A Sure Guide TO HEAVEN OR An Earnest Invitation to Sinners to turn to God in order to their Eternal Salvation Shewing the thoughtful Sinner what he must do to be saved By Ioseph Alleine late Minister of the Gospel at Taunton in Somersetshire John 3. 3. Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside near Mercers Chappel 1688. TO THE READER That would be safe and happy IF it were only possible thou mayst live hereafter and be called to account in another world for what thou dost in this it would be thy wisdom to take the safest course and not to run the constant hazard of being dragg'd by death to Iudgment before thou wert prepar'd to meet thy Iudge But another Life and a Judgment to come are more than possible there is an high probability yea as great a certainty as can with reason he expected that death will not put an end to thy being that thou shalt live after the return of thy body to the Earth and that then thou shalt be tryed and sentenced to such an happiness or misery as will be incomparably greater than any thing nay than all thou didst ever feel or see hear of or imagine These weighty Truths are taught and establisht in some measure by the Light of Nature but much more clearly and firmly by the Oracles of God in the Holy Scriptures Besides what they say of the different states of separated Souls they plainly teach and strongly assert That God hath appointed a time in which he will judge the whole world by the Mediator Jesus Christ that that great Mediator who is God as well as Man will descend from Heaven attended by its glorious Inhabitants with triumphant Acclamations to his Royal Throne that a mighty Voice will cite all that ever dwelt on Earth to make their personal appearance that that awakening and commanding Summons shall be presently heard and obeyed by the dead and they with the quick then remaining alive shall all stand before the Judgment Seat that after a throughly searching and impartial tryal which will reach mens several talents trusts and opportunities of getting and doing good and their most secret actions words and thoughts every one shall receive an unalterable Sentence of Absolution or Condemnation and that then such as are approv'd and absolv'd shall inherit an heavenly Kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world be like the Angels their delightful Companions converse with their most amiable and loving Saviour beholding and partaking of his glory yea resemble see and enjoy God himself in compleated Holiness and everlasting Bliss And those on the other hand that are reprobated and damn'd shall never be admitted into the Regions of Light nor yet be favour'd with a glimpse thereof but suffer with Devils in the blackness of darkness for ever the perpetual gnawings of the Worm that dieth not and the extreme torments of unquenchable fire Seeing then these things cannot be denied thou must be guilty of such woful abuses of reason as far exceed all the extravagancies of them that want it thou must be most grosly foolish most unnaturally cruel to thine own Soul to thy whole self if thou dost not earnestly desire to be one of those unto whom the Lord shall say Come ye blessed and not Depart ye cursed if thou dost not readily welcom and diligently use any proper helps for the avoiding of the heaviest endless misery and for the attaining of the purest vastest everlasting happiness And such helps are now offered thee in this little Book which hath a taking tincture of the excellent Author's flaming love to God and useful Charity to the Souls of men and now it is in thine hand let me tell thee it cannot be refus'd the reading or reaâ— without doing what it so plainly teacheth and affectionately urgeth but at thy greatest peril If thou wilt not be at a small expence of time and pains to read it over if after the neglect of so many means of instruction this also be rejected how justly mayst thou be destroyed for lack of knowledge How soon may the things which belong unto thy peace be hid from thine eyes A continued wilful want of understanding is large ground for fear lest he that made thee should not have mercy on thee and he that form'd and redeem'd thee should shew thee no favour If thou readest but dost not practise what Scripture and Reason so pathetically plead for the increase of thy knowledge will increase thy sorrow because it will aggravate thy sin for to him that knows his Lords will how and why to do good and doth it not but the forbidden evil to him 't is heinous inexcusable sin for which he is liable to be beaten with many stripes in constant dreadful danger of severer punishment I hope therefore thou wilt peruse so short a discourse and art not unwilling to do it in such a manner as to grow acquainted with and be perswaded to thy great duty and which is inseparable from it thy greatest advantage and that thou may'st not fail thereof is the design of the following Directions 1. Pray in the name of Christ as thou art and shalt be enabled for the more effectual assistances of the Holy Spirit Such is the corruption of our nature that it utterly disables to make a saving use of outward means without inward aids Unless the Spirit by his powerful operations work thee into a serious teachable temper set home the attempts of Gods Messengers and give them an efficacy far beyond their own the most concerning truths and weightiest arguments can never be so represented and inforc'd as to overcome thy sensual worldly inclinations rescue thee from the dominion of sin and Satan and bring thee back to God. Thou must therefore pray and that with becoming apprehensions of the great God due regard to the gracious Mediator deep shame and sorrow for the â—ins thou confessest ardent desires of all the grace thou beggest and faithful improvements of such measures as thou hast already received And if thou thus askest with fervent importunity and persevering constancy thou wilt undoubtedly find that God bade thee not to seek his face in vain As our Lord warrants us to argue Luke II. If a man will not deny a Friend what he is importunate for and if a Father will grant his Son what he asks and wants much more will thy Heavenly Father give thee the Holy Spirit for all needful purposes to produce all those effects in thee that are truly necessary for thine Eternal Salvation 2. Consider seriously what thou readest and work it on thy Soul as far as thou art concern'd therein Medicines for the Body will operate though they are not thought of but Spiritual Remedies for the mind require its co-operation with them the clearest explications fullest proofs and strongest motives about matters of nearest and
my Liege Soveraign and resolve all my days to pay the tribute of Worship Obedience and Love and Service is thee and to live to thee as the end of my Life This is a right accepting of God. To be short he tells you I am the true and faithful God. If you wiâ—l have me for your God you must be content to trust me 2 Tim. 1. 12. Prov. 3. 5. Will you venture your selves upon my word and depend on my faithfulness and take my bond for your security Will you be content to follow me in poverty and reproach and affliction here and to see much going out and little coming in and to tarry till the next world for your preferment Mat. 9. 21. I deal much upon trust will you be content to labour and suffer and to tarry for your returns till the Resurrection of the Just Luke 14. 14. The womb of my Promise will not presently bring forth will you have the patience to wait Heb. 10. 36. Now Beloved what say you to this Will you have this God for your God Will you be content to live by faith and trust him for an unseen happiness an unseen heaven an unseen glory Do your hearts answer Lord we will venture our selves upon thee we commit our selves to thee We roll upon thee we know whom we have trusted we are willing to take thy word we will prefer thy promises before our own possessions and the hopes of Heaven before all the enjoyments of the Earth We will wait thy leisure What thou wilt here so that we may have but thy faithful promise for Heaven hereafter If you can in truth and upon deliberation thus accept of God he will be yours Thus there must be in a right conversion to God a closing with him suitable to his excellencies But when men close with his mercy but yet love sin hating holiness and purity or will take him for their Benefactor but not for their Soveraign or for their Patron but not for their Portion this is no thorow and no sound Conversion Direct VII Accept of the Lord Iesus in all his Offices with all his inconveniences as thine Upon these terms Christ may be had Sinner thou hast undone thy self and art plunged into the Ditch of most deplorable misery out of which thou art never able to climb up But Jesus Christ is able and ready to help thee and he freely tenders himself to thee Heb. 7. 25. Iohn 3. 36. Be thy sins never so many never so great of never so long continuance yet thou shalt be most certainly pardoned and saved if thou dost not wretchedly neglect the offer that in the name of God is here made unto thee The Lord Jesus calleth unto thee to look unto him and be saved Isa. 45. 22. to come unto him and he will in no wise cast thee out Iohn 6. 37. Yea he is a suitor to thee and beseecheth thee to be reconciled 2 Cor. 5. 20. he cryeth in the streets he knocketh at thy door he wooeth thee to accept of him and live with him Prov. 1. 20. Rev. 2. 30. If thou diest 't is because thou wouldst not come to him for life Iohn 5. 40. Now accept of an offered Christ and thou art made for ever Now give up thy consent to him and the match is made all the world cannot hinder it Do not stand off because of thine unworthiness Man I tell thee nothing in all the world can undo thee but thine unwillingnessâ— Speak man art thou willing of the match Wilt thou have Christ in all his celations to be thine thy King thy Priest thy Prophet Wilt thou have him with all his inconveniences Take not Christ hand over head but sit down first and count the cost Wilt thou lay all at his feet Wilt thou be content to run all hazards with him Wilt thou take thy lot with him fall where it will Wilt thou deny thy self take up thy Cross and follow him Art thou deliberately understandingly freely fixedly determined to â—â—eave to him in all times and conditions If so my soul for thine thou shalt never perish Iohn 3. 16. but art passed from death to life Here lies the main point of thy salvation that thou be found in thy covenant-closure with Jesus Christ and therefore if thou love thy self see that thou be faithful to God and thy soulâ— ere Direct VIII Resign up all thy powers and faculties and thy whole interest to be his They gave their own selves unto the Lord 2 Cor. 8. 5. Present your bodies as a living Sacrifice Rom. 12. 1. The Lord seeks not yours but you Resing therefore thy body with all its members to him and thy soul with all its powers that he may be glorified in thy body and in thy spirit which are his 1 Cor. 6. 20. In a right closure with Christ all the faculties give up to him The Judgment subscribes Lord thou â—t worthy of all acceptation chief of ten thousand Happy is the man that finâ—eth thee All the things that are to be desired are not to be compared with thee Prov. 3. 13 14 15. The understanding lays aside its corrupt reasonings and cavils and its prejudices against Christ and his ways It is now past questioning and disputing and casts it for Christ against all the World. It concludes it 's good to be here and sees such a treasure in this field such value in this pearl as is worth all Mat. 13. 44. Oh here 's the richest bargain that ever I made here 's the richest prize that ever man was offereâ— here 's the sovereignest remedy that ever mercy prepared he is worthy of my esteem worthy of my choice worthy of my love worthy to be embraved 〈…〉 admired for ever more Rev. 5. 12. I approve of his 〈◊〉 his terms are rightteous reasonable full of equity and mercy Again the will resigns It stands no longer wavering nor wishing and woulding but is peremptorily determin'd Lord thy love hath overcome me thâ—â— hâ—st won me and thou shalt have me Come in Lord to thee I freely open I consent to be saved in thine own way thou shalt have any thing thou shall have all let me have but thee The memory gives up to Christ Lord here is a store-house for thee Out with this trash lay in thy treaâ—ure Let me be a granary a repositorâ— of thy truths thy promises thy providences The Conscience comes in Lord I will ever side with thee I will be thy faithful Register I will warn when the sinner is tempted and smite when thou art offended I will witness for thee and judge for thee and guide into thy ways and will never let sin have quiet in this soul. The affections also come in to Christ. O saith love I am sick of thee O saith desire now I have my longing Here 's the satisfaction I sought for Here 's the desire of Nations Here 's bread for me and balm for me all that I want Fear bows the knee with
awe and veneration Welcome Lord to thee will I pay my homage Thy word and thy rod shall command my motions Thee will I reverence and adore before thee will I fall down and worship Grief likewise puts in Lord thy displeasure and thy dishonour thy peoples calamities and mine own iniquities shall be that that shall set me abroach I will mourn when thou art offended I will weep when thy cause is wounded Anger likewise comes in for Christ Lord nothing so enrages me as my folly against thee that I should be so befooled and bewitched as to hearken to the flatteries of sin and temptations of Satan against thee Hatred too wâ—â—â— side with Christ. I protest mortal enmity with thine enemies that I will never be friends with thy foes I vow an immortal quarrel with every sin I will give no quarter I will make no peace Thus let all thy powers give up to Jesus Christ. Again thou must give up thy whole interest to him If there be any thing that thou keepest back from Christ it will be thine undoing Luke 14. 33. Unless thou wilt forsake all in preparation and resolution of thy heart thou canst not be his Disciple Thou must hate Father and Mother yea and thine own life also in comparison of him and as far as it stands in competition with him Mat. 10. 37. Luke 14. 26 27 c. In a word thou must give him thy self and all that thou hast without reservation or else thou canst have no part in him Direct IX Make châ—ice of the Laws of Christ as the rule of thy words thoughts and actions Psal. 119. 30. This is the true Converts choice But here remember these three rules 1. You must chuse them all There 's no coming to Heaven by a partial obedience Read Psal. 119. 6 128 160. Ezek. 18. 21. None may think it enough to take up with the cheap and easie part of Religion and let alone the duties that are costly and self-denying and grate upon the interest of the flesh You must take all or none A sincere Convert though he makes most conscience of the greatest sins and weightiest duties yet he makes true conscience of little sins and of all duties Psal. 119. 6 113. Mat. 23. 23. 2. For all times for prosperity and for adversity whether it rain or shine A true Convert is resolved in his way he will stand to his choice and will not set his back to the wind and be of the religion of the times I have stuck to thy testimonies I have enclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway even to the end Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever Psal. 119. 31 111 117 44 93. I will have respect unto thy statutes continually 3. This must not be done hand over head but deliberately and understandingly That disobedient Son said I go â—ir but he went not Mat. 24. 30. How fairly did they promise All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee we will do it and it 's like they spake as they meant but when it came to tryal it was found that there was not such a heart in them as to do what they had promised Deut. 5. 27 29. If you would be sincere in closing with the laws and ways of Christ First Study the meaning and latitude and compass of them Remember that they are very spiritual they reach the very thoughts and inclinations of the heart so that if you will walk by this rule your very thoughts and inward motions must be under government Again that they are very strict and self-denying quite contrary to the grain of your natural ineâ—inations Mat. 16. 24. You must take the strait gate the narrow way and be content to have the flesh curbed from the liberty it desires Mat. 7. 14. In a word that they are very large For thy Commandment is exceeding broad Psal. 119. 96. Secondly rest not in generals for there 's much deceit in that but bring down thy heart to the particular commands of Christ. Those Jews in the Prophet seemed as well resolved as any in the world and call'd God to witness that they meant as they said But they stuck in generals When Gods command crosses their inclination they will not obey Ier. 42. 1 2 3 4 5 6. compared with Chap. 43. v. 2. Take the Assemblies larger Catechism and see their excellent and most compendious exposition of the Commandments and put thy heart to it Art thou resolved in the strength of Christ to set upon the conscientious practice of every duty that thou findest to be there required of thee and to set against every sin that thou findest there forbidden This is the way to be found in Gods statutes that thou maist never be ashamed Psal. 119. 80. Thirdly Observe the special duties that thy heart is most against and the special sins that 't is most inclin'd unto and see whether it be truly resolved to perform the one and forgo the other What sayest thou to thy bosom sin thy gainful sin What sayest thou to costly and hazardous and flesh displeasing duties If thou halâ— est here and dost not resolve by the grace of God to cross thy flesh and put to it thou art unsound Psal. 18. 23. Psal. 119. 6. Direct X Let all this be compleated in a solemn Covenant between God and thy soul Psalm 119. 106. Neh 10. 29. For thy better help therein take these few Directions First Set apart some time more than once to be spent in secret before the Lord. 1. In seeking earnestly his special assistance and gracious acceptance of thee 2. In considering distinctly all the terms or conditions of the Covenant expressed in the form hereafter proposed 3. In searching thine heart whether thou art sincerely willing to for sake all thy sins and to resign up thy self body and soul unto God and his service to serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of thy life Secondly Compose thy Spirit into the most serious frame possible suitable to a transaction of so high importance Thirdly Lay hold on the Covenant of God and rely upon his promise of giving grace and strength whereby thou may'st be enabled to perform thy promise Trust not to thine own strength to the strength of thine own resolutions but take hold on his strength Fourthly Resolve to be faithful having engaged thine heart opened thy mouth and subscribed with thy hand unto the Lord resolve in his strength never to go back Lastly Being thus prepared on some convenient time set apart for the purpose set upon the work and in the most solemn manner possible as if the Lord were visibly present before thine eyes fall down on thy knees and spreading forth thine hands toward Heaven open thine heart to the Lord in these or the like words O Most dreadful God for the Passion of thy Son I beseech thee accept of thy poor Prodidigal now prostrating himself at thy Door I have fallen from thee by
of the worms if compared with God. As he doth infinitely exceed the glory and power of his glittering dust so he will beyond all proportion exceed in doing for his Favourites whatever Princes can do for theirs He will give you grace and glory and withhold no good thing from you Psal. 84. 11. He will take you for his Sons and Daughters and make you Heirs of his promises Heb. 6. 17. and establish his everlasting Covenant with you Ier. 32. 40. He will justifie you from all that Law Conscience Satan can charge upon you Rom. 8. 33 34. he will give you free access into his presence and accept your persons and receive your prayers Eph. 3. 12. Eph. 1. 6. 1 Iohn 5. 14. He will abide in you and make you the men of his secrets and hold a constant and friendly communion with you Iohn 14. 23. Iohn 15. 15. 1 Iohn 1. 3. His ear shall be open his door open his store open at all times to you His blessing shall rest upon you and he will make your enemies to serve you and work about all things for good unto you Psal. 115. 13. Rom. 8. 28. 4. The Terms of mercy are brought as low as possible to you God hath stooped as low to sinners as with honour he can He will not be thought a fautor of sin nor stain the glory of his holiness and whither could he come lower than he hath unless he should do this He hath abated the impossible terms of the first Covenant Ier. 3. 13. Mark 5. 36. Acts 16. 31. Acts 3. 19. Prov. 28. 13. He doth not impose any thing unreasonable or impossible as a condition of life upon you Two things were necessary to be done according to the Tenour of the first Covenant by you 1. That you should fully satisfie the demands of Iustice for past offences 2. That you should perform personally perfectly and perpetually the whole Law for the time to come Both these are to us impossible Rom. 8. 3. But behold Gods gracious abatement in both He doth not stand upon satisfaction he is content to take off the surety and he of his own providing too what he might have exacted from you 2 Cor. 5. 19. He declares himself to have received a ransom Iob 33. 24. 1 Tim. 2. 6. and that he expects nothing but that you should accept his Son and he shall be righteousness and redemption to you Iohn 1. 12. 1 Cor. 1. 30. And for the future obedience here he is content to yield to your weakness and remit the rigour He doth not stand upon perfection as a condition of life though he still insists upon it as due but is content to accept of sincerity Gen. 17. 1. Prov. 11. 20. Though you cannot pay the full debt he will accept you according to that which you have and take willing for doing and the purpose for the performance 2 Cor. 8. 12. 2 Chron. 6. 8. Heb. 11. 17. and if you come in his Christ and set your hearts to please him and make it the chief of your cares he will approve and reward you though the vessel be marred in your hands Oh consider your Makers condescention Let me say to you as Naaman's servant to him My Father if the Prophet had bâ—d thee do some great thing wouldst then not have done it how much rather when he saith unto thee wash and be clean 2 Kings 5. 13. If God had demanded some terrible some severe and rigorous thing of you to escape eternal damnation would you not have done it Suppose it had been to spend all your days in sorrow in some howling Wilderness or pine your selves with famine or to offer the fruit of your bodies for the sin of your souls would you not have thankfully accepted eternal redemption though these had been the conditions Yea farther if God should have told you you should have fryed in the fire for millions of ages or been so long tormented in Hell would you not have gladly accepted it Alas all these are not so much as one sand in the glass of eternity If your offended Creator should have held you but one year upon the rack and then bid you come and forsake your sins accept Christ and serve him a few years in self-denial or lie in this case for ever and ever Do you think you should have stuck at the offer and disputed the terms and have been unresolved whether you were best to accept of the motion O sinner return and live why shouldest thou die when life is to be had for the taking and mercy should be beholding to thee as it were to be saved Couldst thou say indeed Lord I know that thou wast an hard man Mat. 25. 24. thou hadst some little excuse but when the God of Heaven hath stooped so low and bated so far if now thou shouldst stand off who shall plead for thee Obj. Notwithstanding all these abatements I am no more able to perform those conditions in themselves so easie of faith and repentance and sincere obedience than to satisfy and fulfil the Law. Answ. These you may perform by Gods grace enabling whereas the other are naturally impossible in this state even to believers themselves But let the next consideration serve for a fuiler answer 5. Wherein you are impotent God doth offer grace to enable you I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded Prov. 1. 24. What though you are plunged into the ditch of that misery from which you can never get out Christ offereth to help you out he stretcheth his hand to you and if you perish it is for refusing his help Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open to me I will come in Rev. 3. 20. What though you are poor and wretched and blind and naked Christ oftereth a cure for your blindness a cover for your nakedness a remedy for your poverty he tendreth you his righteousness his graces I counsel thee to buy of me gold that thou mayst be rich and white rayment that thou mayst be cloathed and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayst see Rev. 3. 17 18. Do you say the condition is impossible for I have not wherewith to buy You must know that this buying is without money and without price Isa. 55. 1. This buying is by begging and seeking with diligence and constancy in the use of God's means Prov. 2. 3 4. God commandeth thee to know him and to fear him Dost thou say Yea but my mind is blinded and my heart is hardened from his fear I answer God doth offer to enlighten thy mindâ— and to teach thee his fear that is presented to thy choice Prov. 1. 29. For 〈…〉 hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. So that now if men live in ignorance and estrangement from the Lord it is because they will not understand and desire notâ—â—e knowledge of his ways Job 21. 14. If thou cryest after knowledge if thou seaâ—eâ—t her as
greatest concernment will not do the Soul any good unless by thinking it apply them and extract their vertue nor will the Spirit heal its lamentable Diseases if his influences be not answer'd with suitable endeavours Work then as he works in and with thee take into most serious consideration whatever is apt to promote thy recovery lay those things closest to heart which are likeliest to cure the hardness thereof inculcate and urge them and withal cry mightily unto him who is able and no less willing to help thee till thou feelest his gentle force and comest to a conquering resolution that thou must and wilt do as thou art advis'd till thou dost not only assent to the course propos'd as fit to be taken but art steadily determin'd that it is best for thee that it is absolutely necessary and must effectually be prosecuted that by the grace of God thou wilt thoroughly change thy heart and life and so escape from the greatest evil and make sure of the chiefest good 3. When thou hast seriously consider'd and resolv'd proceed presently to practise with all thy might and without the least delay 'T is commonly a work of some time to alter the temper of the Soul and change the course of the life and according to God's usual methods the longer thou hast been accustom'd to do evil the more time and pains will be requisite to break the force of stubborn lusts to weaken and subdue vitious habits and to gain those of grace and goodness to travel back the way thou hast gone wrong and to get out of it into the path of life 'T is well then if there be days enough before thee to do the one thing needful to be sure thou art not certain of an hour to spare the loss of so small a part may prove the loss of all Besides if thou putt'st off thy reformation though but for a little while 't is a sign thou dost not really intend it at all for thou purposest against conviction to add sin to sin at present and how can that consist with an hearty design of growing good afterward Delude not therefore thy self with such a desperate cheat but imitate the Royal Psâ—lmist When thou hast thought on thy ways turn thy feet unto Gods testimonies Make haste and delay not to keep his Commandments 4. Remember that conversion unto God is but the beginning of thy duty that thou must afterward obey him all the days of thy life and that there is no other way to preserve an interest in his favour and a right to the great expressions thereof They are the largest and the last discoveries of Divine Grace that teach thee to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world and so doing to look for the blessed Object of thy hope they plainly enough warn thee against drawing back unto perdition they threaten a final rejection if thou deniest thy Saviour in words or works and they oft direct and command thee to seek for glory and honour and immortality by patient continuance in well-doing to be faith ful unto death whatever it cost thee that thy Lord may give thee a crown of life These may seem hard sayings but they contain nothing like a reasonable discouragement There 's misery more than enough in Hell to necessitate a prevention by any temporary labours wants and suffâ—rings and an abundantly sufficient happiness in Heaven to encourage a stedfast perseverance in the work of the Lord though it were more harsh and grievous than sinners imagine And even at present Religion is not without a reward yea thou wilt find it if thou triest as thou shouldst a reward to it self when the main difficulties at first are over thy duty will grow daily easier it will have many pleasures mixed with it and become at length it self the greatest It will not abridge thy appetites of any desirable gratifications but give them a new delicious relish of the Fountain from which they flow Instead of the girds and twinges of a bad Conscience and dread of an after-reckoning 't will settle peace within and fill thee with comfortable reflections and joyful hopes and a loving thankful praising obedience will by degrees become thy sweetest employment Therein thou may'st draw still nearer to God delight thy self in and receive from him the desires of thine heart thou may'st walk always in the light of his countenance and feed on his loving kindness which is better than life In short before thou ascendest to Heaven thou may'st be in an Heaven on Earth and find by happy experience that the way to have all thou canst wish hereafter is to be and do what is best for thy self here Useful Questions whereby a Christian may every day examine himself Psal. 4. 4. Commune with your heart upon your beds EVery Evening before you sleep unless you find some other time of the day more for your advantage in this work sequester your self from the World and having set your heart in the presence of the Lord charge it before God to answer to these Interrogatories For your Duties Q. 1. Did not God find me on my Bed when he looked for me on my knees Job 1. 5. Psal. 5. 3. Q. 2. Have not I prayed to no purpose or suffered wandring thoughts to eat out my duties Mat. 15. 8 9. Jer. 12. 2. Q. 3. Have not I neglected or been very overly in the reading Gods holy word Deut. 17. 19. Josh. 1. 7 8. Q. 4. Have I digested the Sermon I heard last Have I repeated it over and prayed it over Luke 2. 19 51. Psal. 1. 2. and 119. 5 11 97. Q. 5. Was there not more of custom and fashion in my family-duties than of Conscience Psal. 101. 2. Jer 30. 21. Q. 6. Where in have I denied my self this day for God Luke 9. 23. Q. 7. Have I redeemed my time from too long or needless visits idle imaginations fruitless discourse unnecessary sleep more than needs of the World Eph. 5. 16. Col. 4. 5. Q. 8. Have I done any thing more than ordinary for the Church of God in this time extraordinary 2 Cor. 11. 28. Isa. 62. 6. Q. 9. Have I look care of my company Prov. 13. 20. Psal. 119. 63. Q. 10. Have not Ineglected or done something against the duties of my Relations as a Master Servant Husband Wife Parent Child c. Eph. 5. 22. to chap. 6. V. 10. Col. 3. 18. to the 4. V. 2. For your Sins Q. 1. Doth not sin sit light Psal. 38. 4. Rom. 7. 24. Q. 2. Am I a mourner for the sins of the Land Ezek. 9. 4. Jer. 9. 1 2 3. Q. 3. Do I live in nothing that I know or fear to be a sin Psal. 119. 101 104. For your Heart Q. 1. Have I been much in holy Ejaculations Neh. 2. 4 5. Q. 2. Hath not God been out of mind Heaven out of sight Psal. 16. 8 Jer. 2. 32. Col. 3. 1 2. Q. 3. Have
Art thou a man and hast thou reason Why then bethink thy self why and whence thy Being is Behold God's workmanship in thy body and ask thy self to what end did God rear this fabrick Consider the noble faculties or my Heaven-born soul to what end did God bestow these excellencies To no other than that 〈◊〉 shouldst please thy self and gratifie thy senses Did God send men like the Swallows into the World only to gather a few sticks and dirt and build their Nests and breed up their young and then away The very Heathens could see farther than this Art thou so fearfully and wonderfully made Psal. 139. 14. and dost thou not yet think with thy self surely it was for some noble and raised end O man set thy reason a little in the Chair Is it not pity such a goodly fabrick should be raised in vain Verily thou art in vain except thou art for God. Better thou hadst no Being than not to be for him Wouldst thou serve thy end Thou must repent and be converted Without this thou art to no purpose yea to bad purpose First To No purpose Man unconverted is like a choice instrument that hath every string broke or out of tune The Spirit of the living God must repair and tune it by the grace of regeneration and sweetly move it by the power of actuating grace or else thy prayers will be but howlings and all thy services will make no Musick in the Ears of the most Holy Eph. 2. 10. Phil. 2. 13. Hos. 7. 14. Isa. 1. 15. All thy powers and faculties are so corrupt in thy natural State that except thou be purged from dead works thou canst not serve the living God Heb. 9. 14. Tit. 1. 15. An unsanctified man cannot work the work of God. 1. He hath no skill in it He is altogether as unskilful in the work as in the word of righteousness Heb. 5. 13. There are great mysteries as well in the practices as principles of godliness now the unregenerate knoweth not the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 13. 11. 1 Tim. 3. 16. You may as well expect him that never learn'd the Alphabet to read or look for goodly Musick on the Lute from one that never set his hand to an instrument as that a natural man should do the Lord any pleasing service He must first be taught of God Iohn 6. 45. taught to pray Luke 11. 1. taught to profit Esay 48. 17. taught to go Hos. 11. 3. or else he will be utterly at a loss 2. He hath no strength for it How weak is his heart Ezek. 16. 30. He is presently tired The Sabbath what a weariness is it Maâ— 1. 13. He is without strength Rom. 5. 6. yea stark dead in sin Eph. 2. 5. 3. He hath no mind to it he desires not the knowledge of God's ways Iob 21. 14. He doth not know them and he doth not care to know them Psalm 82. 5. He knows not neither will he understand 4. He hath neither due instruments nor materials for it A man may as well hew the Marble without Tools or Limn without Colours or Instruments or build without Materials as perform any acceptable service without the graces of the Spirit which are both the Materials and Instruments in the work Alms giving is not a service of God but of vain glory unless dealt forth by the hand of divine love What is the prayer of the lips without grace in the heart but the carcass without the life What are all our confessions unless they be the exercises of godly sorrow and unfeigned repentance What our petitions unless animated all along with holy desires and faith in divine attributes and promises What our praises and thanksgivings unless from the Love of God and a holy grattiude and sense of God's mercies in the heart So that a man may as well expect the trees should speak or look for Logick from the brutes or motion from the dead as for any service holy and acceptable to God from the unconverted When the tree is evil how can the fruit be good Mat. 7. 18. Secondly To Bad purpose The unconverted soul is a very cage of unclean birds Rev. 18. 2. a Sepulchre full of Corruption and Rottenness Mat. 23. 27. a loathsome carkass full of crawling Worms and sending forth a hellish and most noisome favour in the nostrils of God. Psalm 14. 3. O dreadful case Dost thou not yet see a change to be needful would it not have grieved one to have seen the golden consecrated Vessels of God's Temple turned into quaffing bowls for drunkenness and polluted with the Idols service Dan. 5. 2 3. Was it such an abomination to the Jews when Antiechus set up the picture of a Swine at the entrance of the temple How much more abominable then would it have been to have had the very Temple it self turned into a Stable or a Stye and to have the holy of holies served like the house of Baul to have the Image of God taken down and be turned into a draught-house 2 Kings 10. 27. This is the very case of the unregenerate all thy Members aâ—e turned into instruments of unrighteousness Rom. 6. 19. Servants of Satan and thy in most powers into receptacles of uncleanness Eph. 2. 2. Tit. 1. 15. You may see the goodly guests within by what comes out For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts Murders Adulteries Fornications Theits False witness Blasphemies c. This black guard discovers what a Hell there is within Oh abuse unsufferable to see a Heaven-born soul abased to the filthiest drudgery to see the glory of Gods creation the chief of the ways of God the Lord of the Universe a lapping with the prodigal at the trough or licking up with greediness the most loathsom vomit Was it such a lamentation to see those that did feed delicately to sit desolate in the streets and the precious Sons of Sion comparable to fine gold to be esteemed as earthen Pitchers and those that were cloathed in Scarlet to embrace dunghils Lam. 4. 2 5. And is it not much more fearful to see the only thing that hath immortality in this lower world and carries the stamp of God to become as a vessel wherein there is no pleasure Ier. 22. 28. which is but the modest expression of the vessel men put to the most sordid use Oh indignity intolerable Better thou wert dashed in a thousand pieces than continue to be abused to so filthy a service II. Not only man but the whole visible creation is in vain without this Beloved God hath made all the visible creatures in heaven and earth for the service of man and man only is the spokesman for all the rest Man is in the universe like the tongue in the body which speaks for all the Members The other creatures cannot praise their Maker but by dumb signs and hints to man that he should speak for them Man is as it were the high Priest of Gods creation
that is maintained in a way of sin Deut. 29. 19 20. Two sorts of peace are more to be dreaded than all the troubles in the world peace with sin and peace in sin Secondly Thy hopes of Salvation hereafter are in vain yea worse than in vain they are most injurious to God most pernicions to thy self there is death desperation blasphemy in the bowels of this hope 1. There is death in it Thy Confidence shall be rooted out of thy Tabernacles God will up with it root and branch it shall bring thee to the King of Terrors Iob 18. 14. tho thou maist lean upon this house it will not stand Iob 8. 1â— but will prove like a ruinous building which when a man trusts to it falls down about his ears 2. There is desperation in it Where is the Hope of the Hypocrite when God takes away his soul Iob 27. 8. Then there is an end for ever of his hope Indeed the hope of the righteous hath an end but then 't is not a destructive but a perfective end his hope ends in fruition others in frustration Prov. 10. 28. The godly must say at death It is finished but the wicked It is perished and in too sad earnest bemoan himself as Iob in a mistake Where now is my hope He hath destroyed me I am gone and my hope is removed like a tree Job 19. 10. The righteous hath hope in his death Prov. 14. 32. When nature is dying his hopes are living when his body is languishing his hopes are flourishing his hope is a living hope 1 Pet. 1. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but others a dying yea a damning soul-undoing hope When a wicked man dieth his expectation shall perish and the hope of unjust men perisheth Prov. 11. 7. It shall be cut off and prove like the Spiders Web Job 8. 14. which he spins out of his own bowels but then comes death with the broom and takes down all and so there is an eternal end of his confidence wherein he trusted For the eyes of the wicked shall fail and their hope shall be as the giving up of the Ghost Job 11. 20. Wicked men are setled in their carnal hope and will not be beaten out of it They hold it fast they will not let it go Yea but death will knock off their fingers Though we cannot undeceive them death and judgment will. When death strikes his dart through thy liver it will let out thy soul and thy hopes together The unsanctified have hope only in this life 1 Cor. 15. 19. and therefore are of all men most miserable When death comes it lets them out into the amazing gulf of endless desperation 3. There is blasphemy in it To hope we shall be saved though continuing unconverted is to hope we shall prove God a liar He hath told you that so merciful and pitiful as he is he will never save you notwithstanding if you go on in ignorance or a course of unrighteousnes Isa. 27. 11. 1. Cor. 6. 9. In a word he he hath told you that whatever you be or do nothing shall avail you to Salvation without you be new creatures Gal. 6. 15. Now to say God is merciful and we hope he will save us nevertheless is to say in effect we hope God will not do as he saith We may not set God's Attributes at variance God is resolved to glorifie mercy but not with the prejudice of truth as the presumptuous sinner will find to his everlasting sorrow Object Why but we hope in Jesus Christ we put our whole trust in God and therefore doubt not but we shall be saved Ans. 1. This is not to hope in Christ but against Christ. To hope to see the Kingdom of God without being born again to hope to find eternal life in the broad way is to hope Christ will prove a false Prophet 'T is David's plea I hope in thy word Psalm 119. 81. but this hope is against the word Shew me a word of Christ for thy hope that he will save thee in thine ignorance or prophane neglects of his service and I will never go to shake thy confidence 2. God doth with abhorrence reject this hope Those condemned in the Prophet went on in their sins yet faith the Text they will lean upon the Lord Mic. 3. 11. God will not endure to be made a prop to men in their sins The Lord rejected those presumptuous sinners that went on still in their trespasses and yet would stay themselves upon the God of Israel Isaâ— 48. 1 2. as a man would shake off the briars as one said well that cleaves to his garment 3. If thy hope be any thing worth it will purifie thee from thy sins 1 Iohn 3. 3. but cursed is that hope which doth cherish men in their sins Object Would you have us to despair Answ. You must despair of ever coming to Heaven as you are Acts 2. 37. that is while you remain unconverted You must despair ever to see the face of God without holiness but you must by no means despair of finding mercy upon your thorough repentance and conversion neither may you despair of attaining to repentance and conversion in the use of Gods means V. Without this all that Christ hath done and suffered will be as to you in vain John 13. 8. Tit. 2. 14. that is it will no way avail to your salvation Many urge this as a sufficient ground for their hopes that Christ died for sinners but I must tell you Christ never died to save impenitent and unconverted sinners so continuing 2 Tim. 2. 19. A great Divine was wont in his private dealings with souls to ask two questions 1. What hath Christ done for you 2. What hath Christ wrought in you Without the application of the Spirit in Regeneration we can have no saving 〈◊〉 â—â—rest in the benefits of Redemptâ—on I telâ— you from the Lord Christ himself cannot save you if you go on in this estate I. It were against his trust The Mediator is the Servant of the Father Isa. 42. 1. shews his commission from him acts in his name and pleads his command for his justification Iohn 10. 18 36. Iohn 6. 38 40. And God hath committed all things to him entrusted his own glory and the salvation of his elect with him Mat. 11. 27. Iohn 17. 2. Accordingly Christ gives his Father an account of both parts of his trust before he leaves the world Iohn 17. 4 6 12. Now Christ should quite cross his Fathers glory his greatest trust if he should save men in their sins for this were to overturn all his counsels and to offer violence to all his attributes First To overturn all his Councels of which this is the order that men should be brought through sanctification to salvation 2 Thes. 2. 13. He hath chosen them that they should be holy Eph. 1. 4. They are elected to pardon and life through sanctification 1 Pet. 1. 2. If thou canst repeal the Law
every unconverted soul that I have sometimes thoughts if we could but convince men that they are yet unregenerate the work were upon the matter done But I sadly experience that such a spirit of sloth and slumber Rom. 11. 8. Mat. 13. 15. possesses the unsanctified that though they be convinced that they are yet unconverted yet they oft-times carelesly sit still and what through the avocation of sensual pleasures or hurry of worldly business or noise and clamour of earthly cares and lusts and affections Luke 8. 14. the voice of Conscience is drowned and men go no farther than some cold wishes and general purposes of repenting and amending Acts 24. 25. It 's therefore of high necessity that I do not only convince men that they are unconverted but that I also endeavour to bring them to a sense of the fearful misery of this estate But here I find my self aground at first putting forth What Tongue can tell the Heirs of Hell sufficiently of their misery unless 't were Dives's in that flame Luke 16. 24. Where is the ready Writer whose Pen canâ— decipher their misery that are without God in the World Eph. 2. 12. This cannot fully be done unless we knew the infinite Ocean of that bliss and perfection which is in that God which a state of sin doth exclude men from Who knoweth saith Moses the power of thine anger Psal. 90. 11. And how shall I tell men that which I do not know Yet so much we know as one would think would shake the hearâ— of that man that had the least degree of spiritual life and sense But this is yet the more posing difficulty that I am to speak to them that are without sense Alas this is not the least part of man's misery upon him that he is dead stark dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2. 1. Could I bring Paradise into view or represent the Kingdom of Heaven to as much advantage as the tempter did the Kingdoms of the world and all the glory thereof to our Saviour or could I uncover the race of the deep and devouring Gulph of Tophet in all its terrors and open the Gates of the infernal furnace alas he hath no eyes to see it Mat. 13. 14 15. Could I paint out the Beauties of Holiness or glory of the Gospel to the life or could I bring above-board the more than Diabolical deformity and ugliness of sin he can no more judge of the loveliness and beauty of the one nor the filthiness and hatefulness of the other than the blind man of colours He is alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in him because of the blindness of his heart Eph. 4. 18. He neither doth nor can know the things of God because they are spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2. 14. His eyes cannot be savingly opened but by converting grace Acts 26. 18. he is a Child of darkness and walks in darkness 1 Ioh. 1. 6. yea the light in him is darkness Mat. 6. 2 3. Shall I ring his knell or read his sentence or sound in his ear the terrible trump of Gods Judgments that one would think should make both his ears to tingle and strike him into Belshazzar's fit even to appale his countenance and loose his joynts and make his knees smite one against another Yet alas he perceives me not he hath no ears to hear Or shall I call up all the Daughters of Musick and sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb yet he will not be stirred Shall I allure him with the joyful sound and the lovely Song and glad tidings of the Gospel with the most sweet and inviting calls comforts cordials of the divine promises so exceeding great and precious it will not affect him savingly unless I could find him ears Mat. 13. 15. as well as tell him the news Shall I set before him the feast of fat things the wine of wisdom the bread of God the tree of life the hidden Manna he hath no appetite for them no mind to them 1 Cor. 2. 14. Mat. 22. 5. Should I press the choicest grapes the heavenly clusters of Gospel priviledges and drink to him in the richest wine of Gods own cellar yea of his own side or set before him the delicious hony-comb of Gods Testimonies Psal. 19. 10. alas he hath no tast to discern them Shall I invite the dead to arise and eat the banquet of their funerals No more can the dead in sin favour the holy food wherewith the Lord of life hath spread his table What then shall I do shall I burn the brimstone of hell at his nostrils or shall I open the box of Spikenard very preciousâ— that filleth the whole house of this universe with its perfume Mark. 14. 3. Iohn 12. 8. and hope that the favour of Christ's ointments and the smell of his garments will attract him Psal. 45. 8. Alas dead sinners are like the dumb Idols they have mouths but they speak not eyes have they but they see not they have ears but they hear not noses have they but they smell not they have hands but they handle not feet have they but they walk not neither speak they through their throat Psal. 115. 5 6 7. They are destitute of all spiritual sense and motion But let me try the sense that doth last leave us and draw the Sword of the word yet lay at him while I will yea though I choose mine arrows out of God's quiver and direct them to the heart nevertheless he feeleth it not for how should he being past feeling Eph. 4. 19. So that though the wrath of God abideth on him and the mountainous weight of so many thousand sins yet he goes up and down as light as if nothing â—iled him Rom. 7. 9. In a word he carries a dead soul in a living body and his flesh is but the walking Coffin of a corrupted mind that is twice dead Iude 12. rotting in the slime and putrefaction of noisom lusts Mat. 23. 27 28. Which way then shall I come at the miserable objects that I have to deal with who shall make the heart of stone to relent Zech. 11. 12. or the lifeless Carkass to feel and move That God that is able of Stones to raise up Children unto Abraham Mat. 3. 9. that raiseth the Dead 2 Cor. 1. 9. and melteth the Mountains Nah. 1. 5. and strikes water out of the Flints Deut. 8. 15. that loves to work like himself beyond the hopes and belief of man that peopleth his Church with dry bones and planteth his Orchard with dry sticks he is able to do this Therefore I bow my knee to the most high God Eph. 3. 14. and as our Saviour prayed at the Sepulchre of Lazarus Iohn 11. 38 41. and the Shunamite ran to the man of God for her dead Child 2 Kings 4. 25. so doth your mourning Minister kneel about your graves and carry you in the arms of prayer to that God in whom your help is
is thy case such is thy work Every stroke is a thrust at thine heart 1 Tim. 6. 10. Conscience indeed is now asleep but when death and judgment shall bring thee to thy senses then wilt thou feel the raging smart and anguish of every wound The convinced sinner is a sensible instance of the miserable bondage of sin Conscience flies upon him and tells him what the end of these things will be and yet such a slave is he to his lusts that on he must though he see it will be his endless perdition and when the temptation comes lust gets the bit in his mouth breaks all the cords of his vows and promises and carries him headlong to his own destruction VI. The furnace of eternal vengeance is heated ready for thee Isa. 30. 33. Hell and destruction open their mouths upon thee they gape for thee they groan for thee Isa. 5. 14. waiting as it were with a greedy eye as thou standest upon the brink when thou wilt drop in If the wrath of a man be as the roaring of a Lion Prov. 20. 2. more heavy than the sand Prov. 27. 3. what is the wrath of the infinite God If the burning furnace heated in Nebuchadâ—â—zzar's fiery rage when he commanded it to be made yet seven times hotter were so fierce as to burn up even those that drew near it to throw the three children in Dan. 3. 19 22. How hot is that burning Oven of the Almighty's fury Mal. 4. 1. Surely this is seventy times seven more fierce What thinkest thou O man of being a saggoâ—in Hell to all eternity Can thine heart endure or can thine hands be strong in the day that I shall deal with thee saith the Lord of Hosts Ezek. 22. 14. Canst thou dwell with everlasting burnings Canst thou abide the consuming fire Isa 33. 4. When thou shalt be as a glowing Iron in Hell and thy whole body and soul shall be as perfectly possessed by Gods burning vengeance as the fiery sparkling Iron when heated in the â—iercest forge Thou canst not bear God's whip how then wilt thou endure his scorpions Thou art even crushed and ready to with thy self dead under the weight of his finger how then wilt thou bear the weight of his loyns The most patient man that ever was did curse the day that ever he was born Iob 3. 1. and even wish death to come and end his misery Iob 7. 15 16. when God did but let out one little drop of his wrath How then wilt thou endure when God shall pour out all his Vials and set himself against thee to torment thee when he shall make thy conscience the tunnel by which he will be pouring his burning wrath into thy soul for ever and when he shall fill all thy powers as full of torment as they be now full of sin When immortality shall be thy misery and to die the death of a brute and be swallowed into the gulf of annihilation shall be such a felicity as the whole eternity of wishes an Ocean of tears shall never purchase Now thou canst put off the evil day and canst laugh and be merry and forget the terror of the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 11. but how wilt thou hold out or hold up when God will cast thee into a bed of torments Rev. 2. 21 and make thee to 〈◊〉 down in sorrows Isa. 50. 11. When roarings and blasphemy shall be thine only musick and the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the Cup of his indignation shall be thine only drink Rev. 14. 10. When thou shalt draw in flames for thy breath and the horrid stench of sulphur shall be thy only perfume In a word when the smoak of thy torment shall ascend for ever and ever and thou shalt have no rest night nor day no rest in thy conscience no ease in thy bones but thou shalt be an execration and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach for evermore Ier. 42. 〈◊〉 O sinner stop here and consider If thou art a man and not a senseless block consider Bethink thy self where thou standest why upon the very brink of his â—urnace As the Lord liveth and thy soul liveth there is but a step between thee and this 1 Sam. 20. 3. Thou knowest not when thou lyest down but thou mayest be in before the Morning thou knowest not when thou risest but thou may 〈◊〉 drop in before the Night Darest thou make light of this Wilt thou go on in such a dreadful conditionâ— as if nothing ailed thee If thou puttest it off and sayest this doth not belong to thee look again over the foregoing Chapter and tell me the truth are none of these black marks found upon thee Do not blind thine eyes do not deceive thy self see thy misery while thou mayst prevent it Think what 't is to be a vile cast-out a damned reprobate a vessel of wrath into which the Lord will be pouring out his tormenting fury while he hath a Being Rom. 9. 22. Divine wrath is a fierce Deut. 32. 22. devouring Isa. 33. 14. everlasting Mat. 25. 41. unquenchable fire Mat. 3. 12. and thy soul and body must be the fuel upon which it will be feeding for ever unless thou consider thy ways and speedily turn to the Lord by a sound conversion They that have been only singed by this fire and had no more but the smell thereof passing upon them Oh what amazing spectacles have they been Whose heart would not have melted to have heard Spira's out-cries to have seen Chaloner that monument of Justice worn to Skin and Bones Blaspheming the God of Heaven cursing himself and continually crying out O Torture Torture Torture O Torture Torture as if the flames of wrath had already took hold on him To have heard Rogers crying out I have had a little pleasure but now I must to Hell for evermore wishing but for this mitigation that God would but let him lie burning for ever behind the back of that fire on the earth and bringing in this sad conclusion still at the end of whatever was spoken to him to afford him some hope I must to Hell I must to the furnace of Hell for millions of millions of Ages O if the fears and forethoughts of the wrath to come be so terrible so intolerable what is the feeling of it Sinner 't is but in vain to flatter you this would be but to toll you into the unquenchable fire know ye from the living God that here you must lie with these burnings must you dwell till immortality die and immutability change till Eternity run out and Omnipotency is not longer able to torment except you be in good earnest renewed throughout by sanctifying grace VII The Law dischargeth all its threats and curses at thee Gal. 3. 10. Rom. 7. Oh how dreadfully doth it thunder It spits fire and brimstone in thy face Its words are as drawn swords and as the sharp arrows of the mighty it demands
thee I will be for thee and for no other Again God the Son must be taken for thy Saviour for thy Redeemer and Righteousness Iohn 1. 2. He must be accepted as the only way to the Father and the only means of Life Heb. 7. 25. O then put off the rayment of thy captivity on with the wedding garment and go and marry thy self to Jesus Christ. Lord I am thine and all that I have my body my soul my name my estate I send a bill of divorce to my other lovers I give my heart to thee I will be thine undividedly thine ever lastingly I will set thy name on all I have and use it only as thy goods as thy loan during thy leave resigning ad to thee I will have no King but thee Reign thou over me Other Lords have had dominion over me But now I will make mention of thy name only and do here take an oâ—th of fealty to thee promising and vowing to serve and love and â—ear thee above all competitors I disavow mine own righteousness and despair of ever being pardoned and saved for mine own duties or graces and lean only on thine all-sufficient sacrifice and intercession for pardon and life and acceptance before God. I take thee for mine only guide and instructer resolving to be led and directed by thee and to wait forâ— thy counsel and that thine shall be the casting voice with me Lastly God the Spirit must be taken for thy sanctifier Rom. 8. 9 14. Gal. 5. 16 18. for thine Advocate thy Counsellor thy Comforter the teacher of thine ignorance the pledge and earnest of thine inheritance Rom. 8. 26. Psal. 73. 24. Iohn 14. 16. Eph. 1. 14. Iohn 14. 26. Eph. 4. 30. Awake thou Northwind and come thou Sâ—â—th and blow upon my Garden Cant. 4. 16. Come thou Spirit of the most highâ— here is a house for thee here is a Temple for thee Here do thou rest for â—ver dwell here and rest here Lo I give up the possession to thee full possession I send thee the keys of my heart that all may be for thy use that thou mayst put thy goods thy grace into every Room I give up the use of all to thee that every faculty and every member may be thine iâ—â—â—â—ument to work righteousness and do the will of my Father which is in Heaven Secondly In all his essential perâ—ections Consider how the Lord hath revealed himself to you in his word will you take him as such a God Oâ— sinner here 's the blessedest News that ever came to the sons of Men. The Lord will be thy God Gen. 17. 7. Rev. 21. 3. if thou wilt but close with him in his excellencies Wilt thou have the merciful the gracious the sin-pardoning God to be tâ—â— God O yes saith the sinner I am undone else But he farther tells thee I am the holy and sin-hating God. If thou wilt be owned as one of my people thou must be holy 1 Pet. 1. 16. holy in heart holy in life Thou must put away all thine iniquities be they never so near never so natural never so necessary to the maintaining thy fleshly interest Unless thou wilt be at defiance with sin I cannot be thy God. Cast out the leaven put away the evil of thy doings cease â—o do evil learn to do well or else I can have nothing to do with thee Isa. 1. 16 17 18. Bring forth mine enemies or there is no peace to be had with me What doth thine heart answer Lord I desire to have thee as such a God. I desire to be holy as thou art holy to be made partaker of thy holiness I love thee not only for thy goodness and mercy but for thy holiness and parity I take thy holiness for my happiness Oh! be to me a fountain of holiness set on me the stamp and impress of thy holiness I will thankfully part with all my sins at thy command My wiâ—ful sins I do forthwith forsake and for my infirmities that I cannot get rid of though I would I will strive against them in the use of the meaâ—s I detest them and will pray and war against them and never let them have quiet rest in my soul. Beloved whosoever of you will thus accept of the Lord for his God he shall have him Again he tells you I am the All-sufficient God Gen. 17. 1. Will you lay all at my feet and give it up to my dispose and take me for your only portion Will you own and honour mine All-sufficiency Will you take me as your happiness and treasure your hope and bliss I am a Sun and a Shield all in one will you have me for your all Gen. 15. 1. Psal 84. 11. Now what dost thou say to this Doth thy mouth water after the Onions and Flesh-pots of Egypt Art thou loath to exchange the earthly happiness for a part in God and though thou wouldest be glad to have God and the World too yet canst thou not think of having him and nothing but him but hadst rather take up with the earth below if God would but let thee keep it as long as thou wouldst This is a fearful sign But now if thou art willing to sell all for the Pearl of great price Mat. 13. 46. If thine heart answer Lord I desire no other portion but thee Take the Corn and the Wine and the Oyl whoso will so I may have the light of thy Countenance I pitch upon thee for my happiness I gladly venture my self on thee and trust my self with thee I set my hopes in thee I take up my rest with thee let me hear thee say I am thy God thy Salvation and I have enough all I wish for I will make no terms with thee but for thy self Let me but have thee sure let me â—e able to make my claim and see my Title to thy self and for other things I leave them to thee give me more or 〈◊〉 any thing or nothing I will be satisfied in my God. Take him thus and he is thine own Again he tells you I am the Soveraign Lord If you will have me for your God you must give me the supremacy Mat. 6. 24. I will not be an underling You must not make me a second to sin or 〈◊〉 worldly interest If you will be my people I must have the rule over you You must not live at your down list Will you come under my yoke Will you bow to my government Will you submit to my discipline to my word to my rod Sinner What sayest thou to this Lord I had rather be â—t thy command than live at mine own list I had rather have thy â—ill to be done than mine I approve of and consent to thy Laws and account it my priviledge to lie under them And though the flesh rebel and often break over bounds I am resolved to take no other Lord but thee I willingly take the Oath of thy supremacy and acknowledge thee for
mine iniquity and am by Nature a Son of Death and a thousand-fold more the Child of Hell by my wicked practice But of thine infinite Grace thou hast promised Mercy to me in Christ if I will but turn to Thee with all my Heart Therefore upon the Call of thy Gospel I am now come in and throwing down my weapons submit my self to thy Mercy And because thou requirest as the Condition of my Peace with Thee that I should put away mine Idols and be at defiance with all thine Enemies which I acknowledge I have wickedly sided with against Thee I here from the bottom of my heart renounce them all firmly Covenanting with thee not to allow my self in any known sin but conscientiously to use all the means that I know thou hast prescribed for the death and utter destruction of all my corruptions And whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the World I do here resign up my heart to Thee that madest it humbly protesting before thy Glorious Majesty that it is the firm resolution of my heart and that I do unfeignedly desire Grace from Thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practise this my resolution through thy assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this world rather than to turn from thee to the ways of sin and that I will watch against all its temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity lest they should withdraw my heart from thee beseeching thee also to help me against the temptations of Satan to whose wicked Suggestions I resolve by thy grace never to yield my self a Servant And because my own righteousness is but menstruous rags◠I renounce all confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone creature without righteousness or strength And forasmuch as thou hast of thy bottomless Mercy offered most graciously to me wretched sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of thee I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that I do here solemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God and with all possible veneration bowing the neck of my Soul under the feet of thy most Sacred Majesty I do here take thee Lord Iehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my Portion and chief good and to give up my self Body and Soul for thy Servant promising and vowing to serve thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my life And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the only means of coming unto thee I do here upon the bended knees of my Soul accept of him as the only new and living way by which sinners may have access to thee and do here solemnly joyn my self in Marriage Covenant to him O Blessed Jesus I come to thee hungry and hardly bested poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked a most loathsom polluted wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory but sith such is thine unparallel'd love I do here with all my power accept thee and do take thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poorer for all times and conditions to love honour and obey thee before all others and this to the death I embrace thee in all thine offices I renounce mine own worthiness and do here avow thee to be the Lord my Righteousness I renounce mine own wisdom and do here take thee for mine only guide I renounce mine own Will and take thy◠Will for my Law. And since thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign I do here Covenant with thee to take my Lot as it falls with thee and by thy grace assisting to run all hazards with thee verily supposing that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me And because thou hast been pleased to give me thy holy laws as the rule of my life and the way in which I should walk to thy Kingdom I do here willingly put my Neck under thy Yoak and set my shoulder to thy burden and subscribing to all thy Laws as holy iust and good I solemnly take them as the rule of my words thoughts and actions promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life according to thy direction and will not allow my self in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my duty Only because through the frailty of my flesh I am subject to many failings I am bold humbly to protest That unallowed miscarriages contrary to the setled bent and resolution of my heart shall not make void this Covenant for so thou hast said Now Almighty God searcher of hearts thou knowest that I make this Covenant with thee this day without any known guile or reservation beseeching thee that if thou espiest any flaw or falshood therein thou wouldst discover it to me and help me to do it aright And now glory be to thee O God the Father whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father that ever thou shouldst find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners Glory be to thee O God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own Blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer Glory be to thee O God the Holy Ghost who by the finger of thine Almighty Power hast turned about my Heart from Sin to God. O dreadful Iehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Ghost thou art now become my Covenant friend and I through thine infinite Grace am become thy Covenant Servant Amen So be it And the Covenant which I have made on Earth let it be ratified in Heaven The AUTHORS Advice THis Covenant I advise you to make not only in Heart but in Word not only in Word but in Writing and that you would with all possible reverence spread the Writing before the Lord as if you would present it to him as your Act and Deed. And when you have done this set your hand to it Keep it 〈◊〉 a Memorial of the Solemn Transactions that have passed between God and you that you may have recourse to it in Doubts and Temptations Direct XI Take heed of delaying thy Conversion and set upon a speedy and present turning I made haste and delayed not Psal. 119. 60. Remember and tremble at the sad instance of the foolish Virgins that came not till the door of mercy was shut Mat. 25. and of a convinced Felix that put off Paul to another season and we never find that he had such a season more Acts 24. 25. O come in while it is called to day lest thou shouldst be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin lest thy day of grace should be over and the things that
But wo is me my sins are as many as the Sands and as mighty as the Mountains Their weight is greater than their number It were better that the Rocks and the Mountains should fall upon me than the crushing and insupportable load of my own sins Lord I am heavy loaden let mercy help or I am gone Unload me of this heavy guilt this sinking load or I am crâ—â—hed without â—ope and must be pressed down to Hell. If my grief were thorowly weighed and my sins laid in the balances together they would be heavier than the Sand of the Sea therefore my words are swallowed up They would weigh down all the rocks and the hills and turn the balance against all the Isles of the Farthâ— O Lord thou knowest my manifold transgressions and my mighty sins Ah my Soul Alas my Glory Whither art thou humbled Once the Glory of the Creation and the Image of God now a Lump of filthiness a Coffin of rottenness replenished with stench and loathsomness O what work hath sin made with thee thou shalt be termed Forsaken and all the rooms of thy faculties Desolate and the name that thou shalt be called by is Ichabod or Where is the Glory How art thou come down mightily My Beauty is turned into deformity and my Glory into shame Lord what a loathsome Leper am I The Ulcerous Bodies of Iob or Lazarus were not more offensive to the eyes and nostrils of men than I must needs be to the most holy God whose eyes cannot behold iniquity And what misery have my sins brought upon me Lord what a case am I in Sold under sin cast out of Gods favour accursed from the Lord cursed in my body cursed in my soul cursed in my name in my estate my relations and all that I have My sins are unpardoned and my â—oul within a step of death Alas What shall I do Whither shall I go Which way shall I look God is frowning on me from above Hell gaping for me beneath Conscience smiting me within temptations and dangers surrounding me without Oh whither shall I flee What place can hide me from Omnisciency What power can secure me from Omnipotency What meanest thou O my soul to go on thus Art thou in league with Hell Hast thou made a Covenant with Death Art thou in love with thy misery Is it good for thee to be here Alas what shall I do Shall I go on in my sinful ways Why then certain damnation will be mine end and shall I be â—o besotted and bemadded as to go and sell my soul to the flames for a little Ale and a little ease for a little pleasure or gain or content to my flesh Shall I linger any longer in this wretched estate No if I tarry here I shall die What then Is there no help no hope None except I turn Why but is there any remedy for such woful misery Any mercy after such provoking iniquity Yes as sure as God's Oath is true I shall have pardon and mercy yet if presently unfeignedly and unreservedly I turn by Christ to him Why then I thank thee upon the bended knees of my soul O most merciful Jehovah that thy Patience hath waited upon me hitherto For hadst thou took me away in this estate I had perished for ever And now I adore thy grace and accept the offers of thy mercy I renounce all my sins and resolve by thy grace to set my self against them and to follow thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life Who am I Lord that I should make any claim unto thee or have any part or portion in thee who am not worthy to lick up the dust of thy feet ' Yet since thou holdest forth the golden Scepter I am bold to come and touch To despair would be to disparage thy mercy and to stand off when thou biddest me come would be at once to undo my self and rebel against thee under the pretence of humility Therefore I bow my soul to thee and with all possible thankfulness accept thee as mine and give up my self to thee as thine Thou shalt be Soveraign over me my King and my God Thou shalt be in the Throne and all my powers shall bow to thee they shall come and worship before thy feet Thou shalt be my Portion O Lord and I will rest in thee Thou callest for my heart O that it were any way fit for thine acceptance I am unworthy O Lord everlastingly unworthy to be thine But since thou wilt have it so I freely give up my heart to thee Take it it is thine Oh that it were better But Lord I put it into thine hand who alone canst mend it Mould it after thine own heart make it as thou wouldst have it holy humble heavenly soft tender flexible and write thy Law upon it Come Lord Jesus come quickly Enter in triumphantly take me up to thee for ever I give up to thee I come to thee as the only way to the Father as the only Mediator the means ordained to bring me to God. I have desâ—royed my self but in thee is my help Save Lord or else I perish I come to thee with the rope about my Neck I am worthy to die and to be damned Never was the hire more due to the servant never was penny more due to the labourer then Death and Hell my just wages is due to 〈◊〉 for my sins But I fly to thy merits I trust alone to the value and virtue of thy Sacrifice and prevaâ—â—â—cy of thine intercession I submit to thy teaching â— make choice of thy Government Stand open 〈…〉 doors that the King of Glory may come in O thou spirit of the most high the comforter and sanctifier of thy chosen come in with all thy glorious train all thy courtly 〈◊〉 thy fruits and graces Let â—â—e be thine habitacion â— I can give 〈◊〉 But what is thine 〈◊〉 already but here with the poor Widdow I casâ— my two miâ—es my soul and my body into thy treasury fully resigning them up to tâ—â—â—e to be sanctified by thee to be servants to thee They it all â—e thy Patients Cure thou their Malady they shall be thy Agents Govern thou their Moâ—â—câ—s Too long have I served the world too long have I hearkned to Satan but now I renounce them all and will be ruled by thy Dictates and Directions and guided by thy Counsel O blessed Trinity O glorious Unity I deliver up my self to thee receive me write thy name O Lord upon me and upon all that I have as thy proper goods Set thy mark upon me upon every member of my body and every faculty of my soul. I have chosen thy precepts Thy law will I lay before me This shall be the Copy which I will keep in my eye and study to write after According to this rule do I resolve by thy Grace to walk After this law shall my whole man be governed And though I cannot perfectly keep one
pardon peace life blessedness all are thine and is not this an offer worth the embracing Why shouldest thou hesitate or doubtfully dispute about the case Is it not past controversie whether God be better than sin and glory better than vanity Why shouldest thou forsake thine own mercy and sin against thine own life When wilt thou shake off thy sloth and lay by thine excuses Boast not thy self of to morrow thou knowest not where this night may lodge thee Prov. 27. 1. Beloved now the holy Spirit is striving with you He will not always strive Hast thou not selt thy heart warmed by the word and been almost perswaded to leave off thy sins and come in to God Hast thou not felt some good motions in thy mind wherein thou hast been warned of thy danger and told what thy careless course would end in It may be thou art like young Samuel who when the Lord called once and again he knew not the voice of the Lord 1 Sam. 3. 6 7. but these motions and items are the offers and essays and calls and strivings of the spirit O take the advantage of the tide and know the day of thy visitation Now the Lord Jesus stretcheth wide his arms to receive you He beseecheth you by us How movingly how meltingly how pitifully how passionately he calleth The Church is put into a sudden extasie upon the found of his voice The voice of my beloved Cant. 2. 8. O wilt thou turn a deaf ear to his voice It is not the voice that breaketh the Cedars and maketh the mountains to skip like a Calf that shaketh the Wilderness and divideth the flames of fire it is not Sinai's Thunder but the soft and still voice It is not the voice of Mount Ebal a voice of cursing and terror but the voice of Mount Gerizim the voice of blessing and of glad tidings of good things It is not the voice of the Trumpet nor the noise of War but a message of peace from the King of peace Eph. 6. 15. 2 Cor. 5. 18 20. Methinks it should be with thee as with the Spouse My soul failed when he spake Cant. 5. 6. I may say to thee O sinner as Martha to her Sister The Master is come and he calleth for thee Iohn 11. 28. Oh now with Mary arise quickly and come unto him How sweet are his invitations He cryeth in the open concourse If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink Iohn 7. 37. Prov. 1. 21. He broacheth his own body for thee O come and lay thy mouth to his side How free is he he excludeth none Whosoever will let him come and take the water of life freely Rev. 22. 17. Whose is simple let him turn in hither Come eat of my bread drink of the wine which I have mingled For sake the foolish and live Prov. 9. 4 5 6. Come unto me c. Take my yoak upon you and learn of me and ye shall find rest unto your souls Mat. 11. 28 29. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out John 6. 37. How doth he bemoan the obstinate refuser O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered by Children as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings and ye would not Mat. 23. 37. Behold me behold me I have stretched out my hands all the day to a rebellious people Isa. 65. 1 2. O be perswaded now at last to throw your selves into the arms of love Behold O ye sons of men the Lord Jesus hath thrown open the prisons and now he cometh to you as the Magistrates once to them Acts 16. 39. and beseecheth you to come out If it were from a Palace or a Paradise that Christ did call you it were no wonder if you were unwilling and yet how easily was Adam tolled from thence but it is from your prison Sirs from your Chains from the Dungeon from the Darkness that he calleth you Isa. 42. 6 7. and yet will you not come He calleth you unto liberty Gal. 5. 13. and yet will you not hearken His Yoak is easie his Laws are Liberty his Service Freedom Matth. 11. 30. Iames 1. 25. 1 Cor. 7. 22. and whatever prejudices you have against his ways if a God may be believed you shall find them all pleasure and peace and shall tast sweetness and joy unutterable and take infinite delight and felicity in them Prov. 3. 17. Psal. 119. 165. â— Pet. 1. 8. Psal. 119. 103 111. Beloved I am loth to leave you I cannot tell how to give you over I am now ready to shut up but fain I would drive this bargain between Christ and you before I end What! shall I leave you as I found you at last Have you read hitherto and are not yet resolved upon a present abandoning all your sins and closing with Jesus Christ Alas what shall I say What shall I do Will you turn off all my importunity Have I run in vain Have I used so many arguments and spent so much time to perswade you and yet must sit down at last in disappointment But it is a small matter that you turn me off You put a slight upon the God that made you you reject the bowels and beseechings of a Saviour and will be found resisters of the Holy Ghost Acts 7. 51. if you will not now be prevailed with to repent and be converted Well though I have called you long and ye have refused I shall yet this once more lift up my voice like a Trumpet and cry from the highest places of the City before I conclude with a miserable Conclamatum est Once more I shall call after regardless sinners that if it be possible I may awaken them O earth earth earth hear the word of the Lord Jer. 22. 29. Unless you be resolved to die lend your ears to the last calls of mercy Behold in the name of God I make open proclamation to you Hearken unto me O ye children Hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not Prov. 8. 32. 33. Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price Wherefore do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Hearken diligently unto me and eat â—e that which is good and let your soul delight it self in fatness Incline your ear and come ye unto me hear and your soul shall live and I will make an everlastingâ— Covenant with you even the sure mercies of David Isai. 55. 1 2 3. Ho every one that is sick of any manner of disease or torment Matâ—h 4. 23 24. or is possessed with an evil spirit whether of pride or fury or lust or covetousness come ye to the Physician bring away your sick Lo here is he that healeth all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people Ho every one that is in debt