Can we expect that People should ever give over Separating from our Congregations how strict soever the provision made by the Laws be when having a great famine in their Souls and a thirst for the word of Knowledge they come amongst us and get none If there be any here that can account it nothing though the great and dreadfull God be provoked poor Souls be Everlastingly undone a Flourishing Nation laid desolate a Church well ordered as to the main miserably torne in pieces by Schismes a Ministry which hitherto God has Honoured by using it to the Converting and edifying of Souls laid aside as an useless instrument I know not what to say to them which I can hope will take the least hold of them they may go and follow their Pleasures â—ark and â—oil in the World to be Rich and great and in the mean while quite forget that it was any part of their duty to preserve saving Knowledge Only let me tell them this time may come when they shall too late find it was a duty when Judgements have pursued and overtaken them and Conscience is awakened out of its long sleep when outward afflictions press and pinch and Terrours of Death and Hell Affright and all Comfort and help from Creatures fails and the man knows not which way to turne him or what will become of him then they will wish they had Considered it sooner But for you My Brethren who have engaged in this great work following the inward call of God being fully perswaded in your hearts that by devoting your selves this way you might do God and his People best service let me speak a word to you and my self Let us make it appear that how hard conceits soever some have of us we have a sense of and regard to our duty as well as they while we faithfully discharge it Let us confute the prejudices which prevail much in the World against us as if we were a generation of men that might be best spared by being really usefull let us manage our business so that their Consciences may Justify us when their humours and Interests engage them most in the quarrell against us 1st Let us Labour to grow in Knowledge Reall Spirituall Experimentall Solid and usefull Knowledge let us faithfully set our selves to do Gods will and he will make us know it Get our hearts made more pure then our heads will be more clear Earnestly press after the Spirit of truth and Knowledge which is able to reveal unto us the hidden things of God and to lead us into all truth Let us study throughly our own hearts we need not read over the Whole impression and the Bible these we shall find the best Books out of which we may be sufficiently furnished with what ever is usefull Let us faithfully make use of our talents that God may encrease them 2ly Let us in holding out Knowledge be faithfull instant in season and out of season and wise also let us meddle little with disputable Points these take them generally come not near the heart of Religion they do small good a great deal of harm making People proud Talkative and quarrelsome Diverting them also from the main of Religion to impertinencies Deal gently with Conscientious dissenters they will not be won by being reproached and â—ttaunted by being rendred odious to those about them by Nicknames Railing against their mistakes will not confute them neither will it heal their Sores to be ever in handling them No it is Found by Experience that False opinions are sooner undermined then battered and the warm Sun causes the Traveller to lay aside that Cloak which the Blustering wind could never have forced from him Make vse of Knowledge rather than shew of it lest thou prejudice the more sober and understanding persons against thee by giving them too Just cause to believe that thou art studying more to gain applause then to do good Some while they affect to seem learned make themselves Ridiculous yea and nauseous too while they vomit up as it were amongst the People their crude Matters which if they had been throughly digested into strength of reason would have made the Consciences of People feel that they do understand themselves So while they seek credit they miss it and also oft times render weighty matter inefficacious by Intermixing Dilute stuff with it which Weakens the Force of it Let us thus set our selves to preserve Knowledge and Knowledge shall preserve yea advance us God himself will own us wipe away our reproach and secure our interest and every way bless us People shall owne us and readily hear us Chearfully submit to us in the Lord heartily bless God for us And we shall either see of the Travell of our Souls amongst them and be Satisfied or however we shall know that our Judgment is with the Lord and our work with our God though Israel be not gathered and great shall be our reward in Heaven Proverbs 3. 5. 6. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and leane not unto thine understanding In all thy wayes Acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths THis Book was writ by one of great naturall parts who had all imaginable advantages whereby to improve them to the height besides those Supernaturall Endowments of Knowledge and wisdom he begg'd of God and obtained It containes in it severall usefull directions learned and tryed by Experience for the ordering of ones wayes in the fear of God with discretion so as to decline the snares of this present life comfortably to wade through all its troubles profitably to make use of all the Occurrences of it so as daily to get ground of Corruption to grow in purity and Heavenly mindedness fear of Love to faith in God submission to him meekness and holiness of heart ingenuity and goodness towards men to provide for and make sure of peace Joy and Glory to the Soul unto all eternity In the begining of this Chapter he falls upon his instructions with a winning insinuating compellation a temper expressing much tender Love and serious care My Son He enforces them with very powerfull perswasions from the reall advantages they bring along with them If a long Comfortable and honourable life be of any worth the rules which point out the certain way to these are of weight But what are these In generall Two 1st Make Conscience of all thy ways and keep thine heart Continually in Exercise to find out what is thy duty in every particular case that thou mayest set about the serious practice of it Ver. 3. Know that mercy and truth goodness reality are the main things ye ought to addict your selves unto you must get your hearts purged your lives Reformed from all malice and guile filled and adorned with what ever is akin to tender Love and honest sincerity But how shall one know what is Duty and what will really promote mercy and truth in the heart and life This is wisely inquired for
patience have its Perfect work Iam. 1. 4. 3. Resignation unto Gods hands to be disposed of by him as he pleases lett him if he will deprive us of all our Comforts cross us in all our desires frustrate us of all our hopes plunge us into all extremity of Sufferings saying with Ely it s the Lord let him do whatseemes him good 1. Sam 3. 18. with David if he thus say I have no delight in thee behold here I am lett him do to me as seemeth good unto him 2. Sam 15. 26. with Hez-kiah Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken 2. Kings 20. 19. with St. Paul I am ready not to be bound only but also to die c. Acts. 21. 13. These I refer unto the Life not that they do not begin at the heart but because they are most conspecuous in the life whereas the operation of the other is oft more inward 2ly As to the degrees of these excellencies for though these were all found in a Christian so that he were not wholy defective in any usefull knowledge humility Purity Faith Love Obedience patience resignedness Yet were Knowledg obscure confuse doubtfull ineffectuall in him were purity partiall so that it onely freed him from some pollution but not from all were humility in a low degree so that though he did not greatly affect esteem and applausse yet he could not patiently bear open contempt reproach and contumelious using were Faith so seeble that though it did at last overcome all feares and doubtings yet this were not till a long time not without much adoe were love so Narrow as to confine it self but to some few persons or partyes so fickle as upon slight provocations to be Changed into quite another thing so cold and feeble as to put upon doing and suffering little whereby the good of others might be promoted and Secured were obedience partial that it had not respect to all God's Commands temporary and endured but for a while only so long as outward advantages allured to it Formall haveing onely the carcase of it but wanting the Soul if it the Heart servile not out of any Love to God or goodness but either out of hope of reward or fear of Punishment were patience weak that it could bear little or shortwinded that it would not bear long were resignedness limited to some certaine things and not extended unto all so that we could not say without any reserve proviso or exception with them Acts. 21. 14. The will of the Lord be done I Say were not all these excellencies in a Christian in the highest degree that he is capable of he Would not be a Perfect Christian Perfect indeed in one sense he would be having essential perfection or whatever is requisite to make him a true Christian as a man is a man if he have body and Soul though as to his body he be never so deformed and defective and as to his Soul he be never so depraued in moralls and intellectuals but he would not be Perfect as to a graduall Perfection as a Child is not a Perfect man though he want none of the integral parts of a man Nor as to integral Perfection as a man that wants an Eye or Hand or Leg is an Imperfect man Quest. But wherein lies the obligation which a Christian is under to labour after Perfection Answer 1st He owes this unto God 1st that we may honour him by being like him for he is Perfect then we most really declare the high thoughts which we have of Gods excellencyes when we Count them worth transcribing into our selves 2ly That we may please him in being conformed to his will This is the will of God even our Perfection as well as our Sanctification 1. Thes 4. 3. 3dly That we may obey him who Sayes be Perfect 2. Cor. 13. 11. his Law being Perfect Psal 19. 7. 4thly That we may be fitted for serving him acceptably following him fully as Caleb did Numb 14. 24. Readily doing and Chearfully Suffering what ever he calls to and that with Single hearts 5thly For enjoying him fully for God being a Perfect God we shall never be fit for that intimate communion with him which does Compleat our happiness and fulfill the good pleasure of his will without we be Perfect too 2ly He owes this unto his Brethren that he may do them less hurt more good 1st The more Perfect any Christian is the more earnestly desirous the more solicitously carefull the more unweariedly diligent will he be to do all the good which he has ability and opportunity For 2ly The more able will he be to do good 1st His Councels will be the more wholsome more suitable and more seasonable the greater prudence he has 2ly His example will be the more quickening edifying attracting the more Wisdome Holiness and righteousnes there is in it 3dly His labour will be the more industrious more unwearied the greater measure he hath of spirituall life to prompt him to them strength to carry him through them 4thly His prayers for others will be the more servent frequent prevalent the more Love there is in him to excite them the more Faith to encourage them 3ly He owes this unto himselfe the more Perfect any Christian is 1st The more Serviicable his life will be he 'l have more will more Power of doing what may promote God's Glory and mans good he 'l find more encouragement to it more pleasure in it Now it s a Christians intrest to be as Servicable as may be The more he does for God or man the greater is his honour the sweeter his comfort the higher will be his reward 2ly The more comfortable his Death will be 1st He will be every way more fitted for those Joyes and Gloryes which he is entring into he will have a greater capacity for them a deeper sence of them 2ly He will be more assured of them reflection upon his life will give some assurance when he can say with Hezekiah he has walked before God in truth and with a perfect heart Esa 38. 3. with St. Paul I have finished my course 2. Timo 4. 7. Reflection upon his heart and the principles there inhering and working for he who finds grace here need not doubt of glory hereafter Direct actings of faith and Love will incline him to expect confidently good from God aboue all that he can ask or think The sealing of the Spirit will make a more discernable impression in a heart more prepared and the light of the Spirit will give clearer evidence in a more purified heart and the terrours of Satan will less prevail where he has less place 3ly The more glorious his reward in Heaven will be The more Perfect any one is the more Capable he will be of Joy and Glory as Souls are Widened here so they shall be filled hereafter The more Perfect any is the more fitted he will be for Joy and Glory for the righteous God does proportion
his rewards and punishments to the principles and practises of persons so that they who are better and do better may expect higher rewards those that are worse and do worse may expect severer punishments Qu. But what is perfection then attainable in this Life And if it be not how can we be obliged in duty to endeavour a thing not feasible and to pursue after that which when we have done our best we can never expect to attaine Answer 1st If Perfection be at all attainable whether in this Life or the other it suffices to oblige us to endeavour after it seeing it is not to be expected without sincere and diligent endeauours Now all acknowledge that Perfection is attainable however in the other Life and therefore cannot be either on the one hand fruitless or on the other unnecessary 2ly Though compleat Perfection that is Freedome from all sinfull principles and practises and the highest measure of grace both as to the habit and Act which we are capable of considering the manifold disadvantages which we lie under be not to he expected here so long as we carry about us such vile bodies which are Subject to such variety of impressions from the Stars and Elements and so long as we are exposed unto severall temptations from the World and Satan on the Right and Left-Hand Yet the foundation of this is laid here and as this is more large or narrow so proportionable will be the superstructure The harvest will be according to the sowing 3dly There is a certaine Perfection attainable here and therefore St. Paul speakes of some as Perfect 1. Cor. 2. 6. We speak wisdom among them that are Perfect And reckons himselfe in the Number of them Phil. 3. 5. Let us therefore as many as be Perfect c. Though he denys that he has attained compleate Perfection Verse 10. Not as though I had already attained either were allready Perfect For a Christian is continually growing till Death as a man growes greater in all his members till he come to his full stature and then he may grow in thickness but not in height there being a threefold state which a Christian passes through betwixt his first vocation and his Glorification a state of enjoyment where there is much light life comfort and sensible strength a state of dissertion where there is much deadness darkness discomfort And polution experienced and a state of restitution wherein the former light and life and comfort is restored and increased those who are arrived unto these states may be reckoned all among the Perfect as those who are newly recouered from under a relapse may be said to be come to their Perfect health though they be far short of their wonted strength And in this notion of perfection I understand the word 1. Pet. 5. 10. Where Perfection is imediatly consequent to the state of sin and suffering weakness c. Unsettledness in dissertion Now of such as are Perfect in this sense i. e. Compared with beginners or proficients under desertion there are different attainments so that some have arrived at a higher measure of wisdome and Grace and some at a lower and such a Perfection as this is attainable here by those who are faithfull to God and their own Souls in managing advantages of providences and Ordinances with a subserviency hereunto Vse 1. Is it our duty to seek and press after Perfection then certainly it is our Sin and our reproach and should be our greife that we do so little concerne our selves about Perfection as we do yea it should be our shame too when every thing is pressing after Perfecton There is nothing in nature which is at rest for its aspiring after Perfection though it spend it selfe by this industrious pursute after Perfection and expire As when the herb with much bearing has grown up into a flower it then begins to decline and wither shall man only content himselfe with an Imperfect state though he be the choicest peice of Gods creation capable of the highest Perfection whereunto he is designed a Perfection most sublime most durable When every one endeavours to be Perfect in the art which he professes the Councellor in the Skill of law the phisician in the Skill of preserving and restoring health preventing and Curing deseases Is it not a shame that a Christian who professes the Skill of vanquishing the World and Hell of curing the most desperate deseases of Souls of heaping up a bank of true Riches which will never be exhausted to all eternity that he should not care though he be a bungler in this art of arts What thoughts do we take what inquiries do we make what endeavours do we use that we may be Perfect Can we tell what re we not ashamed they are so few Were we not at all concerned herein whether we be Perfect or we be not the matter were the less weighty but when it is impossible we should be happy vnless we be Perfect and we can never hope to escape the curse of the Perfect Law nor to stand the Judgment of the Perfect God any other wayes is it not palpable folly nay extreame madness to neglect it 2ly Is it our duty to press after Perfection Let us make it our care study to excell our selves excell others to be every way Perfect let us make that our business while we live which we shall wish when we come to die we had made our business In order hereunto let us 1st Endeavour to be sensible of our great imperfection our extreme want of usefull knowledge saveing grace solid comfort our unprofitableness under mercies Judgments meanes our awkwardness to carry like Christians in those various Changes we vndergo 2ly See the great worth and use of Perfection how subservient it is to God's Glory the good of our selves and others certainly the most perfect Christians are every way best fitted for the improuement of all opportunityes of doing and getting good 3dly Learn the way to attaine Perfection Accustome your selves to have mean thoughts of your selves live up to light and strength in obeying God and denying your selves Keep daily in your eye Perfection as the mark to Aime at the goal to run to Vse all meanes of Perfection reading the most Spirituall Books hearing the most spirituall Preachers conversing with the most spirituall Persons Decline all hinderances of Perfection beleiving that it is not attainable presuming ye have already attained it taking up with Low attainements distracting your minds with cares and endeauours about Religious impertinences Pray unto God to Perfect you it s your duty to seek Perfecton God's prerogatiue to give it when God therefore saith be ye Perfect say Lord Perfect me 1. Peter 5. 10. Sanctify me throughout there are promisses of Perfect subdueing Lusts Perfect compleating graces Phill 4. 5. Let your Moderation be known unto all men THE Phillipians unto whom Paul directs this Epistle were then in a suffering condition Cap. 1 v. 29. But notwithstanding this
very much desire This checks our jolity breaks our Sleep takes us off our Meat changes our Colour plumpness and Strength but we can grow dead and Cold and Faint as to the Bent of our Souls the workings of our Hearts in those pure Spirituall Heavenly delights and longings after the Spirit of holiness and goodness and yet be as Jocund as ever Savour as much the Comforts of this Life as ever We can devert our selves with company and worldly business c. 2ly When we are more studying and toiling beating our Braines and tireing our Bodies laying designes and pursusing them with all seriousness diligence and indefatigableness for the getting of some outward comfort our hearts are set on then for the getting of Grace growing in the Life Strength and Vigour of it bringing forth the Fruits of it When for the recovering of the health of our Bodies encreasing our Estates the Scruing our selves into the fauour of some particular Persons the heightening of our Reputations we count no Care no Industery to much we spare no paines we are prodigall enough of our time leaving no Friend un-consulted noe interrest unimproved But let the Soul be never so Sick famished for the word of Life Impoverished of the true Riches we can fit still as Persons not concern'd trouble no body with such Idle questions as how we may get our Souls saved we can content our selves with any Sermons though they never come home to our Consciences spend Sabbaths after Sabbaths in vaine discourses sports c. 3ly When we are more glad of these outward Comforts finding our selves growing more Healthfull Strong Wealthy more in fauour with the World c. Then when we find good desires more strong more frequent our Souls getting ground upon Lust getting Victory over the World 4ly When we had rather part with the means of Grace then with any outward Comfort Rather then abridge our selves any thing of our ease or pleasure or at the least hinder our profit we will have no Reading of the Bible no Preaching we will not be disturbed by Meditation c. 5ly When we can pray more heartily for these seasonable Weather a good Crop ease of Taxes Peace c. Then for Meekness Lowliness Love c. 6ly When we are more thankfull to those that endeavour to supply us with outward Conveniences then to those who by their example and Councel Exhortations and Reproofs endeavour to bring our Souls into a sense of their poverty and misery to a relish of pure truth to the Life of reall Grace 7ly When we are more angry at those that hinder us from getting that outward comfort which we have most mind to then we are with those who by their company or example make our Spirits more dull or flat more dead and cold more formall and Carnal less to prize relish and seek after Holiness and Heavenly mindedness 8ly When in disposing our Selves or Relations in the World as to Callings Services or Marriags we more consider what probably may be for their outward ease Pleasure and Preferment then for the good of their Souls for the Begetting Cherishing Increasing and Strengthening of grace in them But 3ly When we love these more then duty as 1st When God calls us to something else Praying Reading Hearing Meditating c. We chuse rather to be pleasing our selves in the use of these outward Comforts 2ly When we will commit Sin rather then lose any of these It may be our Consciences are perswaded that such practises are Sinfull Rather then we will venture our Liberties or Estates we will do them however before our Consciences be throughly convinced they were in a mistake before 3ly When for the Attaining of any of these things our hearts hanker after we will be induced to do any thing which ought not to be done which may bring reproach upon Religion and the name of God such as fraud injustice for getting of Estates and when we quarrel with those that stand in our way 4ly When our hearts are so upon rhese that we cannot be without them all our Comforts gone if here we be Crossed when we Count life it self not worth the having upon these terms if we have not what we desire or lose what we love we throw up all Thus being brought under the Power of them we have not them but they us That People are prone to be Immoderate appears 1st That even good People who might be presumed to be free from this distemper if any at all are yet recorded to have been to blame this way Rachel because she has no Child falls a quarrelling with her Husband and will needs go die Gen. 30. 1. Jacob having lost one Son of Twelve What a deal adoe he keeps will not be comforted He will live no longer Gen. 37. 34. 35. Hannah though she had a very kind Husband yet because she wanted a Child and is upbraided with it by her Rivall will not Eaâ— 1 Sam. 1. 7. David for the loss af a Rebellions Son who had usurped upon him how is he moved What passionate expressions useth he How unmindfull is be of the late deliverancâ— 2 Sam. 18. 33. Job because he may not have his health and ease will needs throw away his Life too Job 6. 9. Baruch because frustrated of his expectation of worldly greatness what Sorrow Sighing Fainting Restleness do we hear of Jer 45. 3. 5. If Jonah lose his Credit and be counted a false Prophet for denouncing that destruction against Nineveh which was prevented he 'l not be obliged to God for his Life in pet he 'l bid him take that too Joh. 4â— 3. If the Gouâ—d that shaded him Wither He will Live no longer No death is a great deal Better v. 8 2ly Let us but all make an impartiall Survey each of our selves 't is to be feared we shall find how we do over prize these things and dote upon them We need seek for no other proofe to Convince us there is such a proneness in Man to be Immoderate then that we find in our selves This proceeds 1st From that great Suitableness betwixt these Lower Comforts and our naturall inclinations Hence these things become so pleasing to us 2ly From the want of an inward principle to give a Check unto our naturall inclinations and to put in us a new bent Men in their unregenerate state have only Conscience to bridle them which only shews them they ought not so much to indulge themselves in these lower delights but endowes them not with a principle Spirit Nature which disgusts these and hungers and thirsts after some thing else which is better and higher Those that have a new nature begun in them Oft this is faim and weak wants its sense and Palate Sleepy Dull so that it is within indeed but Acts not 3ly From ignorance of the vanity and vexation which is in all these things which only we come to understand indeed when we throughly experience 4ly Vnaquaintance with that which
those frightfull Shrinks which are to be discerned in some dying Persons it is very probable are not so much the result of Vehement Pains of Body as of extream Anguish on their Spirit when they are made indeed to see whither they are going Sometimes their Peace and Hope continues untill the very last breath and their Amazement must needs be very Horrible when they feel themselves in Hell before ever they thought of it It is certain all these Advantages must come to nothing at Death For 1. Some of them are of that nature that they are of no use in another world as Credit and Worldly advantages Those in Heaven are so filled with Joy and Glory that these are below them Those in Hell are so filled with anguish and horrour that if they could have these still they could not heed them they would find no Ease by them Even during this Life a man in the Gout Stone or Cholick may have such Vehement pains upon him that it will be but poor Comfort to hear that he has lived in good Credit has scraped together much Wealth or purchased many Friends 2. Some of them are of that Nature that they Continue not after this Life Common Grace is but the working of Gods Spirit upon a man to bring him to Saving Grace in the 〈◊〉 or else to keep him from doing that mischief in the World which otherwise he would do Now there is no use of this after Death Gifts are but the Spirits working on a man to Raise his Parts that he may be more usefull to the Church Now the Spirit makes to further use of a man after he is called out of this Life 3ly Some of them are of that Nature that they cannot continue when the Truth is discovered and when Experience shews the Vanity of them as peace and hope God suffers them sometimes to fall here that those who rest in them may take warning not to Content themselves with that which may fall lest their Condition should be as sad as theirs is who fall away The Fall is Great in it self It is Totall whatever men have Raised to themselves by their Religion all comes down together It is Finall the Ruines of this usually are never raised again If it fall not till Death it is impossible to raise it if it fall before it is difficult Those who have got into a Form and rest there who have had great helps to get further and have been much a wanting to God and their own Souls they have Sinned much against Light and Grace or else they had got further Vsually their Fall is then when God leaves them wholly to themselves as despairing to do any good upon them Now there is no hope of that Soul which has Triffled away its Season of grace and is now left by God unto its self The fall is great as to its Consequences There is great Amazement by reason of the suddenness and unexpectedness of it There is great Horrour when all the false Peace and Hope is gone there is then nothing but a fearfull Looking for of Judgement and fiery Indignation Heb. 10. 27. Use 1. We should be greatly afraid lest what we Build should fall also and thereby we be put to great Shame to Build so Foolishly when we should be Building for Eternity Thereby we come to great loss we lose our Souls we undergo unspeakable unconceivable Mischeif which we can neither bear up under nor run away from The way to avoid this falling is to make use of Common grace in order to the getting of Saving grace to press through the Form of Religion to the power of it to nourish in our selves Apprehensions of the Danger of resting in such Attainments as we may utterly and everlastingly fall away from to be frequently enquiring what we have attained to in Religion which these Temporary Christians came short of to be earnest with God in Prayer that he would not suffer us to rest in such common Attainments as we may wholly lose during this Life or such as we shall never be Advantaged by when we come to die Use 2. The greater the Fall is let us be the more afraid of it and bend our Endeavours and Prayers so that we may escape it The nearer we come to Heaven the deeper shall we be plunged into Hell if we come short of Heaven Isaiah 55. 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be Found Call ye upon him while he is Near. THese words under a different Aspect may admit of a different Construction View them on one side and they seem to lay before us an Exhortation to a great Duty with a Direction how this may be most advantageously Discharged The Duty Exhorted to is the Doing the utmost that in us lieth for the Finding of God The Rules directing how to manage this Duty aright prescribe that this be set about 1st Diligently Men ordinarily when they find and feel great need of the Guidance and Assistance of some Person of eminent Prudence and Power whom they have high hopes of do not content themselves with Idle Wishes neither do they lazily sit down vainly Expecting that he should designedly come to them or that they should Accidentally meet with him in good time No but they consider with themselves where is the Place of his usual Residence or Resort and thither they forthwith betake themselves to seek him out and if haply they do not find him where they Expected they go about calling and enquiring after him till at last they find him With such Care and Diligence must those seek who desire and hope to find God 2ly Speedily Men if they know that one whole help they greatly need cannot be found at all times let never so much Care and Diligence be used in seeking him will not dare to put oft one moment their seeking and calling upon him considering with themselves that for any thing they know that may be the only Moment wherein the Person needed may be found which Opportunity if they let slip they may be at abundance of Cost and Tâ—il in seeking him and all to no purpose Now these that would find God must set about this great work of seâ—kâ—ng him with as little Procrastination View the Words on the other side and they seem to set forth to us an Exhortation to this Duty with an 〈◊〉 Inducement and Encouragement faithfully to set about it Let a Business be of never so great Importance men will but slackly apply themselves to 〈…〉 they either doubt of the 〈…〉 tho' it should be effected or the Feasableness of it that it ever will be effected Therefore to excite men to do their utmost for finding of God he lets them know 1st The Advantage which will certainly accruâ— â—â— God bâ— but once Found he being THE LORD he having not only a Right of Dominion over all Persons and affairs but a Right of Propriety in them Now what may not men expect from this LORD who
hath all Ruleth all and doth all if by finding him they have attained to be in Favour with him and to have his Presence with them 2ly The Possibility nay Probability of finding god if he be but duly sought Were God not at all to be found or were he at such a vast Distance from us that he could not be found without a very Tedious Inquisition we might hereby somewhat excuse our sloth in neglecting to seek him But when he may be found and that without going very far he being so near us it is a Madness to lose him for want of a little seeking after him I shall comprehend the substance of the Text in this brief but full Proposition It is the Duty and Concern of all to seek the Lord while he may be found to call upon him while he is near I say all are obliged and concerned thus to do for the Precept and Exhortation is Generall extending to all Sexes Ages and Conditions of men that are without God unless we can imagine that there are some without God that need him not but can be well enough without him although the Apostle representeth this as the height of the Misery of an Unregenerate Person that he is without God in the World Ephes. 2. 12. The Foregoing Proposition implieth 1st That men in their Naturall Condition are so without God as not to find him without seeking They are at a Remote distance from God not as to Place that being utterly impossible for he who fills Heaven and Earth with his Immense Essence cannot but be intimately present with every Soul but as to State For the Bent of their Hearts being directly contrary to the Divine nature and Will they are no more capable of admitting the gracious Influences of God than a Lump of Clay can take in the Light of the Sun tho' it shine never so bright round about it But this is not all the Wretchedness of an Unregenerate Condition for men in that Estate are not only without God who is the only Originall of their Life and Comforts the only Foundation of their Hopes but are also Ignorant where to find him If they understood but how to go Directly to God they would not need long to seek him And this is one of the Bitterest Fruits of the Originall Apostacy of our first Parents which has been continued and increased by our Actuall Transgressions It is the Root of all those Extreme Mischiefs which follow Sin either as Naturall Consequences of it or Penall Chastisements for it Whatever we at any time complain of may be justly Imputed to this Isa 59. 2. Your Iniquities of have Separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear 2ly That men while without God and thus at a distance from him do greatly and Extremely stand in need of God and can in no wise be without him Were it not for this we should hear of no Commands issued out from God for the enjoyning men to seek him For the good and wise God although his Supremacy be unquestionable yet he Loves not to Act Arbitrarily merely for the Ostentation of his Power but he is induced to Act by the Consideration of some Holy Righteous and good End which he would Promote Now this End cannot refer to himself for the infinite ever Blessed all sufficient God the Lord of Heaven and Earth is utterly uncapable of any Addition to himself It must therefore be the Conveniences and Necessities of poor Sinfull man that God consults in the giving out of his Commands When God therefore sayes to man Seek me we may assure our selves that we have need so to do God knows we have need Possibly Foolish man may have other Conceits in his head while with Children he pleases himself in Toyes but when once with the Prodigal he comes to himself being awakened out of his pleasing Dream by a sight of Sin fear of Gods wrath and the Law 's curse by a sense of Judgements Especially such as Afflict the Body or affright with black Apprehensions of Death or deprive of those Lower Comforts which are most set by then he clearly descerns and sensibly Experiences the Vanity and Vexation of whatever is besides and below God and thereby Learns that the Satisfaction he so much needs is no where to be expected but in God only 3ly That men notwithstanding the need they stand in of God are very backward to seek him Men will not be induced to seek God by the fairest Invitations and the most earnest Entreaties they must be in a manner compelled to seek God by strict Commands and severe Threatnings God would spare those did he not see that there would be no seeking him without them nay Experience shews that all these will scarce do for men seldome seek God in good earnest till the Incessant Judgements of God do as it were drive them out of their Sins their Earthly Comforts and themselves unto God This is one great piece of the Misery of an Apostate State that men are senseless of it and so do not concern themselves to seek unto him who only can save from it like men in High Feavers who greatly need the Help of a Physician yet being in raging Phrensies they as much despise and reject it as being altogether unapprehensive of their own Danger Men are generally so averse from seeking God that the Apostle observes out of Scripture that there are none that seek after God and he imputes it to this that they understand not Rom. 3. 11. Alass they know not their Want of God they feel not their need of God they understand not the Worth of God they have severall things to make Gods of to themselves to please themselves in The God of this World blinds them that they see not their Godless Condition he hardens them that they feel it not and holds them that they stir not out of it The Lusts of the Flesh the World find them severall other things to seek besides God whom they most need 4ly That God may be Found if duly and Timely fought While one observes what Gross neglect there is of God in the World how few seek him and that men are for the most part wholly intent upon the Pursuit of other things he has Temptations to conceit that surely God is not at all to be found otherwise men would not be so desperately mad as never to concern themselves about seeking him seing without him they cannot but be Utterly and Everlastingly undone without Remedy But this strange Carelessness of God is rather the Result of their Senselessness of the need they stand in of God than of their Despair of finding him For the Gâ—d of Truth would never have commanded and Encouraged men to seek him if in seeking they were likely to lose their Labour No he Never said neither to the Seed of Jacob nor to the Seed of Adam seek ye me in Vain Isa 45. 19.
The Condition of lost man would be very deplorable if that God in whose Enjoyment his Happiness consists could in no wise be found The Undertaking of Christ also would be altogether in vain whatever he he has done or suffered even that Painfull shamefull Execrable Death upon the Câ—â—ss would be wholly to no Purpose if men could not be brought to God so as to find him for S. Peter tells us this was the great End of all That he might bring us unto God S. Pet 3. 18. Doubtless then God may be Found if he be but Sought 1. Duly If men seek him out of a feeling sense of their want need of him and out of a sincere desire to find him if they diligently enquire after him faithfully follow the guide which leads to him and carefully use the means whereby he is drawn nigh unto He hath promised Jer. 29. 13. Ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your Heart Which is as true of Gods readiness to be found when rightly sought to deliver from the Bondage of Sin as from the Captivity of Babylon 2ly God must be sought timely while he may be found before the Proper season of finding him be over Prov. 8. 17. Those that seek me early shall find me For The fifth thing implied in the Proposition is that the Time of finding God by seeking him will not always last And 1st It will certainly be ended at Death Indeed there is a Presence of God according to which he will be found after Death unsought for and undesired A Terrible furious presence which fills the Conscience of the Impenitent Sinner with a sense of Guilt and wrath and his heart with anguish and Horror Perplexity and Despair It is this Presence which kindles That fire that shall never be Quenched and which so affrights the greatest and stoutest that they are not able to abide it but Call to the Mountains and Rocks to fall on them and hide them from it Rev. 6 16. When the Soul is once separated from this Lumpish Body which straitens its Capacities and dulls its senses and greatly unfits it for Converse with any thing but this Gross world then it comes immediately to have to do with God himself whom it has so much despised and hated and his presence they can in no wise possibly avoid although by reason of the Contrariety which is between Gods nature and theirs it be extremely Tormenting to them like a fire that doth continually scorch Isa 33. 14. Who among us shall dwell with Everlasting Burnings But as for the Amiable and Gracious Presence of God that Presence which the Soul needeth and desireth with which it is so refreshed and ravished this if it be not sought here can never be found hereafter After Death the state of the Soul is unalterable it is with men then as it was with the Devils immediately after their Fall their Wills are Immutably fixed to their former Choice so that those who will not seek God now cannot then There is no such Work as seeking in the Grave whither we go Besides if there could be any seeking God after death there could be no finding him then seing there is then a Vast Gulf fixt between God and Sinfull Souls S. Luke 16. 26. The Romanists who suppose a Purgatory after death and a seeking and finding God out of Purgatory only assign this Purgatory for those in the state of grace who have been sincerely seeking God during this Life but have not found him being not sufficiently purified and so not prepared for him 2ly It may possibly be ended during Life There are those who have outlived the day of Grace in which God offers himself to be found Thus it was with Pharoah whom God after the sixth Plague reserved alive till he should have a more seasonable opportunity for the Glorifying of himself in his destruction Thus it was also with Judas of whom Christ gave this Character some time before his death that he was a Devil S. Joh. 6. 70. A Devil not only for the Wickedness of his heart but also for the desperateness of his state Devils might as soon find God as he There are those who while alive sin the Sin unto Death S. John 5. 19. Opposing the Spirit of God so obstinately and contumaciously in its saving work that at last it fully and finally Resolves to leave them to themselves to go on to their own Destruction God can never be found but when he sets himself to be found saying Behold me Behold me Isa 65. 1. Nay while he himself Seeks his Servants Psal 119. 176. And this is only so long as there is any Hopes that a Sinner may be Reclaimed by any Methods of Grace which Gods Wisdome and Justice will allow to be used towards him But if after a Tryall of all these in spight of Instructions and Reproofs of mercy and Judgement of what God can do mediately by his Ministers and of what God thinks fit to do immediately by his Holy Spirit the Sinner persist obstinately and Incorrigibly in neglecting and rejecting of God God saith of him as he said of Ephraim Hos 4. 17. He is joyned to Idols let him alone I see he will have none of me and I am resolved he shall not And let me tell you this is one of the greatest Judgements a sinner is capable of on this side Hell to be herein by God Iudicially condemned to his own sinfull choice After this there can be no seeking God so as to find him let a man live never so long Having shewn you those things that were implied in the first Proposition I come now to the Proposition it self and shall shew you That it is the Duty and Concern of all to seek God so as to find him It is their Duty for 1st It is the Precept of God whom we ought to obey Psal 25. 4. Seek ye the Lord and his strength Seek his face evermore 2. It is the Practise of the Saints whom we ought to imitate This is the Generation of them that seek him Psal 24. 6. It need not be Explained whom God speaks to Isa 51. 1. Ye that seek the Lord for it is to them that follow after Righteousness 3. The Promises of God encourage to it and they ought not to be slighted The Promise assures of us that we Shall find God if we search for him with all our heart Jer. 26. 13. And together with him every good thing besides Psal 34. 10. They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing 4. The Providences of God call to this and they ought to be complied with Mercies are therefore vouchsafed to men to this purpose God hath set men The bounds of their habitations that they should seek the Lord. Act. 17. 46. 27. Judgements are inflicted for this purpose upon this account God ill resents it that People turn not unto him that smiteth them neither do they seek the Lord of
Hosts Isa 9. 13. And so in a manner baffle him by their perverseness in a most gracious design 5. This is the design of Christs undertakings wherein he should not be Frustrated Christ became EMMANUEL God with us that God might be in us He assumed the Humane nature that we might be Partakers of the Divine which cannot be without our finding God He suffered for sins that he might bring us unto God 1. Pet 3. 18. The Bloud of Christ was for making those that were a far off nigh unto God Ephe. 2. 13. Which cannot be without seeking him It is their Concern also for 1st If men find God in him they will find two great Advantages which they will but in vain seek for any where else These are 1st Salvation from evil things as lust sin with all the Mischevous Consequences of it Gods wrath the Laws Curse the Miseries of this life the Terrours of Death and the Torments of Hell From evil Persons Enemies without as wicked men and cruel Devils the great enemy within our Carnall selves In all these cases it is palpably evident that Salvation belongeth unto the Lord Psal 3. 8. 2ly Satisfaction in God The Soul was made for God at the first and only God can fit it and fill it answering its vast Capacities and fulfilling its numerous desires Whatever is besides and below God all worldly Enjoyments are unsuitable to a Soul which is Spirituall unproportionable to a Soul which is immense Eternall Without God himself there cannot be that peace of God which passeth all understanding Phil. 4. 7. There will not be that Joy unspeakable and full of Glory that Fullness of Joy which only is in Gods presence Psal 16 11. 2ly If men finally miss of finding God 1st They sustain great loss their Souls will be lost the most noble and durable part of man the immediate workmanship of Gods hands the purchase of Christs Bloud which is of more value then many worlds will be utterly and Irrecoverably lost Not that it will cease to be but it will be so miserable that it had better never have been It will be an extream Burden to its self being without God for it can never possibly enjoy it self if it find not God 2ly Heaven will be lost and all the joyes and Glories of it There is no being in Heaven without God who makes the main of Heaven into which men enter not so much by changing their place as by changing their state 3ly Their Lives will be unprofitable they will live like Brutes or Devils and want the honour and pleasure of doing service to God and good to themselves and their brethren being Blessings to the places where they are cast Without finding God no good will be got or done for without him we can do nothing S John 15. 5. It is he who works all our good works in us and for us 4ly Their Death will be terrible When men are about breathing out their last their Friends weeping and mourning over them but not able to Comfort or help them unless they be stupid and senseless what horrour and anguish must they needs be in then if they have God to seek when they are quite leaving the world and all its delights wherein they have so much pleased themselves and when they are entring into an Eternity of Woes and Miseries Alass They cannot say with David Psal 23. 4. Though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death I will fear no Evill For thou art with me 5ly Hell will be altogether unavoidable the Horrours torments whereof are unspeakable unconceivable and unsupportable being to continue unto all Eternity without Remission or Intermission The Soul once out of the Body if without God needs no other Hell than what it Carries about with it For then it will be continually upbraiding it self with â—â—s sin and folly and its own desires will Torture it by their Eager and Impetuous Cravings which are never like to meet with the least satisfaction Vse 1. Expostulation 1st Why do we not what we may and ought yea and must do unless we resolve to be extremely endlessly miserable What! have we found God already It is well if we have But let me tell you there are not many that have found him neither is he soon and easily found and Men have no reason to presume that they have found God unless they have uncontroulable Evidences that they have found him Thou who sayest thou hast found God what Extraordinary Wisdome and Grace and Comfort hast thou to Demonstrate that God is in thee of a Truth 2ly Is he not worth seeking If he be not he invites us to our loss when he calls on us to seek him And good men have all along been very Fools who have imployed their time so unprofitably if men may do well enough when they come to die though their Souls have nothing to live on for they are like to Enjoy the world no longer If happiness everlasting happiness be worth seeking God is for only by finding God we are like to find that 3ly Do we expect to find him without seeking We may expect and see what will come of it But if we miss God it will be in vain to wish we had sought him when the time of seeking him is over And it will be little Comfort to us when we feel our selves miserable beyond all Expression for want of God to say we thought we might have found him without seeking And what grounds have we for such Expectations Did we ever know any that found God without seeking Or do the Scriptures mention any way of finding God without seeking Or have we heard from any that are come to God that they know any other way Vse 2. Exhortation Let us all set about this work which we are so much obliged to and concerned in which is the main 〈◊〉 business of our Lives and which 〈…〉 come to die we shall all wish we 〈…〉 applyed our selves unto all 〈…〉 set about it forthwith or 〈…〉 severall Hazards which few in their 〈◊〉 â—â—uld venture upon in matters of far less 〈◊〉 We say we will in good earnest set about seeking God after such a time when we have dispatched such a Business or Enjoyed such a pleasure But how if that time never come Thou in the mean time being snatched away by suddain Death as many are unexpectedly in the midst of their health and strength Suppose the time come and thou hast no leisure being pressed by the importunity of Friends to settle thy Worldly affaires and to make provision for thy Wife and Children How if though thou shouldest have never so much Leisure yet thou hast no such Composure as a 〈◊〉 of such weight which will take up a mans whole thoughts doth require Is a man in due Temper of mind for seeking God when he is fit for nothing else his mind being inwardly Distracted with câ—res about his Temporall concernes and feares of Death and outwardly disturbed with the Lamentations and discourses of these about him How if thou shouldest want neither leisure nor Bodily Health and strength and yet want 〈…〉 Are not many in their life 〈…〉 very Sâ—â—s Are not some Distressed with 〈◊〉 or Melancholy Some 〈…〉 with stupid lethargies 〈…〉 Now are such as 〈…〉 my Tolerable Capacity for seeking God What it thou shouldest wâ—nt a will to seek God at that time which thou proposest to thy self to do this in If nothing else be a wanting this will be enough to hinder thee from doing any thing to purpose herein Now when thy will is already so averse from this necessary work is it likely it should be more inclinable to seek God when longer Custome in sin has further perverted it worldly Affaires have more Entangled it fleshly pleasures have more inveagled it Satans Cunning and power has more inslaved it How if thou neither wantest will nor any of the forementioned Requisites for seeking God and yet want power to do it to purpose If God has given over seeking thee thou canst not seek him Once thou hadst Providences and Ordinances and mightest have had the Influences of Gods Spirit to excite thee to and to direct and assist thee in seeking God but thou wouldest not make use of them and now God is resolved thou shalt have no more offers of any such help You see then such a Resolution of putting off the seeking of God for a while is very unsafe It is also very unmeet and inconvenient If thou wert never so sure that thou couldest afterwards seek God so as to find him yet by delaying to do so now thou art like to be a loser for the longer thou puttest off seeking God the later thou wilt find him and so in the mean time thou wilt be deprived of all those gifts graces and Comforts wherewith God once found would have enriched adorned and refreshed thee Moreover it is to be feared that such a Resolution is unsound how plausible so ever it seems Men often pretend they will seek God when they intend nothing less but only use this pretence as a specious Excuse for their not seeking God for the present thereby to stop the Clamour of their own Conscience which so long as it is awake will be very frequently and sharply reproving them for their gross Negligence in a business of so great importance Thou who sayest thou wilt seek God hereafter if thou dost not say this meerly out of Form but hast a real design to perform it and dost verily believe that God is worth finding why dost thou not forthwith set about this Work of seeking him For thou hast now the same Motives and Inducements to excite thee to seek him and the same or rather greater Opportunities Helps and Assistances of Gods Spirit than thou canst ever expect to have at any Future Time which thou canst propose to thy self For the longer thou continuest in a Sinfull Course the more thou wilt grieve the Holy Spirit and the more thou wilt be hardened in Sin and so make thy Finding of God the more difficult FINIS