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A30282
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Mans whole duty and Gods wonderful intreaty of him thereunto set forth from 2 Cor. 5, 20, and published at the request of some hearers / by Daniel Burgess.
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Burgess, Daniel, 1645-1713.
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1690
(1690)
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Wing B5709; ESTC R23833
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54,814
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178
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Mans whole Duty AND Gods wonderful Intreaty Of him thereunto Set forth from 2 Cor. 5.20 and Published at the Request of some Hearers By DANIEL BVRGESS Minister of the Word of Reconciliation Licensed according to Order LONDON Printed by J. Richardson for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside and John Lawrance at the Angel in the Poultry 1690. To my Excellent Friends Mrs. Joan Wood. Mrs. Anne Hook Mrs. Abigail Vanittern Mrs. Martha Brown OF THE CITY OF BRISTOL Gentlewomen THese Lines do not vainly design to adorn your Names but are very uprightly meant to defend my own from one of the blackest Reproaches Even loathsome Ingratitude I have bid them tell all they meet that You were for some black years together my noblest Gaia's And your Houses my sweet Homes That I am not Unthankful though I am Insolvent That I am not Insolvent neither if Prayers do discharge Debts I do continue my pleasant Hope of your Persons Reconciliation unto God And my Prayers for your Dearest Relatives Beseeching the Father of Glory to make his own Love the Reward of Yours unto me And if it he his blessed pleasure to make these very Leaves bear some Fruit unto your Souls Be it freely said as far as I know my self I am neither Proud nor Ashamed of them Not Proud for I am aware how my imperfections do Blemish them Not Ashamed for I am told God hath Blessed them and I am made to believe that he will Bless them That as they are not Beautiful so neither shall they be Barren as Rachel But Fruitful though Blear-Eyed as Leah I have told you some Years ago that I Preached for the Salvation of Plow-Boys and Milk-Maids as well as Lords and Ladies And if I did not I should never expect to do so much upon them by Rhetorical Politeness as by Gospel Plainness Honey Dews be sweet to the Tast but they miserably blast the Corn. Delights of Fancy hinder Wounds of Heart This is still my Thought And if you are still the Christians that I once knew you I am sure you will welcome Plainest Gospel 'T is Gospel I do present you and in Dress as homely as I heretofore used among you I am not now first to crave a Blessing upon it but shall ever continue craving it And particularly a Blessing to your selves and to the Olive-Plants about your Tables Clare-House in Drury-Lane London Dec. 11. 1689. Your Affectionate Orator unto your Heavenly Father D. Burgess Man's whole Duty and God's wonderful Intreaty of him thereunto II COR. V. 20. Be ye Reconciled to God OUR Being is our least and lowest Honour and Pleasure The end of all Essence is Action But neither is that its own End or our Perfection Action is for the advancement of our Being as our Being is for our employment in Action Work designs Reward and that together perfecteth our Action and Being The Reward that doth this is the Jewel inestimable which should be bought at any rate but sold at none And this whether blind men see it or no is Love I am sure Divels and Damned ghosts do feel it They are weary of their Beings and have no Action but in unallayed torments because they neither Love nor are Loved They are still uneasie and in degrees of pain proportioned to their Enmity Holy Angels and the Spirits of the Just above do also feel it Their Essence and Action are as sweet as they wish because their Love is as great as they can desire Their Love is an Ocean and therefore is their Joy not a drop less This middle Worlds Inhabitants as far as they have their Senses do feel it too The dead in sin do prefer their impurest Loves above their Lives And all that are alive unto God do set their Seals unto that Glorious Truth and most memorable He that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him 1 Jo. 4.16 With profoundest Reverence be it writ and read The Divine Blessedness it self which hath no limits doth consist in Love The Persons of the Glorious Trinity are blessed infinitely Their Being and Working are as much sweeter unto them as they are greater then any Creatures And this because they Love and are Beloved mutually no less then infinitely Were their Love of each other but finite their Delight and Pleasure must be as imperfect The reason is most plain Loving and being Loved is all the Pleasure of an intelligent Nature Wherefore to seek our Happyness any where but in Love its very Element is to leave the Waters and go fish in the Woods And to doubt whether we shall find Felicity in Love is to make a question whether when we come to Sea we shall find any Water there I am by sad Experience cured of my hasty Confidence as truly as ever great Melanchton was Nor do I presume I shall win all my Readers of this Essay I expect not to take and hold all the Fish that come to this Gospel-net it self But I must have leave to say I do expect a very good Draught For I shall propose a word that will cost Men hard service to resist You that are farthest from the Kingdom of God will have much ado to get away Unconvert And you that stand nigher must fight with all your might and main if you be not led captive to Christ this time So extraordinary a portion of Holy Scripture is that which I here offer A Text call it if you please I do account it and call it all the Bible in eight Syllables The sum and substance of all God thinks fit to Speak and that we need to Hear Three things are obvious in it 1. Mans miserable condition He is an Enemy to God He could not otherwise be advised to Reconcilement 2. Gods merciful Condeseention To Prepare and Offer a Reconciliation Yea and beseech our Acceptation of it 3. Mans dutiful Religion No hard task nothing of brick and bondage Only to be friends and Reconciled to God Or if you like see you now and never look off again while you live see here two particulars 1. The Richest Feast that Grace it self can prepare Very Reconciliation unto God 2. The Sweetest Invitation that it can make unto the same Even Obsecration and Intreaty by Ministers by Christ and by the blessed God By King Prince and Embassadors Now close your Ears if you can against this Doctrine Reconciliation to God is the whole Duty of Man and sinful Man is intreated thereto by God The Heads of Discourse that offer themselves are I. Mans Duty Of which in our Doctrinal part II. Gods Intreaty Of which in our Application The first shall have its Explication in five orderly Positions And its Proof by as many demonstrative Arguments as shall appear needful Position 1. God and Man were once entire Friends Likeness to God qualified for such Friendship And Gods blessed Love both necessarily and freely followed that likeness Till Sin entred Man was as like to God as
do refer to our good and are framed as plainly to Delight as to Direct us Reader this is so plain in it self and from very much that has been foresaid that I crave thy regards but to these few words Sinners generally are full of the opinion that Godliness has all its worth but in reversion That let Glory be what it will Grace is a very poor comfortless state And Saints do very commonly and most faultily give them but too much occasion so to imagine They walk not on in the way to Zion with Joy and Singing They demonstrate their very Hope but little and their Joy less From whence 't is inferred their Possession of Joy is none and their hope of reversion it self is next to none Thus prevails the evil report upon our present and our promised Canaan And that so much that the best Believers are profited as well as pleased greatly by the Hope and Joy of those few in whom both are conspicuous But how presently must that ill report dye were it duly considered that follows Grace and Glory differ but in degree They do not speak congruously that make Glory the End and Grace but the Means They are so much one thing that the Holy Spirit calleth them by each others names Glory is called Grace 1 Pet. 1.13 Hope to the end for the Grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ Grace is called Glory 2 Cor. 3.18 We are changed into the same image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. And what think we Is it a Friendship with himself through our Redeemer that we have on earth or no None do or can doubt it Is there a Reward sweeter then of Friendship I can hear of none Is there a Friendship more honourable or beneficial then Gods Friendship is It were equal blasphemy and absurdity to dream so Finally if God be the best Object and all goodness as sure as any and if Friendship be the best Enjoyment of him that Creatures can have Wherein save in degree doth Glory exceed Grace And if indeed Grace and Glory be for nature and kind the same thing if one be Friendship with God begun the other be Friendship with God perfected How is it possible the same Man should like the one and not the other I am very certain Men stand alike affected towards them whatever they speak And were they that here cannot be perswaded to seek Gods Friendship of Grace took up too unto Heaven and had the door set wide open and were ever so importunately intreated to enter in they would not enter no but fly back and be of the two far more unwilling to take Glory above then they are to accept of Grace here As believing that Gods perfected Friendship there would be more against them then his initial Friendship here 'T is equally plain Fishes are most against dryest places and Sinners most against the holiest ones As sure as Heaven is more Holy it is also more Hateful to a Sinner then the Church state below is In a word Heavenly Glory is not Reward if Grace be not Reward Gradus speciem non variat A handful of water is as truly water as all that which the Sea contains Glorification above is no more truly a royalty then Reconciliation here below is Reconciliation unto God I mean which is of all the works of God if any be so the most wonderful For his taking Enemies and Rebels into Heaven when they be reconciled is nothing so marvellous as his taking us into Reconciliation with him when we are Enemies and Rebels Reader what is thy Mind what thy Will after all this said The Assent of thy Mind and Consent of thy Will are thy greatest acts and most consequential All thy others be but superstructures thereon Speak Man hast thou verily Assented to the truth of the Gospel in my Doctrine and hast thou heartily Consented to its becoming the governing Principle of thy Life I hope thou art not yet ignorant and thy Head empty of the things proposed Nor yet obstinate with thy Heart full of antipathies unto them If I may so speak some Devils have been cast out by this very Word and Prayer Are those that possess thee of a sort that goeth not forth so Know thou then I will not presently give thee over if it be so I will carry thee in further Prayers unto him that is able to east out the most pertinacious of Devils Nor will I leave thee without these parting Exhortations Yea and I will as for my own Life beg and pray thee to have care of thine Importunately or impudently be it stiled I will beseech thee to hear and to come and let thee and me be Friends with God Blessed presently and blessed eternally Despise not my despicable appearance My Office is honourable I sustain the very person of God and supply the place of Jesus Christ My Text warrants me to say it And I must give thee to know 't is God beseeches thee 't is Christ prays thee by these my Lines to Turn and Live Divine Authority here puts off its Terror and for Loves sake intreats thee In the Law it thunders commands on pain of Death and Hell Here in the Gospel it uses a voice soft to a miracle I never heard of a King knocking at the door of a dungeon all night long and calling and crying to a Traytor to come accept a Peace and Pardon especially when he might cut off his Head without the loss of a Hair unto his own But at thy door God and Christ knock To thee they have called for many a long year it may be Earthly Kings put out Statutes and look that every Subject should look to himself They do not send a stated Officer to every Town and House to put them in mind of it to explain it to resolve cases about it to excite and pray them to keep it But God puts forth the Gospel and sends out Ministers to do all this Of his Love and Mercy this he doth as hath been foresaid And that charging them with a woe denounced on their failure to do what they can with Sheep and Lambs And in and out of season attending continually on this very thing Withal declaring that he will take contempt of us as contempt of himself and of his Christ Luke 10.16 Thou art a stone and not a man if thou needest more Motives For God to come down from the Throne of his Soveraignty and speak Supplications is a wonder not small For Men to make light of him and his Grace is one truly great Nahal slighted Davids kind Message thou shalt not I hope slight this that I deliver thee from thy King and Judge No methinks I hear thee taking up Hazaels words Is thy Reader a Dog that I should do this thing I proceed therefore E. 1. Reject not this doctrine of Reconciliation though thou shouldst not yet Believe it If thou hast read