flesh shall never trouble you more for ever Now shall your Prayers at length be all heard your Complainings ended your Expectations and Longings satisfied and accomplished Chear up chear up brave Souls but one step more and then you are at your Fathers house Methinks I see the Arms of Christ stretcht out to receive you and Angels waiting to conduct you to his Arms. Fear not nor be dismaid confidentlie resign your Souls to him who laid down his life for you The darknesse lasts but a little while and presentlie you will come into the open light oh the difference you will in a moment find betwixt your dark and silent room and the mansion that shall be assigned you in your Fathers house To which the stateliest Palace is a loathsom dungeon Oh what Acclamations and Hallelujahs what crying Holie Holie Holie what Glorious Praises and loud noises What Crowns and Scepters what Riches and Beauties will your ears and eyes be presentlie stricken with So that you will be amazed and wonder whether you are come and where you have been all this while that you never heard nor saw these things before So infinitelie will they exceed your highest thoughts when Faith helpt you to the clearest views But all your strangenesse and amazement will soon be over Surprisals of joy will dissipate and succeed them This is the Glorie the hopes whereof upheld you all your daies and the glimmerings and fore-tasts did so oft revive you Now you shall at length see the Lord who lov'd you and gave himself for you and whom your Souls have loved Oh is there not life in his smiles And if he smiles upon you all the Angels and Saints will bid you welcome For his beck and pleasure it is that rules all There you shall be entred into that throng of Blessed Spirits yours shall their Employments be their Priviledges shall be yours Then shall your understandings be enlightened your affections raised and all your capacities widened and all be fill'd with suitable truth and goodnesse the latent powers of your souls shall then be awakened into that high Celestial Life Then shall you be nearer to your Saviour than John when he leaned on his Bosome and shall taste the full fruits of his dear and costlie love Then then blessed Soul thou shalt know and see and feel and enjoy thy God and be brought as near to him as thy Soul can desire and receive as much from him as thy nature is capable The Lord thy Redeemer having by his Blood and Spirit accomplished his whole designe upon thee and fitted thee for will lead thee into the Fathers presence and so thou shalt enter upon the state of constant and full communion with him And shall be always spending an Eternitie in Contemplating and Admiring his Excellencies and Glories and singing his Praises in the warm-breathings and out-goings of thy heart after him and in the ravishments of highest mutual Love and dearest Complacency betwixt thy enlarged Soul and infinite essential goodnesse even the God of Loves This thou shalt have but what this is though I had leasure and skill to say ten thousand times more then I have done thou couldst not know the thousandth part till thou doest enjoy it Wherefore with an holy impatience and eager joy enter upon the possession of all the Treasures of Love which Death comes to Translate thee to Bid it heartily welcome open thy breast and let it strike 'T is but the prick of a Pin the smarts ceast assoon as its in the Pangs of it are gone in a trice See they are over already all pain was expired with that last groan and now thou art entered upon thy Joy Farewell Blessed Souls whom I hope shortly to follow and with you to celebrate an Everlasting Communion in the Presence Praise and Love of the Great Jehovah and his Son Christ Jesus to whom in the Vnity of the Spirit be rendred all Honour Power and Glory now and Eternally Amen FINIS
are true lovers of Piety and Peace See that you have no other aims but Gods glory and hee 'l own and Crown you for your labour of love Say not now this is a difficult work but tell me whether it be not needful If the Devil and his Instruments sit still then do you so to Remember what a Covenant you made in Baptisme beside all other Engagements since Think what you live for and where you expect to stand shortly and tell me whether a life thus laid out for God will not then be your comfort Oh for the Lords sake then all you his Servants up and be doing and fear not For God will be with you what are you afraid of enemies Do you think this will procure you more hatred and sufferings And awaken Powers to greater jealousies and cause them to abridge you of the liberty yet reserved Never fear it Sirs why don't you know what I am pressing you to Is it to propagate Christianity and this is a work that must and shall be done for God hath said it and hee 'l see to it and for this the World is yet kept up Oh Sirs pure simple and uncorrupted Christianity deserves all our time and study and pains to advance it And it hath such Comforts and Crowns for its resolved Friends and Persecuted followers that would make a man even long to be suffering for it and the more he suffers the more he will still love the firmlier adhere to it Christianity It is a Religion of that force and excellency that it defies oppositions and scorns all banks and bounds It awes its greatest Adversaries and a Prisoner at the bar with it may make his Judge upon the Bench to tremble and the sturdy Jaylour that even now whipt him come quaking to beg a Pardon Fear not Prisons for the Gospel can never be bound Let this alone be your rule and value not what Law or will of man shall contradict it Kings and Emperours with all their Officers and Armies Edicts and Authorities are but Trophee's to its Power like dams they 'l make it rise the higher and overbear all before it experience confirms what I say This cake of barley bread will tumble down all the Tents of a Midianitish Host The noise of its Trumpets the light of the Lamps though the Pitchers that bear them these earthen vessels our bodies be broken and crying out The Word of the Lord and his Son Christ Jesus will discomfit Innumerable Armies and make them run and cry and flee This is the Gospel and let all that read these lines say Let it go on and Prosper let it run and be Glorified and strike its healing Sword to the hearts of its Adversaries Now this is it and this alone which I would beseech all to spend themselves for and fear not but it will bear your charges Let your work be purely Gods and if he can bear you out he will and I hope you don't doubt that But let me once again beg you to see that you make the cause you work for the same that Christ and his Apostles drove on in the world and then how joyfully may you suffer for it whatever men call your actions and designs 'T is nothing strange to suffer for Christ from nominal Christians nor for Peace and Truth from men that call themselves Orthodox and Catholick this hath been often in the world Let then the weighty but much neglected Doctrines and Commands of the Gospel be urged with all earnestnesse but lesser things lesse regarded Talk lesse of the Times but more of Eternity Stand not discoursing who should have Power in the Church to men that are yet under the Power of the Devil nor of a Ceremony or Form of Prayer to those that know not God nor their own souls What strange things would these be to Catechize an Heathen in and are they much fitter for Carnal ones But oh labour to work men into the true temper and Spirit of Religion which consists so much in love to God and our Brethren and then the new nature that is in them the inward relish of their Souls and renewed principles of light will enable them to judge of things that differ and all matters of moment God will reveal to them Again I have need to request that I be not judged immodest if the confused haste I now write in have carried me out to a more than seemly earnestnesse nor yet count me Pragmatical for venturing thus to advise since I desire no more regard then what the reasonablenesse and weight of the things proposed shall be found to deserve And thus at length through Gods assistance I am even com'n to the end of my task I have endeavoured to shew wherein it is we have from the highest to the lowest done amiss and provoked God against us I have also mingled Directions so far as my intended brevity would permit for the performance of those duties that may appease his wrath and make us happy in his favour And oh that these weak endevaours might have an issue answerable to their Design then how confidently durst I say we should be an happy People by becoming holy which is all I have aimed at But what talk I of my endeavours What shall be now the issue of Gods Judgments that have been upon us Shall we be bettered by them or not Oh one would think there should scarce an obstinate Sinner be left in the Nation after this But that we should all with one consent return to the God who hath smitten us from whom we have back-slidden One would think we should now imitate the Children of Israel whom after Eminent Judgments we find entring into a Covenant to seek and serve the Lord their God to which their Kings were wont to call them And oh that God would put it into the heart of his Majesty to engage all his People even from one end of the Land to the other to enter into such a solemn vow that we will in all things be careful to walk in those ways God hath enjoyned us and not in any thing voluntarily break his holy Laws Oh that some such an engagement was made the bond of our Union our entrance into and observance of it the condition of our Church-Communion Of what a blessed consequence would even this be But this and all other such great wishes let us reserve for our prayers and give me leave with some jealousie to demand Whether all that God hath done shall be lost upon us What shall our Nation still be drowned in sin So soon as ever the Rod's from off us shall we to our old courses again Shall Profaneness abound and Religion be despised again Shall Taverns and Brothel-houses and Play-houses be frequented and Gods Worship slighted and neglected again Will the abominable and filthy be so still Shall Blasphemy and Swearing and Cursing be as loud as ever Will men again to the World and their Pleasures as busily as ever
For if all I say use this who is it must pacifie Gods wrath by their Reformation But if thou for thy part wilt practise what I have here cursorily directed thou knowest not but others may do so also and so if every one would set to this Work thy Cavil would be wholly silenc'd and answer'd But again thou wouldest grant it to some purpose for the whole body of the people to joyn in hearty humiliation and amendment of their wayes and know that as to the greatest benefit that would accrue to a Nation by such a general repentance thou shalt procure it to thy self by this personal performance of thy Duty that is either the Affliction it self shall be kept or taken off thee or laid on in so much mercy that thou thy self shalt either here or in another World bless God for the the same And I hope this advantage is not inconsiderable when on the other hand thou remembrest how certainly thy impenitence will cause thy everlasting as well as temporal ruine And take notice from the Text That God will render to every particular man according to his wayes but this I have before said something to Oh that now there were in us all such resolutions unfeignedly to search our hearts and reform our lives and with our whole souls turn to the Lord our God from whom we have revolted What blessed Effects should we find of this wise and dutiful demeanour Oh that I knew how to perswade poor souls to this course before their deadly enemy who now doth all he can to harden and stupifie them shall be fully seiz'd of them past all possibility of a delivery then scorning at all our endeavours and challenging us to do our best for the rescue of such undone souls who must be tormented by him by whom they would be ruled But if thou art so far perswaded of the reasonablenesse of this duty I have been pressing upon thee that thou art desirous to know thy Self and Sins wouldest gladly find out that thou mightest expel the plague of thy own heart that I may do something farther to help thee in thy Self-examination I shall briefly endeavour to discover what those sins in our Nation are for which especially we are now plagued by the visible hand of God And the Lord awaken us all seriously to lay to heart and remove them far from us that so God having accomplish't his own designs upon us may lay by his Rod and shew us his wonted favour And let me beseech thee Reader to accompany me with thy Conscience and let thy eye still be turned off from the Book upon thy self and if thou seest thy own actions described cry out Guilty guilty I am the man and so proceed in thy duty as I have before directed and shall not again repeat except on the By. In the prosecution of this design I shall say something 1. Of those notorious crying sins which are to be found amongst us of which I shall need to say the lesse because they are so visible upon us and so readily acknowledged to be what they are and because so many Books are written to shame and suppress them 2. I shall proceed to lay open some such abuses and corruptions amongst us which are not only sinful in themselves but also in part secret causes of the former which yet perhaps may not be apparent to nor acknowledged as such by all And once again let me desire every Reader to place himself as at the Bar of God and so to passe a true judgment upon himself and not to quarrel with the Physitian instead of falling out with the disease nor be more averse from hearing the discoveries of the plague of his own heart than he would be to hear his Physitian tell the Symptoms of the Plague to convince him he was struck with it whil'st all this was but in order to his recovery Whoever thou art that are guilty 't is thou hast wounded thy self I would willingly shew thee thy Sores that they might in time be healed if thy resolution not to have search't into them make them uncurable though I may never have thy thanks for the offer of my help yet I know whom thou wilt accuse as the cause of thy destruction which I would fain have prevented and shall do what I may in order thereto 1. In the Front of those Abominations under the Effects whereof we groan we may well place Adultery Fornication and Lasciviousness whether we consider the provoking Nature or the Commonness hereof amongst us This is a sin we often find attended with exemplary punishments in Scripture for this together with their Idolatry we read of a Plague inflicted upon the Israelites Numb 25. whereof dyed 24000. For Davids commission of this but once it was threatned to him That the Sword should never depart from his house 2 Sam. 12. 10. And in the New Testament especially how frequent are the prohibitions and how severe the threatnings denounc'd against it Whoremongers and Adulterers in a peculiar manner God will judge And for these things sake especially we are told comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience How strict is our Saviours Exposition of the Seventh Commandment making a lustful glance the breach of it And upon the mention of that immediately follows the threatning of the whole body being cast into Hell without the cutting off the right hand and plucking out the right eye the subduing the dearest lusts and renouncing the sweetest sins Matth. 5. 28 29 30. With what repetitions of the same do we find it mentioned where it 's spoken against inculcated again and again to take the deeper impression And when the lusts of the flesh are named usually this is reckoned for the greater part of them in various expressions signifying much what the same thing Coloss 3. 5. Mortifie therefore c. Fornication Uncleanness Inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence Eph. 5. 3 4. Gal. 5. 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness This sin we find much aggravated by the Apostle 1 Cor. 6. 13 14. to the end as that which in a particular manner defiles a man and renders him indisposed for the in-dwellings of the Holy Spirit This loathsom wickedness doth especially soften and brutifie men and sinks them from God into the sensitive life and stupifies the higher parts of the Soul and renders them unqualified for a converse with that God who commands all that will approach him To be Holy as he is Holy And this is a sinne which upon many accounts breeds as much confusion and disorder in the world as it does in particular mens Souls It must needs therefore incense the most High God to see his creatures endued with reason for the governance of themselves to whom he hath prescribed Rules for their walking to degenerate into such effeminate impotence as to be hurried away by their own lusts to such bestial uncleanness But alas
room of a Submission to them accept of any the most Solemn Engagements from those who will enter into them that they will not disturb the Peace either of Church or State And if you find any acting contrarily proceed against them as you please Let the World judge what reasonable offers we make Is it our obedience to Authority you would have us manifest Why let our Submission in all other things speak for us Or lay on us what commands you will in Civil things or in any thing that may be no snare to our Consciences and by them prove whether we be obstinate or not In a word Will you accept our Promises Bonds Oaths or what assurance can be desired That we will labour in all things to act most agreeably to the Gospel of our Lord which we all own as a sufficient Rule And that we will not allow our selves in any prejudice humour or perversness but in all things though we would not be made one a Rule to another in matters that will well allow diversity will comply with you so far as possibly we can without danger of displeasing God and damning of our own Souls And surely you have more tenderness than to desire us to do such things I am bold thus to speak in others names though not one be privy to my Work because I am perswaded there are few but will do thus much and what can in reason be required more of any Let none usurp the Prerogative of searching hearts and knowing mens meanings better than themselves and say These are fine words and specious pretences but the design of all is but to get more Liberty to strengthen a Party For I solemnly profess and Thou God who standest over me whil'st I am writing these words know'st it I abhor such a design If to raise men to the knowledge and love of God through the Spirit of his Son if to bring them to a careful observance of the precepts of our Lord that they may be obedient to their Governours Ecclesiastical and Civil just and charitable to their Brethren that they may be holy humble heavenly patient meek pure chaste and temperate abounding in all the graces and fruits of the Spirit If this be to make men a Party then let me be interpreted as earnestly desirous to promote it otherwise not And shall those who have no other aims than these be kept out of the Ministry as turbulent factious and schismatical Yea some that were not Born so soon as our Civil Confusions and therefore Sided with none Offended none If you indeed thought there were any thus innocent and whose intentions were so upright would you have no regard to them but reject all their Petitions even such as I have made Surely you would not Why be assured if there may any faith be given to men and if it be possible for men to know their own hearts there are some yea I am confident many Such Well however after all we may be censured and slandered yet whilest we can daily betake our selves to the All-knowing God and profess before him that it is the grief of our souls that we are deprived of those opportunities of serving him which we once had or hoped for which we beg may be restor'd and vouchsaf't rather than any outward advantages whatever and that we had rather serve him in the Ministry than for any interest of our own be made Monarchs of the World onely we dare not pretend his Glory to justifie our lie we dare not for to him we may speak plainly say we consent to those things we cannot find warrant for from his Word nor that those who have vowed to reform his Church are not oblig'd by those Vows when corruptions are so many and great but we beseech him to lead us into all Truth and discover to us our duty for that he knows we would do any thing but Sin against him to purchase a liberty publickly to Serve him and therefore to his righteous judgment we wholly commit our Cause whilst I say in our daily prayers to God we can make such Professions as these and that some can we may possess our souls in patience and be comforted with the Conscience of our Integrity whatever clamours there are without us and whatever calumnies men may labour to fasten upon us And I beseech you who by your harshness send such daily to God with tears and groans under the heavy pressures yea and Thousands more of the best Christians in the Land on their behalf and on the behalf of their own souls in so great a measure deprived of the precious quickning means they once enjoyed bethink your selves how grateful those your proceedings are to God which thus occasion the just sorrows and complaints of his Ministers and dearest People And let me further put it to your Conscience whether in your private Addresses to God you can say that you are griev'd in heart for your Brethren deprived of their Liberties and that you have condescended to them as far as possibly you could without sinning and that you would do all that in you lies for their restauration that might not provoke him and be a burthen to your own Consciences and that it is the interest of Christ and the Edification and Salvation of Souls which you aimed at in your proceedings against them Can you make such Professions as these to God Or to men as you will answer it at the great and dreadful day of accounts I leave it to your calm and sober Considerations I shall no longer stand to importune you but as hoping I have not been speaking all this while to the wind entreat you to take into your serious review the Petition for Peace presented to you by the Divines appointed by His Majesty to treat with you about Church-affairs There may you see what their Requests are and the pressing Reasons with which they enforce them Requests so reasonable That nothing but Experience could have convinced me they were deniable Reasons so evident that I am perswaded they are unanswerable And in this perswasion I am more confirm'd from their being railed at and scribled against which was all the answer I ever heard of by a Gentleman from whom if my present Paper can escape a suppressing it fears not an Answer for his violence is much more to be dreaded than his Reason Now sleight not I beg you these entreaties because you can easily deny them for the cause I plead is just and equal and of weighty moment which I refer to your impartial debates and leave the event to the disposure of that God for whose Honour it was if I know my self that I undertook this plea. And him I shall humbly follow with my Prayers That this Supplication which I am writing August 24. may through his good Providence and the favour of Authority do something to the reversing of the Act whose being in force took date from This day three years since This fatal