is thy case such is thy work Every stroke is a thrust at thine heart 1 Tim. 6. 10. Conscience indeed is now asleep but when death and judgment shall bring thee to thy senses then wilt thou feel the raging smart and anguish of every wound The convinced sinner is a sensible instance of the miserable bondage of sin Conscience flies upon him and tells him what the end of these things will be and yet such a slave is he to his lusts that on he must though he see it will be his endless perdition and when the temptation comes lust gets the bit in his mouth breaks all the cords of his vows and promises and carries him headlong to his own destruction VI. The furnace of eternal vengeance is heated ready for thee Isa. 30. 33. Hell and destruction open their mouths upon thee they gape for thee they groan for thee Isa. 5. 14. waiting as it were with a greedy eye as thou standest upon the brink when thou wilt drop in If the wrath of a man be as the roaring of a Lion Prov. 20. 2. more heavy than the sand Prov. 27. 3. what is the wrath of the infinite God If the burning furnace heated in Nebuchadâ—â—zzar's fiery rage when he commanded it to be made yet seven times hotter were so fierce as to burn up even those that drew near it to throw the three children in Dan. 3. 19 22. How hot is that burning Oven of the Almighty's fury Mal. 4. 1. Surely this is seventy times seven more fierce What thinkest thou O man of being a saggoâ—in Hell to all eternity Can thine heart endure or can thine hands be strong in the day that I shall deal with thee saith the Lord of Hosts Ezek. 22. 14. Canst thou dwell with everlasting burnings Canst thou abide the consuming fire Isa 33. 4. When thou shalt be as a glowing Iron in Hell and thy whole body and soul shall be as perfectly possessed by Gods burning vengeance as the fiery sparkling Iron when heated in the â—iercest forge Thou canst not bear God's whip how then wilt thou endure his scorpions Thou art even crushed and ready to with thy self dead under the weight of his finger how then wilt thou bear the weight of his loyns The most patient man that ever was did curse the day that ever he was born Iob 3. 1. and even wish death to come and end his misery Iob 7. 15 16. when God did but let out one little drop of his wrath How then wilt thou endure when God shall pour out all his Vials and set himself against thee to torment thee when he shall make thy conscience the tunnel by which he will be pouring his burning wrath into thy soul for ever and when he shall fill all thy powers as full of torment as they be now full of sin When immortality shall be thy misery and to die the death of a brute and be swallowed into the gulf of annihilation shall be such a felicity as the whole eternity of wishes an Ocean of tears shall never purchase Now thou canst put off the evil day and canst laugh and be merry and forget the terror of the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 11. but how wilt thou hold out or hold up when God will cast thee into a bed of torments Rev. 2. 21 and make thee to 〈◊〉 down in sorrows Isa. 50. 11. When roarings and blasphemy shall be thine only musick and the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the Cup of his indignation shall be thine only drink Rev. 14. 10. When thou shalt draw in flames for thy breath and the horrid stench of sulphur shall be thy only perfume In a word when the smoak of thy torment shall ascend for ever and ever and thou shalt have no rest night nor day no rest in thy conscience no ease in thy bones but thou shalt be an execration and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach for evermore Ier. 42. 〈◊〉 O sinner stop here and consider If thou art a man and not a senseless block consider Bethink thy self where thou standest why upon the very brink of his â—urnace As the Lord liveth and thy soul liveth there is but a step between thee and this 1 Sam. 20. 3. Thou knowest not when thou lyest down but thou mayest be in before the Morning thou knowest not when thou risest but thou may 〈◊〉 drop in before the Night Darest thou make light of this Wilt thou go on in such a dreadful conditionâ— as if nothing ailed thee If thou puttest it off and sayest this doth not belong to thee look again over the foregoing Chapter and tell me the truth are none of these black marks found upon thee Do not blind thine eyes do not deceive thy self see thy misery while thou mayst prevent it Think what 't is to be a vile cast-out a damned reprobate a vessel of wrath into which the Lord will be pouring out his tormenting fury while he hath a Being Rom. 9. 22. Divine wrath is a fierce Deut. 32. 22. devouring Isa. 33. 14. everlasting Mat. 25. 41. unquenchable fire Mat. 3. 12. and thy soul and body must be the fuel upon which it will be feeding for ever unless thou consider thy ways and speedily turn to the Lord by a sound conversion They that have been only singed by this fire and had no more but the smell thereof passing upon them Oh what amazing spectacles have they been Whose heart would not have melted to have heard Spira's out-cries to have seen Chaloner that monument of Justice worn to Skin and Bones Blaspheming the God of Heaven cursing himself and continually crying out O Torture Torture Torture O Torture Torture as if the flames of wrath had already took hold on him To have heard Rogers crying out I have had a little pleasure but now I must to Hell for evermore wishing but for this mitigation that God would but let him lie burning for ever behind the back of that fire on the earth and bringing in this sad conclusion still at the end of whatever was spoken to him to afford him some hope I must to Hell I must to the furnace of Hell for millions of millions of Ages O if the fears and forethoughts of the wrath to come be so terrible so intolerable what is the feeling of it Sinner 't is but in vain to flatter you this would be but to toll you into the unquenchable fire know ye from the living God that here you must lie with these burnings must you dwell till immortality die and immutability change till Eternity run out and Omnipotency is not longer able to torment except you be in good earnest renewed throughout by sanctifying grace VII The Law dischargeth all its threats and curses at thee Gal. 3. 10. Rom. 7. Oh how dreadfully doth it thunder It spits fire and brimstone in thy face Its words are as drawn swords and as the sharp arrows of the mighty it demands
pitty the poor Indians that worship the Devil for their God but little think that 't is your own case Why 't is the common misery of all the unsanctified that the Devil is their God 2 Cor. 4. 4. Not that they do intend to do him homage and worship they will be ready to defie him and him that should say so by them but all this while they serve him and come and go at his beck and live under his government His servants you are to whom you yield your selves to obey Rom. 6. 16. Oh how many then will be found the real servants of the Devil that take themselves for no other than the Children of God he can no sooner offer a sinfull delight or opportunity for your unlawful advantage but you embrace it If he suggest a lie or prompt you to revenge you readily obey If he forbid you to read or pray you hearken to him and therefore his servants you are Indeed he lies behind the curtain he acts in the dark and sinners â—ee not who setteth them on work but all the while he leads them in a string Doubtless the Lâ—ar intends not a service to Satan but his own advantage yet 't is he that stands in the corner unobserved and putteth the thing into his heart Acts 5. 3. Iohn 8. 44. Questionless Iudas when he sold his Master for money and the Chaldeaâ—s and Sabeans when they plundred Iob intended not to do the Devil a pleasure but to satisfie their own covetous thirst yet 't was he that actuated them in their wickedness Iohn 13. 27. Iob 1. 12 15 17. Men may be very slaves and common drudges for the Devil and never know it nay they may please themselves in the thoughts of a happy liberty 2 Pet. 2. 19. Art thou yet in ignorance and not turned from darkness to light Why thou art under the power of Satan Acts â—6 18. Dost thou live in the ordinary and wilful practice of any known sin Know that thou art of the Devil 1 Iohn 3. 8. Dost thou live in striâ—â— or envy or malice verily he is thy Father Ioâ— 8. 40. 41. O dreadful case However Satan 〈…〉 his slaves with divers pleasures Tit. 3. 5. 〈…〉 to 〈◊〉 them into endless perdition 〈…〉 with the â—pple in his Mouth 〈…〉 thou seest not the deadly sting 〈…〉 that is now thy temprer will be one 〈…〉 could bâ—â— give thee to see how 〈…〉 how filthy 〈…〉 thou gratified all whose pleasure is to set thee on work to make thy perdition and damnation sure and to hear the 〈◊〉 hotter and hotter in which thou must burn for millions of miâ—â—ions of Ages IV. The 〈…〉 like a Mountain upon thee Poor Soul â— Thou feelest it not but this is that which seals thy misery upon thee While unconverted none of thy sins are blotted out Acts 3. 19. They are all upon the score against thee Regeneration and remission are never separated the unsanctified are unquestionably unjustified and unpardoned 1 Cor. 6. 11. 1 Pet. 1. 2. Heb. 9. 14. Beloved it 's a fearful thing to be in debt but above all in God's debt for there is no arrest so formidable as his no prison so horrible as his Look upon an enlightned sinner who feels the weight of his own guilt oh how frightful are his looks how fearful are his complaints His comforts are turned into Wormwood and his Moisture into Drought and his sleep departeth from his eyes He is a terror to himself and all that are about him and is ready to envy the very stones that lie in the Street because they are senseless and feel not his misery and wishes he had been a Dog or a Toad or a Serpent rather than a man because then death had put an end to his misery whereas now it will be but the beginning of that which will know no ending How light soever you may make of it now you will one day find the guilt of unpardoned sin to be a heavy burden This is a Milstone that whosoever falleth upon it shall be broken but upon whomsoever it shall fall it shall grind him to powder Mat. 21. 44. What work did it make with our Saviour It pressed the very blood to a wonder out of his veins and broke all his bones and if it did this in the green tree what will it do in the dry Oh think of thy case in time Canst thou think of that threat without trembling Ye shall die in your sins John 8. 24. Oh better were it for thee to die in a Goal die in a Ditch in a Dungeon than die in thy Sins If death as it will take away all thy other Comforts would take away thy sins too it were some â—itigation But thy sins will follow thee when thy friends leave thee and all worldly enjoyments shake hands with thee Thy sins will not die with thee 2 Cor. 5â— 10. Rev. 20. 12. as a prisoners other debts will but they will to judgment with thee there to be thine accusers and they will to Hell with thee there to be thy tormentors Better to have so many fiends and furies about thee than thy sins to fall upon thee and fasten in thee Oh the work that these will make thee O look over thy debts in time How much art thou in the Books of every one of Gods Laws How is every one of Gods Commandments ready to arrest thee and take thee by the throat for innumerable Bonds that it hath upon thee What wilt thou do then when they shall altogether lay in against thee Hold open the eyes of conscience to consider this that thou mayst despair of thy self and be driven to Christ and fly for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set before thee Heb. 6. 18. V. Thy raging lâ—sts do miserably enslave thee While unconverted thou art a very servant to sin it reigns over thee and holds thee under its dominion till thou art brought within the bond of Gods Covenant Iohn 8. 34. 36. Tit. 3. 3. Rom. 6. 12 14. Rom. 6. 16 17. Now there 's no such Tyrant as sin Oh the filthy and fearful work that it doth ingage its servants in would it not pierce a mans heart to see a company of poor creatures drudging and toiling and all to carry together faggots and fuel for their own burning Why this is the employment of sins drudges Even while they bless themselves in their unrighteous gains while they sing and swill in pleasures they are but treasuring up wrath and vengeance for their eternal burnings they are but laying in Powder and Bullers and adding to the Pile of Tâ—pher and slinging in Oyl to make the flame rage the fiercer Who would serve such a Master whose work is drudgery and whose wages is death Rom. 6. 23. What a woful spectacle was that poor wretch possessed with the legion Would it not have pitied thine heart to have seen him among the Tombs cutting and wounding of himself Mark. 5. 5. This
down into the bottomless Pit. Seest thou how the smoak of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever Revâ— 14. 11. How black are the Fiends How furious are their Tormentors 'T is their only musick to hear how their miserable Patients roar to hear their bones crack 'T is their meat and drink to see how their flesh frieth and their fat droppeth to drench them with burning metal and to rip open their bodies and to pour in the fierce burning brass into their bowels and the recesses and ventricles of their hearts What thinkesâ— thou of those chains of darkness of those instruments of cruelty Canst thou be content to burn Seest thou how the worm gnaweth how the oven gloweth how the fire rageth What say'st thou to that River of Brimstone that dark and horrible vault that gulf of perdition Wilt thou take up thy habitation here O lay thine ear to the door of Hell. Hearest thou the curses and blasphemies the weepings and the wailings how they lament their folly and curse their day Mat. 22. 13. Rev. 16. 9. How do they roar and â—ell and gnash their teeth How dâ—ep are their gronas How feeling are their moâ—ns How unconceivable are their miseries If the shâ—ieks of 〈…〉 and Abiram were so terrible when the Earth 〈◊〉 asunder and opened her mouth and swallowed them up and all that apperâ—ained to them that all Israel fled at the cry of them 〈◊〉 16. â—3 â—4 Oh how fearful worâ—id the cry be if God should take off the covaring from the mouâ—h of Hell and let the cry of the damned aseend in all its teâ—ror among the Children or men And of all their moans and miseries this the piercing killing emphasis and burden for ever for â—vâ—r Why as God liveth that made thy soul thou art but a few hours distant from all this except thou repent and be converted Oh! I am even lost and swallowed up in the abundance of those arguments that I might suggest If there be any point of wisdom in all the world it is to repent and come in if there be any thing righteous any thing reasonable this is it If there be any thing in the world that may be called madness and folly and any thing that may be counted sottish absurd brutish unreasonable it is this to go on in thine unconverted estate Let me beg thee as thou wouldst not wilfully destroy thy self to sit down and weigh besides what hath been said these following Motives and let conscience speak if it be not reason that thou shouldst repent and turn 1. The God that made thee doth most graciously invite thee First His most sweet and merciful nature doth invite thee Oh the kindness of God his working bowels his tender mercies they are infinitely above our thoughts higher than heaven what can we do Deeper than hell what can we know Iob 11. 7 8 9. He is full of compassion and gracious long suffering and plenteous in mercy Psal. 86. 15. This is a great argument to perswade sinners to come in Turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful â—low to anger of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil If God would not repent of the evil it were some discouragement to us why we should not repent If there were no hope of mercy it were no such wonder if rebels should stand out but never had Subjects such a gracious Prince such Piety Patience Clemency pity to deal with as you have Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity c. Mic. 7. 18. Oh sinners See what a God you have to deal with if you will but turn He will turn again and have compassion on you he will subdue your iniquities and cast all your sins into the depth of the Sea V. 19. Return unto me saith the Lord of Hosts and I will return unto you Mal. 3. 7. Zech. 1. 3. Sinners do not fail in that they have too high thoughts of Gods mercies but in that 1. They overlook his Iustice. 2. They promise themselves mercy out of Gods way His mercy is beyond all imagination Isa. 55. 9. great mercies 1 Chron. 21. 13. manifold mercies Neh. 9. 19. tender mercies Psal. 25. 6. sure mercies Isa. 55. 3. everlasting mercies Psal. 103. 17. Isa. 54. 8. and all thine own if thou wilt but turn Art thou willing to come in Why the Lord hath laid aside his terror erected a Throne of Grace holds forth the golden Scepter Touch and live Would a merciful man slay his enemy when prostrate at his feet acknowledging his wrong begging pardon and offering to enter with him into a Covenant of peace Much less will the merciful God. Study his Name Exod. 34. 7. Read their experience Neh. 9. 17. Secondly His Soul encouraging calls and promises do invite thee Ah what an earnest suiter is mercy to thee how lovingly how instantly it calleth after thee how passionately it wooeth thee Return thou back-sliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep anger for ever Only acknowledge thine iniquity Turn O back-sliding children saith the Lord for I am married unto you return and I will heal your back-slidings Thou hast plaid the Harlot with many Lovers yet return unto me saith the Lord Jer. 3. 11 12 13 14 22. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that he turn from his way and live turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel Ezek. 33. 11. If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die All his transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him in his righteousness that he hath done shall he live Repent and turn your selves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruin Cast away from you all your transgressions and make you a clean heart and a new spirit for why will ye die O house of Israel For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth saith the Lord God wherefore turn your selves and live ye Ezek. 18. 21 23 30 31 32. Oh melting gracious words The voice of a God and not of a man This is not the manner of men for the offending Sovereign to sue to the offending traiterous varlet Oh how doth mercy follow thee and plead with thee Is not thy heart broken yet Oh that to day you would hear his voice 2. The Doors of Heaven are thrownâ— open to thee The Everlasting Gates are set wide for thee and an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven administred to thee Christ now bespeaks thee as she her Husband Arise and take possession 1 Kings 21. 15. View the glory of the other world as set forth in the map of the
very Elect. Now that I may cure the damnable mistakes of some who think they are converted when they are not as well as remove the troubles and fears of others that think they are not converted when they are I shall shew you the nature of conversion both negatively or what it is not and positively what it is We will begin with the Negative 1. It is not the taâ—ing on us the Profession of Christianity Doubtless Christianity is more than a name If we will hear Paul it lies not in word but in powerâ— 1 Cor. 4. 20. if to cease to be Jews and Pagans and to pâ—t on the Christian Profession had been true Conversionâ— as this is all that some would have to be understood by it who better Christians than they of Sardis and Laodicea These were all Christians by profession and had a name to live but because they had but a name are condemned by Christ and threatned to be spewed out Rev. 3. 1. 16. Are there not many that name the name of the Lord Jesus that yet depart not from iniquity 2 Tim. 2. 19. and profess they know God but in works deny him Tit. 1. 16. And will God receive these for true converts because turned to the Christian Religion What converts from sin when yet they do live in sin 'T is a visible contradiction Surely if the lamp of profession would have served the turn the foolish Virgins had never been shut out Mat. 25. 3 12. We find not only professors but Preachers of Christ and Wonder-workers turned off because evil workers Mat. 7. 22 23. 2. It is not the being washed in the laver of Regeneration or putting on the badge of Christ in baptism Many take the press-money and wear the Livery of Christ that yet never stand to their colours nor follow their leader Ananias and Saphira and Magus were baptized as well as the rest How fondly do many mistake here deceiving and being deceived dreaming that effectual grace is necessarily tied to the external administration of Baptism which what is it but to revive the Popish Tenent of the Sacraments working grace ex opere operato and so every Infant should be regenerated not only Sacramento tenus sacramentally but really and properly Hence men do fancy that being regenerated already when baptized they need no further work But if this were so then all that were baptized in their infancy must necessarily be saved because the promise of pardon and salvation is made to conversion and regeneration Acts 3. 19. 1 Pet. 3. 4. Mat. 19. 28. Our Calling Sanctification as to the beginnings of it on Conversion which are but the same thing under different conceptions and expressions is but a middle link in the golden chain fastned to election at the one end and glorification at the other Rom. 8. 30. 2 Thes. 2. 13. 1 Pet. 1. 2. The silver cord may not be broken nor the connexion between Sanctification and Salvation between grace and glory impiously violated Mat. 5. 8. if we were indeed begotten again it is to an inheritance incorruptible reserved in heaven for us and the divine power is engaged to keep us for it 1 Pet. 1. 5. And if the very regenerate may perish at last in their sins we will no more say that he that is born of God his seed remaineth in him and that he cannot sin 1 Ioh. 3. 9. i. e. unto death nor that it is impossible to deceive the very elect Mat. 24. 24. And indeed were this true then we need look no farther to see our names written in Heaven than only to search the Register and see whether we were baptized then I would keep the certificate of my baptism as my fairest evidence for Heaven and should come by assurance of my gracious state with a wet finger then men should do well to carry but a certificate of their baptism under the Registers hand when they died as the Philosopher would be buried with the Bishops Bond in his hand which he had given him for receiving his alms in another world and upon sight of this there were no doubt of their admission into Heaven In short if there be no more necessary to conversion or regeneration than to be turned to the Christian Religion or to be baptized in infancy this will flie directly in the face of that Scripture Mat. 7. 14. as well as multitudes of others For first we will then no more say strait is the gate and narrow is the way for if all that are baptized and of true Religion are saved the door is become heavenly wide and we will henceforth say wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth unto life for if this be true whole Parishes yea whole Countries and whole Kingdoms may go in a breast and we will no more teach that the righteous is scarcely saved or that there is need of such a stir in taking the Kingdom of Heaven by violence and striving to enter in Surely if the way be so easie as many make it that there is little more necessary than to be regenerated in our baptism and cry God mercy and be absolved by the Minister at our end 't is more ado than needs to put our selves to such running and seeking and knocking and fighting and wrestling as the word requires as necessary to Salvation Secondly if this be true we will no more say Few there be that find it yea we will rather say Few there be that miss it we will no more say that of the many that are called but few are chosen Mat. 22. 14. and that even of the professing Israel but a remnant shall be saved Rom. 11. 5. If this Doctrine be true we will not say any more with the Disciples Who then shall be saved but rather who then shall not be saved Then if a man be called a brother that is a Christian and be baptized though he be a fornicator or a â—ailer or covetous or a drunkard yet he shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 5. 11. 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. But the Arminian will reply such as these though they did receive regenerating grace in Baptism are since fallen away and must be renewed again or else they cannot be saved I answer 1. That there is an infallible connexion between regeneration and salvation as we have already shewed and I itch to be farther evidencing but that 't is against designed brevity 2. Then men must be born again which carrys a great deal of absurdity in its very face And why may not men be twice born in nature as well as in grace Why not as great an absurdity to be twice regenerated as to be twice generated But 3. and above all This grants however the thing I contend for that what ever men do or pretend to receive in baptism if they be sound afterwards to be grosly ignorant or profane or formal without the power of godliness they must be born again or else be shut out of the
mayst have disgorged a troublesome fin that will not sit in thy stomach and have escaped those gross pollutions of the world and yet not have changed thy swinish nature all the while 2 Pet. 2 20. 22. You may cast the lead out of the rude mass into the more comely proportion of a plant and then into the shape of a beast and thence into the form and features of a man but all the while it is but lead still So a man may pass thro' divers transmutations from ignorance to knowledge from profaneness to civility thence to a form of Religion and all this while he is but carnal and unregenerate while his nature remains unchanged Application Hear then O sinners hear as you would live so come and â—ear Isa. 55. 3. Why would you so wilfully deceive your selves or build your hopes upon the sand I know he shall find hard work of it that goes to pluck away your hopes It cannot but be ungrateful to you and truly it is not pleasing to me I set about it as a Surgeon when to cut off a putrified Member from his well Beloved friend which of force he must do but with an aking heart a pitiful eye a trembling hand But understand me Brethren I am only taking down the ruinous house which will otherwise speedily fall of it self and bury you in the rubbish that I may build fair and strong and firm for ever The hope of the wicked shall perish if God be true of his word Prov. 11. 7. And wert not thou better O sinner to let the word convince thee now in time and let go thy false and self-deluding hopes than to have death too late to open thine eyes and find thy self in hell before thou art aware I should be a false and faithless Shepherd if I should not tell you that you who have built your hopes upon no better grounds than these forementioned are yet in your sins Let your conscience speak what is it that you have to plead for your selves Is it that you wear Christ's livery that you bear his name that you are of the visible Church that you have knowledge in the Points of Religion are civilized perform religious duties are just in your dealings have been troubled in conscience for your sins I tell you from the Lord these pleas will never be accepted at God's Bar. All this though good in it self will not prove you converted and so will not suffice to your salvation Oh look about you and bethink your selves of turning speedily and soundly Set to praying and to reading and studying your own hearts rest not till God hath made thorough work with you for you must be other men or else you are lost men But if these be short of Conversion what shall I say of the profane sinner It may be he will scarce cast his Eyes or lend his Fars to this discourse But if there be any such reading or within hearing he must know from the Lord that made him that he is far from the Kingdom of God. May a man be civilized and not converted where then shall the Drunkard and Glutton appear May a man keep company with the wise Virgins and yet be shut out Shall not a companion of fools much more be destroyed Prov. 13. 20. May a man be true and just in his dealing and yet not be justified of God What then will become of thee O wretched man whose conscience tells thee thou art false in thy trade and false of thy word and makest thy advantage by a lying tongue If men may be enlightned and brought to the performance of holy duties and yet go down to perdition for resting in them and sitting down on this side of conversion what will become of you O miserable families that live as without God in the world and of you O wretched sinners with whom God is scarce in all your thoughts that are so ignorant that you cannot or so careless that you will not pray O repent and be converted break off your sins by righteousness away to Christ for pardoning and renewing grace give up your selves to him to walk with him in holiness or else you shall never see God. Oh that you would take the warnings of God! In his name I once more admonish you Turn you at my reproof Prov. 1. 23. Forsake the foolish and live Prov. 9. 6. Be sober righteous godly Tit. 2. 12. Wash your hands you sinners purifie your hearts ye double minded Iames 4. 8. Cease to do evil learn to do well Isa. 1. 16 17. But if you will on you must die Ezek. 33. 11. Chap. II. Shewing positively what Conversion is I May not leave you with your eyes half open as he that saw men as trees walking Mark 8. 24. The word is profitable for Doctrine as well as reproof 2 Tim. 3. 16. And therefore having thus far conducted you by the shelves and rocks of so many dangerous mistakes I would guide you at length into the Harbour of truth Conversion then in short lies in the thorow change both of the heart and life I shall briefly describe it in its nature and causes 1. The Author it is the spirit of God and therefore it is called the sanctification of the spirit 2. Thes. 2. 13. and the renewing of the holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. Yet not excluding the other Persons in the Trinity For the Apostle â—eacheth us to bless the father of our Lord Jesus Christ for that he hath begotten us again 1 Pet. 1. 3. and Christ is said to give repentance to Israel Acts 5. 31. and is called the everlasting Father Isa. 9. 6. and we his seed and the Children which God hath given him Heb 2. 13. Isa. 53. 10. O blessed Birth Seven Cities contended for the Birth of Homer but the whole Trinity fathers the new creature Yet is this work principally ascribed to the Holy Ghost and so we are said to be born of the Spirit Iob. 3. 8. So then it is a work above man's power We are born not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Iohn 1. 13. Never think thou canst convert thy self If ever thou wouldst be saveingly converted thou must despair of doing it in thine own strength Ier. 13. 18. It is a Resurrection from the dead Rev. 20. 5. Eph. 2. 1. a new creation Gal. 6. 15. Eph. 2. 10. a work of absolute omnipotency Eph. 1. 19. Are these out of the reach of humane power If thou hast no more than thou hadst by thy first birth a good nature a meek and chast temper c. thou art a very stranger to true Conversion This is a supernatural work 2. The moving Cause is Internal or External The Internal mover is only free grace Not by works of righteousness which we have done But of his own mercy he saved us by the renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. Of his own will begat he us Iam. 1. We are chosen and called
to offer the Sacrifice of praise for all his fellow creatures Psal. 147. and 148. and 150. The Lord God expecteth a tribute of praise from all his works Psalm 103. 2. now all the rest do bring in their tribute to man and pay it in by his hand So then if man be false and faithless and selfish God is wronged of all and shaâ—l have no active glory from his works O dreadful thought to think of That God should build such a world as this and lay out such infinite power and wisdom and goodness thereupon and all in vain and man should be guilty at last of robbing and Spoiling him of the glory of all O think of this while thou art unconverted all the Offices of the creatures to thee are in vain thy meat nourishes thee in vain the Sun holds forth his light to thee in vain the Stars that serve thee in their courses by their most powerful though hidden influence Iudges 5. 20. Hos. 2. 21 22. do it in vain thy Cloaths warm thee in vain thy Beast carries thee in vain in a word the unwearied labour and continual travel of the whole Creation as to thee is in vain The service of all the creatures that drudge for thee and yield forth their strength unto thee that therewith thou shouldst serve their Maker is all but lost labour Hence the whole Creation groaneth under the abuse of this unsanctified world Rom. 8. 22. that pervert them to the service of their lusts quite contrary to the very end of their Being III. Without this thy Religion is in vain Jam. 1. 26. All thy religious performances will be but lost for they can neither please God Rom. 8. 8. nor save thy soulâ— 1. Cor. 13. 2 3. Which are the very ends of Religion Be thy services never so specious yet 〈◊〉 hath no pleasure in them Isai. 1. 14. Mal. 1. 10. Is not that man's case dreadful whose sacrifices are as Murder and whose prayers are a breath of abomination Isa. 66. 3. Prov. 28. 9. Many under convictions think they will set upon mending and that a few prayers and alms will salve all again but alas sirs while your hearts remain unsanctified your duties will not pass How punctual was Iebu and yet all was rejected because his heart was not upright 2 Kings 10. with Hos. 1. 4. How blameless was Paul and yet being unconverted all was but loss Phil. 3. 6 7. Men think they do much in attending God's Service and are ready to twit him with it Isa. 58. 3. Mat. 7. 22. and set him down so much their debtor when as their persons being unsanctified their duties cannot be accepted O soul do not think when thy sins pursue thee a little praying and reforming thy course will pacify God thou must begin with thine heart If that be not renewed thou canst no more please God than one that having unspeakably offended thee should bring thee his vomit in a dish to pacify thee or having fallen into the mire should think with his loathed embraces to reconcile thee It is a great misery to labour in the fire The Poets could not invent a worser Hell for Sisyphus than to be getting the Barrel still up the Hill and then that it should presently fall down again and renew his labour God threatens it as the greatest of temporal judgments that they should build and not inhabit plant and not gather and their labours should be eat up by strangers Deut. 28. 30 38 39 41. Is it so great a misery to lose our common labours to sow in vain and build in vain how much more to lose our pains in Religion to pray and hear and fast in vain This is an undoing and eternal loss Be not deceived If thou goest on in thy sinful state though thou shoâ—ldst spread forth thine hands God will hide his eyes though thou make many prayers he will not hear 〈◊〉 1. 15. If a man without skill set about our work and marr it in the doing though he take much pains we give him but small thanks God will be worshipped after the due order 1 Chron. 15. 13. If a servant do our work but quite contrary to our order he shall have rather stripes than praise Gods work must be done according to Gods mind or he will not be pleased and this cannot be except it be done with a holy heart 2 Chron. 25. 2. IV. Without this thy hopes are in vain Job 8. 12 13. The Lord hath rejected thy Confidence Ier. 2. 37. First Thy hopes of Comfort here are in vain 'T is not only necessary to the safety but comfort of your condition that you be converted Without this you shall not know peace Isai. 59. 8. Without the fear of God you cannot have the comforts of the Holy Ghost Acts 9. 31. God speaks peace only to his people and to his Saints Pal. 85. 8. If you have a false peace continuing in your sins 't is not of Gods speaking and then you may guess the Author Sin is a real Sickness Isai. 1. 5. Yea the worst of sickness 't is a Leprosie in the head Lev. 13. 44. the plague in the heart 1 Kings 8. 38. 't is brokenness in the bones Psal. 51. 8. it piercâ—â—h it 〈◊〉 iâ— racketh it tormenteth 1 〈◊〉 â— 10. A man may as well expect ease when his â—â—scases are in their strength or his bones out of joynt as true comfort while in his sins O wretched man that canst have no ease in this case but what comes from the deadliness of the diseaseâ— You shall have the poor-sick man saying in his lightness he is well when you see death in his face He will needs up and about his business when the very next step is like to be into the grave The unsanctified often see nothing amiss they think themselves whole and cry not out for the Physician but this shews the danger of theâ—r Case Sin doth naturally breed distempers and disturbances in the soulâ—â— What a continual tempest and commotion is there in a disconteâ—ted mind What an eating evil is inordinate care What is passion but a very feaver in the mind What is lust but a fire in theÌ„ bones What is pride but a deadly tympany or covetousness but an unâ—atiable and unsufferable thirst Or malice and envy but venom in the very heart Spiritual sloth is but a scurvy in the mind and carnal security a mortal lethargy and how can that soul have true comfort that is under so many diseases But converting grace cures and so eases the mind and prepares the soul for a setled standing immortal peace Great peace have they that love thy Commands and nothing shall offend them Psal 119. 165. They are the ways of wisdom that afford pleasure and peace Prov. 3. 17. David had infinitely more pleasure in the word than in all the delights of his Court Psal. 119. 103 127. The Conscience cannot be truly pacified till soundly purified Heb. 10. 22. Cursed is that peace
satisfaction to the utmost and cries Justice Justice It speaks Blood and War and Wounds and Death against thee Oh the Execrations and Plagues and Deaths that this murdering piece is loaded with read Deut. 28. 15 16 c. and thou art the mark at which this snoâ— is levelled O man away to the strong hold Zech. 9. 12. away from thy sins haste to the sanctuary the City of refuge Heb. 13. 13. even the Lord Jesus Christ hide thee in him or else thou art lost without any hope of recovery VIII The Gospel it self bin deth the sentence of eternal damnation upon thee Mark 16. 16. If thou continuest in thine impenitent and unconverted estate know that the Gospel denounceth a much forer condemnation than ever would have been for the transgression only of the first Covenant Is it not a dreadful case to have the Gospel it self fill its mouth with threats and thunder and damnation To have the Lord to roar from Mount Sion against thee Ioel 3. 16. Hear the terror of the Lord. He that believeth not shall be damned except ye repent ye shall all perish Luke 13. 3. This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light Iohn 3. 19. He that believeth not the wrath of God abideth on him Ioh. 3. 36. If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation Heb. 2. 2 3. He that despised Moses's Law died without mercy Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy that hath trampled under foot the Son of God Heb. 10. 28 29. Application And is this true indeed Is this thy misery Yea 't is as true as God is Better open thine eyes and see it now while thou mayst remedy it than blind and harden thy self till to thine eternal sorrow thou shalt feel what thou wouldst not believe and if it be true what dost thou mean to loyter and linger in such a case as this Alas for thee poor man how effectually hath sin undone thee and deprived and despoiled thee even of thy reason to look after thine own everlasting good O miserable Caitiff what stupidity and senselesness hath surprized thee Oh! let me knock up and awake this sleeper Who dwells within the walls of this flesh Is there ever a soul here a rational understanding soul Or art thou only a walking Ghost a senseless lump Art thou a reasonable soul and yet so far brutified as to forget thy self immortal and to think thy self to be as the beasts that perish Art thou turned into flesh that thou savourest nothing but gratifying the sense and making provision for the flesh Or else having reason to understand the eternity of thy future estate dost thou yet make light of being everlastingly miserable which is to be so much below a brute as it is worse to act against reason than to act without it O unhappy soul that wast the glory of man the mate of Angels and the image of God! that wast God's representative in the world and hadst the supremacy amongst the creatures and the dominion over thy Maker's works Art thou now become a slave to sense a servant to so base an Idol as thy Belly for no higher felicity than to fill thee with the wind of mans applause or heaping together a little refined earth no more suitable to thy spiritual immortal nature than the dirt and sticks Oh why dost thou not bethink thee where thou shalt be for ever Death is at hand The Iudge is even at the door Jam. 5. 9. Yet a little while and time shall be no longer Rev. 10. 5 6. And wilt thou run the hazard of continuing in such a state in which if thou be overtaken thou art irrecoverably miserable Come then arise and attend thy nearest concernments Tell me whither art thou going What wilt thou live in such a course wherein every act is a step to perdition And thou dost not know but the next night thou mayst make thy Bed in Hell Oh! if thou hast a spark of reason consider and turn and hearken to thy very friend who would therefore shew thee thy present misery that thou mightest in time make thine escape and be eternally happy Hear what the Lord saith Fear ye not me saith the Lord Will ye not tremble at my presence Jer. 5. 22. O sinners do ye make light of the wrath to come Mat 3. 7. I am sure there is a time coming when you will not make light of it Why the very Devils do believe and tremble James 2. 19. What! you more hardned than they Will you run upon the Edge of the Rock will you play at the hole of the Asp will you put your hand upon the Cockatâ—ice's den Will you dance about the fire till you are burnt or dally with devouring wrath as if you were at a point of indifferency whether you did escape it or endure it O madness of folly Solomon's mad-man that casteth fire-brands and arrows and death and saith Am I not in jest Prov. 26. 18. is nothing so distracted as the wilful sinner Luke 15. 17. that goeth on in his unconverted estate without sense as if nothing ailed him The man that runs on the Cannons mouth that sports with his blood or le ts out his life in a frollick is sensible sober and serious to him that goeth on still in his trespasses Psalm 68. 21. For he stretcheth out his hand against God and strengthneth himself against the Almighty He runneth upon him even upon his neck upon the thick Bosses of his Buckler Job 15. 25 26. Is it wisdom to dally with the second death or to venture into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21. 8. as if thou wert but going to wash thee or swim for thy recreation Wilt thou as it were fetch thy vieze and jump into eternal flames as the children through the bon-fire What shall I say I can find out no expression no comparison whereby to set forth the dreadful distraction of that soul that shall go on in sin Awake awake Eph. 5. 14. Oh sinner arise and take thy flight There is but one door that thou mayst fly by and that is the strait door of conversion and the new birth Unless thou turn unfeignedly from all thy sins and come in to Jesus Christ and take him for the Lord thy righteousness and walk in him in holiness and newness of life as the Lord liveth it is not more certain that thou art now out of Hell than that thou shalt without fail be in it but a few days and nights from hence O set thine heart to think of thy case Is not thine everlasting misery or welfare that which doth deserve a little consideration Loâ—â— again over the miseries of the unconverted If the Lord hath not spoken by me regard me not But if it be the very word of
Jesus Christ Acts 4. 12. Thou must unlearn tâ—y self and renounce thine own wisdom thine own righteousness thine own strength and throw thy self wholly upon Christ as a man that swimmeth casteth himself upon the water or else thou canst not escape While men trust in themselves and establish their own righteousness and have confidence in the flesh they will not come savingly to Christ Luke 18. 9. Phil. 3. 3. Thou must know thy gain to be but loss and dung thy strength but weakness thy righteousness rags and rottenness before there will be an effectual closure between Christ and thee Phil. 3. 7 8 9. 2 Cor. 3. 5. Isa. 64. 6. Can the lifeless carcass shake off its grave cloths and loose the bonds of death Then mayst thou recover thy self who art dead in trespasses and sins and under an impossibility of serving thy Maker acceptably in this condition Rom. 8. 8. Heb. â—1 6. Therefore when thou goest to pray or meditate or to do any of the duties to which thou art here directed go out of thy self call in the help of the Spirit as despairing to do any thing pleasing to God in thine own strength Yet neglect not thy duty but lie at the pool and wait in the way of the Spirit While the Eunuch was reading then the Holy Ghost sent Philip to him Acts 8. 28 29. when the Disciples were praying Acts 4. 31. when Cornelius and his friends were hearing Acts 10. 44. then the Holy Ghost fell upon them and filled them all Strive to give up thy self to Christ Strive to pray strive to meditate strive an hundred and an hundred times try to do it as well as thou canst and while thou art endeavouring in the way of thy duty the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee and help thee to do what of thy self thou art utterly unable unto Prov. 1. 23. Direct V. Forthwith renounce all thy sins If thou yield thy self to the contrary practice of any sin thou art undone Rom. 6. 17. in vain dost thou hope for life by Christ except thou dâ—part from iniquity 2 Tim. 2. 19. Forsake thy sins or else thou canst not find mercy Prov. 28. 13. Thou canst not be married to Christ except divorced from sin Give up the Traitor or you can have no peace with Heaven Cast the head of Sheba over the wall Keep not Dalilah in thy lap Thou must part with thy sins or with thy soul. Spare but one sin and God will not spare thee Never make excuses thy sins must die or thou must die for them Psal. 68. 21. If thou allow of one sin though but a little a secret one though thou may'st plead necessity and have a hundred shifts and excuses for it the life of thy soul must go for the life of that sin Ezek. 18. 21. and will it not be dearly bought O sinner hear and consider If thou wilt part with thy sins God will give thee his Christ Is not this a fair exchange I testifie unto thee this day that if thou perish it is not because there was never a Saviour provided nor life tendred but because thou preferredst with the Jews the Murderer before thy Saviouâ— sin before Christ and lovedst darkness rather than light Iohn 3. 19. Search thy heart therefore with Candles as the Jews did their Houses for Leaven before the Passover Labour to find out thy sins enter into thy Closet and consider What evil have I lived in What duty have I neglected towards God What sin have I lived in against my Brother And now strike the darts through the heart of thy sin as Iâ—ab did through Absalom's 2 Sam. 18. 14. Never stand looking upon thy sin nor rolling the morsel under thy tongue Iob 20. 11. but spit it out as poyson with fear and detestation Alas what will thy sins do for thee that thou shouldst stick at parting with them They will flatter thee but they will undo thee and cut thy throat while they smile upon thee and poyson thee while they please thee and arm the justice and wrath of the infinite God against thee They will open Hell for thee and pile up fuel to burn thee Behold the Gibbet that they have prepared for thee Oh serve them like Haman and do upon them the Execution they would else have done upon thee Away with them crucifie them and let Christ only be Lord over thee Direct VI. Make a solemn choice of God for thy portion and blessedness Deut. 26. With all possible devotion and veneration avouch the Lord for thy God. Set the world with all its glory and paint and gallantry with all its pleasures and promotions on the one hand and set God with all his infinite excellencies and perfections on the other and see that thou do deliberately make thy choice Iosh. 24. 15. Take up thy rest in God Iob. 6. 68. Set thee down under his shadow Cant. 2. 3. Let his promises and perfections turn the scale against all the world Settle it upon thy heart that the Lord is an all-sufficient portion that thou canst not be miserable while thou hast a God to live upon take him for thy shield and exceeding great reward God alone is more than all the world Content thy self with him Let others carry the preferments and glory of the world place thou thy happiness in his favour and the light of his countenance Psal. 4. 6 7. Poor sinner thou art fallen off from God and hast engaged his power and wrath against thee Yet know that of his abundant grace he doth offer to be thy God again in Christ 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. What sayest thou man Wilt thou have the Lord for thy God Why take this counsel and thou shalt have him Come to him by his Christ Ioh. 14. 6. Renounce the Idols of thine own pleasures gain reputation 1 Thes. 1. 9. Let these be pulled out of the Throne and set Gods interest uppermost in thine â—eare Take him as God to be chief in thine affections estimations intentions for he will not endure to have any set above him Rom. 1. 24 Psal. 73. 25. In a word thou must take him in all his Personal Relations and in all his Essential Perfections First In all his Personal Relations God the Father must be taken for thy Father Ier. 3. 4 19 22. O come to him with the Prodigal Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am not worthy to be called thy Son but since of thy wonderful mercy thou art pleased to take meâ— that am of my self a dog a swine a devil to be thy child I solemnly take thee for my Father commend my self to thy care and trust to thy providence and cast my burden on thy shoulders I depend on thy provision and submit to thy corrections and trust under the shadow of thy wings and hide in thy chambers and â—ly to thy name I renounce all confidence in my self I repose my confidence in thee I depose my concernments with
But wo is me my sins are as many as the Sands and as mighty as the Mountains Their weight is greater than their number It were better that the Rocks and the Mountains should fall upon me than the crushing and insupportable load of my own sins Lord I am heavy loaden let mercy help or I am gone Unload me of this heavy guilt this sinking load or I am crâ—â—hed without â—ope and must be pressed down to Hell. If my grief were thorowly weighed and my sins laid in the balances together they would be heavier than the Sand of the Sea therefore my words are swallowed up They would weigh down all the rocks and the hills and turn the balance against all the Isles of the Farthâ— O Lord thou knowest my manifold transgressions and my mighty sins Ah my Soul Alas my Glory Whither art thou humbled Once the Glory of the Creation and the Image of God now a Lump of filthiness a Coffin of rottenness replenished with stench and loathsomness O what work hath sin made with thee thou shalt be termed Forsaken and all the rooms of thy faculties Desolate and the name that thou shalt be called by is Ichabod or Where is the Glory How art thou come down mightily My Beauty is turned into deformity and my Glory into shame Lord what a loathsome Leper am I The Ulcerous Bodies of Iob or Lazarus were not more offensive to the eyes and nostrils of men than I must needs be to the most holy God whose eyes cannot behold iniquity And what misery have my sins brought upon me Lord what a case am I in Sold under sin cast out of Gods favour accursed from the Lord cursed in my body cursed in my soul cursed in my name in my estate my relations and all that I have My sins are unpardoned and my â—oul within a step of death Alas What shall I do Whither shall I go Which way shall I look God is frowning on me from above Hell gaping for me beneath Conscience smiting me within temptations and dangers surrounding me without Oh whither shall I flee What place can hide me from Omnisciency What power can secure me from Omnipotency What meanest thou O my soul to go on thus Art thou in league with Hell Hast thou made a Covenant with Death Art thou in love with thy misery Is it good for thee to be here Alas what shall I do Shall I go on in my sinful ways Why then certain damnation will be mine end and shall I be â—o besotted and bemadded as to go and sell my soul to the flames for a little Ale and a little ease for a little pleasure or gain or content to my flesh Shall I linger any longer in this wretched estate No if I tarry here I shall die What then Is there no help no hope None except I turn Why but is there any remedy for such woful misery Any mercy after such provoking iniquity Yes as sure as God's Oath is true I shall have pardon and mercy yet if presently unfeignedly and unreservedly I turn by Christ to him Why then I thank thee upon the bended knees of my soul O most merciful Jehovah that thy Patience hath waited upon me hitherto For hadst thou took me away in this estate I had perished for ever And now I adore thy grace and accept the offers of thy mercy I renounce all my sins and resolve by thy grace to set my self against them and to follow thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life Who am I Lord that I should make any claim unto thee or have any part or portion in thee who am not worthy to lick up the dust of thy feet ' Yet since thou holdest forth the golden Scepter I am bold to come and touch To despair would be to disparage thy mercy and to stand off when thou biddest me come would be at once to undo my self and rebel against thee under the pretence of humility Therefore I bow my soul to thee and with all possible thankfulness accept thee as mine and give up my self to thee as thine Thou shalt be Soveraign over me my King and my God Thou shalt be in the Throne and all my powers shall bow to thee they shall come and worship before thy feet Thou shalt be my Portion O Lord and I will rest in thee Thou callest for my heart O that it were any way fit for thine acceptance I am unworthy O Lord everlastingly unworthy to be thine But since thou wilt have it so I freely give up my heart to thee Take it it is thine Oh that it were better But Lord I put it into thine hand who alone canst mend it Mould it after thine own heart make it as thou wouldst have it holy humble heavenly soft tender flexible and write thy Law upon it Come Lord Jesus come quickly Enter in triumphantly take me up to thee for ever I give up to thee I come to thee as the only way to the Father as the only Mediator the means ordained to bring me to God. I have desâ—royed my self but in thee is my help Save Lord or else I perish I come to thee with the rope about my Neck I am worthy to die and to be damned Never was the hire more due to the servant never was penny more due to the labourer then Death and Hell my just wages is due to 〈◊〉 for my sins But I fly to thy merits I trust alone to the value and virtue of thy Sacrifice and prevaâ—â—â—cy of thine intercession I submit to thy teaching â— make choice of thy Government Stand open 〈…〉 doors that the King of Glory may come in O thou spirit of the most high the comforter and sanctifier of thy chosen come in with all thy glorious train all thy courtly 〈◊〉 thy fruits and graces Let â—â—e be thine habitacion â— I can give 〈◊〉 But what is thine 〈◊〉 already but here with the poor Widdow I casâ— my two miâ—es my soul and my body into thy treasury fully resigning them up to tâ—â—â—e to be sanctified by thee to be servants to thee They it all â—e thy Patients Cure thou their Malady they shall be thy Agents Govern thou their Moâ—â—câ—s Too long have I served the world too long have I hearkned to Satan but now I renounce them all and will be ruled by thy Dictates and Directions and guided by thy Counsel O blessed Trinity O glorious Unity I deliver up my self to thee receive me write thy name O Lord upon me and upon all that I have as thy proper goods Set thy mark upon me upon every member of my body and every faculty of my soul. I have chosen thy precepts Thy law will I lay before me This shall be the Copy which I will keep in my eye and study to write after According to this rule do I resolve by thy Grace to walk After this law shall my whole man be governed And though I cannot perfectly keep one
and every one that is in distress and every one that is discontented gather your selves unto Christâ— and he will become a Captain over you He will be your protection from the arrests of the Law He will save you from the hand of Justice Behold he is an open sanctuary to you he is a known Refuge Heb. 6. 18. Psal. 48. 3. Away with your sins and come in unto him lest the avenger of blood seize you lest devouring wrath overtake you Ho every ignorant sinner come and buy eye-salve that thou may'st see Rev. 3. 18. Away with thine excuses thou art for ever lost if thou continuest in this estate 2 Cor. 4. 3. But accept of Christ for thy Prophet and he will be a light unto thee Isa. 42. 6. Ephes. 5. 14. Cry unto him for knowledge study his word take pains about the Principles of Religion humble thy self before him and he will teach thee his way and make thee wise unto salvation Mat. 13. 36. Luke 8. 9. Iohn 5. 39. Psal. 25. 9. But if thou wilt not follow him in the painful use of his means but sit down because thou hast but one talent he will condemn thee for a wicked and slothful servant Mat. 25. 24 26. Ho every prophane sinner come in and live Return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon thee Be inâ—â—eated Oh return come Thou that hast filled thy mouth with oaths and execrations all manner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven thee Mark 3. 28. if thou wilt but throughly turn unto Christ and come in Though thou wast as unclean as Magdalen yet put away thy Whoredoms out of thy sight and thine adulteries from between thy breasts and give up thy self unto Christ as a vessel of holiness alone for his use and then though thy sins be as 〈◊〉 they shall be as wooll and though they be as crimson they shall be as white as snow Luke 7. 37. Hos. 2. 2. 1 Thes. 4. 4. Isa. 1. 18. Hear O ye drunkards How long will you be drunken put away your wine 1 Sam. 1. 14. Though you have rolled in the vomit of your sin take the vomit of repentance and heartily disgorge your beloved lusts and the Lord will receive you 2. Cor. 6. 17. Give up your selves unto Christ to live soberly righteously and godly embrace his righteousness accept his government and though you have been swine he will wash you Rev. 3. 6. Hear O ye loose companions whose delight is in vain and wicked society to sport away your time in carnal mirth and jollity with them come in at wisdoms call and choose her and her ways and you shall live Prov. 9. 5 6. Hear O ye scorners hear the word of the Lord Though you have made a sport at godliness and the professors thereof though you have made a scorn of Christ and of his ways yet even to you doth he call to gather you under the wings of his mercy Prov. 1â— 22 33. In a word though you should be found among the worst of that black roll 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. yet upon your through Conversion you shall be washed you shall be justified you shall be sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God ver 11. Ho every formal professor that art but a luke-warm and dough-baked Christian and restest in the form of godliness give over thy halving and thy halting be a throughout Christian and be zealous and repent and then though thou hast been an offence to Christ's stomach thou shalt be the joy of his heart Rev. 3. 16 19 20. And now bear witness that mercy hath been offered you I call Heaven and Earth to record against you this day that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that you may live Deut. 30. 19. I can but woo you and warn you I cannot compel you to be happy if I could I would What answer will you send me with to my Master Let me speak unto you as Abrahams servant to them and now if you will deal kindly and truly with my Master tell me Gen. 24. 49. O for such a happy answer as Rebekah gave to them Gen. 24. 57 58. And they said we will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth And they called Rebekah and said unto her Wilt thou go with this man and she said I will go O that I had but thus much from you Why should I be your accuser Mat. 10. 14 15. who thirst for your salvation Why should the passionate pleadings and wooings of mercy be turned into the horrid aggravations of your obstinacy and additions to your misery Judge in your selves Do you not think their condemnation will be doubly dreadful that shall still go on in their sins after all endeavours to recall them Doubtless it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon yea for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Iudgment than for you Mat. 11. 22 24. Beloved if you have any pity for your perishing souls close with the present offers of mercy If you would not continue and increase the pains of your travelling Ministers do not stick in the birth If the God that made you have any Authority with you obey his command and come in If you are not the despisers of grace and would not shut up the doors of mercy against your selves repent and be converted Let not Heaven stand open for you in vain Let not the Lord Jesus open his wares and bid you buy without money and without price in vain Let not his Ministers and his Spirit strive with you in vain and leave you now at last unperswaded lest the sentence go forth against you The Bellows are burnt the Lead is consumed of the fire the Founder melteth in vain Reprobate Silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them Jer. 6. 29 30. Father of Spirits take the heart in hand that is too hard for my weakness Do not thou have ended though I have done Half a word from thine effectual power will do the work O thou that hast the Key of David that openest when no man shutteth open thou this heart as thou didst Lydia's and let the King of glory enter in And make this soul thy captive Let not the tempter harden him in delays Let him not stir from this place nor take his eyes from these lines till he be resolved to forgo his sins and to accept of life upon thy self-denying terms In thy name O Lord God did I go forth to these Labours in thy name do I shut them up Let not all the time they have cost be but lost hours let not all the thoughts of heart and all the pains that have been about them be but lost labour Lord put in thine hand into the heart of this Reader and send thy Spirit as once thou didst Philip to join himself to the Chariot of the Eunuch while he was reading the word And though I