— treasures laid up in heaven these these are thâ— riches of redeemed persons but those that stilâ— remain captives and bond-slaves to Satan anâ— to sin have no interest in them no title tâ— them If thou that readest these lines be one oâ— them whatever be thy outward plenty and abundance thou art wretchedly poor Menâ— say of a poor person he is worth nothing buâ— we might truly say of these persons they are worth nothing nay they are worse than nothing 3. Captives are not governed by the same Lawâ— as freemen are Laws are made in favour for free subjects but Laws for slaves and bondmen are more severe and to make their yokeâ— more heavy Souls in spiritual bondage and captivity are not governed by the Law of Godâ— which is holy just and good made in favour of and for the good of the Lords redeemed ones but by the Laws of sin and lust which are unjust oppressing and tyrannical and oftentimes contrary one to another covetousneâ— imposing one thing upon the sinner and prodigality the quite contrary The Lords spirituaâ— freemen are under the Laws of God but the the Devils captives are under the Law of sin 4. Captives and bondmen are put to base employment To toil and drudg to dig in the Mine to work at the Oar very great and hard burdens are imposed upon them Thus it was with Israel in the house of bondage the task-masters of Egypt denied them straw and yet required the full number of bricks so laid hard service upon them But there is no work so vile and sordid and base as works of sin and yet it is the whole and only employment of spiritual bondslaves to please the flesh and Devil and gratifie their filthy lusts What is baser slavery than to lead a sensual flesh-pleasing life What is more sordid drudgery than to be a servant of Satan and sin than to be under the commanding power of their own vile affections to take pains to dishonour God that made them to work and labour to undo themselves and damn and ruin their own immortal Souls Whereas the work and employment of those that are redeemed from their spiritual captivity is the most noble rational high and honourable the most delightful and profitable as any can be engaged in on this side the everlasting full and perfect state of the Saints in glory such as is our loving of God conversing with the blessed glorious God believing on Christ applying of promises living by faith hoping looking longing for heaven waiting for the glory that shall be revealed and for the glorious appearing of our desired and longed foâ— Lord and Saviour in getting assurance of his love and solacing and delighting our souls with the comfort thereof when we have obtained it in using utmost diligence to escape the damnation of hell and the everlasting torments to bâ— endured by the Devils captives in the other endleâ— world and getting safe to heaven when we dyeâ— in pleasing God while we live Nay the mosâ— displeasing works to flesh and blood are morâ— delightful and sweet than any than all thâ— pleasures of sin as in mourning for sin weepinâ— bitterly for sin mortifying of sin praying againsâ— sin watching against sin combating and conflicting with sin warring with Satan yea the verâ— duty of self-denial most ungrateful to flesh anâ— blood hath sweetness in it and bringeth iâ— that peace of conscience which surpasseth thâ— choicest delights of the Devils bond-slaves 5. Captives and bond-slaves meet with harâ— usage in their hard work and base employmentâ— many times are fed with bread and water anâ— that in small allowance too are whipt and beaten when they have put forth their strength tâ— do their utmost they have stripes and blow in stead of a reward for what they do Thus Iâ—rael in Egyptian bondage was beaten when foâ—ced to gather stubble in stead of straw couâ— not bring in the full tale of bricks Exod. 5. 1â— 15 16. So the Devils captives that lay theâ—selves outmost in the Devils service shall have their wages but
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
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
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
freedom from sufferings in their bondage than sufferings with spiritual freedom 6. Christ doth not give us freedom from temptations of the Devil that we should be no more buffeted by that wicked one Christ himself was not free from temptations from Satan nor from persecutions from men Resist the Devil watch and pray against his temptations for you are not like to be freed from them till you get nto Heaven 7. Christ doth not free us from the stroke of death the Lords Free-men must be bound with deaths bonds as well as others Our souls and bodies are not free from dissolution your bodies not free from putrefaction but yet we are freed from the sting of death and death is not the same to the Lords Free-men as it is to the Devils Bond-men Q. 2. What is the liberty that we have by Christ This shall be managed in speaking to these two particulars First As this liberty and freedom is privative Secondly As it is positive or what we are freed from and what it is that we are freed to 1. What it is that believers are freed from by Christ and these are great and sore evils and such as would have made us unspeakably and eternally miserable if Christ had not freed us from them 1. Christ hath delivered us and set us free from the power of Satan that he hath no more rule in us as formerly he had he did rule in our hearts Ephes 2. 2 and we did yeild voluntary subjection and obedience to him but Christ hath bound this strong man and spoiled him of his goods and hath dispossessed him and turned him out of our hearts from dwelling reigning ruling there as in a Throne this Christ came to do Heb. 2. 14 15 he hath delivered us from the Justice of God by price and purchase from Satan by power and by a mighty hand 2. Christ hath set us free from sin not for the present or in this life from the in-dwelling of sin as you heard before but in these two respects 1. By Christ believers have a freedom from the guilt of sin We are free from the obligation that lay upon us to eternal torments so that now we shall never come into condemnation for our sins our many sins are all pardoned our great and heinous sins are all forgiven Rom. 8. 1 33 34. Many might accuse the Devil might accuse and Men might accuse and Conscience might accuse and the Law might accuse us but Christ hath so freed us that none can condemn Oh what a blessed piece of our freedom lieth in this What wouldst thou have done to have answered for thy sins What wouldst thou have done to bear the punishment of thy sins Indeed thou couldst neither answer for thy self nor yet have born the wrath of God due to thee for thy sin Oh then see the everlasting obligation laid upon thee to love this blessed Christ to prize and value and esteem this once crucified and now glorious Christ that hath taken off this obligation from thee he hath freed thee from one obligation and thereby laid upon thee another he hath freed thee from an obligation to eternal condemnation and hath laid upon thee a strong and lasting obligation to love him and to praise and admire his love and grace to thee for ever 2. Christ hath set us free from the dominion of sin The Sinner was the Captive and Sin the Lord and Conqueror but he that is made free by Christ is become the Conqueror and Sin the Captive the Victory indeed is not yet compleated yet sin is dethroned the sinner when a captive was in chains but now made free sin is become bound Sin was delighted in but now it is abhorred sin was voluntarily yeilded unto but now resisted and opposed sin was welcomly entertained but now lamented and bewailed it was looked upon with pleasure and content but now it is beheld with a sorrowful heart and with a weeping eye it is become the burden and the grief that before had the love and complacency of the sinners heart it is now prayed against and watched against and endeavoured against that before was indulged and allowed and provided for and willingly submitted to Now saith the Redeemed sinner my hard heart is a burden to me my proud and unbelieving heart is a burden and a grief unto me my vain and worldly heart is a burden and a trouble and a sorrow to me he is freed from the reigning power of sin Rom. 6. 14. 7. Christ hath set believers free from the curse of the Law The Law hath its use under the Gospel by it we come to the knowledg of sin Rom. 3. 20 and 5. 20 by it we are convinced of our misery that by sin we have deserved death and damnation Rom. 7. 10. that we might see the necessity of Christ and hasten the more to him Gal. 3. 24. It serveth for a rule to direct us in our walking and for a glass in which we see the imperfection of our duty and obedience that we might not rest in them nor trust unto them for life and salvation But from the condemning-sentence and curse of the Law Christ hath made believers free by being made himself a curse for them Gal. 3. 10 13. 4. Christ hath set believers free from the hurt of death The Lords Free-men must dye as well as the Devils Bond-men but Death will be another thing to a Free-man than it is unto a Captive so that which is formidable to a sinner is desirable to a Saint Christ hath taken away the sting of Death 1 Cor. 15. 55 of an Enemy is become a Friend and Death that is one of the plagues that befall the Devils Captives is become part of the Charter of the Lords Free-men 1 Cor. 3. 22. 1. De 〈…〉 h to Free-men of the Lord is the utter abolition of their sin it shall free them from the very being and in-dwelling of sin when the soul shall be separated from the body all sin and all corruption shall be separated from the soul whereas the Devils bond-men dye in their sin and after death do still retain their hatred unto God their enmity to Christ and are more confirmed and hardned in it than before 2. Death to the Lords Freemen puts an end to all their sorrow and affliction to all their troubles and their sufferings It is Gods Handkerchief whereby he wipes away all tears from the eyes of his redeemed people Rev. 14. 13. but at death the sorrow of the Devils Captives doth begin or is encreased if they were at ease while they lived they shall be in pain when they dye if they did roar and sing while they lived they shall roar and lament after death Death takes them from their riches from their friends and from their pleasure and whatsoever was dear unto them in this worlds enjoyments and puts them into a place of pain and torment a place of utter darkness where they shall for ever weep and
not eat He was convicted by his own Confession I did eat and was condemned and a sad sentence past upon him Gen. 3. 17 18 19. This was the pitiful case that man was in sinned he had apprehended he was found guilty under sentence justice required satisfaction man could not give it and thus he knew not which way to turn himself for help for deliverance from his Bondage and Captivity which by sin he had brought himself unto Oh what a strait were you in when you owed millions and had not one mite to pay after you have paused upon this Consider Fourthly To release you from your Bonds Jesus Christ did voluntarily undertake for you did interpose himself betwixt the wrath of God and the poor Captive enthralled sinner as if Christ should say Father man that was made free hath abused his liberty and is become a Bond slave fallen into the hands of revenging justice which might arrest him and clap him up in Prison for ever I see he is undone and lost help himself he cannot but I will be his Surety and his Bail what he oweth thee set that on my account I will pay it I am willing to do and suffer in their nature what may please and satisfie thy justice if my life will be taken for their salvation I will lay it down if my blood will be accepted for the ransom of these poor Prisoners I will sheâ—l it for them rather than that they shall always remain in this Captivity Oh can you think how ready Christ was for to engage and to become your Surety to die for you that you might live to be bound for you that your Bonds might be broken and your soul escape and not have your heart affected with his love and your tongue imployed in his praises Jer. 30. 21. Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me saith the Lord. Who is this forward Engager that is so willing and hearty in this work It is one that is able and mighty to save to redeem by price and power poor Captive Sinners even the only Son of the ever blessed God and so he is said to be our Surety Heb. 7. 22. A Surety is one that undertakes for or gives assurance in the behalf of another one entring into Bond and standing engaged for another to do to perform for another what he was bound to do Among men Suretiship is a dangerous thing he dissures his own estate that is surety for another Prov. 11. 15. He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it and he that hateth suretiship is sure But notwithstanding suretiship is thus among men yet Christ would become a Surety for us to God himself to bring us forth from our Bondage and that you might be the more affected and inflamed with his love consider how far he acted for poor Captives beyond what ever man did for any man 1. How many Captives Christ engageth for How many millions he became a Surety for for their ransom and deliverance one man might be bound and become a Surety for one or two but who will be Surety for thousands especially if you add 2. The greatness of the Debt of those he became a Surety for One man might be perswaded to be Surety for another if the Debt be small but if it be for thousands and for millions men are shie but if it be for multitudes that owe such great sums every one so much who will be perswaded to be Surety for them but if they be in Prison or in Bondage there they lie for want of money of their own or Suretiship from another But Christ became Surety for multitudes and each one owed abundance that it doth pass the skill of the ablest Arithmetician to cast up the total sum that one of these Prisoners were in Bondage for 3. Christ knew most certainly that he should pay undoubtedly the Debt of all he became a Surety for Many men are Sureties for others hoping they shall never be called upon for the Debt but that the Debtor will pay it himself some will be bound for a man whom they judg to be worth as much as they owe and more too but if it be a poor man not worth one farthing and his debt be thousands Who will then become Surety for him a Prisoner he is and so he is like to be and if any become bound for another and pay the debt for him what trouble doth this cause unto him it breaks his sleep he is displeased with himself that ever he entred into Bond and saith it shall be a warning to me while I live how I become a Surety for another I thought him able enough else I would not have brought my self into such snares But all this was known to Christ when he did become our Surety He knew our beggary and our poverty and that we could not contribute the smallest mite towards the satisfaction to be made in order to the freeing of the Captives from their Bondage and he knew that God would not spare him but exact the utmost from him and yet he did voluntarily undertake our ransom Oh what love was this 4. Christ became a Surety for you when you were a stranger to him He did undertake to release you out of your Bonds and Fetters when you had no special actual relation to him Some men will not be Sureties for their most intimate acquaintance and near relations not for a Brother father son but for a stranger who will do it herein then admire the love of Christ that when you were in Chains of sin and guilt and a stranger too Christ did undertake and did pay a ransom for you 5. Yet more to affect your heart Consider that Christ did ransom you from your Captivity when you were an enemy unto him A man might possibly take some pity on a stranger but an enemy that hates him and that would and doth dishonour and reproach him who would be deeply engaged for him yet Christ did this for you when you were enemies unto Christ Rom. 5. 10. 6. Yet to raise your admiration and affection more Consider Christ did become a Surety for you before you did or could desire any such kindness at his hands What Man or Angel could have thought of the ransoming of Captives by the Son of God becoming the Son of Man and God himself redeem us by his blood How long might you ask how many might you go to and how many entreaties might you use before you can prevail with one to be engaged for you for much when you have nothing of your own but Christ did this for us all before any man had any such desire in his heart thought in his mind request in his mouth that he would do so great and wonderful a kindness for us 7. Christ did this alone without any other engaging with him Men require counter-security If I be bound for you saith one you shall find to be bound
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
to the service of the Lord neither wouldst thou do it if one came to thee from â—e dead Luk. 16. 27 to the end 5. What if thou hadst been in hell thy self a month or two and felt the pains and torments there and God should let thee out again and put thee in the same capacity as now thou art in and place thee again under the same means and ministry as now thou dost enjoy and the same Doctrine should be preached unto thee and the same offers of Christ and pardon of heaven and eternal life as now thou hearest Wouldst thou then hearken to our Doctrine and renounce the Devils service and beg and pray that God would knock off thy fetters and thy chains and of a slave of Satan make thee a willing servant of the blessed and the living God Or wouldst tâ—ou still live as now thou dost and hope again upon the same grounds as now that thou shouldst not the second time be cast into that place of torments Oh then why then wilt thou not believe that God that cannot lye as well as thy own experience Though this God will never do he will never try thee again nor set thee in this life again for once in hell and for ever there God will not give thee a second life to mend what was amiss in thy living upon earth If thou thinkest thou shouldst be more careful if God should try thee after he had damned thee that thou mayest not be damned again why shouldst thou not be as careful now that thou mayest not be damned at all What then poor captive sinner wilt thou after all this that hath been said go on in sin and yet hope thou shalt do well Or shall the Devil still keep thee in captivity and hold thee fast in this bond and chain of a false perswasion that thy state is good and groundless hopes that thou shalt be saved I am afraid he will oh I do greatly fear he will Poor prisoner what dost thou think of what ailes thee why art thou no more concerned at the hearing of these things wilt thou still remain in the fools paradise why do I preach and why dost thou come and hear if thou wilt not regard what is spoken to thee from the word of God in the name of God Oh how hard a thing is it to stand and view so many Souls and think after all the study pains prayer and preaching for you and to you so many should still be in the Devils fetters and are going in chains to the prison of hell and bound fast in sin to a place of everlasting torments Oh how shall I do to bear the thoughts of your damnation O it is a burden it is a burden it is indeed a heavy burden to my Soul to think that any of you should be damned that you should go from hence to hell from a place of solemn worship to a place of torment and of blasphemy Do you think it is not enough to break a poor Ministers heart to preach and labour that your bonds may be broken and your souls escape and set at liberty and after all you are in fetters still Were it not that some do hearken and obey were it not that some give great grounds of hope that they are leaving off the Devils service and that their Chains are broke it would be a sore temptation to preach no more but alas though some are set at liberty what shall we do for the rest that still remain in bonds especially in this that is so strong a false perswasion that you are already free and false hopes that you shall be for ever saved Sirs the stronger is your false hopes the greater is poor Ministers true and real sorrow and the more you hope for heaven upon such slender grounds the more we do despair of being instruments to help you out the more confident we see you to be that you are not in bondage the more discouragement it is unto us for if we set forth the misery of these Captives we lose our labour as to you because you think you are not the persons if we exhort and direct you to look after liberty as to you we lose our labour because you are perswaded strongly though falsly that you are free already whereas if you did see your selves in chains and were sensible of your bonds there were more hopes that we might prevail with you to accept of a Redeemer Oh that God would break this bond Oh that God would open your eyes that you may see that you are Captives and not be so vainly confident that you are made free Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes fountains of tears that I might night and day lament the woful state of these Captives that are on their way to hell and yet think they are in the way to heaven But let me leave this particular by leaving this with such presuming Captives that if you will hope while your eyes are open yet when death shall close your eyes you shall hope no more let me commend unto you the serious study of three places of Scripture and I will procede unto the next The first is Job 8. 13. The hypocrites hope shall perish 14. Whose hope shall be cut off and whose trust shall be a spiders web If your hope perish shall not your souls perish too If your hope be cut off will not your souls be cut short of heaven hoped for if your hope be as a Spiders web can it be a sure hope can the Spiders web stand before the broome God at furthest with the besom of death shall sweep your hope away The second is Job 11. 20. But the eyes of the wicked shall fail and they shall not escape and and their hope shall be as the giving up of the Ghost Thou poor Captive lookest for heaven but thy eyes shall fail before thou hast it thou lookest for happiness but thou shall look thy eyes out before without being made free by Christ thou shalt enjoy it thou hopest thou shalt escape wrath and hell but thou shalt not escape it is the true infallible God that saith thou shalt not escape and thy hope shall be as the giving up of the Ghost in these respects 1. A man is loth to give up the Ghost it is the last thing he doth Thou art loth to give up thy false hopes of heaven except God prevent it it will be the last thing thou wilt do 2. A man must give up the Ghost though he be never so loth to do it he would not dye but he must thou must at last give over hoping though thou keep this hope till thou dyest yet then thou shalt hope no more it is as impossible for you to keep these hopes for ever as it is for you to live upon earth for ever 3. A man that gives up the Ghost by all the power on earth cannot be called to life again When thy soul and body