deliver'd him up unto Death upon the account of sin he will surely shew no mercy to us if we are not wrought upon to forsake all our evil ways and turn unto the Lord our God and suffer him to Reign over us For that was the very thing Christ came into the World for viz. to restore rebellious Men to the Favour and Love of God in bringing them again to their Duty and Allegiance He tells us himself Mat. 9.13 He came to call sinners to repentance And the Apostle St. Paul teacheth us that this was the end of his Death Tit. 2.14 Who gave himself for our sins that he might redeem us from all iniquity And indeed he fully demonstrated by his Death and Sufferings the absolute necessity of returning to our Duty assuring us thereby That the wages of sin is death that God will by no means spare those that persist in their Rebellion and reject the Offers of Grace made to them in the Gospel and that there is no way to escape if we neglect so great a salvation As he forewarns us in the Parable the Lord will surely order at the Great Day of Accounts All his Enemies which would not that he should reign over them to be brought and slain before him Luke 19.27 But this is not all that was done by our blessed Saviour to establish the Kingdom of Heaven among Men. He not only did reveal the pure Laws of Heaven and manifested to the World the Wrath and Judgment of God against them that will not be ruled by 'em he hath also brought life and immortality to light thrô the Gospel He hath not only revealed but also given full assurance by his own Death and Resurrection that God will reward with everlasting Life and Felicity and an immortal Crown of Glory in Heaven those that will submit to his Government live according to the Gospel of his Son and be his faithful Subjects in this World Thus did the Mediator of the Second Covenant put the Laws of God in our inward parts and write them in our hearts I have thus long insisted upon this Point on purpose to make Christianity or the Messiah's Dispensation the better known For these are wholly and absolutely ignorant of the Nature of this his Heavenly Kingdom who conceit that Christ hath reconciled God to sin or to sinners that continue in their sins as I hope doth appear from what hath been said particularly concerning the Nature of the Christian Faith and as must needs indeed be evident to any one who will but consider seriously the Precepts the Promises and the Threatnings of the Gospel We are told Acts 3.26 That the end for which God sent his Son was to bless us in turning away every one of us from our iniquities It must needs therefore be a great Blessing to be freed from our sins and brought again under the Dominion of the Kingdom of Heaven What pretence then or what excuse can we now frame if we still despise and reject God's Laws and will not submit to his Divine Government How can we refuse to yield our selves unto God and become God's obedient People seeing he requires nothing of us but what is agreeable to the best Reason in the World and the Light of our own Consciences and what tends to our truest Happiness even in this Life such as must necessarily arise from Contentment Peace of Conscience and Serenity of Mind and all the Christian Vertues and will secure our everlasting Happiness in the World to come For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink it doth not consist in indifferent things but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost as we saw before Rom. 14.17 When we are admitted to the freedom of the Kingdom of Heaven we take a solemn Oath of Allegiance which comprehends these three things I. That we renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh II. That we receive and embrace all the Articles of the Christian Faith And III. That we will keep God's Holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the Days of our Life And as long as we are true to this Oath we remain good and faithful Subjects we are God's People and he is our God This is the Kingdom of Heaven that is the Christian Religion Now 3ly it is not hard to discern what reason there was to repent the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand and what reason then there is for Repentance now the Kingdom of Heaven is come The Kingdom of God being such as we have now seen it is evident that Repentance is a necessary step or preparative to it How will Men submit and conform themselves to the Divine Laws if they do not forsake their Sins and learn to practice the contrary Vertues They cannot serve God and Mammon Luk. 16.13 For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness what communion hath light with darkness and what concord hath Christ with Belial as says the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.14 15. 'T is certain Men will never be thorowly converted if they do not first repent and begin by Reformation The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom Prov. 9.10 So Repentance is the beginning of Christianity Those that forsake their Sins and repent heartily of them are fit Men to make Christians of but no wonder that the Rulers the Pharisees and Sadducees and the rest of the Hypocrites and Reprobates of that Age believed not in Jesus Christ The secret of the Lord is only with them that fear him the secret of the Lord is with the righteous and to such he will shew his covenant as we read Psal 25.14 Prov 3.32 In a word the good Seed taketh no effect but when it falls in a good and well prepared Ground that is in an honest and good Heart as is apparent from the Parable Luk. 8.15 Is it now necessary to bring any further Proofs to shew how much reason then there is for us Christians to repent Hear what Christ himself the Author of our Faith has expresly declared Luk. 13.3 Except ye repent ye shall all perish And if we are called with an holy and heavenly calling As it is 2 Tim. 1.9 Heb. 3.1 1 Thess 4.7 and in other places of Scripture it must needs be surely to this end that we should stablish our hearts unblameable in holiness 1 Thess 3.13 And perfect holiness in the fear of God having cleansed our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 He that never began to study nor ever was acquainted with Books may with as much reason conceit himself a great Scholar as he that hath not sorsaken his Sins and repented think he may be a Christian Let us therefore repent that we may follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 We cannot barely say as the Baptist Repent ye for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand but the Hour now is that we must bid all Men repent because the Kingdom of God is come and that is inconsistent with a state of Sin and Wickedness The Times of our Ignorance God winked at but now he expects we shall all repent And the reason of it we find Acts 17.31 Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he has ordained whereas he has given assurance to all men in that he has raised him from the dead Finally in Luk. 12.48 we read that unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required What manner of persons than ought we to be we to whom Christ is preached and the Kingdom of God fully revealed what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness as St. Peter has it in his 2 Epist 3.11 Hence we may take occasion in the 4th place to consider what sort of Persons are the Subjects of the Heavenly Kingdom that we may assuredly know whether we are such or not that if we are we may praise God for it and continue to be so or if we are not we may see what is to be done to become such It is evident that a thorow Conversion from Sin to Holiness is the Business of Christianity The Design of Christ's coming into the World was to make Men truly holy The only Preparation necessary for the Entertainment of the Messiah or the Reception of his Heavenly Doctrine consisted in having this work begun in them by Repentance Repent ye said the Baptist for the kingdom of heaven is at hand A Christian therefore a true Christian I mean and not one in name only is one that has forsaken all his evil ways and is turned with all his heart unto the Lord his God to do his whole Will and keep his Commandments as long as he lives They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Gal. 5.24 It is one who has denied himself and taken up his cross Matt. 16.24 One that treads apon the steps of his Saviour and runs with patience the race that is set before him looking unto Chrst Jesus who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is now set at the right hand of God Hebr. 12.1 2. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature says the Apostle St. Paul 2 Cor. 5.17 And Rom. 6.3 c. They that are baptised in Jesus Christ are baptised into his death therefore they are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead even so they also should walk in newness of life Leaving therefore the principles of the doctrine of Christ they go on unto perfection not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God as the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews has it 6.1 In a word true Christians are a peculiar people purified from all iniquity and zealous of all good works Tit. 2.14 But if you will know more particularly what manner of men true Christians are in their Life and Conversation you must read all the Precepts of the Gospel For we can never take them for true Christians that do not love Jesus Christ and are none of his Friends And I am sure all those are mere Hypocrites who pretend to love him and yet keep not his Commandments He has said it expresly If ye love me keep my commandments John 14.15 And at the 21 ver of the same Chapter He that has my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me or as it is at the 23 ver If a man love me he will keep my words By this we shall know certainly whether we are his Disciples or not Love is the fulfilling of the law as we read Rom. 13.10 that is it is the sum of it Charity comprehends all the Precepts of Christianity and implies all the Duties of Religion Therefore our Saviour has made it the Criterion or the Sign and Mark to know true Christians by John 13.35 In the 15th Chapter of the same Gospel at the 12th ver He calls it his Commandment This is my commandment that ye love one another as I loved you And at the 14th ver Ye are my friends saith he if ye do whatsoever I command you Than we are not his Friends if we do not whatsoever he commands us then surely we are not Christians But there 's no difficulty in the case we are true Christians we are his Friends if we do whatsoever he commands us Some Men perhaps at the first blush will be apt to think that this Representation of a Christian is defective because though I shew him to be one that renounceth Sin and the Devil and makes it his Business to frame his Life according to the Commandments of God yet I do not mention the particulars of his Belief But they may consider that this were needless to our present purpose and superfluous it being supposed that he who yields himself intirely and without any reserve to our Lord Jesus Christ to do his whole will doth most sincerely believe his holy Gospel and receives and adheres to all the Truths revealed in it It were unreasonable in this occasion to think that a too general Catalogue of the Articles of his Faith since 't is most certain God requires no more and no more is necessary to the Design of the Gospel and the Business of Religion that is to make Men truly holy Men may be ignorant of the meaning of several obscure places of Scripture nay and be mistaken in their Understanding of several places for no body is infallible and yet be right good Christians if they do but answer the Design of Christianity which cannot be mistaken but wilfully So that if a Man can say The Design of Christianity I am sincerely willing to obey my Creator and Redeemer in all things commanded by them I do entertain and harbour no Lust in my Breast I do heartily endeavonr to have a right understanding of the holy Scriptures and chiefly of the Gospel and to know what Doctrines are delivered there in order to the bettering of my Soul by them and the direction of my Life and Actions according to them If a Man can but say this truly of himself he may be sure whatsoever Mistakes he may labour under they cannot be such as will undo his Soul since they do not hinder him to answer the Design of the Gospel and the end of our Saviour's coming into the World that is to return sincerely and heartily to the Obedience of God to submit to his divine Government and frame his Life according to the Laws and Constitutions of his most Heavenly Kingdom It is certain Faith is required to no other end but this whoever reads the Scriptures cannot but see that this is the thing aim'd
the like But it doth not only concern us to know these things our main Business is to practice them otherwise we are as far from Christianity as before For Though we have all knowledge if we have not Charity we are nothing 1 Cor. 13.2 And as our blessed Saviour tells us Luke 12.47 That servant which knew his Lords will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes Fourthly If Without holiness no man shall see the Lord and if it be impossibe and a very contradiction to be a Member of the Kingdom of Heaven without doing the will of God and living in Obedience to his Commands then it follows necessarily that if we have any concern for our Souls or any value for our Salvation we must neglect nothing in order to it but must proseeute the means of Grace with all diligence Some Men neglect the hearing and reading of God's Word their private and daily Devotions the Publick Service of God or if they meet in his House they little mind what is done there they neglect the Opportunities of coming to the Lords Table to commemorate with pure and thankful hearts the inestimable Death of Christ and there renew solemnly their holy Vows and Resolutions they are perfect Strangers to the Doctrine of Fasting and they let their Bodies grow too head-strong for them Then if you talk to them of governing their Appetites of Self-denial and Resignation forgiving Injuries and the like they complain of their Infirmities and cry Who is sufficient for these things But whose Fault is it if they are not Judge I pray you betwixt me and my vineyard says the Lord of Hosts what could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it Wherefore then when I looked that it should bring forth grapes brought it forth wild grapes Isa 5.3 4. Lastly We must be sure to remember it is a great piece of Madness for Men to pretend to the Name of Christians whilst they put off their Repentance and live in the Practice of any Sin and it is no less unreasonable for them after a wicked Course of Life and a continual Neglect and Contempt of the Grace of God during their Life time to conceit they depart right good Christians out of this World by vertue of a late and Death-bed Repentance Alass Repentance at best is but the way or a Step to Christianity and even that is a Business that requires a great deal of Pains and Time many repeated Resolutions and Endeavours I shall not need to add more to shew the Unreasonableness and Invalidity of a Death-bed Repentance but this I will freely say I believe there 's nothing in the World causeth the Destruction of more Souls or doth more effectually the Work of the Devil than that Doctrine which makes Christianity so easie so slight and trifing a Business I will not indeed dishearten Men at no time from doing their Duty and turning unto the Lord with all their Heart and with all their Soul but neither will I encourage any to be presumptuous at their last Hour upon the Account of a late and Death bed Repentance I will advise such sinful Wretches who while they enjoyed their Life and Health and thought themselves out of God's reach rejected the Offers of Grace and spent their time in Sin and Vanity or liv'd in the Practice of any Sin and now are loath to be damned for their Folly and would fain make their Peace when they see themselves launching into Eternity I say I will advise them not to throw away the poor Remnant of their Time in unprofitable Profession of their great Grief and Sorrow who doubts it when Hell is open before them and they are upon the Brink of the precipice in passionate Profession of great Kindness for God and Vertue when they have laught at both as long as they could enjoy their Humour or in fulsome Flatteries and Complements and least of all in confident Extasies bold Claims of Salvation and Triumphs in the Mercy of God But I would have them humble themselves to the Dust before him like fugitive Slaves who are apprehended much against their Will and are brought by Force and Violence to appear before their Lord's Tribunal I would have them dispose themselves with just Fears and profound Humility to submit to God's Judgment whatever it shall be And I would perswade them to set all in order by the way as much as ever they can to undo as much as they are able all the Evil they have done and do all the Good that may be done in so little time that is make all the Restitution and all the Reparation possible if they have wrong'd or injur'd any frame their Minds as much as they can by sober and serious thoughts and strong and well grounded Resolutions to quite different Dispositions than those they had before and endure all the Pains and Misery of their Sickness with Patience and Submission proceeding from a due sense of their Deserts and an acknowledgment of the divine Justice and when they have effected all this I will advise them to cry to God for Mercy in the deepest Humility of their Souls acknowledging that they have not performed what God requires in the Gospel that therefore they have no Reason to presume upon his Mercy and that if he consumes them in an everlasting Fire it is but that they have deserved and what was foretold them by his Ministers Yet I will urge them still to cry to God Mercy Mercy and put themselves as much as they are able in a fit Disposition to obtain Mercy For who knows whether God will not be intreated and who can tell whither the Almighty has no hid Treasures of Mercy in store However it must beacknowledged this is the safest and reasonablest Course they can take having no other Hope 's left but this And these are very far from affording any grounds of Confidence and Presumption O then since we know these things ought we not to remember now our Creator according to the Exhortation Eccl. 12.1 now while it is called to day Heb. 3.13 Ought we not with the Psalmist to make haste and delay not to keep God's Commandments Psal 119.60 Certainly if we do not take warning after all this if we refuse to hearken to the heavenly calling and are not wrought upon to forsake all our Rebellions and return to the Obedience of God with all our Heart and with all our Soul not only these things will rise in Judgment against us and condemn us but our Condemnation will be most fearful and terrible for even those impious and wicked Men of Sodom who have been guilty of the most shameful and unnatural Lusts and did provoke God by their abominable Sins to rain Fire and Brimstone from Heaven upon them and consume them in an Eternal Fire Even these Men at the last Day shall be treated far more tollerably than those who reject
Confusion Everlasting Misery must inevitably be our Portion if thou hast not Compassion upon us For by our Unbelief and Disobedience we have deserved the Flames of Hell and our Folly and Inconsideration hath plunged us into Destruction O good Lord punish us not in thine Anger Suffer us not to perish for ever and fall into the bitter pains of Eternal Death But give us Grace now to repent actually and sincerely of all our Sins And then for the sake of our blessed Saviour be pleased to accept of our hearty and sincere Repentance Be merciful unto us O Lord be merciful unto us who are grieved for our Transgressions and are ashamed that we have offended thee Help us to contract such holy Dispositions that we may obtain the Salvation of our Souls Give us thy Holy Spirit we humbly beseech thee that we may perfectly hate and forsake all Sin and love and follow after Righteousness and true Holiness and that instead of our former Carelesness and Neglect of Religion we may now become earnest and diligent in learning and practising thy whole Will being always filled with that Zeal and Devotion which ought to accompany our Prayers that we may obtain thy Grace and Benediction Give us a true Contrition O Lord for all our Sins a deep Veneration for thy great Name a profound Humility a meek and charitable and contented Spirit and entire Trust and Dependance upon thy all-wise Providence and a Christian Hope that may purifie us as thou art pure Give us Grace to be always prepared against all that shall happen unto us in this World resigning our selves entirely into thy Hands Give us the Wisdom that is from above which is pure peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated full of Mercy and of good Fruits O give us that Peace which the World cannot give and which surpasseth all Understanding and fill our Hearts with that blessed Joy which is a continual Feast and a perpetual Comfort and is no where to be found but in a holy Mind and a good Conscience And particularly we pray thee give us a due sence of all thy Benefits that we may never be so ungrateful as to forget how many good things we have received from thee Blessed be thou O good God for all thy Temporal and Spiritual Blessings Blessed be thou that thou hast been so good and kind to us notwithstanding all our Provocations that we are still alive and that thou hast preserved us to this Hour and hast waited for our Repentance with so much Patience and Long-forbearance And for ever blessed be thy good Name for the inestimable Hope thou hast set before us by the Mediation of thy Son our Saviour whom thou hast sent to make Propitiation for all true Penitents and to bless us and lead us into the way of Happiness in turning every one of us from his Sins who therefore has brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel and hath so powerfully called us to Glory and Vertue by exceeding great and precious Promises that by these we might be Partakers of the Divine Nature having eseaped the Corruption that is in the World through Lust O Infinite Goodness to snatch us from Death and lead us in the way of Eternal Life How shall we escape if we neglect that great Salvation Good God since the Blessed Jesus shed his precious Blood to redeem us from all Iniquity that he might deliver us from this present evil World to make us New Creatures holy and pure to live with thee eternally in Heaven O may we become a peculiar People unto thee zealous of all good Works that through our Vileness we make not the Blood of thy Son ineffectual to the saving of our Souls and so loose the Benefits of his Redemption May we ever submit our selves unto thee and live soberly justly and godly in this present World and work out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling till we arrive at last to a happy Death and remit our Spirits into thy Hands Suffer us not O Lord to lust after evil things to fix our Hearts and place our Affections upon the things of this World nor to be restless and impatient for any Enjoyment of it Make us more and more sensible of the Uncertainty and Vanity of all worldly things and of our own Unworthiness of the least Good we enjoy that we may be content to want the Pleasures and Comforts of this World and if it be thy Will endure patiently its Crosses and Troubles so at last we do but obtain Heaven and for ever escape those dreadful and everlasting Torments of Hell which we have righteously and often deserved Have Pity O Lord upon the whole Race of Mankind More particularly take thy Church we humbly beseech thee into thy special Care and Protection There is none that fighteth for us but thou O God O let not thy Truth fail in the World grant that all Men may come to the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ that we may all serve thee unanimously under his Banner and having conquered the World the Flesh and the Devil whilst we follow the Captain of our Salvation we may enjoy the blessed Effects of that glorious Victory in mutual Love and universal Charity and so attain to the Felicity of the Kingdom of Heaven Bless and protect our Sovereign whom thou hast set over us Defend him in all Dangers and give him good Successagainst his Enemies and the Enemies of our holy Religion Bless and preserve our gracious Queen and the Royal Family Grant to all that are put in Authority under them that they may truly and indifferently minister Justice to the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the Maintenance of thy true Religion and Vertue Bless all those that minister unto us the Word of Life that they may save themselves and those that hear them Be good and gracious we beseech thee to all our Relations our Friends and Benefactors Pour thy Blessings upon this whole Family and all those among whom we live Put thy Fear and thy Love in our Hearts that we may live comfortably like Brethren and Christians one with another Have mercy O good Lord upon all that are in Trouble Sorrow Need Sickness or any other Adversity and those especially to whom our Prayers are due succour and relieve them comfort them with the Hopes of a better and eternal Life and fit them for that blessed Life Pardon our Enemies give us Grace to love them and do good unto them and them Grace to repent that we may all live better than we have done for the time past that we may all be Partakers of thy Salvation O give us Grace daily to amend what is amiss in us that we may go on unto Perfection and may be so happy as to enjoy the Pleasures of divine Love and Holiness to Eternity Take us all this Day Night O Lord into thy good and mighty Protection * That is to be said in the Morning