despaire and in the wicked to torment them before their time yet in respect of God a most friendly admonition for by this a man is suffered in a vision to see and feele the torment of hell to know the price of Christs blood to labour by all meanes possibly to make sure his election In the wicked also it hath this use I could never have thought it possible for a mortall man to have beene capable of that measure of distresse had not the Lord in his mercy for the further subduing also of my bedlame flesh suffered mee sometimes to behold and feele the flashings of hell through his grace causing me as a child to be stilled by the view of fearefull beasts If then in a dream or in a mans life time there may bee such an incredible horror that it may cause the eyes to stare the tongue to rave the haire to stand an end How much more hideous will it be when really and in deede with perfect knowledge sense broad waking we shall feele the strokes of the Almighty the terrours of God shall lay hold of us In consideration whereof in the name of God as you tender your eternall welfare enter into the examination of your selves and discerne of your estates whether they bee carnall or no cry out for the spirit you heare what the Holy Ghost saith If you walke after the flesh ye shall dye How strangely doth the sentence of Corporall death appall a man though pronounced by a wretch like himselfe and shall not the doome of death eternall given out by the Holy Ghost at all astonish you Oh let not Sathan harden your hearts resist the devill and he will flye from thee It is a Commandement and a promise What faire warnings doth God give unto men by himselfe and Ministers by the motions of his Spirit and checkes of our consciences from time to time and shall we bee so voide of grace as to make our selves a booty for Sathan to stand still while he deprives us of our lives and soules and all Me thinks reason should something prevaile with us in things so neerely concerning our best good But alas a hardened heart like Pharaohs a flint an adamant a marble spirit no admonition will serve its turn where grace is wanting no impression takes any roote Men will make triall and then beleeve A feareful experience this is thou maist first try in an earthly cause and then be warned but from hell thou canst not returne Remember Dives credit not the multitude Olde Tophet is wide and large humble thy selfe therefore betime and repent of thy grievous sinnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But if ye mortifie As before the Apostle described an infallible token of death so here he proceedeth to shew in like manner a teckmerion or a certaine signe of life and that is the killing and slaying of sinne which is called Mortification For as seed which thou sowest is not quickened before it die or this corruptible body glorified before it be for a season dead and buried So neither is the manâ—ramed â—ramed in us which according to God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse untill the olde man bee wounded and laid for dead in us which like a gyant standeth up to expell and oppose the prosters and meanes of all holinesse And this is the cause that the holy Ghost maketh mention onely of this weakning of the force of sin through the death and buriall of Christ not excluding the other part of sanctification which is vivification viz. a vertue flowing from the resurrection of Christ causing us also to rise to newnesse of life It were to small purpose to bring place upon place to prove that which through the whole booke of God is so cleerely apparant How shall we that are dead to sin live yet therein They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof What can be plainer than this As the Physitian first purgeth before hee giveth a restorative so every one that shall be saved hereafter must first receive an allayer of his corruption here he must first be launced before he can be healed You may know the body of sinne in all his particular members by that which hath beene spoken touching the Flesh. Let every man woman here present examine himselfe from top to toe what cure is wrought by the spirit in his soul whether the kingdome of sinne and Sathan be demolished and weakned and the Kingdome of Jesus Christ advanced and built up in him whether corruption dyes and grace lives in his heart I beseech you deale faithfully with your owne soules and answer me directly to these interrogatories Are thy words which heretofore have beene full of prophanenesse and worldlinesse now directed to Gods glory and the good of those among whom thou livest Are thy thoughts which heretofore were loose and ungodly now bounded within a sacred compasse and spent wholly on heavenly things Is thy understanding informed of the mysteries of Christs Kingdome Is thy memory which heretofore hath beene stuffed with trash and toyes now capable and greedy of divine knowledge Doest thou order every passage of thy life by direction out of Gods word Art thou inwardly conscionable in the performance of holy duties Doth the tendernesse of thy coÌ„science smite thee not onely for grosse and open sinnes but even for vaine cogitations and the least appearance of any evill Art thou watchful against all occasions and temptations of sinne Doest thou feele thy selfe grow and increase in the wayes of holinesse Hast thou such a gracious taste of the glory of God and eternall life that thou desirest to meete thy Saviour in the clouds not so much to be rid out of the miseries of this life as to bee freed from the heavy burthen of sin which hangs so fast upon thee In a word doest thou so judge of things now as thou wouldest doe hereafter when thy soule is best able to judge as in the houre of death and the day of distresse Doest thou approve of things as they further thy last account as they commend thee more or lesse unto God and will bring true peace or sorow to thy soul at last and no otherwise then blessed and happy is thy condition and know this for the comfort of thy soule that thou art dearely beloved of God yea his peculiar one and precious in his eyes Sathan and all the powers of darknesse are fast chained up for ever doing thee any hurt Thou shalt never more bee afraid of evill tidings though the earth be moved and the mountaines fall into the midst of the Sea yet thy heart shall abide strong and comfortable I dare boldly pronounce that God is reconciled unto thee and that his sweete love which never changeth hath seized on thy soule What will it availe a man to say he is rich like the bragging Laodicean and yet be extreame miserable poore and naked what will it
which being once done is inseparably attended with the infinite hatred of so great a God for which the paines of hell must of necessity be suffered bee suffered either by the party himselfe or his surety Sinne is the most filthy thing in the world even fowler than the foulest fiend in hell or the devill himselfe for sinne made him a devill and sunke him into hell and whatsoever maketh a thing evill is it selfe much more evill the Sunne lightens all other bodies is it selfe much more light Hence it is that in Scripture it is compared to the filthyest myre in which a sow lyes downe and wallowes to the pollutions and impurities of the world singularly so called sinne being indeed the transcendent filth of the whole world How are the bodies and soules of men stained and defiled with this gangreene It is likewise very infectious corrupting every thing comes neere it The first sinne that ever the Sunne saw was so pregnant with soule-killing poyson that it polluted all the sonnes and daughters of Adam that ever were since At the first breaking out thereof it suddenly blasted as it were both heaven and earth staining the beauty of the one and the brightnesse of the other so as from that houre the whole creation hath groaned under the same If but one sinne be doted upon and delighted in like a lumpe of leaven it sowres all the soule Yea it is the greatest ill that can befal the creature greater than damnation it selfe A man would thinke it a lesser ill to tell a lye than to lye in hell But what saith a Father though wee thinke hell to be the forest of all evills yet I thinke it is farre bitterer and more grievous to offend Christ then to bee tormented with the torments of hell Who would for a space of pleasure here deprive himself of eternal blisse hereafter of the unknowne pleasures of an appeased conscience a Iewell of such infinite value as that all humane glory is but as dust in the ballance to it In the day of tryall the comfort of a good conscience will bee worth ten thousand worlds never was any sound joy or sanctified peace without this Who art thou that liftest up thy proud heart against the Almighty a base unworthy worm the vilest creature that ever God made next unto the devill who when thy breath is gone which may fall out many times in a moment thou turnest to dust rottennesse and filth Oh let the consideration of the immortality and dearnesse of that precious soule that lyes in thy bosome curbe thy corruptions and make thee startle at sinne Onely sinne wounds the soule filling it with the pangs of death though it never dye and with paine not onely above all patience but all resistance Consider the infinite and inestimable price that was paid for sinne I meane the heart blood of Jesus Christ blessed for ever and when ever thou art tempted to doe wickedly suppose thou seeest thy Saviour comming towards thee besmeared with goare blood and speaking thus unto thee Oh goe not forward upon any termes commit not this sinne by any meanes it was that which drew me downe from the fountaine of all blisse to put on this corruptible and miserable flesh to drinke off the dregs of the bitter cup of my Fathers wrath to wrastle with all the forces of infernall powers to lay downe my life at the gates of hell with intolerable paine what an heart hast thou if thou darest goe on against the sweet intreaty of so sweet a Saviour in every sinne thou committest thou layest as it were the blood of Christ in one scale and some worldly preferment or sensuall vanity in the other and shall these things out-weigh that Moreover labour for a tender and wakefull conscience which may bee sensible of the least offence and apprehensive of Gods wrath attending the same what hope is there of his repentance whose conscience is seared and yet how busie are many to increase their owne woe by putting sinne out of their remembrance Certainely a lively conscience that shall faithfully present us with an exact view of our estates is a great blessing if it were not so why should God threaten the Israelites to smite them with blindnesse and with a stony heart meaning that hee would inflict such a kinde of brawny and insensible dulnesse upon them that in doing evill they should bee utterly without any apprehension of their misdoing well is hee that hath a conscience stirring him upon the least sinne that will awake at the least blow and performe its office David could have no peace till he had made his peace with God hee did but cut off the lappe of Sauls garment and his heart smote him and brought him upon his knees and made him cry Lord I have sinned exceedingly take away the trespasse of thy servāt for I have done very foolishly Had his conscience beene dull and hard what security would have crept upon him what carelessenesse to become a petitioner to God for mercy Never therefore turne thine eyes frō beholding that which conscience offers to thy view Alas conscience doth nothing of it selfe but by speciall authority and commissiō from God whose deputy it is Yet it is possible to turne that which of it self is a blessing into a curse It is a blessing to live under a faithfull Ministery yet if a man bee not a doer of the word but a hearer onely he may increase his owne judgement thereby When men come to the Ordinance their consciences are many times wrought upon more strongly than they would now it is good simply for the conscience thus to run and it is a token of Gods great love unto man to furnish his minde with such a reflecting faculty upon himselfe But here lyes the mischiefe many deale with their consciences as rich men doe with an earnest beggar or as great men with an importunate petitioner whom they will make as if they did not heare and passe along by without regard when their heart smites they will not answere when it brings sinne to their sight they turne their heads aside and will not behold it If they find by experience that when they are alone their conscience use to encounter them they furnish themselves with vain and wretched company such as wil be sure to give conscience no leisure to speak If the word of God any whit awakens them and stirres up conscience to doe its office they thrust it from their remembrance by worldly thoughts and cares or sleepe it out that they may not be disquieted The poore conscience must bee conscience off till another time as Paul was when hee disputed with Faelix such variety of trickes doth the devill teach to decline and shun the workings of conscience upon sinfull persons By which meanes that which in it selfe is a great blessing becomes a wonderfull curse unto them the using of conscience in this unkinde manner is the next way to
move the Lord to silence it for ever Look as God dealeth with whole societies of men in taking away the benefit of a powerfull Ministery from them when it is not hearkened unto So dealeth hee with particular persons in striking a dumbenesse upon their consciences when the voice thereof is not regarded Listen therefore to its secret checkes and smitings though men will not bee brought to repetition of sermons in their families yet they have a repeater in their bosomes that will be at private repetition with the in spite of their teeths and tell them This is not according to that you have beene taught you have beene reproved and convinced of this sin in the publike Ministery why doe you not leave it for shame reforme this pride hypocrisie lying swearing formality if religious courses will bring true peace at last use them to purpose rest not in outside shewes without the power and life of godlinesse How many times doth conscience presse us to repentance and better obedience How often doth it startle us in our postings to hell and call upon us to settle to amēd our lives Conscience speakes to us as the Lord to Ionah doest thou well to be angry Dost thou wel to be thus carnall and earthly thus eager upon the world thus cold and indifferent in holy duties conscience gives privy nips and secret checks It 1. points with the finger and gives direction if it be neglected it smites with the fist and gives correction Therefore if ever thou desirest that sinne should dye and grace flourish in thy heart despise not conscience when it speaketh doth it presse thee to any workes of piety reformation of abuses selfe-deniall c. in any case embrace his counsels Hearken to this preacher whom thou canst not suspect of partiality or ill will conscience cannot be suspected to be set on by others Doth it chide and reproch thee of thy waies doth it punctually arrest thee of thy particular beloved sinnes doe not extenuate much lesse defend thy crime but accuse thy selfe as fast as that accuses acknowledge thy folly abase thy spirit and covenant with thy conscience a full and speedy reformation If this were done how soone would Sathans kingdome be demolished and all corruption weakned in us But alas how few regard the voice of conscience or once hearken to it the very want of this sets open a floodgate of wickednesse in the world If men cannot stop consciences mouth they will at least stoppe their own eares If Conscience offer to be talking with them they shuffle it off till their better leisure Alas poore soule God will one day strippe thee of all thy imployments and turne thee loose to thy conscience and it shall have liberty to baite thee and bite thee at pleasure How much better is it to be willing to hearken to the voice of conscience here than bee forced to heare it in hell hereafter Hearken to the reproofes and admonitions of it now and thou shalt not heare the dolefull clamours of it then Further set faith a work to conquer your corruptions that wil doe wonders if wee apply the victory which Christ hath made for us though we be cowards he was not and what ever he did it was for us Hee stood in our place beat Sathā to our hands What if Sathan beat mee may a Christian say since Christ in my stead hath beaten him all to peeces I have long agoe overcome Sathan in my head In Christ my Captaine hee is a vanquished enemy faith makes his victory ours and sets him against every tentation we are not so weake in the hands of Sathan as Sathan is in the hands of Christ therefore is faith said to bee our victory because it makes Christ ours who is our victory A Christian is never safe except he can by faith lay fast hold on Christ and set up him and his power against the gates of hell and powers of darknesse Faith must have one to side with it against Sathan who hath absolute command over Sathan If Christ doe but say the word the Devil is soone said and his temptations die To him then who is our refuge and strength let us repaire in all perplexities by applying him to our selves by a lively faith and making him our sword and bucklar Say I of my selfe am weake as water not able to vanquish the least temptation or subdue any fleshly lust or corruption whatsoever but in Christ made mine by faith I am strong and can doe all things The promise is that if wee resist Sathan stedfast in the faith he shall flye Beleeve then that thou shalt overcome and thou shalt overcome war against sin and sinne shall die faith is our victory and nothing else because that alone apprehends applyes the promise Reason can doe no good because the temptation is spirituall and reason carnall a naturall thing hath neither stroke nor force against that which is spirituall beside Reason is a secret friend to Sathan and takes part with him against our selves Can a man conquer the devill with a wisedome that is divellish that hath him for its damme downe with flesh and bloud then away with our owne wit let faith doe all else it will doe nothing Faith never workes so well as when it works alone it is no more but beleeve the promise and Sathan is gone If Christians bee not perswaded that God will mortifie their corruptions they will very much at their manifold slips be off and on and coldly imbrace religious courses Alas our owne strength is too weake for the work of holinesse to represse and vanquish the lusts of our rebellious hearts which are by nature and custome so deepely polluted with sinne If wee have not faith to beleeve that God will aide and blesse our endeavours and doe the whole worke for us what courage can we have to goe about it What shameful foyles and repulses shall we sustaine in it Hee will manfully fight against his lust that is assured of victory from God in the end It is a great heartning to resist evill or to doe any good duty when wee beleeve God will be with us and helpe us therein Faith acquaints a man with his emptinesse of grace how unable hee is to crucifie his inordinate affections or to repaire the decayed image of God in him and that he is in a wofull case unlesse the Lord put to his helping What profits pardon of sinne to one that lyes under the power and dominion of sinne Therefore a true beleever fights couragiously against his corruptions and cryeth instantly to the Lord for helpe though the combate be never so hot hee will not yeelde because hee apprehends victory for grace doth flow from Christ into our hearts more or lesse as our faith is weaker or stronger though we have no grace of our selves yet if wee cleave to him wee shall want none Doth the streaming fountaine deny water to the thirsty traveller No more doth Christ to
the body and all the parts thereof being corrupted are become unto the wicked soule as the convenient tooles for the artificer or as a picklocke or fitted weapon in the hand of a theefe therefore Paul calleth them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Weapons of unrighteousnesse or as a shrewish servant to an upright Master 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Servants to uncleannesse For the soule sealing up every evill action with voluntary consent may be said to bee the theefe and the body the receiver both alike culpable before God seeing each in his nature place hath stricken a stroke in the committing of sin That our whole man is naturally corrupt appeares by the verdict of God himselfe who saith that he is but flesh a very heape and lumpe and bundle of iniquity The imagination of mans heart is evill from his youth and so accordingly his whole disposition and estate even from his subsisting to thâ—s present I know that in me that is in my flesh or nature dwelleth no good saith the Apostle There is not so much as a thought of time betwixt a mans naturall being and his sinfull being So soone as ever wee are borne wee are borne sinners being guilty of Adams transgression before God which is therefore called Originall sinne in regard of the auncientnesse of it continuing eversince Adams fall accompanying the nature of man from his very first being and having the source and fountaine of all sinfull practises in it Our first parents being once corrupt how could any cleane thing bee brought out of their filthinesse Of flesh nothing could bee borne but flesh Adam begat children in his own likenesse If the roote had beene holy so had the branches beene but the tree being once corrupt the fruit could not chuse but be according How should this startle and affright the secure worldlings of our time sawest thou ever a leprous person whose body is bespred with sores and scabs Such and a thousand times worse art thou in the sight of God Knewest thou at any time a man in debt for some hundreds of pounds more than he is worth for whom the Bayliffes and Serjeants lye in waite at every corner see the shadow of thy own estate in him A world of actions hath the Lord against thee and his justice is ready to attache thee and seise upon thee every houre Could we seriously thinke on this it would make us unsatisfied in abasing our selves and cause us never to rest till we have made our peace with God Thou beholdest abroad a vaine person fairely set out to the eye tricked and trimmed in the best fashion and it may be thou knowest of some secret foule disease he hath or of some great debt he is in Dost thou not in thy thoughts now scorne such a one of folly Dost thou not say to thy selfe no marvell sure he should be so proud that hath such a deale of filthinesse underneath his gaynesse that lies in every bodies debt and owes more than hee is able to discharge Turne this home to thine own soule and wonder as much at thy selfe that can bee so carelesse so fearelesse so presumptuous when thy soule hath such neede of washing and there are against thee such Bills of iniquity and for ought thou knowest not yet blotted out before the Lord. Canst thou thinke well of thy selfe that hast by nature such a filthy soule Oh bewail that spirituall thraldome wherein thou art plunged commune w th thine own heart and say Into what misery boÌ„dage have I brought my selfe Thou Lord madest me holy pure and upright but by sin I sold my selfe unto the service of Sathan from which to this day I cannot get deliverance My mind is blind vaine foolish my will perverse and rebellious all my affections out of order there is nothing whole or sound within me Night and day I am pestered with sinfull motions The desires of my deceitfull heart bee so strong and prevailing that I am carried headlong to that which is evil The cursed earth is not so apt to bee overgrowne with weedes bryers and thornes as this soule of mine with lusts passions distempers worldly cares and sinfull thoughts the law of the flesh rebelleth against the law of my minde and diffuseth its venome into every action I performe and carrieth me violently to the committing of sin against knowledge and conscience The Gally-slaves condition is very hard and miserable but mine is farre worse No drudgery so base as the service of sinne No Tyrant so cruell aâ— sinne which allows no respite or time of refreshing O miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death I have deepely defiled my selfe by transgression but have no power to cleanse my heart O Lord. I have defaced thine image but cannot repuire it I have yeelded the powers of my soule to the obedience of sinne and now I would cast off that subjection and breake those snares I am altogether unsufficient for it When I would do well evill is present and I know no meanes to perfect my desire I want no strength to perfect that which is evill and I am ready and apt upon all occasions to goe astray but I am not able to doe any good such is my feeblenesse I am invironed and beset with sinne on every side Oh when shall I bee set at liberty that I may runne the wayes of Gods commandements Hitherto of the phrase of speech used by the Holy Ghost namely the flesh for the whole man body and Soule the particular corruption of either which that wee may shun as farre as wee may wee must learne to know theÌ„ in their speciall heads that so with some certainty we may kenne our owne stepps and discerne our owne hearts whether we walke according to the flesh yea or not Concerning the corruption of the soule and first as touching the fleshly understanding As the fierce dragon bringeth not forth the innocent dove or the roaring Lyon the harmelesse sheepe no more did Adam in the state of his impurity beget children sutable with his condition in the state of innocency but having defiled the holinesse of his nature by eating the forbidden fruit as a little levin levineth the whole lumpe so he imparted the same nature to his son as most evidently appeared in Cain and from him to all the rest of his posterity even unto our selves being all of us begotten in sin and conceived in iniquity So that whereas before the minde was endued with a perfect actuall knowledge of God so far as the humane nature may be supposed capable yea and which is more was enriched with power and ability of knowing more than as yet he had actually attained Now as the cleere sunshine overwhelmed with a cloud so is the minde of man overcast with palpable darknesse being destitute not onely of all reall knowledg excepting that naturall knowledge he hath of God taught him by the creatures which is rather a
difficulty in fulfilling lusts there can never be any in the rising and sprouting of lusts It is no paines to conceive seede though it bee to bring forth a birth the longer any man lives in sinne the sweeter it is to him The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the eare with hearing no more is a sinner with his deeds of darknesse if he should live for ever hee would sinne for ever Evill comes out of the heart as sparkles out of the fire which never cease while the fire continues Lust is like a furious rider never weary of the way hee may have enough to load him but can never have enough to weary him he may quickly have enough to sinke him but can never have enough to satisfie him Lust it selfe growes never olde nor weary when adultery in the heart hath worne out the body so as it strength withereth yet even then it will finde a vent in a wanton eye unchast speeches and thoughts full of uncleanenesse Though a man may weary himselfe in the acting sinne yet lust is never satisfied in conceiving sinne Lastly consider the propagation of this sinne which may well therefore be called an olde man because it dyes not but passeth from one generation to another A mans actuall sinnes are personal they both beginne and end in himselfe But originall sinne is naturall and therefore together with our nature it passeth over to our posterity It is an entaile that can never be cut off it hath held from Adam and so will continue to the worlds end Every parent is the channell of death to his posterity Adam diffused damnation to all mankinde Neither is it any wonder that from a cursed root should proceed branches fit for nothing but the fire What a watch then should we keepe over our evill hearts what paines should we take by prayer and unweariednesse of spirit to suppresse this enemie If there were any time wherein the flesh did sit still and sleepe wherein the water did not runne and seeke for vent wee might then lessen our care but since it is ever stirring in us wee should bee ever stirring against it using all meanes to diminish and abate the same Since the heart is unwearied in evill wee should not faint nor bee weary of well-doing Since the heart is so abundant in evill we should abound likewise in every good worke Retaine in thy freshest memory such quickening thoughts as these If I commit this sinne it will cost me unvaluably more heart-breake and spirituall smart before I can purchase assurance of pardon and peace of conscience then the sensuall pleasure is worth If I never repent it will be the ruine of my soule for ever When thou goest to buy a commodity if the price be great thou forbearest and wilt thou venture up on sinne knowing what it will cost thee If Iudas had knowne as much before he betrayed his Master as now he feeles hee would never have committed that villany Alas thy soule is incomparably more worth then the whole world and wilt thou for a little paltry pleasure of some base and rotten lust which passeth away in the act hazard the losse of so precious a jewell Doe not consider the smalnesse of thy sinnes but the greatnesse of thy God who is displeased with them Mortification is tedious but heaven is sweete men are content to goe all day after their hawkes and hounds enduring hunger and thirst for a little pleasure not worth the enjoying why then should wee refuse any labour for the obtaining so rich a reward In lust a man wearieth himselfe and hath no hope but here our labour is not in vaine in the Lord wee shall reape if we faint not A little glory in heaven nay a little comfort in earth will plentifully recompense all our travaile and paines in this kinde Looke not alwayes on Satans temptations the worlds solicitations and thine owne sinfull inclinations these as clogs will presse thee down and much dishearten thee in thy Christian course but looke unto Iesus the author and finisher of thy faith who will carry through al difficulties and overcome sinne in thee by his grace call therefore to him hee is within the voice of thy prayers and will come to strengthen thee How jealous ought Christians to bee over themselves having so dangerous an enemy nigh unto them Iob would not trust his eye without a covenant nor David his mouth without a bridle so strangely unexpectedly will nature breake out Vēture not on any tēptation presumptuously be not cōfident of any grace received so as to slacken your zeale Ioseph flung out and would not trust himselfe in the company of his Mistresse company might easily have kindled concupiscence and a little of Sathans blowing might have caried the fire from one stick to another David would have no wicked thing to abide in his sight hee knew how full of ill humours his heart was how apt to catch every infection that came neere it and therefore tooke speciall care to decline the very objects and examples of sin When men thinke there is least danger then the danger is greatest sinne and Sathan are ever watching their opportunities which is when wee watch not Security will rust us undoe us and eate out all that good is in our soules if any thing will awaken the dead and drowsie heart of man it is some vexing sin or other Me thinkes the consideration of this thorne in our flesh which we daily carry about us should much humble and abase our spirits Alas how long have we lived in an empty fruitlesse manner barren of grace and goodnesse spending our precious dayes in folly and vanity dedicating the flower of our age to sinne and Sathan How oft have we despised mercy and cast the precepts of the Almighty behinde our backes What little growth in holinesse have wee What little improvement in the wayes of God How much wearinesse and revolting of heart How evill and unprofitable in regard of the meanes we have enjoyed and what we might have beene How many notorious visible sinnes hast thou committed to the scandall of the Gospel and the wounding of thine owne soule How should the consciousnesse of this humble thee in secret before God Brethren think of this the more vile any man is in his owne eyes the more precious he is in Gods And the best way to bring a man to a base esteeme of himselfe is to reflect his thoughts seriously upon his owne estate to view himselfe in his naturall condition There is no good so truly good but his heart abhors it No evill so extreamely wicked but there is an inclinablenesse in him to embrace it no servant so ready to doe his masters will as hee is to doe the workes of the devill no rebell so desperately adverse to his lawfull soveraigne as hee is to God Oh that men were truely sensible of their carnall condition The want of this is the cause of
there is an hell within thee that can set it all on fire and fill it with rotten and stinking communication If to use thy hands or feete watch carefully for there are seeds of more sins theft bribery murther uncleannesse in them then there are joynts and sinewes in those members Originall sinne is an universall corruption it makes us all over flesh the minde a fleshly minde the will a fleshly will the affections and lusts all fleshly so that it is more difficult to roote out this one sinne then to overcome many actuall transgressions That man or woman therefore of what estate or degree soever they be noble or ignoble bond or free which are not transformed by the renewing of their minds but have their hearts full fraught with unbeliefe and ignorance whose Consciences are benummed or dead not able to accuse or if to accuse yet not able to excuse through the righteousnesse of Christ They whose wills are perverse and immeasurably unruly not subject and conformable to the will of God whose affections are like to the Camelion ready to turne themselves upon every object into any estate except that which is holy Lastly those whose bodies are the hardy executioners of every wicked practise given out in charge by these corrupt guides the faculties of the soule they most assuredly without all contradiction walke and live as yet after the flesh If therefore thou art desirous to know in particular whosoever thou art in this present assembly whether thou be carnall or no enquire of the word of God what thou art by nature in all the parts of soule and body how unapt and uncapable of all holinesse how prone and disposed unto all manner of wickednesse Secondly examine thy thoughts how thou hast conceived of God and his incomprehensible nature how acute and sharpe sighted in his wayes Hearken to thy conscience if thou hast any and heare it speake or if thou hast none at all so set it downe in thy examination Summon thy will and affections also to be tryed by the same word if thou perceivest no difference in these from the common estate of most men no alteration from former times it is suspitious thou art carnall But if thou finde by the guide of the word by the word I say for thou being blind canst not see where thou art that yet thou remainest ignorant and still walking in thy erroneous and presumptuous course both towards God and men if thou finde in thy minde these or the like thoughts That there is no God No providence or presence of God If thou thinkest thy selfe safe from all perill and art rocked asleepe by the tempest of other mens judgements If thou thinkest thy selfe a very wise man and farre exceeding others If in deede notwithstanding thy outward holinesse thou thinkest the Gospell and the sufferings of Christ to be meer foolishnesse If thou thinkest perversly and basely of them that worship God truely If thou thinkest death wil not come yet nor yet and so livest as if thou hadst made a covenant with the grave If thou thinkest God is as man that he will pardon thee howsoever thou livest and that the punishment of hell may easily be shunned If thou thinkest the day of judgement to bee far off And upon these corrupt imaginations not onely findest checke for that may be performed in some men by the light of nature enforcing the conscience to accuse thee yet thou never the neerer but also no positive thoughts utterly opposit but rather growest resolute therein cōmitting all to thy will and affections to conclude of thy spirituall estate If thy minde be full of vanity wasting it selfe in childish and unprofitable notions slippery unstable in all good matters full of ignorance and darknesse so as thou seekest not after God in the way where he will be found full of curiosity foolish and impertinent questions full of pride and contradiction against the word of truth having fleshly reasonings against the spirit of God full of carnall wisdome humane inventions methods of its own to serve God and come to happinesse by thou mayest then assure thy selfe thy minde is meere flesh thou being dead in thy understanding through the vanity impotency andignorance thereof Conscience If thy conscience which God hath placed as a sentinell or watchman in thee to observe thy dealings be full of impurity and disobedience full of dead rotten and unsavory workes full of false and absurd excusations If it be either so be nummed and insensible that it will not accuse unlesse it bee for murther adultery the every or such like grosse offences or dead as a limbe taken with a gangrene that it cannot accuse at all Or if it have life yet if it apply it selfe corruptly as to acquit thee for doing evill or to condemne thee and hang thee up for doing good fearing thee where no feare is then hath the flesh prevailed over thy conscience and thou art wholly carnall Memory Further if thy memory be so decayed that if one would give thee a thousand pounds thou art not able to imprint the doctrine of salvation were it never so oftē taught thee and yet able upon a speedy rehearsall to repeat a tale of an houre long with every circumstance concerning any thing done in such a Kings daies or reported to be done as the tale of Robin Whood Guy of Warwick and I know not what paltery stuffe thou maist assure thy selfe that flesh also is the guide of thy memory and that it is voide of all holinesse For as clay will not cleave to iron or brasse So the fleshly memory will retaine no spirituall memorandum but that which is fleshly agreeing with his nature and therefore the story of Gods will offered to the memory is like to quick-silver powred upon a plaine table which never resteth running and dispersing it selfe till it bee harboured in a concavity fit to retain its substance So the principles of Christian science will not stay in a carnall memory no more then an honest man in a brothell Inne or Ale-house and therefore no marvell that they light at the foregate and take horse at the postern come in at one eare and out at another Will. Moreover if thy will be full of loathing and aversation so as it cannot endure to heare or see any thing that is good but pluckes in the shoulder and casts it behinde the backe If it be full of enmity against holinesse slighting and neglecting the best things If it bee full of obstinacy against religious courses thwarting and crossing the strict wayes of God If full of disability to any good so as it cannot hearken nor bee subject to the Law of God but rebells against his blessed truth If thou art resolute to commit the wicked purposes of thy heart stout and stubborne against admonition turning the deafe eare to the preaching of Gods word loath to intermeddle with matters of the Spirit but willing to fulfill the lusts of the flesh
of the sun or moone for the spirit of God shall bee instead of all these from whom immediately they shall bee quickened for ever Their glory consisteth in this that they shall continually behold the face of God 2. They shall be like unto Christ just holy incorruptible glorious honourable beautifull strong nimble 3. They shall possesse the new heavens and the new earth they shall joyfully praise and laud the name of the Lord world without end FINIS A Table of the principall heads A DIsorderly Affections discovered Page 41 Misery of being guided thereby 47 Antidotes against sinne 65 B BEginnings of sinne to be resisted 190 Better be in hell than offend Christ. 197 Body not to be pampered 220 C HOw a man may know whether his heart be carnall 87 Conscience corrupted and how 33 What a stirring conscience is 35 Carnall men indocible 38 Corrupt motions natural to a carnall heart 61 A fleshly conscience described 93 The distresse of conscience that betides the wicked 154 The estate of a creature cursed of God 131 Rejoycing to crosse a mans selfe a signe of sincerity 244 D DEath what is meant by it here 127 What the first death is 141 The second death described 133 Then the most secret sinne shall be discovered 149 Danger of being unarmed 191 218 Discovery of a true Christian or infallible marks to try himself by 236 Christians should discerne betwixt the deceit of sin and the fruit of sin 252 F FAith a speciall means to overcome temptations 212 How it doth this 213 Nothing hurts us so much 〈◊〉 our owne flesh 220 Forsakings of sin different 246 Flâ—sh what it signifieth 7 It disperseth sinne into the whole man 11 Why naturall corruption is called by the name of flâ—sh 8 It cleaves close to our nature 50 What it is to be fleshly minded 31 It derives venome upon every action 51 It tempts daily 52 It continually warres against the spirit 55 It is unwearied in sinfull follicitations 59 It raignes in naturall men 57 Not so in the godly 100 They are part flesh and part spirit 101 We must fight with Sathan if wee would overcome him 186 G GRace abides not in a carnall memory 96 How a man may know whether grace hath got the upper hand in him 230 Grace cannot stand with the Regiment of sinne 232 Nothing but grace can subdue sin To bee deprived of Gods favour an unspeakeable misery 141 246 H HEart narrowly to be watched 64 An unsound one discovered 99 The thorne in our flesh should humble us 70 Want of Humiliation very prejudiciall to the soule 73 Symptomes of a good heart 237 Hypocrites speake after the spirit and live after the flesh 107 Hypocrisie the danger of it 170 L LAw hath a double use 1 Little sins very dangerous 117 Lust growes never old 62 Losse of Gods presence what it is 138 Loathsomnesse of sin described 194 M MIsery of being under the flesh 16 Memory corrupt through sin 36 How discerned 94 No member to be trusted alone 85 Man by nature uncapable of goodnesse 27 Hee hath nothing in himselfe to glory of 80 Mortification described discovered 165 183 How we are said to mortifie sin 174 Meanes to subdue the flesh 185 Markes of a spirituall Christian. 239 Jealousie over our hearts a meanes to keepe out sinne 69 Licentious Ministers reprooved 106 O ORiginall sin a hereditary disease 48 It overspreads the whole man 88. 49 It is full of propagation 63 Its manner of tempting us 81 P FLesh powerfull to bring about its projects 57 Policies of the flesh to be studied 76 Pride disableth to resist temptations 192 Provision for the flesh must be hindered 219 Peace with the flesh dangerous 226 Carnall Professors reproved 109 Discovered 112 Our present condition a prediction of our future 253 Price of sin infinite 199 R SInners shall be exceedingly reproched at the day of judgment 146 Root of sin must be killed 171 Reason a weak thing to expell temptations 214 S SOule corrupted by sin 23 Sin must be slaine or it will slay us 250 Signes of a fleshly mind 50 Sinne the greatest ill 197 Hainous sins waste the conscieÌ„ce 116 To live in any sin a signe we are under Sathans bondage 120 Many begin in the spirit and end in the flesh 109 Impenitent sinners shall surely bee damned 122 Society with the devills every sinners portion 151 The Spirit onely can mortifie the flesh â—5 Sinne is not driven away with an â—â—gry locke 186 Signes of the Spirits prevailing in us 235 A Christians strength is in God 216 193 Severity against our owne sinnes a blessed signe of grace 240 T TEmptations of the flesh undiscernable 77 Tendernesse of conscience a speciall preservative against sin 201 It is a great blessing 202 Yet may be turned into a curs 203 Tryall of a true Christian. 166 V VOyce of conscience to bee hearkened to 206 Vniversall hatred of sin discovers a gracious heart 241 W WIll since the fall corrupted 39 A corrupt will discovered 96 Men weake in themselves 176 Every sinner underualues the bloud of Christ. 200 FINIS 1 Pet. 3. 18 1 Cor. 7. Gal. 1. 13. Esay 44. 7. Reas. Gen. 6. 3. Genes 8. John 3. 6. Rom 7. RoÌ„ 7. 21. 1 Cor. 2. 14. Rom 7. 45. Rom. 1. 19. 2 Cor. 3. 5. Luk. 24. 45 Quest. Answ. Tit. 1. 15. What a dead conscience is 1. Tim 4. What a stirring conscience is Phil. 2. 3. Luke 15. Rom. 7 Rom. 7. Iames 1. 14. Joh. 14. 30. Gal. 5. 1 Pet. 2. Mar. 9. 24. Rom. 6. Rom. 7. 23 Rom. 7. Heb. 13. 5. Hos. 14. James 4. 7. Eccles. 1. 8. Vse Job 31. 1. Psal. 39. Gen. 39. Psal. 101. Vse 3. Gal. 5. Iob 31. 1. James 3. 6. Psal 39. 1. Rom. 12. 2. Vse Ephes. 4. 23 2 Cor. 3. 1 Rom. 8. Vse 1. Vse 2. Phil. 3. 8. Mat. 5. Quest. Answ. Obiect Answ. Acts 5. Mat. 25. Eccles. 11. Job 27. Job 2. Rev. 2. 11. Rev. 21. 18 Quest. Answ. 1 Thes. 4. 16. Mat. 25. Quest. Answ. Job 1. Psal. 139. 1 Joh. 2. 18. Esay 66. Rev. 22. 8. Mat. 13. 1 Cor. 15. What vivification is Rom. 6. Gal. 5. Revel 3. Quest. Answ. 2 Chro. 20 Psal. 119. Ephes. 6. 2 Tim. 2. 1 Pet. 5. 1 Sam. 15. 2 Pet. 2. Deut. 28. 18. Psal. 51. 2. Sam. 24. 10. Acts 24. 26 Jonah 4. 4. 1 Joh. 5. 4. Rom. 4. 7. Vse Heb. 12. Bellum est non triumphans Quest. Answ. Rom. 7. Rom. 7 22 1 Pet. 4. Col. 3. Psal. 40. Mat. 16. 25 Quest. Answ. Every sin is as the forbidden fruit Eccles. 11. Obiect Answ. Vse Prov. 7.
all that security and deadnesse of spirit which seares up the heart of many thousands of people This makes so little care of being saved Hence it is that the Gospell preached is so smally reckoned of the name of Christ is no more precious the word of grace no more honoured the promise of salvation no more laid hold on and hearkened after the threatnings of hell no more stood in feare of then they bee it is indeed one and not the smallest part of our native wretchednesse that our eyes are so holden with selfe-love that wee cannot perceive our misery nay wee are pleased with it and think it a peece of our happinesse to continue in it Wee have not onely no disposition to goe from it but which is worse a strong desire to remaine still therein Where is the man that truely discernes he is lost and undone that sensibly groanes under the weight and burthen of sinne that cryes out with the Leaper I am uncleane I am uncleane I have not in me by nature so much as a graine of goodnesse I am a very lumpe of corruption I am an enemy to God and to my owne soule I cannot so much as frame a thought tending to the furtherance of my best good Every thing I meddle with is defiled by me the very earth is weary to beare me and according to the kinde thereof both it and all the creatures complaine to God against me I am a burthen to the times and places wherein I live every man I converse with is the worse for mee c. Lastly to prevent surprisalls by this cruell enemy study his policies before hand for howsoever the strength of the flesh be very great yet the policy thereof doth farre exceed it for being not a professed enemy but a secret traitor it is more exercised in cunning undermining of our safety with subtle slights and politique stratagems then in assaulting us after an open and hostile manner Sathan cannot deceive us unlesse our owne flesh assisting him doe first deceive us The danger whereof is so much the greater because it is so deep and disguised that it can hardly be discovered and found out it displayes not its colours in open field but lyes hid in secret ambushments mingling it selfe with our owne forces and making a shew of simplicity and sincerity when there is nothing but craft and deceit in it perswading us that we are nothing so evill and corrupt as indeed wee are and that those good things which wee seeme to have are of farre more excellency then in truth they bee that our little mite is a great treasury that we are in an happy and blessed condition whereas wee were never neerer unto death and destruction that surely God loves us because we prosper in the world and live civilly and quietly amongst our neighbours wronging no man that so much zeale and strictnesse is more then neede that the best have their failings that great sinnes are very small ones and little sinnes are none at all c. Infinite are the windings and labyrinths of the heart of man the counsells and projects of this flesh of ours to establish the kingdome of sinne in it selfe What man is there who will not outwardly seeme to spit at Sathan and defie his workes of darknesse and yet what man is there in whose bosome secretly Satā doth not plot devise wicked enterprises The more time a man spends to make himself acquainted with himselfe and begs of God to reveale the hidden corruption of his evill nature to him the more abhorrency and condemnation will hee have of himselfe and the more adoration and wonderment at the infinite mercy of God that hee is not consumed when once a man hath his evil wayes discovered to him by Gods spirit he will be abased and confounded in his owne sight It is nothing but ignorance that keepes men in pride If to bee wise to doe evill and foolish to doe good if to plead for sinne and Sathan If to receive good parts and abilities from God and to fight against him with the same bee matters to be boasted of then there is a great crop of pride in every mans nature else wee must all conclude that hee which gloryeth in any thing meerely in himselfe hath chosen nothing to glory in but his owne shame Alas the best of our wisedome is but sensuall and devillish fleshly deceit as the Scripture speakes a man may bee very wise and yet imploy the same upon nothing but mischiefe You have heard the lineaments of originall corruption which in the wisdome of the Holy Ghost is called flesh Now as a body infected with the plague doth not presently complaine or shew the disease till afterward So this venome in children lyeth lurking and worketh not till the faculties of the soule are prettily well hatched up and then like a charmed cup it fumeth up into the braine and fills it with idle thoughts it enchanteth the conscience invenometh the affections and maketh the heart like a tipling house full fraught with ruffian-like passions Such strange and totall disorder such contention betwixt the heart and the conscience such raging in the affections such desperate unrulinesse in the will such error and staggering in the understanding that a man may well be compared to a rude family consisting of treacherous servants al false and idle of equall authority being subject to none but Lords of themselves Vnderstanding directed by the law of nature attempteth to advise the will saith shee will not yeelde but doe as shee lists Affections prevaile with Will and overcast judgement Conscience cryeth out upon them all and threatneth the Law Faire spoken pleasure entreateth it to be quiet and that all villany may bee cōmitted without check Lust by degrees entreateth the will to put out the candle and light of knowledge then when ignorance as dark as hell hath invaded and overshadowed the whole man the minions of Venus court may walke dismasked without kenning adultery fornication uncleanenesse wantonnesse idolatry witchcraft hatred debate envy murther drunkennesse gluttony c. and the whole Crew of fleshly workes may creepe out of the heart like the serpent and her brood in the night or as the Graecians out of the Trojan horse and goe hand in hand securely and without reproofe seeing Conscience being drowsie through the strong wine of voluptuousnesse is laid asleepe and therefore will not awaken unlesse the sins be too great and pricke him sore or els dead feared being deprived of understanding as the body of vitall spirits which should quicken and direct her in both her actions of testimony and judgement The whole man is full of disorder trust not therefore any of thy members alone without making a covenant with it If thou hast occasion to use thine eye take heed unto it it is full of the seeds of adultery pride envy covetousnesse there are lusts of the eye If to use thy tongue set a doore before thy lips
the benefit of the law in a case not sufficiently proved against us But at this time the skirts of thy pollution shall be discovered before the sun and though thou wipest thy mouth like the harlot which Solomon describeth yet thy sinne shall be written in great Characters in thy forhead so as hee that runnes may read thy chambering and wantonnesse thy whoredome and uncleannesse thy theevery and oppression yea all thy cradle sinnes which never yet were set on foot thy wicked and abominable thoughts I meane which lye lurking in thy heart as in a denne not daring to come abroad for feare of losing thy credit Oh the fearefull reproach ensuing hereupon when many a sober man and vertuous matron so falsely esteemed of in the world shall have their vizzards pluckt downe from their faces the ulcer of their hearts launced and all the buried corruptions of their childhood of their youth and riper age plainely before men and Angels Saints and blessed Spirits devills and reprobates laid open to their eternall shame Imagine that thou being a man of great credit and esteeme shouldest have all the vanities of thy heart whereunto thy conscience giveth testimony and all the night practises of thy youth commēced against thee even in the high Court of Parliament before thy Prince and nobles how couldst thou shew thy face Now thou pluckest thy garment about thee to cover thy shame but then thou shalt bee stript naked and unclothed to the reproach of thy selfe and thy whole family now thou shelterest thy iniquity in a closset or secret chamber from the eyes of him that cannot pierce the walls then shalt thou stand before the face of the heavens in the presence of him whose eyes are as a flaming fire knowing the secrets of thy parlour and polluted bed thy words thy thoughts the place time and every circumstance of thy sinne Now thou overlayest the drosse of thy heart with a guilded outside of joy and meriment but then the Lord shall blow upon the paint of thy face thy withered deformity shall then bee espyed now like Ieroboams wife thou disguisest thy selfe with pretended holinesse but at that time the Lord shall defeate thee and display thy hypocrisie To conclude what causeth a man having one foote on the earth and another in the grave halfe dead and halfe alive to acknowledge some capitall sinne which in his health hee would not for all the world The Lord will make thine owne conscience impeach thy selfe and discover thy transgressions Thou thinkest not so so thought Iudas but as then with him so also with thee the case will cleane be altered The third appendix of their death is their society with the devill and his angells Mat. 25. we account it a fearefull thing to see a Spectrum or diabolicall delusion and so it is to our weake nature but to be really present with Sathan world without end a companion in torment what earthly man can abide it To bee in a prison full of Murtherers it is horrible but in that bottomelesse pit with thousands of condemned spirits abject and forlorne creatures a heavy heareing The theefe before he bee attached and caryed to the gaole perhaps he frequenteth the house of many a worthy person It is not thy stocke and kindred thy pompe and outward bravery that will serve thy turne when thou art arrested with death all the world will not be of sufficient credit to baile thee Thinke seriously of this and lay it to heart To bee taken out of the fields of pleasure and to bee throwne into the dungeon of hell there to bee guided with that cursed crew is no jesting-matter Oh that all carnall livers of our age would cōsider hereof no doubt it would somewhat restraine them in their wilfull course and gash their hearts amidst their pleasures O that that the curious and nice women that cannot abide the noise of a canon or the sudden flashing of fire could ponder the misery whereunto they are born namely to dwell in darknesse with those blasphemous spirits world without end In the night season or in a darke place thou art ready to runne away at the sight of a shadow or at the reciprocall imagination of thy owne thought upon the noise of a Scritch owle or the like and thinkest thou that thou canst abide the sight nay the company and continuall familiarity of that hellish Cave The Lord give thee a heart to consider of this fearefull horror before it betide thee and to goe out of thy selfe to behold the strange change which is wrought by the grave and sepulchre The fourth is the incredible horror and distresse of consciēce which the carnall liver sustaineth by the sense and feeling of the whole wrath of God powred upon him for ever They shall goe forth and looke upon the carkases of men which have transgressed against me for their worme shall not die neither shall their fire bee quenched and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh In respect whereof the punishment of the damned is likened in holy Scripture to fire to a Worme to gnashing of teeth to utter darknesse and the like Not as if these were sufficient to describe it for what can declare the depth of that which hath no bottome but onely by these most fearefull creatures in a superficiall manner to proportion that which nothing favoureth For as the joyes of heaven are unspeakable So are also the torments of hell and therfore why doth my barbarous tongue endeavour to decipher them Deare Christian esteeme of my words not as the full size of the thing it selfe but as a slight picture or a briefe draught of that unutterable volumne of all misery I am not able possibly herein to shew the mystery of this wonderfull worke made by the Lord of purpose to set forth his glory in justice Yet to helpe thy consideration which is nothing serious in regard of the thing I speake it also to the shame of my selfe I would faine imprint some conceit hereof in my heart that might make way to a second thought Wee esteeme horror of Conscience a matter of great importance because the most of us in these fearefull times are possessed with secure hearts and benummed spirits But when conscience shall once be throughly wakened like a wilde beast it will then shew his fiery eyes and take thee by the throat No torment of tenne thousand tyrants like unto it Doe but remember in what feare and dread sometimes thou seemest to be when in a sleepe or vision a glimpse of hell flashings are presented unto thee oh how thou strivest and strugglest how thou cryest and ravest with paine Nay how glad art thou thou awakest and findest it to bee but a dreame how thou tellest thy friend as much as thou canst but alas nothing in respect of what thou feltest what thinkest thou this to be Certainely the groveling of the Conscience stirred up by Sathan of purpose to overwhelme the godly to solicite to