live is Christ but to dye is gain The children of this World may be cast out but the heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven shall be as Olive-plants about the Table of the Lord. To commit sin is the part of an humane Nature to lament for sins committed is Christian-like but to continue in sin bidding defiance to the Divine powers is Diabolical There are three sorts of Faith the Faith of Sence which is seeing the Faith of Reason which is knowing and the Faith of Revelation which is believing And this last is properly called the Gospel-Faith Believe in the Lord your God so shall you be established believe his Prophets so shall ye prosper We ought seriously to consider two things the sin of our Nature and the Nature of our sin The Natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neican he know them because they are spiritually discerned But he that is spiritual judgeth all things yet he himself is judged of no man Let us follow after Christ he is our guide and will not shake us off but if we do not follow him we despise him and our own salvation Be ye therefore followers of God as dear Children If the heart of man be hard and stony it makes the softer cushion for the Devil to sit on To day if ye will hear the voice of the Lord harden not your hearts as in the provocation Since the days of mans life are as a shadow our suffering will be sudden and our sinning short We are but of yesterday and know nothing because our days upon earth are a shadow If man be for us God may be against us but if God be for us who can be against us If we are among our friends without God we are in continual danger but with God a man is safe though in the midst of enemies Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell The Saints ought to do more for God than others because as they are expected to be the best servants they are like to have the better wages The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal life through Iesus Christ our Lord. A modest behaviour and a portion of Morality without Holiness is but a golden Incredulity But sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every one that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear Let young Women put on Piety instead of Paints Sanctity instead of Sattin Modesty for their Morning and dayly dress so shall God and every good man love them more and more Let Women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame fac'dness and sobriety not with broidred hair or gold or pearls or costly array But which becometh Women professing godliness with good works As God made man without the help of man so will he likewise save them that come unto him by his own Almighty power Hear how familiarly he invites them Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest And ye shall finde rest unto your Souls If we endeavour for Salvation it is God must give it but if we do not endeavour he will shorten his own hand though we cannot do it For thus saith the Psalmist with thee is the Fountain of Life in thy light we shall see light How lovely is God in all his Creatures how much more lovely in his Ordinances but most lovely in Christ who is the God of love Brethren be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you The Christian hopeth for the world to come but the sinner feareth it For every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour Not to be chastened is an ill signe but not to bear a chastening is a worse Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy Law He that hath a tender Conscience will not be prodigal of his Credit for a good Conscience is a continual Feast to a chearful heart So likewise he that hath a good name hath the savour of a pretious Oyntment which gives a chearfulness to his countenance He that detaineth a penny from the poor puts a Plague into his own purse He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker but he that honoureth him hath mercie on the poor Let the precepts of God be neer to our hearts lest he stop his ears to our Prayers Who so stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor he also shall cry himself and shall not be heard In prosperity we forget the threatnings of God and in adversity we are apt to forget his promises The prosperity of fools shall destroy them If we intend to suffer evil for God's sake in the day of Adversity let us do good for God's sake in the day of Prosperity Here lies the true point of Gentility to fear God scorn the World and conquer Sin Nay in all these things we are more than conquerours through him that loved us Doth any man fear to dye it's an easie thing to live slaves and beasts do so but it ought to be every mans study to live and dye well Man's life is more full of grief than glory and it is a seasonable time to dye in when to live is rather a burthen than a blessing Be obedient and do good they are the works and the wages of a Christian and he will delight in doing good though he doth it only for his delight Gathering of Riches is a pleasant torment the trouble of getting the charging of the conscience the care of keeping and the watching over them when gotten takes away a great part of the expected enjoyment Wherefore if Riches increase set not your heart upon them A gratious person is usually as apt to desire to understand what he is to do as what he is to enjoy The work of a Christian while he lives in the body is to crucifie the body of death Man is God's creature God formed man of the dust of the ground Sin is man's creature Man is like to vanity his days are as a shadow which passeth away Misery is sins creature The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal life through Iesus Christ our Lord. God made man in his own likeness man hath made sin in his likeness and sin hath made misery in his own likeness Adam who was the Father of mankind was of earth and therefore earthy Our Saviour who was the Redeemer of mankind and the second Adam was from Heaven and therefore Heavenly As is the earthy such are they
sin are said to walk after the Heart of sin Sin is contrary to God's Image wherein man was made viz. in Righteousness and true Holiness but sin is as deformity and ugliness sin is the Devil's Image never was a Childe more like the Father than a sinner is like the Devil Sin is contrary to the People and Children of God Though sin cannot hate them so much as God loves them yet the more God loves them the more sin sets its hatred against them The Serpentine Race will not suffer the little Flock and Remnant of the holy Seed to have one quiet day The Devil is a man-hater but more a Saint-hater Sin is contrary to God's Glory Good men would do all they do to the Glory of God but sin will let them do nothing at all to God's Glory Might sins desires take place there should not be a person or thing by whom and whereby God should be pleased or glorified Sin is contrary to God's being sinners are God-haters and as much as in them lies they are God-murtherers And if its power were as great as its will is wicked it would not suffer God to be God is a troublesome thing to sinners and therefore they say Depart from us Sinners they would break Christ's bonds and make war with the Spirit of Peace Whoever thou art pause a little and consider what is said of sin it is to be considered by the sinner and is meant of thine and my sin Canst thou finde in thine heart to plead for such a Monster Wilt thou love that which God hates God forbid Oh say to this Idol yea to this Devil Get thee hence thou Childe yea Father of the Devil thou that art the founder of Hell an enemy to all Righteousness Oh think on 't what hast thou no value no regard for thy Soul Wilt thou neglect and despise it as if 't were good for nothing but to be damned and go to Hell Sin is contrary to the good of man and nothing is properly and absolutely so but sin and this results evidently from sins contrariety to God as there is nothing contrary to God but sin For Devils are not so but sin Sin being a separation between God and man an interruption of his Communion and Conformity it must needs be prejudicial and hurtful to him Man's sufferings follow at the heels of sin suffering and sin involve each other no sooner did sin enter into the world but death which is a privation of good did enter by it with it and in it for 't is the sting of death so that sin saith Here is death and death saith Here is sin Sin is against man's good here in time and hereafter in Eternity in this world which now is and in that to come Particularly Against man's body it hath corrupted man's blood and made his body mortal and thereby rendered it a vile body our bodies though made of dust were yet more pretious than fine Gold but when we sinned they became vile bodies Before sin our bodies were Immortal for Death and Mortality came in by sin but now alas they must return to dust and it 's appointed to all men once to dye and 't is well if they dye but once Sin is against the good of man's Soul too and this is much more to man's hurt 't is well with his Soul so that we can more easily and cheaply dye than be damn'd Nothing but sin doth wrong a man's Soul and there is no sin but doth that Sin is against man's well-being in this life man was born to a great estate but by sin which was and is Treason against God he forfeited all Man came into the world as into an house ready furnish'd but when man sinned God turn'd him out of all Thus by sin man that was the Emperour of Eden is banisht from his native Country and must never see it more but in a new and living way for the old is stop'd up all we have our Food and raiment is but lent us we are only Tenants at will The sin of man had left the Son of man nothing when he came into the world for the recovery of man If he will come in the likeness of sinful flesh he must speed not like the Son of God but Son of man Nay the venimous Nature of sin is such that it fills that good which God left us with vanity and vexation with bitterness and a curse sweat and sorrow many a grieving Bryer and pricking Thorn stick fast to him More particularly Sin is against man's rest 't is a sore Travail which the Sons of men have under the Sun yea he hath not rest in the night but is haunted if not frighted with extravagant and frightful dreams Man's ground is over-grown with thorns he hath many an aking head and heart many a sore hand and foot before the year come about to get a little livelihood out of this sin-curst ground The old world was very sensible of this Sin Curse and Toyl keep company Sin is against man's comfort and joy if man laugh sin turns it to madness all our sweet meats have sower sawce In sorrow shalt thou eat his bread is the bread of Affliction The Woman hath her share of sorrow for the time of conception breeding bearing and birth are tedious Sin is against man's health till sin there were no Diseases and Sicknesses let a man take the best Air he can and eat the best Food he can let him eat and drink by rule let him take never so many Antidotes Preservatives and Cordials yet man is but a crazie sickly thing for all this Sin is against the quiet of a man's natural Conscience for it wounds the Spirit and makes it intolerable A wounded Spirit who can bear This broken Spirit drieth the bones it sucks away the marrow and radical moisture A good Conscience is a continual Feast but sin mars all the mirth When Cain had killed his Brother and his Conscience felt the stroak of his Curse he was like a distracted man and mad When Iudas had betrayed his Master he was weary of his life Sin is against the beauty of man it takes away the loveliness of their Complexions and alters the very air of their Countenance it makes man vanity and his beauty vain Sin is against the loving and conjugal Cohabitation of Soul and Body Sin sowed discord between them and made them jar many a falling out there is now betwixt Body and Soul between Sense and Reason they draw several ways there 's a self-civil War The Soul is become a Prisoner to the Body Rather than a free man Too too often the beast is too hard for the man and the horse rides the Rider Sense lords it and domineers over Reason Sin is against man's relative good in the world man's weal or woe lies much in relations by sin that which was made for an help proves an hindrance Sin hath spoil'd society one man is a Woolf nay a Devil
Blessings of the Righteous in the the World to come 1. WIth everlasting Salvation 2. With everlasting Life 3. With everlasting Glory 4. With everlasting Honour 5. With everlasting Liberty 6. With everlasting Dominion 7. With everlasting Riches 8. With everlasting Kindness 9. With everlasting Peace 10. With everlasting Light 11. With everlasting Joy 12. With everlasting Security The Curses of the Wicked 1. Everlasting Damnation 2. With everlasting Death 3. With everlasting Shame 4. With everlasting Contempt 5. With everlasting Bondage 6. With everlasting Slavery 7. With everlasting Poverty 8. With everlasting Tribulation 9. With everlasting Darkness 10. With everlasting Sorrows To avoid the Curses We must endeavour to be Reconciled to God through Christ. We must endeavour to be really Justified and Sanctified We must endeavour to love God's Word in Sincerity We must endeavour to walk according to the Rule of it We must endeavour to have our minds fixed on God We must endeavour to trust in him effectually We must endeavour to be upright before him We must endeavour to please him in all our ways We must endeavour to do that which is good in his sight The bare Title of a Christian is not sufficient for Salvation if we are not obedient to the will of Christ we are no more Christians than a Picture is the Body of a man At the last day the Great Question will be Did you serve Christ or only pretend to do so Behold the great Assize is drawing nigh and our Judge is coming to the Court. A Crown of Glory and a consuming Fire attend for the appearance of the trembling Sinner Then the poor Soul appears to answer for what was done in the flesh At the Resurrection that power of the Almighty God that made man of nothing will new make him again Repentance and a good Faith are sure guides to Eternity Obstinate Impenitence leadeth to destruction Though it be above our powers to bring men acquainted with their hearts to assure them their Faiths are infirm and their Repentance lame the Great Judge that searcheth all mens hearts will at last convince them Though we hold the Candle of the Gospel in our hands yet the men we plead with are in the dark for they shut their eyes and will not see But the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to shew himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him He is not onely an all-seeing God but he is eyes to the blind and feet to the lame God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble This God we should endeavour to know but many men know many things yet do not know themselves Wherefore we should return from things External to things Internal and from things Internal ascend to things Supernal So may a man know from whence he came or whither he shall go the way to know God is for a man to study the art of knowing himself By how much the more I profit in the knowledge of my self by so much the more I approach to the knowledge of God I finde three things in my mind by which I remember consider and desire God and these are my Memory Understanding and Will By my Memory I remember by my Understanding I consider and by my Will I desire and love When I remember God I finde him in my memory and that gives me an occasion to rejoyce By my understanding I consider what God is in himself what he is in his Angels what he is in his Saints what he is in Men and what he is in his Creatures In himself he is incomprehensible because the beginning and end the beginning without beginning the end without end I understand from my self how incomprehensible God is because I cannot understand my self whom he hath made In his Angels he is desireable Which things the Angels desire to look into In his Saints he is delightful for they being happy continually rejoyce in him Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world In his Creatures he is admirable because he Powerfully createth Prudently governeth and Sweetly disposeth of all things Every creature of God is good In men he is Amiable as he is their God and they are his people He dwelleth in them as in his Temple Ye are the Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people Since God is so ready to inhabit in man how happy is that man that can entertain so great and so good a Guest How great is the Humility of such an Omnipotent Creator to dwell in so poor a Cottage Why then should we despise others he doth not visit the Rich for their riches but he saveth the poor from the sword Despise no man though never so wretched but be moved toward him with a brotherly affection Think another mans miseries to be thine and take the like care to relieve them Reverence the poor for they are those that receive others into the Eternal Tabernacles If thou seest an apparent sin in another be as sorrowful for his Iniquity as if thou sawst an imminent danger of death to thine own body For one Soul wounded with sin is of more value than all the bodies in the whole world As I would be careful to defend my body from death much more I ought with all diligence to endeavour to withdraw my Neighbour from sin by my Prayers Example and Exhortations Let no man envy his Neighbours success but rather affect his good as his own and rejoyce at his welfare especially in spiritual Affairs tending to the good of his Soul Give no credit to reports but believe more good of your Neighbour than you can see with your corporal eyes Love your Neighbour as your self but not with so strong an affection but that you still keep the chief room in your heart for your God Love that man best that is most vertuous he may requite benefit for benefit and for courtesies received offer prayers to God As we have opportunity let us do good unto all men especially those who are of the houshold of Faith When you discourse with another let God be in your minde and consider he sees you and you see him as effectually as you see the person you discourse with Whatsoever you attain to acknowledge it to be the benefit of God Every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning Think every man better than your self neither be proud in your own conceit for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble Give no cause of discontent to any neither be apt to commend your self
the other Oh who knows the Power of God's Wrath None but damned ones Damnation is a denial of good to and inflicting of evil upon sinners Woe unto you says God when I depart from you but woe woe woe will it be when sinners depart from God! Sinner's company are the Devil and his Angels tormented in everlasting fire with a curse Neither shall the sinner nor the fire know an end When once a man is damned he may bid adieu to all good Stately Houses spread Tables full Cups soft Beds pleasant Walks delightful Gardens fill'd with fragrant and odoriferous Fruits and Flowers none of these will descend with them When Devils fetch away their Souls whose shall all these things be To have a Portion of this world may be a Mercie but to have the world for a Portion is a Misery To have all good things in this life and but for this life is a Misery indeed The impenitent sinner goes from all his good to all evil but the Saint goes from all his evil and but from a little good to all good Who would not part with Counters for Gold with a World for Heaven This the Saint doth and 't is a good exchange I trow The wicked spend their days in mirth and have a brave time on 't as they think they sing Care away all the day long Heaven will not hold any of the wicked nor shall Hell have any of the righteous to hold The wicked must be not onely without their hopes of Heaven but without Heaven which they hoped for They gloried in their shame in this world and they shall have shame enough but no glory in the world to come They must suffer the loss of God himself who is the Heaven of Heaven All good things are but as a drop to the Ocean in comparison of him The sinner's estate is unalterable when once damned the door is shut 't is in vain to knock the day offers and means of grace is at an end God's long-suffering will suffer no longer though thou should'st weep out thine eyes in Hell 't will stand thee in no stead What think you sinner now is not sin exceeding sinful that separates from all good past present and to come Who that hath not been in Hell can tell what Hell is Who would go thither to try what ' t is Take the dregs of all the Miseries of this life and it will fall infinitely short of this misery Damnation A burning Feavour is nothing to burning in Hell Hell would be a kinde of Paradise if 't were no worse than the worst of this world The life that Saints obtain sinners go without and the misery that Saints are delivered from sinners are deliver'd to As different as grief is from joy as torment is from rest as terrour from peace so different is the state of sinners from that of Saints in the world to come 'T will be punishment without pity misery without mercie sorrow without succour crying without comfort and torment without ease Conscience accuses Devils torment Hope is departed and Time is for ever Hell is a place and state of Sorrow A place and state of Pains and Pangs To be in Hell is to be destroy'd 'T is a place and state of fire Damnation is in it 'T is the place of torment Hell is all these and much more Hell is call'd a Prison and the worst Hell is call'd the bottomless Pit into which sinners will be ever falling for there 's no bottom Hell is call'd a Furnace of fire they that are sin-makers by Trade shall be cast into it It 's call'd a Lake with fire and brimstone Hell is a place of darkness those flames will administer heat of Wrath but no light of Comfort Hell is a state of Damnation Hell is a place of Destruction Hell is an accursed State Damnation is call'd the second Death a living Death a Death that never dyes Hell-Torments will be exceeding great None but damned Souls know the power of God's Wrath. Hell is the Centre of all punishments Sorrow and Pain Wrath and Vengeance Fire and Darkness all are there The damned will be universally tormented not one or two parts but all and all over both Soul and Body the Eye with sight of Devils the Ear with hideous Cries the Smell with the sent of unsavoury Brimstone the Tast with the Dregs of the Cup of God's Wrath the Feeling with burning Flames The Soul and all its faculties will speed no better the Understanding will be tormented with Truth the Conscience with a gnawing Worm the Will that men think here a princely thing there they 'll finde it a devilish thing Hell-Torments will be without intermission there 's no sleeping there Needs there any more sinner to fright thee from sinning which is the way to damnation For thy Soul's sake hear and fear and do no more wickedly Oh if thou should'st go from reading of Hell into Hell thou would'st say there was a Prophet I would not believe it but now I feel it Praise the ALMIGHTY PSAL. 65.1 Praise waiteth for thee O God in Zion PRaise the most high Oh clap your hands Praise him for he the world commands Praise him Mount Zion praises sing Praise him that is your Cities King Praise him with loud and silent Air Praise ye the Lord that heareth Pray'r Praise him makes Morning hear his voice Praise him makes Ev'ning to rejoyce Praise him that doth prepare our Corn Praise him all ye that are Forlorn Praise him that duly sends us Rain Praise him for Fruits Herbs Flowr's and Grain Praise him for his refreshing Showrs Praise him for recreating Bowrs Praise him that doth our Pastures fill Praise and rejoyce each little Hill Praise him ye Birds and ev'ry Tree Praise him that did divide the Sea Praise him for Waters from the Fount Praise him for Grass grows on the Mount Praise him that gives and nothing owes Praise him with Sacrifice and Vows Praise him that form'd us in our Womb. Praise him that guides us to our Tomb. Praise him that makes us blest in Heaven Praise him from whom all Food is given Praise him his Holy Name adore Praise him O Praise him more and more Praise God the Father of the Iust Praise him that raiseth Poor from Dust. Praise him that makes the Barren bear Praise him with Duty Love and Fear Praise ye the Lord for dayly Food Praise ye the Lord for it is Good Praise him who gives success in Wars Praise him who numbereth the Stars Praise him that builds Jerusalem Praise him whose Word is more than Iem Praise him that lifteth up the Meek Praise him that doth support the Weak Praise him who doth the Ravens feed Praise him our meetly help at need Praise him causeth his Winds to blow Praise him that makes the Waters flow Praise him in his Angelick Coasts Praise him all ye his Mighty Hosts Praise ye his Name both Sun and Moon Praise him ye Lights that shine at Noon
must be just as well as orthodox Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath go not to bed in anger lest you have a tempter to your bedfellow Wrath is cruel and anger is outragious but who is able to stand before envy One of the blessings of the Old Testament was Prosperity and one of the blessings of the new Testament is Affliction Let not sin intice you to forsake God lest it urge God to forsake you It is Solomon's advice My Son if sinners intice thee consent thou not Conversion is a fit application for the wounds of a wicked man and strengthening likewise is very apt for the converted Saith David In the day when I cryed thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my Soul A devout Soul should not think himself secure when he is safe nor should he fear when in the greatest danger but distrust himself and always trust in God Say with Iob Though he slay me yet will I trust in him Act not against the light of Conscience lest your Light be darkned and your Conscience shipwrack't Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil Vertue and Vice that is Charity and Lust divide the whole life of man they are the two Trees of the Gospel that produceth fruits good and evil Study not to live long but to live well for an hour mis-spent is not liv'd but lost No man is perfect for there is none so good but he may mend Iesus said unto the young man If thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt receive treasure in heaven and come and follow me The sins of a mans life are innumerable Who can understand his errours saith David cleanse thou me from secret faults The changes of a Saints condition are but so many exchanges of mercie if he thrives God is bountiful to him if he hath troubles in this world God is careful of him and provides him a portion in a better world When David was in the Cave all his comfort was in Prayer unto God I cryed unto thee O Lord I said Thou art my refuge and portion in the land of the living Troubles or Sickness when sanctified is much better than unsanctified Prosperity It is not talking of God but walking with God that makes a Christian compleat See that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise Redeeming the time because the days are evil Beware of superstition for that will not teach a man to fear God but to be afraid of him Study to have Christ rather in your heart than your house for with such Habitations he is best pleased Rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness The being of the Soul is rather where it loves than where it lives Let us study to love God though we do not see him rather than to see him and not love him All the pleasure of our days is grief when there is not an inward peace in the Conscience and with that all the griefs imaginable are turn'd into delight for a good Conscience is a continual feast It is good to be Learned but it is better to be Religious for Learning is but an Ornament to Religion but Religion is a Blessing to Learning One may be ever learning yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth A man may have knowledge and no grace but he cannot have grace and no knowledge Jesus answered the Sadduces saying Ye erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God He that is truly Religious delights in the service of God and had rather be shortned in the comforts of his life than neglect the performance of his duty towards him Delight thy self in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart To profess Religion is good but to practice Religion is better to profess and not to practice is to dissemble with God and Man and a cunning course it is for man to destroy his own Soul The godly man may apply the promises to himself but the wicked man may apply himself to the promises Having these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God If we would have God hear our Prayers we must have the sence of feeling them our selves Sin brought death into the world and death carried sin out of the world He that would not have Time pass swiftly away should not use much Pastime The way to understand the sweetness of God's mercie is to get a sence of the bitterness of our own misery In all concerns let God be concerned the work will be the better done and the blessing will be the larger No man can do an evil action well but a good action may be spoiled in the management The tongue is an evil member for he that hath no reputation himself is master of another man's Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile The delight which a gracious Soul hath in mercies is not in the hearing of them or talking of them but in the possessing and enjoying of them God is a God that pardoneth Iniquity and retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercie The delight of a gracious Soul is to long to be dissolved and to go to his long'd-for home that he may be with Christ. A day in thy Courts O God is better than a thousand I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tent of wickedness It is God's appearing gracious to our Souls that makes him appeaâ— so glorious to our eyes To the praise of the glory of hiâ— Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved It is not in our power to imagine the power of God it converteth Souls and raiseth dead Bodies The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul the Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple Iesus cryed with a loud voice Lazarus come forth And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths and his face was bound about with a napkin Iesus saith unto them Loose him and let him go The Soul cannot be converted by the word that man speaks nor by the man that speaks the word For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God By the Scriptures we learn what God hath done for us and what we are to do for God All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness When a gracious Soul desireth a mercie of
wallâ— after the heart of sin Sin is contrary to God's Image wherein man was made sin is as unlike God's Image as Darkness is to Light as Hell to heaven yea and more too sin is the Devil's Image Such as the Devil and his Angels are who once knew good but now know evil both by doing it and suffering the sad effects of it Thus he that runs may read the Picture Image and likeness of the Devil in sin sinners are as like the Devil as any thing Sin is contrary to the Children of God they are near and dear to God God's heart is set upon them for good and sin sets its heart against them for evil Sin is always warring against the Seed of God in them By sins ill will God's people should neither enjoy nor do any good in the world Sin like the Devil hath not such an evil eye or aking tooth at all the sinners of the world as it hath at the Saints in the world The Devil is a Man-hater but more a Saint-hater Sin is contrary to and set against the Glory of God Faith would give Glory to God now that men may not believe sin imploys the Devil to blinde their eyes Good men would do all they do sin will let them do nothing at all to the Glory of God Sin is contrary to and opposite against the being and existence of God It makes the sinner wish and endeavour that there might be no God for sinners are haters of God And as he that hates his Brother is a murtherer so as much as in him lies he that hates God is a murtherer of God What 's said of sin is to be considered by the sinner and is meant of thine and my sin Poor Soul canst thou finde in thine heart to hug and imbrace such a Monster as this is Wilt thou love that which hates God and which God hates Wilt thou joyn thy self to that which is nothing but contrariety to God and all that 's good Oh say to this Idol yea to this Devil Get hence what have I to do with thee thou Childe yea Father of the Devil Thou that art the founder of Hell an enemy to all Righteousness that ceasest not to pervert the right ways of the Lord. Sin is contrary to the good of man it is a separation betwixt God and man The Commandment of which sin is a transgression was given not onely for God's sake that he might have glory from man's Obedience but for man's sake that man might enjoy the good and benefit of his Obedience These two were twisted together and no sooner is the Law transgrest but God and Man are joynt-sufferers God in his Glory and Man in his Good Man's suffering follows at the heels of sin yea as he suffers by so in sinning suffering and sinning involve each other No sooner did sin enter into the world but Death which is a privation of good did enter by it with it and in it For 't is the sting of Death so that sin saith Here is Death and death faith Here is Sin No sooner did Angels sin but they fell from their first State and Habitation which they had with God in Glory not a moment between their sin and misery And as soon as man had sinned his Conscience told him that he was naked and destitute of Righteousness and Protection Sin crosseth Glory and is cross to man's Happiness Sin is against the good of man's body it hath corrupted his blood and made his body mortal and thereby rendered it a vile body Our bodies though made of dust were yet more pretious than fine Gold but when we sinned they became vile bodies Before sin our bodies were immortal For death and mortality came in by sin But now alas they must return to dust and it 's appointed to all men once to dye and 't is well but once and the second death have no power over them they must see corruption or a change Sin is against the good of man's Soul 'T is not very ill with a man if it be well with his Soul but it can never be well with a man if it be ill with his Soul So that we can more easily and cheaply dye than be damned and may better venture our bodies to suffering than our souls to sinning Nothing but sin doth wrong a man's Soul and there is no sin but doth it Sin is against man's well-being in this life Well-being is the life of life and sin bears us so much ill will that it deprives us of our livelyhood Man came into the world as into an house ready furnished he had all things ready and prepared to his hands All the Creatures came to wait on him and payd him Homage but when man sinned God turn'd him out of house and home like a Pilgrim a Begger Ever since it hath been every man's lot to come into and go out of this world naked When Christ came into the world for the recovery of man and stood as in the sinner's stead he had not where to lay his head Though Christ were Lord of all yet if he will come in the likeness of sinful flesh he must speed not like the Son of God but Son of man Sin is against that good which God left us and fills it with vanity and vexation with bitterness and a curse God left Adam many Acres of land to till and husband but he hath it with a curse sweat and sorrow many a grieving Bryer and pricking Thorn stick fast to him God left him ground enough but 't is curst ground sin is so envious it would leave man nothing And if God be so good as to leave man any thing sins eye is evil because God is good and puts a sting in it Sin is against man's rest 't is a sore Travel which the Sons of men have under the Sun Man's ground is overgrown with Thorns that he hath many an aking head and heart Many a sore hand and foot before the year come about to get a little livelyhood out of this sincursed ground Sin curse and toil keep company Sin is against man's comfort and joy In sorrow shalt thou eat all the days of they life not one whole merry day The woman hath a peculiar sort and share of sorrow for the time of conception breeding bearing and birth are tedious Sin is against man's health hence come all diseases and sicknesses till sin there were no such things Let a man take the best Air he can and eat the best food he can let him eat and drink by rule let him take never so many Antidotes Preservatives and Cordials yet man is but a crazie sickly thing for all this Sin is against the quiet of a man's natural Conscience for it wounds the spirit and makes it intolerable A merry heart doth good like a Medicine no Cordial like it but a broken spirit drieth the bones and sucks away the marrow A good Conscience is a continual Feast but sin mars
all the Mirth Sin is against the Beauty of man it takes away the loveliness of mens very Complexions Sin is against the loving cohabitation of Soul and Body it hath sowed discord betwixt them Many a falling out is there between Soul body between Sense Reason they draw several ways Sin is against man's relative good in this world That which was made for a help proves but too often an hindrance Sin hath spoil'd Society One man is a Wolf yea a Devil to another Sin will not let Husband and Wife Parents and Children to live quietly Sin breeds Divisions Factions in Church and State that there is little of Union or Order Sin is against the very being of man How many doth it strangle in the Womb How many doth it send from the Cradle to the Grave And after a few days which are but as a span sin lays all in the dust Sin hath reduc'd man's Age from almost a thousand to seventy He that 's born to day is not sure to live a day Sin is against all the good of man in this life Sin hath degraded man by defiling him and almost unman'd him Man was a very noble thing made a little lower than the Angels but alas by sin he 's made almost as low as Devils Sin hath rob'd man of his primitive Excellence of a Lord he is become a servant yea a slave to Creatures to Devils and Lusts of all sorts Sin defiles his Body The Flesh is filthy the Body is a Body of sin the Members are servants to uncleanness Take man from head to foot from the crown of that to the sole of this there 's no whole because not holy part in him Their Mouth is full of cursing and bitterness with their Tongues they use deceit the Poyson of Asps is under their Lips their Throat is an open Sepulchre Eyes full of Adultery Eye-lids haughty Ears dull of hearing yea deaf as the Adder the Forehead impudent as a Brow of brass both Hands are employ'd to work Iniquity Belly an Idol-God the Feet swift to shed blood Look within their inward part is wickedness the Gall is a Gall of bitterness the Spleen is affected yea infected with Envy and Malice Sin defiles the Soul God's Image was more in and oâ— the Soul than Body of man and Sin 's Ambition and Envy is to deprive the Soul of this Image Righteousness and Holiness were stamped upon man's Soul but sin hath blotted this Image and Superscription which once told from whence it came It must be new created or renewed before God own it for his because till then his Image is not legible The Flood which washt away so many sinners could not wash away sin the same heart remains after the Flood as before Sin hath deceived the Heart hardned Obstinacie vain Folly and Madness vain Thoughts and Villanous bubble and break forth from this corrupt Fountain that sets the Tongue on fire from Hell The Conscience is become evil and in many feared Sin hath almost put out man's eye and even extinguished the Candle of the Lord. Sin hath dimmed and benighted man's leading faculty the Understanding which should shew a man the difference between good and evil Sin blinds the sinner and makes him grope as the blinded Sodomites to finde the door of Hope Man hath lost his way since he lost his eyes poor man catcheth at every straw grasps every trifle Sinners are ever and most stumbling at Christ Jesus they are offended at him but cannot tell for what Would a man be led by a Dog if he were not blinde Blinde Guides dumb Dogs false Prophets lead sinners into theDitch of Sin and the Dungeon of Hell Till a man fear God he doth but play the fool he is as the Prodigal beside himself The representative of sinners and converts Man's folly to think like a fool unsteadily and rowling independantly and broken at random and rovers Sin hath made man like a beast yea not like to but a beast the Man of sin the great Antichrist is called a beast and the great ones that Daniel saw in his Vision are called beasts Sinners in Scripture are call'd ten or eleven times brutish Sinful man is like the beast in ignorance Man though he sit at the upper end of the world as the Antichristian beast doth is but a bruit that hath no understanding Sinful man is like the beast in sensuality as if he were onely Belly-wise and had no Soul to minde Sinful man is like the beast in his unsociableness and unsuitableness for Society and Communion with God and men Good men are as shie of conversing with such as with beasts Sinners are likened to the worst of hurtful beasts such as in Scripture are call'd hurtful beasts to Lyons Tygers Boars and Bears the ill-qualited and ill-condition'd Creatures Wicked men are likened to Goats for lustfulness and wantonness so are sinners the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye are the things they are taken with Wicked men are likened to Goats for stinking a Goatish smell is a stinking smell Wicked men are likened to Goats for their bold and adventurousness they climb Rocks and Precipices to brouse and feed on what they can get with hazard and in this sinners are like them too in running hazards Sinners are likened to Dogs and 't is a common name to sinners Without are Dogs Sin separates the sinner from God they are without God sinners are said to be afar off for they depart from God and go into a far Country Sin separates the sinner from the sight of God Our happiness lies so much in the sight of God that it hath the name of the beatifical Vision Sin hath separated the sinner from the life of God such a life as God lives Sin hath separated the sinner from the love of God and made him the object of his wrath Sin hath separated the sinner from Communion with God God and man kept company while man and holiness kept company Sin hath separated the sinner from Covenant-relation with God They are without God Promise and Covenant Sin in robbing man of God it hath robbed him of all things God hides his face from sinners whose loving kindness is better than life The sinner turns the back to God and God turns the back to him God hears not the sinner's Prayers God is a God hearing Prayers but sin shuts out their shouting and howling The sinner is without strength man's great strength is in Union with God separation weakens him To be a sinner is to be without strength Man was once a Sampson for strength but having parted with his Locks his strength is departed from him Man by Reason of sin is in death often in this life but in the life to come he 's in death for ever God damns no man but for sin death is but sin's wages Heaven and Salvation is not more surely promis'd to the one than Hell and Damnation is threatned to and shall be executed on
and of greater value than Gold Wherefore let it be thy business and the delight of thy Soul to seek and to serve God To seek and to serve here is the way to be glorified in rejoycing and enjoying hereafter Wherefore begin betimes and be not weary of well doing for great is your reward Take hold of this present opportunity lest the sloath of your heart or the cares of this world cause you to neglect and forget the prize that is set before you Unhappy are those poor Souls whose Portion is only in this world If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable The Cross of Christ is the Christians Crown the Reproach of Christ is the Christian's Riches and the Shame of Christ is his Glory God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Iesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world In all your actions let it be your practice to have a respect to your ends Talk not proudly let not arrogancie come out of your mouth for the Lord is a God of Knowledge and by him actions are weighed Strive to live above this lower Region that no accidents may put you out of frame nor disquiet your Soul Set your affections on things above and not on the earth If I had the wings of a Dove I would flie from the Winds the Storms and Tempests of this wicked world and rest my self in the bosom of my Father There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest To disparage Sin and to incourage Holiness is none of the least Works of a Minister of Christ. The wicked may drink roar and swagger and sell their pretious Souls for a moments joy and make light of Damnation but let them know for all these things God will bring them to Iudgment an eternity of intolerable sorrows must pay for their short pleasures Hence it is that the serious Christian makes it his business to avoid this dreadful misery let the wicked please themselves in their sorrows he knows 't is but a little while and all will be mended and their minds changed He is willing to stay for his happiness and joys till he come to another world and he doth not envy the wicked what they do enjoy let them make the best of it The unseen world which most forget is always in the Christians eye and if he may but live happily there he passeth not if he run through reproaches injuries and a thousand Deaths to that glorious and endless Life This is the grand Reason of the Christians patience this makes him judge it no folly but the greatest wisdom to keep the commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus Those which live like Devils are not like to dye like Saints that count all their time lost they do him no service in which make a jest of Damning and are as merry within a step of Hell as if it and a Tavern were alike And yet how well are wicked men pleased and contented with their own condition and laugh at the Godly as if it were a dangerous and mad thing to go to Heaven and the truest happiness to be miserable for ever The Devil himself may as well expect to shake off his chains and be restored to his lost glory as they O be not deceived as you sow so you must reap God gives this world oftentimes to his greatest Enemies he gives glory in another world to none but his Friends and Children Nay let me speak it freely They which gain this world with their negligence of Heaven shall at their death lose both Many that would be counted wise drive a great Trade for that which is next to nothing and that lay in no better provisions than Gravel Clay or Dung when they are bound for Eternity They think they make a very wise Bargain when they sell their Conscience God and Heaven for a little of that which some call Riches O that I could but bring down the price of sublunary things and raise the things of that other world to their true worth Think not meanly of Holiness it 's the most excellent thing it is the greatest Riches and man's highest Dignity He that knows the worth of Christ and the nature of his own Soul let him not envy those that swell like bladders upon water for a moment and God puffs them off and where are they How can they look for Heaven when they dye that thought it not worth their minding whilst they lived Whatsoever men pursue below Christ will yield them but little happiness and comfort in another world Not every one that wears Christ's Livery shall have his Wages How many seeming Saints shall gain nothing at Death but a thorow knowledge of their own folly O please not your self with fancies Sickness and Death is coming and then you will know better the reason of my earnest pleading with you in this matter He that hath not got more than ever any Hypocrite could attain or shall will miss of Heaven The best of God's Children are most suspicious of themselves and afraid of their own deceitful hearts and their great request is that God would deliver them from mistakes in matters of everlasting consequence It 's a common thing for wicked men to carry their false peace along with them to the Grave How many thousands are there that dye like Lambs that are but Swine and have the Devils brand upon their foreheads Many are carried very quickly to Hell and fear nothing till they feel and are not brought to their sences till unspeakable horrour and anguish doth it It hath not a little puzled some as well as David to see the wicked dye quietly and the godly to have a strange death but God will shortly resolve this Riddle That Soul which hath seen the death of Sin is a person fit for death That man is like to be a gainer by Death who contemns Earth and makes Heaven his choice He that counts nothing worth the having except Christ and for Christ cannot be miserable when he is lodged safe in his imbraces God is oftentimes better but never worse than his word The running Christian shall at last obtain the Prize and the Crown he fights for he shall wear What though the Vessel be tost and broke it shall come safe with its rich Lading to the desired Harbour O you foolish world condemn not these spiritual wise Merchants till you know what their returns are when their burden is delivered He that is willing to dye for Christ shall live as long as Christ lives in happiness and rest Those Souls are out of Gun-shot that are instrumental for the shaking the Kingdom of Satan and weakning the interest of Hell in the world Who would not be a Christian in good earnest sure none but a mad-man or a fool The highest Worldlings are below the meanest and lowest Child of