be broken they will not bend Rough Trees must be hewn with Axes so old Sinners must find rough dealing at conversion If you would come home to God comfortably come quickly and early The sooner you begin the more sweetness you will find All God's Wayes afford Pleasantness and in all his Paths there is Peace 2. Having delivered the Counsels that concern you all in general let me now direct my speech to the Regenerate in particular To you whom the Word of God hath been the Power of God to Salvation I would commed these things that they may be kept in remembrance II. COUNSEL 1. Be very thankful for any good which God hath wrought in you by the means of Grace God is takeing away in some measure the pure and powerful dispensation of his Ordinances and this is matter of sorrow O but God hath made them advantagious to your souls already and this is matter of praise 1 Thess 1.3 5. Give thanks to God seeing the Gospel hath come to you not in word only but in the power of the holy Ghost You then that can experience a new Light in your minds Conviction in your conscience a change in your wills and holiness in your affections and union with Christ give God the praise It had been a misery indeed if God had taken us away from Ministers or Ministers from us before we had got any good by them Those amongst you that are ignorant hard-hearted unbelieving sinners have reason to be grieved at the very heart The Sun of the Gospel is eclipsing and you are not yet enlightened by it the fire is putting out before your souls be warmed It is a sad sign those are in the number of the sons of perdition from whom the clear Gospel is hid 2 Cor. 4.3 If the Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost The Child unborn cannot midwife it self into the world when the Mother is dead but there is hopes that an Infant that is born may be nourished up even unto a perfect man Why Brethren unconverted persons are unborn and if Faithful Ministers and Ordinances should be altogether taken from you both Father and Mother dye and then who shall make you partakers of the new Birth But now you that are born again you will be able in some measure to feed your selves the meat is before you in the Scriptures and the holy Ghost will help you to feed on it If there should not be a succession of Pastors amongst you your condition may be sad but it is safe if you should dye without the continuance of Ordinances having a part in the Resurrection from sin to a new Nature and holiness of life the second Death shall have no dominion over you If you live longer you have former Experiences former Truths former Promises old Store to live on You have the granary of Experiences and of the Scriptures to maintain you in spiritual Life if there should come a Famine of publick Ordinances God hath not dealt with every soul as with yours Two or three of you have lived under the same Ministry have sit and heard together in the same Seats yea one of you is taken the other is left Say then with a thankful heart as Christ Why hast thou revealed thy self to me and not to others Even so Father because it seems good in thy sight Mat. 11.25 2. Walk humbly before God in a sence of your insufficency to good and proness to evil Mic. 6.8 walk humbly with thy God Never walk securely ever be jealous of your deceitful hearts Take heed of falling into sin though at present you stand Ever live under the sence of that truth that the heart is deceitful above all things and madly wicked What Master that knows the deceitfulness of a Servant would trust him too far and so who that hath had frequent experience of the falsness of his heart would put too much confidence in it for the future Ever keep low thoughts of your selves live continually in dependance upon God for strength to perform duties to subdue corruptions resist temptations and to bear afflictions Paul prayed thrice i. e. often when he had a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to buffet him 3. Beware of every sin have and express godly sorrow for it break off every iniquity by repentance Beware especially of and keep your selves from your iniquities Psal 18.23 Cut off your right hand and pluck out your right-eye-sins Mat. 5.29 God hates it Jer. 44.4 it grieves him They rebelled and vexed his Spirit it will grieve you also 1 Pet. 2.11 and wars against the soul i. e. against the Peace and Tranquilty of your minds every sin contracts guilt and guilt creats trouble It 's impossible a Christian should walk comfortably whilst he showes any liking to any sin Sin doth especially prejudice us as to Prayer both before in and after Prayer it shuts our eyes that we dare not lift them up to Heaven O my God I blush and am ashamed to look up Ezra 9.6 It stops our mouths that we cannot speak and manacles our hands and contracts our hearts that we cannot lift them up to God If we would lift up hearts and hands in Prayer without doubting we must lift up holy hands 1 Tim. 2.8 Sin makes a Christian act like an enemy towards God and to think God is justly turned to be his enemy and who can with any heart ask any favour from an enemy If we would draw near to God in full assurance of Faith we must come with an heart sprinkled from a guilty and defiled conscience and our lives washed with pure water Heb. 10.22 Again the least sin smiled upon puts us back in our Christian course it weakens Faith takes away our Courage disheartens us from doing our very duty How canst thou reprove another with courage saith conscience when thou thy self knowest thou standest in need of reproof well than exercise daily repentance for daily failings sue out a pardon every day and get one Seal more added to your Pardon daily you have as much need to pray for daily forgiveness as for daily bread 4. Grow in Grace 2 Pet. 3.18 Make progress in holiness take heed of decaying beware lest God's Ministers lose the things they have wrought upon and amongst you 2 Ep. John ver 8. Increase your knowledge Follow on to know the Lord let your repentings for sin be kindled go from one degree of Faith to another let your love to God abound more and more The more Grace you have the more you will glorify God the fitter you will be to do him service the more able to bear affliction a little Grace is not enough to bear great Trials and the more Grace the fitter for Glory yea and very probably the more Glory To this end continue in the use of those means that uphold and encrease Grace Ex eisdem nutrimus ex quibus constamus Feed upon the Milk of God's Word and the
halting from the reigning power and predominancy of corruption The former is found in the Godly but it is their grief and burden Peter upon a sudden push of temptation halted down and fell fouly into a denial of Christ and that with such circumstances as might make any Christians ears glow and tingle to hear recited Mat. 26. yet afterwards he was far from applauding himself herein He went out and wept bitterly As one of the Ancients sayes of some that fell through weakness in time of Persecution Vicit eos paena non avertit perfidia negarunt semel sed quotidie confitentur negarunt sermone sed confitentur gemitibus ululatibus flecibus liberis non coactis vocibus They denied in word but afterwards confessed with sighs and groans and tears The Faithful sometimes halt through infirmity but it is their grief Others that halt deliberately far unlike them neither can they fairly pretend sorrow for it Alas it is their choice they approve of it and think themselves in taking their liberty in having so great a latitude about the matters of Religion much wiser then those who are more precise and strait-laced But so much for Explication to shew what it is to halt in Religion and how many wayes men are subject to it Now that is very sad and sinful you have as much affirmed Hos 10.2 Their heart is divided now shall they be found faulty God will be served with all the heart and with our whole soul and to divide it betwixt Him and others is a thing He cannot endure He cannot brook It were easy to produce other Scriptures that speak to this purpose but we shall have occasion to make use of them in the following discourse therefore I wave them here to proceed to the Demonstrations of the Point And I shall evidence the great evil of halting in Religion 1. From the nature of the thing it self 2. From the whence it proceeds 3. from the consequences and effects Demon. 1. Halting in Religion must needs be exceeding evil that considered in it self is directly opposit and contrary to God from whom the true Religion is derived and unto whom it returns It is both contrary to God's Nature and to his Mind and Will Contrary to Gods Nature He is still the same with him is no variableness neither shadow of turning Now how unlike to God are they that are off and on ever and anon changing one thing to day another to morrow yea it may be seemingly devout while on their knees but vain and prophane when on their feet Good and upright is the Lord. Thou most Upright Thou most Upright dost weigh the path of the just Then surely they are contrary to him who are for crooked ways The Lord that is faithful Isa 49.7 Heb. 10.23 He is faithful in all his promises to us How unlike to God are they who are false in their engagements playing fast and loose with him And how contrary this halting in Religion is to God's Mind and Will you may learn from what is said of those Mongrel-Worshippers 2 King 17.33 34. In v. 33. it is said They feared the Lord and served their own gods But in v. 34. They feared not the Lord. Such serving of God is as no serving of him There 's one But which takes off the lustre of all Amaziah did He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord BUT not with a perfect heart 2 Chron. 25.2 He began well but afterwards turned away from following the Lord v. 27. So we find this as a Blot in the story of some of the good Kings whose Acts are recorded in Holy Writ Such and such a one reigned well did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord only the high places were not taken away And here they fell short Demon. 2. Halting in Religion must needs be very evil which comes from such ill causes Such as the cause is such is the effect Now here I shall not insist on the Fall of mankind which is indeed the prime cause of all that halting in Religion which is in the World I shall not stay at that sinning sin the corruption of mans nature which was consequent upon his fall which makes way for all those sinful warpings crooked windings turnings in the course of our conversations But I will come to some more particular and nearer causes And so this halting I am speaking of is either from a bad head or from an evil heart or from both 1. From a bad head As we may see those that are troubled with the Vertigo c. that have bad heads how ill they can guide their feet Thus corruption of the judgement false Principles received into the mind cause the soul to halt and turn aside Many Hereticks of old thought it lawful enough to bow their bodies to an Image to an Idol so that they kept their hearts for God But this was doubtless a false Principle They whose hearts were true to God in Israel would not so much as how the knee to Baal Many of them taught It was enough to believe with the heart that confession with the mouth was not necessary Though as Anastas Sinait wel determines to be restrained by any fear of persecution a libera fidei confessione est quaedam species Abnegationis Not to confess Christ is to deny him No mean betwixt these Matth. 10.32 33. Some hold it lawful enough to profess the contrary to what they believe Jura perjura secretum prodere noli Whereunto the Doctrine of equivocation and mental reservation maintained by the Jesuits is as near a kind as may be The Christians in Justin Martyrs time were of other Principles We had rather dye sayes he for the Confession of our Faith than either lye or delude those that examine us otherwise we might readily use the common saying Jurata lingua est animus injuratus est My tongue only is sworn my mind unsworn Such principles as these they were far from approving of Some hold that men may be saved in any Religion It is not very likely that such should stick to the true But such are the false principles that teach men to play fast and loose with God These would teach men to deny Christ with Peter but not to repent with Peter Further many halt from a doubting Conscience or from an erring Conscience and it is sad being left to the conduct of but a doubting Conscience Rom. 14.23 Whatsoever is not of Faith is sin That man halts in his course who is drawn to this or that sed titubante Conscientia as Beza terms it with an hobling hesitating Conscience The Apostles Rule v. 5. is Let every man be fully perswaded in his own mind Again how sad is it being led by an erring Conscience Indeed such a soul is in a miserable strait Ordinarily it is a sin to follow Conscience when it erreth When Conscience determines that to be a sin which is a duty or that to be
strong enough now to stand alone A Christian is stronger in the Grace that is in Christ than in the greatest measure of grace inherent and derived from him Our Cisterns would soon fail were they not fed with an Everlasting Spring Rest not in what you have received ceived but be continualy going out to Christ for more It is not enough that his Grace and Spirit hath once entered into us to set us on our feet but he must also take us by the hand There is a promise Zech. 10.12 I will strengthen them in the Lord and they shall walk up and down in His Name saith the Lord. And as the little Child soon falls if it holds not by its Nurse or by its Father so we have met with many a knock many a fall many a slip and strain by letting go our hold of Jesus Christ A Believer never walks safely but in the hand of Christ or leaning on his arm 13. Get under the sense of God's love to walk in the Light of his Countenance as it is Psal 89.15 The joy of the Lord would be your strength This would make His Wayes Paths of pleasantness Did we but see all fair and clear over head how might it encourage us to go on in our Christian course though it should be a little foul under foot Yea if the Lord had once cast his mantle had cast a skirt of Love over us this would engage us to follow him we could not chuse then but follow hard after Him If enemies rise up against us though a multitude of dangers and outward evils should surround us yet we should not be dismaied but think our selves safe enough under the Banner of His Love We might more quietly repose our selves under the Banner of his Love than under the protection of an Army with Banners It is something to have a sense of the Truth of Religion but more to have experience of the Goodness thereof How hardly should any perswade or draw us contrary to our own experience should we not resolutely stick to continue and persevere in those wayes wherein we have met with God and have many times been delighted ravished with his presence 14. Be much in the duty of self-examination Be frequent in that noble spiritual act of self-reflection Often ask your hearts this question Whether they are in the way or no and how uprightly they carry in it One that hath a jealousie a suspition of his servant would not let him go long without calling him to a reckoning Our hearts are very wily and deceitful we had need every day take account of them as Achish of David Whither have ye made a rode to day Though we should fear being deluded by them as Achish was by him Without often reckoning with without a serious and strict examination of our hearts we shall never keep them true to God or our selves 15. Desire others of the Faithful to watch over you to admonish you and tell you of it when at any time they see you starting aside Let the Righteous smite me Entreat those your fellow-travellers to put forth their helping hand when they see you slipping and ready to fall 16. Lastly Let this be your earnest suit daily unto God that he would hold up your goings that your footsteps slip not As the Psalmist prayes Teach me thy way O Lord and lead me in a plain path He must not only shew us our way but also lead us on in it So again Psal 143.8 10. Let us be earnest with God here As the Psalmist Psal 63.8 My soul followeth hard after thee and mark what follows thy right hand upholdeth me And here let us plead that Branch and Article of His Gracious Covenant where he promiseth I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Jer. 32.40 The Lord is faithful to establish you and keep you from evil Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy To the only wise God our Saviour be Glory and Majesty Dominion and Power now and ever Amen SERMON V. Ephes 6.24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity I Shall look no further back to the precedent verses than may give light to the present Text. Ver. 21. The Apostle drawing to a conclusion of this Epistle giveth an honourable Testimony of Tychicus one dear to him and faithful in his Ministry shewing the causes moving him to send him to them 1. That by him they might know the state of his affairs how it went with him 2. That he might minister comfort to their hearts Ver. 23. contains his Valediction to his beloved Ephesians in which he desires all health and happiness for them Peace be to the Brethren In which words we may consider 1. What he desires Peace Faith and Love By Peace some understand according to the Hebrew phrase of the Old Testament Salutem faelicitatem all kind of good Others more sutable to the New Testament phrase understand Peace of Conscience acceptation of our persons and reconciliation to God in Christ Rom. 5.1 Being justified by Faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ By Faith and Love he means the increase of those Graces Pacem â—c faelicitatem fratribus omnibus exopto una cum Charitatis Fidei incremento c. as one paraphraseth on the place 2. For whom he desireth these things to the Brethren that is the Faithful in Christ whether Ministers or others who are sometimes distinguished from private Christians Acts 15.23 The Apostles Elders and Brethren But here we may take them joyntly For at Ephesus were many Ministers Acts 20.17 Ministers and private Christians are all Brethren in Christ Gal. 3.28 Paul though not inferiour to the chief of the Apostles is not ashamed to own Christians of the lowest form for his Brethren Philem. 16. he calls Onesimus a servant a brother beloved Faith by which Believers are united to Christ is a like precious in the highest Apostle and the lowest Christian 2 Pet. 1.1 To them that have obtained like precious Faith with us Nay Christ himself disdains not to call his poorest members Brethren Heb. 2.11 3. From whom he desires these Graces from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ even from the Fountain of all Grace which is God the Father as the first cause and Jesus Christ as the second cause as he is Mediator between God and man by and through whom the Father is wont to dispense to us all things necessary to Salvation all things pertaining to life and godliness As all the plenty of Egypt passed through the hands of Joseph Gen. 41.55 Go to Joseph what he saith to you do said Pharoah to the People when they cryed to him for corn So if any man lack Wisdom Love Faith let him go to God the Father by Christ Heb. 13.15 By him c. The Text
Blood of Christ that you may grow thereby I commend you to the Word of God's Grace Acts 20.32 5. Make conscience of all your thoughts and words Do not entertain vain and unprofitable meditations especially beware of Ungodly Athiestical Envious Repining Quarelsom Impure thoughts God sees them and is angry at them The Lord knows the thoughts of man when they are vanity Psal 94.11 He will call us to an account for them in the Day of Reckoning he will Judge the secrets of men Rom. 2.17 and then every private and close thing shall be brought to light whether it be good or wether it be evil Eccl. 12. ult Entertain holy and profitable conceptions Carry something every day in your minds that is worth thinking of when you are at leasure and out of imployment Let some Experience Promise Threatning or some Obscure place of Scripture which hath been explained to you or some profitable part of Scripture-Story be treasured up in your minds that so you may not be at a loss how to imploy your thoughts when you have any vacant hours Sin many times enters in by the thoughts beware therefore of and silence sinful conceptions and imaginations lest they produce sinful actions And so make conscience of your words beware of idle frothy wanton expressions for of every such we must give account Let not your communication be such as that it should corrupt the manners of those you converse with David was careful of his words Psal 39.1 I will take heed to my wayes that I sin not with my tongue I conclude this with that in Ephes 4.31 5.4 Let all Bitterness and Anger Wrath Clamour and Evil-speaking be put away from among you as becometh Saints and Filthyness and Foolish talking and Scurrilous jestings which are not convenient 6. Be and continue to be good in evil times In times of prophaness be you holy by how much others are worse by so much be you the better It 's Noahs commendation that he was upright in his generation Gen. 6.9 now the generation in which he lived was very wicked Lot was pure in an impure Sodom Say as Joshua Chap. 24.15 Chuse you whom you will serve but I and my house will serve the Lord So let us say let others prophane Sabbaths we will sanctifie them let others despise Prayer we will call upon God as long as we live Be not stumbled because you see the way of holiness every where spoken against Fire burns the hotest in winter nights let your zeal for God's Honour appear when others are Luke-warm and Cold. Do not think the worst of holiness because contemned by wicked men they are fools and are not competent judges Who thinks the worse of himself because a fool laughs at him Gold is gold still though thrown into the dirt by a mad-man so Religion is Precious and Honourable still though mad-men throw dirt upon it 7. Let your life be a walking with God Manifest Holiness and Piety in every turn of your lives Be holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in every turn manifest Holiness in every calling in every condition in prosperity in adversity in every relation when you are single before you change your condition and whilst you are in a married state A Christian may shew much of Piety in all these circumstances Be holy not only at sometimes but alwayes 8. Live the Life of Faith Gal. 2.19 the Life of Faith is an excellent Life it gives God the glory of all his Attributes of his Wisdom Goodness Faithfulness Power c. It 's a comfortable life Believing we have joy unspeakable and full of glory It keeps the soul from sinking under wants and troubles Faith as I may so say holds life and soul together If you live not the life of Faith ye cannot live see how much there is of unbelief so much there is of death yea unbelief is sometimes a promoter of temporal death That which the Apostle saith of worldly sorrow that it worketh death even natural death the same I may say of unbelief that it doth in it self hasten death for whilst infidelity and distrust prevails sadness discontent vexation repining and murmuring and fear prevails and all these are enemies even to the body of a Christian Moreover if we live by sence we shall lose much of our spiritual life your Graces and your Comforts will dye your Love Hope Joy and Delight in God will decay yea all Religion will decrease and grow faint Faith is the life of all Graces and Duties Sence and Reason is many times at its wits ends we know not what to do but Faith is never at a loss But our eyes are towards thee there is Faith in the former expression was the language of Sense Faith realizeth seeming impossibilities and presentiates things afar of Heb. 11.1 Act Faith for every thing wanting for your selves or for the Church Do you want pardon of sin is conscience burdened with the guilt of your corruptions act Faith upon such Promises as these Isa 1.18 Though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow though they be like Crimson they shall be as Wool and in Hos 14.4 Do you want Righteousness to make you amiable in God's Eyes live upon that Promise in Jer. 23.6 He shall be called The Lord our Righteousness and that in 1 Cor. 1.30 Do you want purging Grace would you feign be washt from the filth and pollution of your lusts Plead such a Promise as that in Ezek. 36.25 I will sprinkle you with clean water that ye may be clean from all your filthiness will I cleanse you Do you desire persevering Grace and are you fearful of falling away urge that place in Jude 24. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling c. and John 10.28 29. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish my Father is greater than all and none shall pluck them out of my hands Live by Faith for Counsel when you are in the dark and cannot see your way clear Isa 42.16 I will make darkness light before them and crooked things streight For provision when in straits for security and preservation in a time of danger from Isa 33.16 His place of defence shall be the Munition of Rocks Bread shall be given him his Waters shall be sure And so for the Church Live by Faith for the restoring of a faithful Ministry from Jer. 3.15 I will give them Pastors after my own heart which shall feed them with knowledge and understanding For the restoring of an instituted Worship Mal. 1.11 In every place Incense shall be brought and a pure offering Mal. 3.3 I will purifie the sons of Levi and they shall offer to the Lord a pure Offering in righteousness Believe for the returning of God to his Church and People after his seeming departure and forgetting them Isa 49.14 15 16. Yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee
Name the danger of a loose careless prophane and worldly life let them now speak let their own consciences say if I did not and yet they would not hear they would not obey Oh Sirs how would you be able to look Jesus Christ in the face Nay how would you be able to look me in the face at that day I beseech you think of this seriously before hand before it be too late I profess to you your souls are so dear to me that I would not for a thousand worlds be your accuser before the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ but yet if you will not be advised your blood shall be upon your own heads and I shall be free I shall now conclude this Particular with that one word of the Apostle 2 Pet. 3.11 14. Seeing then that the Heavens and Elements and Earth and all the Works that are therein shall be dissolved what manner of Persons ought ye to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness Wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of Christ in peace without spot and blameless 2. The second Word of Advice that I have to leave with you I shall likewise take out of my Text and that is That you would carefully redeem precious Time for God and your own poor souls A common understanding might easily suggest reason enough to follow this Advice Do but consider how little a time we have yet to live in this World how much time we have already spent in vain how sure an account we must give for our time as well as other talents remember that Eternity depends upon this moment we owe God all our time and we cannot lay it out better than for our poor souls Especially consider this grand Argument of the Apostle in the Text that the dayes are evil If it be bad Weather and an unseasonable Harvest and all the Corn upon the ground be like to be spoiled the Husbandman will be sure to raise the price of his good old Corn. Do but use the same Spiritual good husbandry for your souls You may perhaps think that you have many years to live in the world still that is very uncertain Oh but however consider that opportunities of doing and receiving good are few and like to be fewer still and by how much the more rare they are shall they not be the more precious with you God in mercy prevent our fears and jealousies but it is too suspitious that a good Sermon may be rare a good Exhortation or Reproof may be rare a good Minister may be rare an opportunity of Christian Friends praying together may be rare Therefore redeem time while you may lay hold upon every opportunity of good and labour to know in this your day the things that belong to your eternal peace before they be hid from your eyes When Death comes and Judgment comes it will then be too late and therefore in vain to cry out for a little more time for one more good Sermon for liberty of praying once more to God for Grace and Mercy I should have enlarged my Advice in some particulars of strict walking and improving precious time Pray hard set up that great duty of Christianity in your Families Keep Wickedness not only out of your hearts and houses but out of the Town too to the utmost of your power Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy What help you want in publick make up by your holy diligence in private Reade the Scriptures and other good Books much You that have learned your Catechism do not forget it Parents and Masters have a care of your Children and Servants Husbands and Wives watch over one another provoke one another to that which is good Neighbours exhort and admonish one another pray with and for one another and go before one another in an holy Example But I have not time to ennumerate all I have now given you my Advice and I pray God that you may follow it in truth and now I come in the last place to make my last publick Request unto you I bless God I covet no mans Silver nor Gold my Conscience bears me witness that I have not sought yours but you and now at last all that I shall beg of you is your prayers for me and that I hope none of you will deny me I have taken some pains among you I have often prayed for you and by the Grace of God shall never cease praying for you that the Lord would keep you from evil and furnish you with his Grace and afterwards bring you to Glory All the recompence that I ask of you is That you would not forget me at the Throne of Grace but let me have a share in your prayers In many respects I do earnestly and heartily beg your prayers but I must not now mention them all One is this That God would be pleased to pardon my great Unfaithfulness and Unprofitableness among you I beseech you Brethren do not think that I am now complementing with you Something I have done and God forbid that I should not have some ground to hope that God hath blessed my poor Labours to the doing of some good amongst you and perhaps my weak Labours have been acceptable yea and I bless God for that acceptance they have found with you yet truly Sirs God knows and mine own Conscience tells me that I have come much short very much short of that which was my duty to have done which if not pardoned in the Blood of Christ I should never be able to answer before God in the day of my Accounts and therefore I heartily beg your prayers on this behalf Another thing for which I beg your prayers to God for me is That it would please the Lord not to lay me aside as a broken vessel and an unprofitable creature upon the face of the Earth but that yet in what capacity soever the Lord sees good I may do him some service before I go hence and be no more seen I have but a little inch of time to live in this world and my great desire is that while I do live I may be useful for otherwise life will be but a sin or a burden I beseech you pray also that I may be delivered from or strengthened under temptations I am a poor weak creature and cannot stand but by the Grace and Strength of God and I know not what condition the Lord hath allotted for me Only this I have learn'd from the Word of God that they that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 Pray therefore that what sufferings foever the Lord shall at any time call me to I may be enabled by his Grace and Strength so to behave my self under them as that even by suffering I may glorifie his Name and bear witness to the Truth and practise what I have preached and give a good example to others and credit the Gospel and that Profession which I have made thereof My Brethren methinks I have much yet to say and I know not where to break off yet I must come to a conclusion Leave my Work in publick I must and leave you I must or else I must break with God and my own Conscience This is my great grief but yet it is my greatest grief of all that I must leave any unconverted sinners amongst you I profess to you seriously that if I know my own heart I could with chearfulness and joy forsake not only my Living and Livelihood but even my Life also so that I could but see every Drunkard and Swearer and Curser and Sabbath-breaker and Worldling and Prophane person among you converted to a life of Faith and Holiness I dare not not onely for fear of man but chiefly out of conscience I dare not open my lips to utter one word to encourage you to Faction or Schism or any unquietness but with the Apostle I exhort you to follow the things that make for Peace and to wait upon God for the mending of what is amiss But this I must tell you withall that if you do not follow after the things that make for Holiness also you shall never see the Face of God to your comfort Therefore follow after Holiness Follow not that which is evil but that which is good 3 John 11. In the midst of all my other griefs and troubles I shall have no greater joy than to see or hear that any of you walk in the Truth I have preached the Word of Truth to you according to that understanding in the Scriptures which God hath given me I beseech you remember what I have spoken to you in the Name of God and Christ and look to your selves that we lose not those things which we have wrought but that we receive a full reward Let me use the following words of the Apostle to you 2 John 8 9 10 11. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the Doctrine of Christ hath not God he that abideth in the Doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son If there come any unto you and bring not this Doctrine receive him not into your house neither bid him God speed For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds I must conclude though unwillingly my Farewelwords to you shall be the same with the Apostle's last Farewel to the Elders of Ephesus Acts 20.32 And now Brethren I commend you to God and the Word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified Amen Amen FINIS