many among them to make Vessels of Honour fit for his Use and Service here and for his Kingdom and Glory hereafter 2. For that great and most blessed End he chose and sent his own Son his only Son his infinitely beloved Son who was the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his Person Man not being in a capacity to help himself nor all the Angels in Heaven able to relieve him their back was too weak to bear that burden of guilt which lay upon him and their whole Stock too little to discharge those Debts which he had contracted and their Arm infinitely too short to reach him and draw him out of that horrible Pit into which he had cast himself and all his Posterity Now I say when things were at this pass God was pleased to send his Son to humble himself to empty himself to become poor to become our Brother and to assume our Nature with its sinless infirmities and to be in the form of a Servant of no reputation made under the Law that he might fulfil all Righteousness and be the End thereof for Righteousness to all that are found in him and to be made sin for us i. e. a Sacrifice for sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him a Ransom that he might be a Redeemer 3. The Son of God being thus chosen by the Father and sent did come he most readily and freely came in the fulness of Time and according to the Counsel of Peace which had been between them both he came to do the Will of God he was incarnate was manifest in the Flesh yea in the likeness of sinful Flesh and was numbred among Transgressors the Iniquities of all his People were laid on him and he did bear them in his own Body upon the Tree becoming obedient to the Death even the Death of the Cross he did die the Prince of Life did die his Blood was shed that therein might be opened a Fountain for Sin and for Vncleanness 4. Neither is there Salvation in any other there is no other Name under Heaven by which Man may be saved but his no Blood by which he may be washed but his nor Righteousness by which he may be justified but his and therefore it is altogether in vain meer lost labour to look for Salvation any where else Whither shall we go Lord said Peter with Thee alone are the words of Eternal Life And as it is in vain so it is altogether needless for Christ is able to save to the utmost all those that come unto God by him Mark it them that come unto God by him them without exception all them one and another be they never so many and be they what they will never so bad he is able to save them and that compleatly to the full perfection of Salvation to the utmost of their dangers to the utmost of their desires to the utmost of Eternity he is the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him and truly be that hath a Salvation which will reach as far as Eternity doth not will not need one any longer 5. This Salvation doth come most freely from him to all thâ—se that humbly seek it Zech. 9.9 Behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just having Salvation He comes to poor Sinners and brings his Salvation with him He once came into the World in Person to work Salvation for them he still comes by his word and Spirit to bring Salvation to them We before said he is able to save and he is full out as willing as able Oh! that lost ruin'd Sinners were as willing to accept Salvation as he is to bestow it indeed what should hinder his being willing all the charge is over it did cost him a great deal but it will cost him no more no more blood no more sweat no more tears no more sighs no more sorrow or shame it is having the joy that was set before him it is seeing the fruit of the travel of his Soul that will issue in his satisfaction It is but his own taking possession of that which he purchased for himself and giving his People possession of that which he purchased for them Hence we have reason to conclude that his heart is in the work and that he doth it with joy and delight be much and often in speaking to your Families concerning this most sweet and precious Iesus and the good will which he bears to the Children of Men. How he stands with his gracious arms stretched out to receive and embrace them that are willing to accept of him and of Salvation upon the terms propounded in the Gospel and hath given us his faithful word for it which he can no more deny than he can deny himself that whosoever cometh to him he will in no wise cast out tho' he hath been never so vile though his Sins have been never so great yet if he will but come he shall find Grace to welcom him and meet with a most kind reception he will spread his skirt over him for the covering of his shame and nakedness and his wings too for the security of his Person and the healing of his wounds 5. Carefully instruct them about the Covenant of Grace that there is a two-fold Covenant 1. A Covenant of Works 2. A Covenant of Grace A Covenant of Works which had Grace in it upon this account that God should deal in a Covenant way with Man which he needed not to have done He was Mans Creator gave him his being and therefore was his undoubted and Sovereign Lord and might have proceeded with him altogether in a way of Sovereignty exacting obedience of him and let him refuse it or fail in it at his peril It was a gracious condescension in God to act in a Covenant-way and oblige himself to reward man for his obedience this is called a Covenant of Works because therein Life was promised to Man upon the terms of his personal perfect obedience and his perseverance therein Now this Covenant was transgress'd and broken by our first Parents soon after that it was made so that no good no happiness is to be hoped for from it by us or by another the Penalty indeed threatned upon the breach thereof may be most righteously exacted and so it will of all those who are found guilty and continue still under it not having fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hopes set before them i. e. not having closed with Christ and by Faith taken Sanctuary in him but no life is to be had by it the Law cannot justifie because it is grown weak through the flesh Rom. 8.3 weak to the purpose of justification and this was by accident through Mans fault Mans weakness is the reason of the Laws weakness the Law was able to have justified innocent perfect Man but it cannot justifie lapsed sinful Man Homo est impotens ad praestandam legem Lex ei Vires
his Talent in a Napkin That Gods Service is perfect Freedom and then do Men and Women walk at liberty when they keep his Precepts Whereas the Service of Sin is no better than Slavery and its work a drudgery the Sweet-Meats of Sin are wrapt up in a Curse and its most pleasant ways lead down to the Chambers of Death Whereas the Yoke of Christ is easie being lin'd with Love and his Burthen is light having both Wings and the Shoulder of God to help them to bear it In the service of Sin a poor Creature spends all at his own cost like the poor Israelites under Pharaoh and his Cruel Task-Masters who were not only forced to make Brick but likewise to find Straw to make it with and then the Wages given at last will be death Whereas God doth cut out Work for his Servants and give them strength to do it he chalks out their way and inlargeth their hearts to run it he giveth power to the faint when they have none of their own he supplies them with enough so that Paul said He could do all things thro' Christs strengthning him Shew to them the reasonableness of the Law of God which hath been given out to Man for the Directory of his Life and the Rule of his Actions that it is pure and perfect and worthy both of our obedience and our Love yea doth and will afford great singular delight to a person of a right frame and constitution and well it may seeing the Law is holy and the Commandments holy just and good Rom. 7.12 It is such a Law was fit for God to give and fit for Man to receive it being purity throughout and is suitable to the Nature of God who is an Infinite Holy and Righteous Being It was also suitable to the Nature of Man possible easie pleasant to him before he was degenerate corrupt and depraved Let us run through the Commandments and at the first view it will appear they are not grievious as the beloved Disciple saith 1 Iohn 5.3 What can be more reasonable than that we should have and own love and trust in fear and serve him for our God and him only who is God indeed and God alone besides whom there is none else What could with greater reason be forbidden than the making of any Graven Image or the likeness of any thing which is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the Waters under the Earth so as to fall down and Worship them for what can be more ridiculous than to give Divine Honour to that which Man himself gave being to what more gross and egregious nonsence than to call that a God part of which is consumed in the fire Is it not reasonable that we all should sanctifie the name of God and not prophane it nor take it in vain and that we should cheerfully spend some time in his Service who is the great Lord of time and keep holy the Sabbath Day laying out that seventh part of time which he hath chosen and sanctified and set apart for himself in his service and Worship what exceptions can be made against Honouring our Fathers and Mothers Childrens honouring their Parents Servants their Masters and Mistresses Inferiours their Superiours Subjects their Governours what more just than that Men should not kill others by violence nor themselves by intemperance and excess nay that they should not hate one another nor be angry without a cause nor too much nor too long What also can be with reason objected against that Law of God which forbids Rapine Theft Robbery Adultery and all Uncleanness all Reviling Slandering Backbiting and bearing false witness against our Neighbours and also coveting those things which are not our own but commandeth us to sit down contented with those things which we have whether they be more or less till God shall please to carve out for us a larger and more liberal allowance Surely as to all these things save only the seventh part of time the light of Nature would dictate and lead to the practice of them Reason it self doth suggest and teach that to be religious righteous good temperate chast kind meek humble and lowly is fit for Men it highly becomes them and doth greatly conduce and contribute to their honour and peace and prosperity to their welfare and comfort every way these things give them boldness make their faces shine and commend them to all that know them But on the other side injustice oppression disobedience drunkeness uncleanness theft lying subornation perjury false witness swearing debauchery and prophaneness of all sorts do offend Heaven and Earth they tend to the dishonour and displeasing of God and to the undoing of Persons and Families yea to the ruine of Societies and Kingdoms and the whole World for these things sake the wrath of God comes down upon the Children of disobedience To shut up this particular let them know there is none of Gods Commandments but what doth evidently and directly make for Mans own good it tends to the preserving of his Name that it may be like precious Ointment without a dead Flye in it and of his Life that his days may be long in the Land and of his Health that his life may be comfortable as well as long and of his Estate that that may prosper and increase and not be blasted with a Curse and so consume and melt like Snow before the Sun they have a benign and kind influence upon Mans whole interest Godliness being profitable for all things for Soul Body and Calling for Time and Eternity for the Life that now is and for that which is to come and there is nothing can be named by which we can possibly so much promote our own good as by a cordial and constant respect to all God's Commandments we shall not then be ashamed nor repent Oh! how sweet and pleasant will it be when we can in truth say with holy Paul Herein do we exercise our selves to keep a Conscience void of offence both toward God and toward Man Acts 24.16 Eightly Acquaint them with the present Advantages that come by Religion and a consciencious performance of Duty God's Israel have their Manna now and their Clusters by the way in the Wilderness as well as a Land flowing with Milk and Honey at the last As there are some drops before the Storm so First-fruits before the Harvest David saith God's Commandments are right and true more to be desired than Gold much fine Gold sweeter also than Honey and the Honey-comb and that in keeping them there is great reward Psal. 19.11 There is Meat in the very Mouth of duty he doth not say there shall be a great reward though that is true it shall be in Heaven but there is so God is now a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him and are careful to obey him his Servants shall not stay for all but have something down the Feast is to come but there are foretastes
those good Men whom after a Life of Service God takes away from hence would you know what becomes of them whither it is that they go into what state they are put He tells you Isa. 57.2 They enter into peace they rest in their beds every one walking in his uprightness i. e. every one having walked in his uprightness while he was here they professed Religion and were true to that Profession they owned the Interest of God yea and to their power they served that Interest they have studied uprightness and integrity they have been faithful to God in their Generation and in their several places and when such do come to die they have no reason to be afraid of dying no reason for them to draw back and be unwilling to go say to them it shall be well with them they shall enter into peace into a compleat and perfect peace they shall live in peace and enjoy themselves in peace they were here sometimes fear round about buth henceforth they shall be peace round about and they shall rest in their Beds Poor hearts they had but a little rest while they were here a great many fears and a great deal of care and but a little rest alas it was broken and disturbed by Enemies without and by Sins within Head and Heart were discompos'd and out of order at sometimes there is no soundness in their flesh nor rest in their bones Psal. 38.3 But when once Death hath cast them into their last sleep they shall have placidam quietem a sweet and pleasant rest their Bodies for a time and but for a time in a Bed of Dust for that is not intended for the place of their abode they only Inn there by the way yet it is made easie for them and safe and perfum'd for it is the place where the Lord himself lay but their precious and immortal Souls shall rest for ever in a Bed of Spices in a Bed of Love in the Bosom of Abraham in the Arms of Jesus Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord not only the Martyrs that die for him but all Believers that die in him in the Faith of Christ in obedience to him in a state of Union to him and Communion with him for their works do follow them all their works of Charity and all their works of Piety all the good they have done abroad in the World and all the good they have done at home in their Families none shall be forgotten none dropt nor lost by the way but all shall follow them and in Heaven meet them in great glorious and inconceivable Rewards so that the Lord Jesus shall be both glorified in them and admired by them VIII You having made it your work and business to serve and worship God in and with your Families and brought them cheerfully to join with you therein you may leave them with the far greater hope and by consequence with the greater comfort And while they are mourning and sighing and weeping because they must now part with you yet you may be glad and rejoice because hereafter you shall meet with them in a better place and state and here again take into your Consideration these few things First That all these things must be dissolved You now see it is so as to many of these things and believe it will be so as to all the rest Death doth travel up and down and mows people down apace and will pursue his bloody work till he had snapt asunder the nearest and dearest Relations broken up all Houses and put an end to Families It would not by wise persons be counted incongruous at a Marriage-feast to have a Death's-head set upon the Board nor to dash your sweetest Contentments and Delights with dying Thoughts think my Friend often think that Husbands and Wives must part the Conjugal Knot shall be loosed Parents and Children must part sooner or later but how soon none of us do know the great God in whose Hand our Times are that lock'd that up among his Treasures and no Man hath a Key to let him into the knowledge of it the certainty of the thing doth engage us to diligence and our ignorance of the time is a strong Argument for our doubling of that diligence Secondly That will be a very sad parting which will be in despair As they must needs mourn bitterly who mourn without hope so they must needs die dismally who die without hope and what can be thought more likely than that such will be the death of those who in the days of their Health and Prosperity have forgotten God and liv'd without him in the World who have made it their work to sin together and to dishonour God together and profane his Name and abuse his good Creatures together If these believe there is a God and a Resurrection and a Judgment to come in which all Persons shall receive according to what they have done in the Body whether it be good or whether it be evil they may have such thoughts as these forcibly breaking in upon them I and my Family after we have lain a while and slept in the Dust shall rise again and we shall meet again but where Oh where shall we meet We shall meet at the Judgment Seat of Christ there to hear that Condemning Sentence pronounced upon us Go ye cursed we shall meet in Hell where we must make our Eternal abode we shall meet in Torments which will be both intolerable and eternal that so as we have sinned together we may smart together and burn together in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone and that which will render these thoughts more grievous and painful to them may be this that their Children and Servants coming thither will be the aggravation of their own misery since they were so much the cause of it which as some think was the great nay only reason why the rich Glutton of whom you read in Luke 16. being in Hell was so unwilling that his Five Brethren should come into that place of Torments it was not out of good nature and love to them for there is no such thing in Hell it was not out of a desire to prevent their misery but the aggravating of his won he having contributed so much to their ruin and destruction by his vile and wicked Example But then Thirdly Those of you who can at a dying hour look upon your Relations as having walked with you in the ways of God likely to follow you into a blessed Eternity may leave them with joy All of you that have made God your choice and his glory your end that have made Religion your principal business and Family-duty your work and been constant in the dispatch of it you may part with comfort and leave one another with joy though there will be a shower Bowels will yearn and Love will melt the Heart and make it drop Tears yet there need be no storm within you that are
an Heaven for the good no other than the Habitation of his own Holiness and Glory in which there are many Mansions and Crowns and Thrones with unconceivable Felicity in his presence a fulness of Joy and at his Right Hand Pleasures for evermore and besides that an Hell for the wicked a bottomless Pit where there is a gnawing Worm that shall never die and a Fire burning that is unquenchable in which they shall for ever fry scorch and burn without being ever consumed and consequently they shall have weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth Secondly Instruct them concerning the miserable lost and undone condition of all Man-kind by reason of the Fall of the first Man That when God had formed Man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life so that he became a living Soul he was pleased not only to make him upright and in his own Image induing him with all Natural Excellencies and Perfections befitting one who was to have Communion with his Creator and Dominion over this Inferiour World and to put him into a state of Happiness appointing Paradise for the place of his Residence or Royal Seat but also to enter into a Covenant of Friendship with him thereby binding Man to a continuance in a course of Personal and Perfect Obedience to his great Lord and thereupon by promise insuring to him an endless duration of his Life and Happiness but withal threatning that in case of failure and disobedience He should die the death viz. Temporal Spiritual and Eternal That this Covenant was not made with Adam alone but with all Mankind who were to descend from him and were considered as being then in his Loins and He as the great Parent and common Person representing them and so Adam breaking the Covenant by transgressing the Law of his Creation and in particular that positive Law which commanded him not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil All Mankind sinned in him and fell with him in that first Transgression and so all the World is be-become guilty before God and obnoxious to his Justice and Wrath all the World is become filthy and abominable Primitive Righteousness is lost and the Primitive Order broken and we are all unclean all of us by principle and disposition Children of disobedience and all by Nature Children of Wrath. And bring this home to them and let them know that it is as much their Case as the case of any persons in the World that they have the guilt of sin upon them the sentence of Death denounced against them a vile Heart and Nature within them the Seed and Principle of all sin which renders them prone to all manner of evils even the vilest and most monstruous This will tend to the hiding Pride from them and preventing those high towering Conceits which they are ready to hugg and swell with through their self-unacquaintedness this may awaken them to the greater vigilance and care and bring them to keep a stricter Eye upon their hearts and this may keep them from being much taken with and doting upon those trifling childish vanities and youthful follies which the Souls of others are so much addicted and devoted to while they hear there are things of infinitely greater importance and nearer concernment unto which they must attend Thirdly Make it much your business to convince them of the evil of Sin In order to their loathing it and themselves for it before God do you as much as you can set it before them in its ugliness and deformity look upon it in the Glass of God's Law and of Christ's Blood and then draw its picture and shew it to them History tells us this of the Lacedemonians that when they saw a filthy drunken Sott stagger and reeling in the Street vomiting like a Dog falling and tumbling in the Mire like a Swine they would run into their houses and fetch their young Children to the door that they might behold how much he was unman'd how like a Beast he made himself and by the way know it is far better to be a Beast than to be like a Beast that so they might betimes learn to abhor and detest that brutish practice Do you do the like I mean make unto them a true representation of the odiousness of Sin in general yea and of some Sins in particular specially those which are most rampant raging and abounding in the times in which they live and those Sins too with which they are most in danger of being infected paint them out in the blackest Colours that you can as black as Hell for indeed so they are You cannot disparage Sin beyond its demerit you cannot speak too bad of it you cannot make it look worse than it is As we cannot exceed nor rise too high in the commendation of God our greatest words are too little our highest thoughts are too low Angelical conceptions of God are infinitely short of his Perfection He is exalted above all blessing and praise So on the other side we cannot speak too much in the dispraise of Sin our greatest anger against Sin is not hot enough and our sharpest words against Sin are not keen enough There is not to be found so great an evil in all the World as Sin is Afflictions are not so bad as Sin Poverty Plague Fire Sword Famine all the desolations that be made in Towns Cities Countreys not matter of so great Lamentation as Sin They are Physick to cure this the Disease to destroy they are Fire to purifie this is Filth to pollute Death it self doth only kill the Body Sin ruins the Soul Death sends the Body to a Bed of Dust but Sin if unpardoned unmortified sends both Soul and Body into a Bed of Flames The Devil himself is not so bad as Sin For he was an excellent Creature a glorious Angel There never was any thing of goodness in Sin nor ever will He was the Workmanship of God himself but God had no hand in the making of Sin It was Sin that turned him into a Devil Hell is not so bad as Sin For though it be a place of gross utter Darkness yet there is seen the Purity and Holiness of God in his hatred of Sin the Justice and Righteousness of God in the condemning and punishing of Sin there he declares his Wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness but there is no good not the least good in Sin it is a meer Anomia disobedience to and transgression of such a Law as is holy just and good it is evil throughout only evil and that continually Sin is evil in its Nature being contrary to the pure holy infinitely perfect and glorious Nature of God There is nothing in all the World contrary to God but Sin and what Sin hath made so It s Nature is so bad that nothing can rectifie it nothing can mend it nothing make it good It is so bad that God would not allow it a
place in Heaven and the day is coming after which it shall be found no more upon Earth but be for ever confin'd and shut up in Hell Sin is evil in its Consequents and Effects Indeed who did ever gather Grapes of Thorns How can any good Fruit grow upon this Root of bitterness Let me briefly name some of those Mischiefs which Sin hath done and still goeth on to do in the World 1. Sin hath defac'd the Beauty of Man sullied and stain'd his Glory thrown him down from his Excellency turn'd the Nazarite into an Ethiopian so that he who at first was but a little lower than the Angels is now become like unto the Beasts that perish yea worse than they 2. Sin hath spoiled Man's Communion with God which was inconceivably more and better than the Delights of Eden or his Dominion over the Creatures As his Holiness did consist in his conformity to God so did his Happiness in Communion with him but as soon as he had committed Sin that stood as a middle Wall of Partition between them 3. Sin hath broken Man's Peace that Peace which once he had with God and sown Enmity So that God is angry with him and he a Traitor a Rebel against God That Peace which was once in himself The faculties of his Soul were once harmonious Reason sitting in the Throne Judgment ruling and governing the Will and Affections knowing keeping their place and following the Dictates of the Understanding but now there is discord and jarring the Understanding mistakes the Will and Affections mutiny so that frequently there are disorders and confusion in the Soul And oh how dismal are the Contests oftentimes between a Man and his Conscience he crosseth his Conscience and that will not bear it he wounds his Conscience and then that rageth and storms and laies about it as a fury and wheresoever he goes it follows him with its clamours so that he becomes a terrour to himself 4. Sin hath brought in all the Troubles of Life How many are they and how great Who can understand his Errours who can sum up his Sorrows Most come into the World crying and go complaining thorough it In sorrow do Women bring forth Children some are grieved because they have none and some more because those they have are so bad How are the endeavours of many vain and unsuccessful their hopes blasted and their expectations disappointed how are some wasted and consumed with sickness others ground and tortur'd with pain Now a Fire comes and devours your pleasant things burying your Habitations in their own Ashes and then a War which knows no compassion but turns fruitful Lands first into Fields of Blood and then into Wildernesses 5. Sin hath introduced Death and Arm'd against us that King of Terrours Had not Man made Sin his Work he had never receiv'd Death for his Wages had not Sin been Man had either continued in a perfect and Paradisical State upon Earth or else been translated into the Region of Light and Life and Love above but now if ever he would come thither he must walk thorough the dark Shades and be dissolv'd in order to his being glorified We now mourn over a dead Friend a dead Relation let us remember that Sin kill'd them Rom. 5.12 By one Man Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin and so Death passed upon all Men for that all have sinned 6. Sin hath digg'd Hell This is that Tophet which is mentioned in Isa. 30.33 that is made deep and large the Pile whereof is Fire and much Wood the Breath of the Lord like a Stream of Brimstone doth kindle it The Hell in the Conscience which some Men do feel now and that Hell into which all wicked wretches shall be tumbled at the last are both of them the fruit of Sin Now my Friends will you be careful in this matter will you consider what Natures all brought into the World with them how Sin dwells in you and yours Oh! shew unto them the evil that is in it and the mischiefs that come by it for by doing so you take a course to damp the Tinder that it may not catch Fire when the Spark is struck and to arm them against Temptations when they come out in their greatest violence this will tend to the preserving them from the path of the Destroyer though it be such a beaten Road and so full of Travellers This was the Antidote that secur'd Ioseph from the Poison that was offer'd him in the Cup of Fornication He was shreudly assaulted and that more than once the on-set was renewed day by day and he was in his youthful Blood and on that account a great deal more in danger of being prevail'd upon and wrought to a compliance but it was labour in vain he looked upon the vile sinfulness of the thing and that was more powerful to affright him from it than the Charms of his Mistress were to allure him to it and therefore with a Pathos or Zeal of Soul he cryed out Gen. 39.9 How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God He saw such a filthiness in that Sin as that he loathed to touch either it or her that had tempted him to it but fled from them both Fourthly Be much in acquainting them with our Lord Iesus Christ and the way of ruin'd Man's recovery by him and by him alone He being the only Mediator between God and Man and the only Redeemer of God's Elect. Let them know that by Nature and by reason of Sin their case is extreamly deplorable When once our first Parents had transgrest it was dark round about them nothing offer'd it self to their Eye that had a promising aspect God that had been before their chiefest comfort was then their greatest terrour his Voice that had been so sweet and pleasant to them was then in their Ears like Thunder As soon as Adam heard it he was afraid and hid himself but as deplorable as sinful lapsed Man's case is now blessed be free and rich Grace it is not desperate unless he himself by obstinate impenitency and unbelief do make it so There is hope in Israel concerning this thing because all-sufficient help is laid upon One that is mighty 1. Though God was greatly affronted by the work of his own hands whom he had so obliged and by that affront had been so highly provoked yet being a God of bowels whose compassions do not fail in wrath he remembred mercy and though he had no yearnings over the sinning Angels but immediately banished them from his presence threw down from their first estate and with indignation tumbled them into Hell where he hath clapt upon them everlasting Chains in which he reserves them to the Judgment of the great day yet he had it in his hearty to pity and shew kindness to fallen Man it was the fixed resolve and purpose of his Grace to mend the marr'd Girdle and to repair the broken Potsherds of the Earth and of