said this much of the Certainty of the Execution I should next have spoke somewhat of the manner and the Instruments and have shewed how God will be for ever the Principal Cause and Satan and their own Consciences the Instruments in part and in what manner Conscience will do its part and how impossible it will be to quiet or resist it But having spoke so much of all this already elsewhere as is said before I will forbear here to repeat it leaving the Reader that desireth it there to peruse it The Vses Vse 1. BEloved hearers it was not to fill your fancies with news that God sent me hither this day nor to tell you of matters that nothing concern you nor by some terrible words to bring you to an hours amazement and no more But it is to tell you of things that your eyes shall see and to foretell you of your danger while it may be prevented that your precious souls may be saved at the last and you may stand before God with comfort at that day But because this will not be every mans case no nor the case of most I must in the name of Christ desire you to make this day an enquiry into your own souls and as in the presence of God let your hearts make answer to these few Questions which I shall propound and debate with you Qu. 1. DO you soundly Believe this Doctrine which I have preached to you What say you Sirs do you verily Believe it as a most certain Truth that you and I and all the world must stand at Gods barr and be Judged to Everlasting Joy or Torment I hope you do all in some sort Believe this but blame me not if I be jealous whether you soundly believe it while we see in the world so little of the effect of such a Belief I confess I am forced to think that there is more infidelity then faith among us when I see more ungodliness then godliness among us And I can hardly believe that man that will say or swear that he believeth these things and yet liveth as carelesly and carnally as an Infidel I know that no man can love to be damned yea I know that every man that hath a reasonable soul hath naturally some love to himself and a fear of a danger which he verily apprehendeth he therefore that liveth without all fear I must think liveth without all apprehension of his danger Custom hath taught men to hold these things as the Opinion of the Country but if men soundly believed them surely we should see stranger effects of such a faith then in the most we do see Doth the sleepy soul that liveth in security and followeth this world as eagerly as if he had no greater matters to mind that never once trembled at the thoughts of this great day nor once asked his own soul in good sadness My soul How dost thou think then to escape I say doth this man Believe that he is going to this Judgement Well Sirs whether you believe it or not you will find it true and believe it you must before you can be safe For if you do not Believe it you will never make ready Let me therefore perswade you in the fear of God to consider that it is a matter of undoubted Truth 1. Consider that it is the express word of the God of Truth revealed in Scripture as plainly as you can desire So that you cannot be unbelieving without denying Gods Word or giving him the lye Mat. 13.38 39 40 41 42 43 49 50. Mat. 25. throughout Rom. 2.5 6 7 8 9 10 16 and 1.32 John 5.28 29. The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of damnation Heb. 9.27 It is appointed to all men once to dye and after this the Judgement Rom. 14.9.12 So then every one of us shall give Account of himself to God Rev. 20.12 And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another book was opened which is the Book of life and the dead were Judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their works Mat. 12.36 37. But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak the shall give account thereof in the day of Judgement For by thy words thou shalt be Justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned Many more most express Texts of Scripture do put the Truth of this Judgement out of all question to all that believe the Scripture and will understand it There is no place left for a Controversie in the point It is made as sure to us as the Word of the living God can make it And he that will question that what will he Believe What say you Sirs Dare you doubt of this which the God of Heaven hath so positively affirmed I hope you dare not 2. Consider it is a master-part of your faith if you are Christians and a fundamental Article of your Creed that Christ shall come again to Judge the quick and the dead So that you must Believe it or renounce your Christianity and then you renounce Christ and all the hopes of mercy that you have in him It s impossible that you should soundly Believe in Christ and not believe his Judgement and Life Everlasting because as he came to bring Life and Immortality to light in the Gospel 2 Tim. 1.10 so it was the end of his Incarnation Death and Resurrection to bring you thither and its part of his honour and office which he purchased with his blood to be the Lord and Judge of all the world Rom. 14.9 Joh. 5.22 If therefore you believe not heartily this Judgement deal plainly and openly and say you are Infidels and cast away the hypocritical vizor of Christianity and let us know you and take you as you are 3. Consider that it is a Truth that is known by the very light of nature that there shall be a happiness for the Righteous and a misery for the wicked after this life which is evident 1. In that we have undenyable natural reason for it 1. God is the Righteous governor of the world and therefore must make a difference among his subjects according to the nature of their waies which we see is not done here where the wicked prosper and the good are afflicted therefore it must be hereafter 2. We see there is a necessity that God should make promises and threatnings of everlasting happiness or misery for the right governing of the world for we certainly perceive that no lower things will keep men from destroying all humane society and living worse then bruit beasts and if there be a necessity of making such threats and promises then there is certainly a necessity of fulfilling them For God needeth no lye or means of deceiving
be at Peace among your selves 1 Thes. 5.12 13. And that you will instead of grieving or rejecting your Guides Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you Heb. 13.17.7 Encourage your Teachers for their work is great their spirits are weak they are but frail men the enemy is more industrious against them then any men their discouragements are very many and the difficulties which they must encounter are very great Especially Obey Submit and Encourage them in the work of Government and Exercise of Christs Discipline and managing the Keyes of the Kingdom which he hath put into their hands Do you not perceive what a strait your Teachers are in The Lord Iesus requireth them to exercise his Discipline faithfully and impartially He giveth them not empty Titles of Rule but layes upon them the burden of ruling It is his work more then their Honor that he intends and if they will have the Honor it must be by the work The work is as to Teach the ignorant and convince the unbelieving and gainsaying so to admonish the disorderly and scandalous and to reject and cast out of the Communion of the Church the Obstinate and Impenitent and to set by the Leprous that they infect not the rest and to separate thus the pretious from the vile by Christs Discipline that dividing separations and soul-destroying Transgressions may be prevented or cured This work Christ hath charged upon them and will have it done whoever is against it If they obey him and do it what a tumult what clamours and discontents will they raise How many will be ready to rise up against them with hatred and scorn though it be the undoubted work of Christ which even under persecution was performed by the Church-Guides When they do but keep a scandalous untractable sinner from the Communion of the Church in the Lords Supper what repinings doth it raise But alas this is a small part of the Discipline If all the apparently obstinate and impenitent were cast out what a stir would they make And if Christ be not obeyed what a stir will conscience make And it is not only between Christ and men but between men and men that your Guides are put upon such streights The Separatists reproach them for suffering the Impenitent to continue members of their Churches and make it the pretence of their separation from them having little to say of any moment against the authorized way of Government but only against our slackness in the Execution And if we should set to the close exercise of it as is meet how would City and Countrey ring of it and what Indignation should we raise in the multitude against us O what need have your Guides of your Encouragement and best Assistance in this streight God hath set them on a work so ungrateful and displeasing to flesh and blood that they cannot be faithful in it but twenty to one they will draw a world of Hatred upon themselves if not mens fists about their ears Festred sores will not be lancht and search with ease Corrupted members are unwilling to be cut off and cast aside Especially if any of the great ones fall under the censure who are big in the eyes of the world and in their own And yet our Soveraign Lord must be obeyed and his house must be swept and the filth cast out by what names or Titles soever it be dignified with men He must be pleased if all be displeased by it VVithdraw not your help then from this needful work It is by the Word Spirit and Ministery that Christ the King of his Church doth Govern it Not separatedly but joyntly by all three To disobey these is to disobey Christ and subjection to Christ is Essential to our Christianity This well thought on might do much to recover the Unruly that are Recoverable You may conjecture by the strange opposition that Church-Government meets with from all sorts of carnal and corrupted minds that there is somewhat in it that is eminently of God I shaâ—l say no more but this that It is an Able Judicious Godly Faithful ministery not barely heard and applauded but humbly and piously submitted to and obeyed in the Lord that musst be your truest present glory and the means of your everlasting Peace and Joy So testifieth from the Lord Your servant in the faith of Christ Rich. Baxter To the Ignorant or Careless Reader SEeing the Providence of God hath commanded forth this plain Discourse I shall hope upon experience of his dealing in the like cases with me that he hath some work for it to do in the world Who knows but it was intended for the saving of thy soul by opening thine eyes and awaking thee from thy sin who art now in Reading of it Be it known to thee it is the certain Truth of God and of high concernment to thy soul that it treateth of and therefore requireth thy most sober Consideration Thou hast in it how weakly soever it is managed by me an advantage put into thy hand from God to help thee in the greatest work in the world even to prepare for the great approaching Judgement In the name of Goâ— I require thee cast not away this advantage Turn no away thine ears or heart from this warning that is sent to thee from the living God! Seeing all the world cannot keep thee from judgement nor save thee in Iudgement let not all the world be able to keep thee from a speedy and serious prepartion for it Do it presently lest God come before thou are ready Do it seriously lest the Temepter over-reach thee and thou shouldest be found among the foolish self-deceivers when it is too late to do it bttter I intreat this of thee on the behalf of thy soul and as thou tendrest thy everlasting Peace with God that thou wouldest afford these matters thy deepest Consideration Think on them whether they are not True and weighty Think of them lying down and rising up And seeing this small Book is faln into thy hands all that I would beg of thee concerning it is that thou wouldest bestow now and then an hour to read it and read it to thy family or friends as well as to thy self and as you go Consider what you read and Pray the Lord to help it to thy heart and to assist thee in the Practise that it may not rise up in Judgement against thee If thou have not leisure at other take now and then an hour on the Lords dayes or at a night to that purpose and if any passage through brevity specially neer the beginning seem dark to thee Read it again and again and ask the help of an Instructer that thou maiest undersâ—and it May it but help thee out of the snares of sin and promote the saving of thy
sleepily now but O that you would consider how the review of them will then awake you You now make light of the warnings of God and man and of all the wholsom advice that is given you but God will not then make light of your contempt Oh what cutting Questions will they be to the hearts of the ungodly when all the means that were used for their good are brought to their remembrance on one side and the temptations that drew them to sin on the other side and the Lord shall plead his cause with their consciences and say Was I so hard a Master or was my work so unreasonable or was my wages so contemptible that no perswasions could draw you into my service was Satan so good a Master or was his work so honest and profitable or was his wages so desirable that you would be so easily perswaded to do as he would have you Was there more perswading Reason in his allurements and deceits then in all my holy words and all the powerful Sermons that you heard or all the faithful admonitions you received or all the good examples of the righteous or in all the works of God which you beheld Was not a reason fetcht from the love of God from the evil of sin the blood of Christ the Judgement to come the glory promised the torments threatned as forcible with you and as good in your eyes to draw you to holiness as a Reason from a little fleshly delight or worldly gain to draw you to be unholy In the name of God sinners I intreat you to bethink your selves in time how you will sufficiently answer such Questions as these You should have seen God in every creature that you beheld and have read your duty in all his works what can you look upon above you or below you or round about you which might not have shewed you so much of the wisdom and goodness and greatness of your Maker as should have convinced you that it was your duty to be Devoted to his will And yet you have his written word that speaks plainer then all these And will you despise them all will you not see so great a Light will you not hear so loud and constant calls shall God and his Ministers speak in vain And can you think that you shall not hear of this again and pay for it one day You have the Bible and other good books by you why do you not read them You have Ministers at hand why do you not go to them and earnestly ask them Sir What must I do to be saved and entreate them to teach you the way to life You have some neighbors that fear God why do you not go to them and take their good advice and imitate them in the fear of God and in a holy diligence for your souls Now is the time for you to bestir your selves Life and Death are are before you You have gales of Grace to further your voyage There are more for you then against you God will help you his Spirit will help you his Ministers will help you every good Christian will help you the Angels themselves will help you if you will but resolvedly set your selves to the work And yet will you not stir Patience is waiting on you Mercies are enticing you Scourges are driving you Judgement stayeth for you the Lights of God stand burning by you to direct you And yet will you not stir but lie in darkness And do you think you shall not hear of this Do you think this will not one day cost you dear IX THE ninth part of our work is to shew you What are those frivolous excuses by which the unrighteous may then endeavour their defence Having already shewed you what the Defence must be that must be sufficient to our Justification If any first demand Whether the Evidence of their sin will not so overwhelm the sinner that he will be speechless and past excuse I answ. Before God hath done with him he will be so But it seems at first his dark understanding and partial corrupted conscience will set him upon a vain Defence For Mat. 7.22 23. Christ telleth us that Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out Devils and in thy name have done many wonderful works And then will I profess to them I never knew you Depart from me ye workers of Iniquity And in Mat. 25.11 The foolish Virgins cry Lord Lord open to us And vers. 44. Then shall they also answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred or thirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not Minister unto thee And vers. 24 25. They fear not to cast some of the cause of their neglect on God himself Then he which had received the one Talent came and said Lord I knew thee that thou art an hard man reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed and I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth lo there thou hast that is thine It is clear then that Excuses they will be ready to make and their full Conviction will be in order after these Excuses at least as in their minds if not in words But what the particular excuses will be we may partly know by these Scriptures which recite them and partly by hearing what the ungodly do now say for themselves And because it is for their present benefit that I now make mention of them that they may see the vanity of all such Excuses I will mention them as I now meet with them in the mouths of sinners in our ordinary discourse And these Excuses are of several sorts some by which they would Justifie their estate some excuses of particular Actions and that either in whole or in part some by which they would put by the penalty though they confess the sin some by which they lay the blame on other men and in some they vvould cast it upon God himself I must touch but some of them very briefly The first Excuse I am not guilty of these things which I am accused of I did love God above All and my Neighbor as my self I did use the world but for Necessity but God had my heart Answ. The All-seeing Judge doth know the contrary and he will make thy conscience know it Look back man upon thy heart and Life Hovv seldom and hovv neglectfully didst thou think of God hovv coldly didst thou vvorship him or make any mention of him hovv carelessly didst thou serve him and think much of all that thou dâ—dst therein Thou rather thoughtest that his service vvas making more ado than needs and didst grudge at those that vvere more diligent than thy self But for the world How heartily and how constantly didst thou seek and serve it And yet wouldst thou now perswade the Judge that thou didst Love God above all He will shew
least they may see that potentially this is the Accusation that lyeth against us and which we must be justified against For all Iustification implyeth an Actual or Potential Accusation He that is truly accused of final Impenitency or Unbelief or Rebellion hath no other Defence to make but must needs be condemned He that is falsly accused of such non-performance of the condition of Grace must deny the Accusation and plead his own personal Righteousness as against that Accusation and produce that Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience and Perseverance by which he fulfilled that Condition and so is Evangelically Righteous in himself and therefore hath part in the blood of Christ which is instead of a Legal righteousness to him in all things else as having procured him a pardon of all his sin and a right to everlasting glory And thus we must then be Justified by Christs satisfaction only against the accusation of being sinners in general and of deserveing Gods wrath for the Breach of the Law of works But we must be justified by our faith repentance and sincere Obedience it self against the accusation of being Impenitent Vnbelievers and Rebels against Christ and having not performed the Condition of the promise and so having no part in Christ and his Benefits So that in summ you see that the cause of the day will be to enquire whether being all known sinners we have accepted of Christ upon his terms and so have right in him and his benefits or not Whether they have forsaken this vain world for him and loved him so faithfully that they have manifested it in parting with these things at his Command And this is the meaning of Mat. 25. Where the enquiry is made to be whether they have fed and visited him in his members or not That is whether they have so far loved him as their Redeemer and God by him as that they have manifested this to his members according to Opportunity though it cost them the hazard or loss of all Seeing danger and labor and cost are fitter to express Love by then empty Complements and bare Professions Whether it be particularly enquired after or only taken for granted that men are sinners and have deserved Death according to the Law of works and that Christ hath satisfied by his death is all one as to the matter in hand seeing Gods enquiry is but the Discovery and Conviction of us But the last Question which must decide the Controversie will be whether we have performed the condition of the Gospel I have the rather also said all this to shew you in what sense these words are taken in the text that Every man shall be Judged according to what he hath done in the flesh whether it be good or bad Though every man be Judged worthy of Death for sinning yet every man shall not be Judged to dye for it and no man shall be Judged worthy of Life for his good works It is therefore according to the Gospel as the rule of judgement that this is meant They that have Repented and Believed and returned to true though imperfect Obedience shall be Iudged to everlasting Life according to these works not because these works Deserve it but because the free Gift in the Gospel through the blood of Christ doth make these things the condition of our possessing it They that have lived and dyed Impenitent Unbelievers and Rebels against Christ shall be judged to everlasting punishment because they have deserved it both by their sin in general against the Law and by these sins in special against the Gospel This is called the Merit of the Cause that is what is a mans due according to the true meaning of the Law Though the due may be by free gift And thus you see what will be the cavil of the Day and the matter to be enquired after and decided as to our Life or Death VIII THE next point in our method is to shew you What will be the Evidence of the Cause Answ. There is a five fold Evidence among men 1. When the fact is notorious 2. The knowledge of an unsuspected Competent Iudge 3. The parties Confession 4. Witness 5. Instruments and visible effects of the action All these Evidences will be at hand and any one of them sufficient for the conviction of the guilty person at that day 1. As the sins of all men so the Impenitency and Rebellion of the wicked was notorious or at least will be then For though some play the hypocrites and hide the matter from the world and themselves yet God shall open their hearts and former lives to themselves and to the view of all the world He shall set their sins in order before them so that it shall be utterly in vain to deny or excuse them If any men will then think to make their cause as good to God as they can now do to us that are not able to see their hearts they will be foully mistaken Now they can say they have as good hearts as the best then God will bring them out in the light and shew them to themselves and all the world whether they were good or bad Now they will face us down that they do truly Repent and they obey God as well as they can but God that knoweth the Deceivers will then undeceive them We cannot now make men acquainted with their own unsanctified hearts nor convince them that have not true Faith Repentance or Obedience but God will convince them of it They can find shifts and false answers to put off a Minister with but God will not so be shifted off Let us preach as plainly to them as we can and do all that ever we are able to acquaint them with the impenitency and unholyness of their own heart and the necessity of a new heart and life yet we cannot do it but they will Believe whether we will or not that the old heart will serve the turn But how easily will God make them know the contrary We plead with them in the dark for though we have the candle of the Gospel in our hands when we come to shew them their corruption yet they shut their eyes and are wilfully blind But God will open their eyes whether they will or not not by holy Illumination but by forced conviction and then he will plead with them as in the open light See here thy own unholy soul canst thou now say thou didst love me above all canst thou deny but thou didst love this world before me and serve thy flesh and lusts though I told thee if thou didst so thou shouldst dye Look upon thy own heart now and see whether it be a holy or an unholy heart a spiritual or a fleshly heart a heavenly or an earthly heart Look now upon all the course of thy life and see whether thou didst live to me or to the world and thy flesh Oh how easily will God convince men then of the very sins of their
thoughts and in their secret Closets when they thought that no witness could have disclosed them Therefore it s said that the Books shall be opened and the dead Iudged out of the books Rev. 20.12 Dan. 7.10 The second Evidence will be the knowledge of the Judge If the sinner would not be convinced yet it is sufficient that the Judge knoweth the Cause God needeth no further witness he saw thee committing adultery in secret lying stealing forswearing in secret If thou do not know thy own heart to be unholy it is enough that God knoweth it If you have the face to say Lord when did we see thee hungry c. Mat. 25.44 yet God will make good the charge against thee and there needeth no more Testimony then his own Can foolish sinners think to lie hid or escape at that day that will now sin wilfully before their Judge that know every day that their Judge is looking on them while they forget him and give up themselves to the world and yet go on even under his eye as if to his face they dared him to punish them 3. The third Evidence will be the sinners Confession God will force their own Consciences to witness against them and their own tongues to confess the Accusation If they do at first excuse it he will leave them speechless yea and condemning themselves before they have done Oh what a difference between their language now and then Now we cannot tell them of their sin and misery but they either tell us of our own faults or bid us look to our selves or deny or excuse their fault or make light of it but then their own tongues shall confess them and cry out of the wilful folly that they committed and lay a heavyer charge upon them then we can now do Now if we tell them that we are afraid they are unregenerate and least their hearts are not truly set upon God they will tell us they hope to be saved with such hearts as they have But then Oh how they will confess the folly and falsness of their own hearts You may see a little of their case even in despairing sinners on earth how far they are from denying or excusing their sins Judas crys out I have sinned in betraying Innocent blood Mat. 27.4 out of their own mouth shall they be Judged That very tongue that now excuseth their sin will in their torments be their great Accuser For God will have it so to be 4. The fourth Evididence will be the witness of others Oh how many thousand witnesses might there be produced were there need to convince the guilty soul at that day 1. All the Ministers of Christ that ever preached to them or warned them will be sufficient witnesses against them we must needs testifie that we preached to them the truth of the Gospel and they would not believe it We preached to them the goodness of God yet they set not their hearts upon him we shewed them their sin and they were not humbled We told them of the danger of an unregenerate state and they did not regard us we acquainted them with the Absolute Necessity of holiness but they made light of all We let them know the deceitfulness of their hearts and the need of a close and faithful examination but they would not bestow an hour in such a work nor scarce once be afraid of being mistaken and miscarrying We let them know the vanity of this world and yet they would not forsake it no not for Christ and the hopes of glory We told them of the everlasting felicity they might attain but they would not set themselves to seek it What we shall think of it then the Lord knows but surely it seemeth now to us a matter of very sad consideration that we must be brought in as witnesses against the souls of our neighbors and friends in the flesh Those whom we now unfeignedly love and would do any thing that we were able to do for their good whose well fare is dearer to us then all worldly enjoyments Alas that we must be forced to testifie to their faces for their condemnation Ah Lord with what a heart must a poor Minister study when he considereth this that all the words that he is studying must be brought in for a witness against many of his hearers with what a heart must a Minister Preach when he remembreth that all the words that he is speaking must condemn many if not most of his hearers Do we desire this sad fruit of our Labours No we may say with the Prophet Jer. 17.16 I have not desired the woful day thou knowest No if we desired it we would not do so much to prevent it we would not study and preach and pray and intreat men that if it were possible we might not be put on such a task And doubtless it should make every honest Minister study hard and pray hard and intreat hard and stoop low to men and be earnest with men in season and out of season that if it may be they may not be the condemners of their peoples souls But if men will not hear and there be no remedy who can help it Christ himself came not into the world to condemn men but to save them and yet he will condemn those that will not yield to his saving work â—od takes no pleasure in the death of a sinner but rather that he repent and return and live Ezek. 18.23.32 and yet he will rejoyce over those to do them hurt and destroy them that will not return Deut. 28.63 And if we must be put on such work he will make us like-minded The holy Ghost tels us that the Saints shall Judge the world 1 Cor. 6.2 3. and if they must Judge they will Judge as God Judgeth you cannot blame us for it sinners we now warn you of it before hand and if you wil not prevent it blame not us but your selves Alas we are not our own Masters As we now speak not to you in our own names so then we may not do what we list our selves or if we might our wills will be as Gods will God will make us Judge you witness against you Can we absolve you when the righteous God will condemn you when God is against you whose side would you have us be of We must be either against God or you And can you think that we should be for any one against our Maker and Redeemer We must either condemn the Sentence of Jesus Christ or condemn you and is not there more reason to condemn you then him can we have any mercy on you when he that made you will not save you and he that formed you will shew you no mercy Isa. 27.11 Yea when he that dyed for you will condemn you shall we be more merciful then God But alas If we should be so foolish and unjust what good would it do you If we would be false witnesses and partial Judges it would