it if thou art not heartily resolv'd to part with it why dost thou complain what makes thee cry out O wretched creature that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death what makes thee wish that what thou hast done against God were undone what makes thee afraid of offending God why dost thou weep why dost thou watch against thy corruptions what makes thee angry with thy self for displeasing God what makes thee breathe and pant after Christ as the wounded Hart pants after the Water-brooks what makes Christ so sweet and sin so bitter to thee what makes thee asham'd of looking up to Heaven whence is it that all the preferment and riches of this World cannot tempt thee to sin wilfully whence is it that thou delightest not in the company of sinners but thy delight is chiefly in them that fear the Lord If these be not signes of Grace what character of mercy wouldst thou have hath not thy God said that he 'l love those that do love him if thou lov'st him not why art thou restless till thou enjoyest him if thou lovest him not why dost thou desire him why art thou willing to follow him through misery and the greatest troubles to be forever with him thou hast infirmities to wrestle withal but hath not thy God promis'd thee that he 'll bruise Satan under thy feet shortly thou canst not totally master such a corruption but dost not thou fight against it thou meetest with temptations but dost not thou grapple with them Satan follows thee but dost not thou resist him thy Conscience terrifies thee but hast not thou the Cross of Christ to fly to if God had a mind to kill thee would he have shewn thee all these things if God were gone from thee would not his Spirit be gone too if thou hast not the Spirit of God what mean thy longings after God what means thy love to a Spiritual life why dost thou pray so earnestly for the fruit of the Spirit why art thou altogether for a clean Heart and for renewing of a right Spirit within thee are not these signs that Gods Spirit warms thy affections and makes intercession for thee with groanings which cannot be uttered God seems to go away that thou mayst cry more earnestly after him and clouds his comforts that thou mayst sue for them with greater importunity he lets thee sink a little that thou mayst cry with a louder voice Lord save me or else I perish and falls asleep in the Ship that thou mayst take the greater pains to wake him He sees thou grow'st weary of his favour he therefore darkens it that thou mayst be at some trouble to recover it and having recover'd it set a greater price upon 't he withdraws himself for awhile that at his return thy joy may be fuller and bids his gracious influences stop awhile that when they flow in upon thee again they may fill all thy faculties with greater gladness thou canst not perform thy Duties with that alacrity and chearfulness thou desir'st but hast not thou reason to bless God that thou dost in good earnest desire to doe better was Heaven purchas'd in a moment or Sin conquer'd in an hour is not the way to life a race where men must run on till they reach the mark Go on O my Soul go on the farther thou proceedest in Gods ways the sweeter thou wilt find them the more thou strivest the more thou'lt conquer and the oftner thou dost address thy self to God the more thy dullness and weariness will vanish and the more thou lookest upon the everlasting recompence the greater mind thou wilt have to go on from strength to strength O my Soul hope in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God IV. It disposes a man to be a worthy receiver of the Lords Supper Indeed I doe not see how without it a man can receive any benefit by that blessed Sacrament for it being an Ordinance designed chiefly to impregnate the Soul with very strong longings and breathings after a crucified Saviour with a deep sense of the incomprehensible 1ove of God in Christ Jesus and with earnest resolutions to love and to obey him before all the dictates of Flesh and Bloud and of our carnal Interest it is not to be conceiv'd which way the Soul should arrive to all this without considering the end nature and advantages of this Sacrament and its probable a man may then be affected with this sublime mystery when he rowzes his Soul some such way as this Dost thou rightly understand O my Soul what this great and tremendous Ordinance means Behold thou art going to feast with that God who stretches out the Heavens like a Curtain and layes the beams of this chambers in the waters and makes the clouds his chariot and rideth upon the wings of the wind What Feast with so Glorious a God and come without a Wedding-Garment What Sup with him who dwelleth in the Heavens and not purify thy self even as he is pure Can two walk together except they be agreed what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness What concord hath Christ with Belial What agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols This is the great Ordinance O my Soul which must either promote thy everlasting happiness or aggravate thy everlasting condemnation how happy mayst thou be if this Sacrament charms thee into a fervent love to thy dear Redeemer but how wilt thou escape if thou neglect so great a Salvation Here are the greatest engagements the greatest motives to a life as becomes the Gospel of Christ here God adjures thee to use the words of the Church By Christs agony and bloody sweat by his cross and passion by his death and burial to bury thy unclean desires and inordinate affections and to dedicate thy self and all thou hast to his service Here is represented the greatest love that ever was vouchsafed to men here the Son of God appears all bloudy to fright thee from thy sins here Christ is as it were crucified before thine eyes that looking upon him whom thou hast pierc'd Thou mayest mourn as one that mourns for his onely Son Here Christ appears laden with all the blessings of Heaven here the ever-blessed Trinity seems to use its utmost endeavours to perswade thee into a Heavenly conversation here the desert of sin is discover'd in the wounds and torments of an infinite God and hither thou comest O my Soul to renew thy Baptismal vow hither thou comest to enter into a solemn Covenant with God and faithfully to promise him to resign thy self entirely to him to fall out with him no more to defile thy Garments no more to dishonour to betray him no more to be faithful to him to vindicate his Glory to esteem his friends as thy friends and his enemies as thy enemies and to live up to those laws which he hath sealed with his
give a few instances Did the Atheist but look up to Heaven Did his swinish and brutish appetite but give him leave to contemplate that glorious Fabrick the orderly Position of the Stars the regular Motion of those Celestial Lamps and the Mathematical contrivance of that curious Globe how is it possible but he must spy a most wise most perfect and most powerful Architect even that God who commanded them into being and still preserves them from decay and ruine Would he but consider how things that have a beginning could not make themselves unless they were before they were which implies a contradiction and therefore must certainly be made and produced at first by some supreme cause that is eternal and omnipotent Would he but reflect on the universal consent of Mankind how not only the civiliz'd but the most barbarous Nations in all Ages have had a sense of a Deity and how improbable it is that all Mankind should conspire into such a Cheat if there were no Supreme power how rational it is that when Men of different Constitutions Complexions Principles Desires Interests Opinions do all or most of them agree in one thing there must necessarily be something more than ordinary in 't and the Notion must be supposed either imprinted by God on the hearts of all men or carefully deliver'd to Posterity by the first Planters of the world which in all probability they would not have done except they had had very good ground and reason for it Would the Fool I say but think seriously on these familiar Arguments how could he say in his heart There is no God How could the wretch deny a Providence if he did but take notice how all things are preserved in those stations spheres and tendencies they were at first created in How things contrary to one another are kept from destroying one another How every thing prosecutes the end for which it was produced How the Sea that 's higher than the Earth is yet kept from over-running and drowning it How Kingdoms Empires and Commonwealths are continued and conserved in the world How one Countrey is made a scourge to the other for their sin and how the soberer Nation many times conquers the more debauched and vicious till the formers Sobriety dying proves a presage of the funeral of their happiness How men are suffered to tyrannize and to rage that their fall afterward may be more grievous and terrible How sin is punished with sin and with what measure we mete with the same other men mete to us again How strangely Murther is found out and secret Villanies discovered arraigned and condemned How Caligula that bids defiance to Heaven and threatens Jupiter to chastise him if he sent rain that day his Players were to Act how the poor miserable creature hides his head in a Feather-bed when it thunders and how the stoutest sinners tremble even then when no man pursues them How light is frequently produced out of darkness the greatest felicity from the greatest misery and even sin itself so ordered that it proves an occasion of the greatest good How miraculously men are preserved and how prodigiously rescued from dangers that hang over their heads and threaten their destruction How one man is punished by prosperity another favored by wanting of it How one mans blessings are turn'd into curses and another mans curses into blessings How men perish that they may not perish and are suffer'd to grow poor that they may be rich and are deprived of all that they may arrive to far greater plenty How strangely many times men are preserved from sin and something comes in and crosses their sinful attempts and intentions that they are not able to put their purposes in execution How men are fitted for several employments and no office or business so mean and fordid but some men have a genius or inclination to it How beasts which are stronger than men are yet kept from hurting men and men themselves that intend mischief to their Neighbors are prevented in their designs and in the Net they spread for others their foot is taken How by very inconsiderable means very great things are effected and sometimes without means very signal changes and alterations are produced How the greatest Enemy sometimes becomes the greatest Friend and he that hated another unto death is on a sudden convinc'd of his folly and loves him as his own Soul How kindly the Heavens dispense their former and latter rain and how upon solemn Prayers and Supplications some great Judgment is averted and men restored to their former peace and tranquility How even in things fortuitous Justice is executed and the Arrow which such a man shot at random is yet so guided as to hit the person guilty of some heinous Crime How such a mans ruine proves anothers instruction and he whom Education could not engage to Prudence learns to be wise by anothers fall How men ignorantly contrive their Neighbors good and while they least intend the happiness of others take the readiest course to make their labours successful and prosperous How a word that drops sometimes from the Preachers mouth in a Sermon shall make that impression on the Hearers heart as to change it and work him into another man He that would take such passages as these into serious Consideration how were it possible for him to question a Providence that orders and rules and governs all and extends its care even to the least most minute and most abject and contemptible creature How could he forbear to admire God as the most wise most knowing most lovely most perfect most holy and most beautiful Being whose eyes run to and fro to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is upright towards him The Unbeliever that doth not believe the Scripture to be the Word of God and fancies there is no other World no Judgment after Death and thinks it irrational That temporal sin should be punish'd with an eternity of torments it 's want of Consideration makes him continue Infidel For I. As for the Scripture which contains the Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion would he but take a walk in the Field or in his Garden or in his Chamber and weigh the Arguments which make for the Divinity of this Book and consider what he can object against it and whether his objections be equal in strength and weight with the reasons that fetch its pedigree from Heaven he would soon be of another mind and pity the weakness and sauciness of those Youngsters that play upon the Oracles of God in Ale-houses or Taverns or Theatres He need only dispute with himself in this manner I see the whole Christian world for so many Centuries together hath embraced these sacred Volumes as a Treasure of Gods Will and Ordinances as a Directory dropt down from Heaven to teach them how God will be worship'd what Notions they are to entertain of God and what they are to do to save
Printed for Sam Lownds neare y e Sauoy 1677. THE GREAT LAW OF Consideration OR A DISCOURSE Wherein the Nature Vsefulness and Absolute Necessity OF Consideration In order to a truly Serious and Religious LIFE is laid open By ANTHONY HORNECK Preacher at the SAVOY Psal. 119.59 I thought on my wayes and turned my feet unto thy testimonies Lactant. Lib. 1. Instit. Benè dicere ad paucos pertinet benè autem vivere ad omnes London Printed by T. N. for Sam. Lownds near the Savoy in the Strand M.DC.LXXVII IMPRIMATUR Octob. 25. 1676. Guli Sill R.P.D. Henr. Episc Lond. à Sacris Domesticis TO HIS GRACE Christopher Lord Duke of Albemarle c. Lord Lieutenant of the Counties of Devon and Essex Gentleman of His Majesties Bedchamber one of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter c. My LORD May it please your Grace I Dare not call this Address Presumption the usual Compliment men give to Persons of Honour in Dedications of Books but Duly and the greatest Service I can pay you It 's the cause of God and the cause of Mens immortal Souls I am defending in this Treatise a Subject which claims attention from all degrees of men and wherein the most puissant Prince is as much concern'd as the meanest Vassal It is a future estate and what becomes of men when their bodies do drop from them and what they must do to inherit that eternal glory which a merciful God hath been pleas'd to promise them that I intend to speak to and if there be such a thing as a retribution after Death and our Souls When they leave their earthly Tabernacles must come to an after-reckoning and appear before the dreadful Tribunal of a just and infinite Majesty certainly that man is unjust to himself and an enemy to his own preservation that dares neglect his preparation for that great and tremendous Audit and prefers not meditation on that last account before all the sensual enjoyments of this World My LORD We are fall'n into an Age wherein some few daring men indeed their number is inconsiderable compared with the more sober part of Mankind have presumed to mock at a punishment after death and term'd that a Bugbear deriv'd from the tales of Priests and the melancholy of contemplative men which the wiser World heretofore was afraid to entertain but with most serious reflections When the ripest and most subact judgments for almost six thousand years together by the instinct of Nature and Conscience have believ'd a future Retribution it 's pretty to see a few raw Youths who have drown'd their Reason in Sensuality and scarcely ever perus'd any Books but Romances and the lascivious Rhapsodies of Poets assume to themselves a power to controul the universal sense and consent of Mankind think themselves wiser than all the grave Sages that have liv'd before them and break Jests in their Riots and Debauchery's upon that which not only Christians but Jews Mahometans and Heathens the subtilest and most knowing of them have ever since we have any Record or History of their Actions and Belief profess'd and embrac'd with all imaginable Reverence And are not things come to a fine pass My LORD when Christianity the clearest Revelation that was ever vouchsaf'd to men hath been receiv'd confirm'd and approv'd of in the World above sixteen hundred years and the greatest Philosophers in many of those Countries where it hath taken Root have not dared to doubt of the truth of it the convincing power that came along with it proclaiming its Divinity and Majesty that these bold Attentates should now begin to arraign its Authority and put us upon proving the first Principles of it as if the World were return'd to its former Barbarism and we had once more to do with Infidels as if men had divested themselves of Humanity put on the nature of Beasts and were sent into the World to understand no more but the matter and motion of the Malmsbury Philosophy I confess I have sometimes blamed my self for accusing these Libertines of Atheism when I have understood what mortal Enemies they were to Lying and Nonsence for how should not they believe a God that cannot speak a sentence but must swear by him or the truth of the Christian Religion that put so remarkable an Emphasis upon 's Wounds and Blood or another World that do so often imprecate Damnation to themselves or the being of a Devil who do not seldom wish he may confound them Would not any man conclude That Persons who do so exclaim against every mistaken and misplaced word and are such perfect Masters of Sence and value themselves so much upon their Veracity must needs believe the existence of those things they make use of in their ingenious Oaths and Curses the pompous Ornaments which in this Licentious Age set off the Glory Wit and Gallantry of such accomplish'd Pretenders But though we must not be so unmannerly as to accuse these Wits of contradictions in their discourses yet any man that doth not love darkness better than light may soon perceive how faulty this way these Scepticks are there being nothing more common with them than to smile at the Notion of that God by whom they swore but just before and to raille that day of Judgment which they seem'd to acknowledge in their absurd wishes and imprecations Some have I known who in a serious Fit have been pleas'd to tell me That if they could be sure there was another World and a Retribution for Good and Evil none should exceed them in strictness of Conversation and exact piety of Life and I am so charitable to believe that these spoke the sense of most of the rest and that the imaginary want of certainty in this dubious Point diverts them from venturing on that innocence and purity which was the glory of the primitive Christians But may it not be requisite to enquire whether these Doubters have ever taken the right way to be satisfied If one that had never heard of such a City as Exeter should be told that a Friend of his lately deceased there had left him a Thousand pound and he should reply that if he were certain there were such a City he would repair thither and yet would not enquire of those that are able to inform him might it not be presumed that such an one had no mind to be satisfied And I durst appeal to the Consciences of these men that doubt of an after-retribution whether they did ever sincerely and impartially desire or endeavor to be satisfied about it Did they ever do what every rational man ought to do that is willing to be ascertained of the truth of a common report Did they ever put themselves to half that trouble to be convinced of the certainty of a future judgment that they put themselves to when they would know whether the Title of the Estate they would buy be good or no. Do not
apparently dangerous Thus it is with me why should I deny it Why should I call light darkness and darkness light put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Whom do I cheat all this while is it not my own Soul And what shall I gain by it in the end Shall I think my self sufficiently holy when I am so little acquainted with the first rudiments of Holiness Shall I think my self a Child of God when that which I do is fitter for a Child of the Devil than for a Favourite of Heaven Conversion or turning to God which the Holy Ghost doth so often and with that vehemence and earnestness inculcate implies an universal change of my disposition and inclinations And where is that alteration that renovation of the Mind Will and Affections My Affections are carried out after Froth and smoke as much as ever My Love is set on Trifles and is regardless of the highest and chiefest good as much as ever I hate Seriousness and delight in childish impertinent Gayeties as much as ever The promises of the Gospel are as inconsiderable in my eyes and the riches of this World as glorious and ravishing as ever and I can dispense with the want of spiritual consolations while I have but my share in these outward comforts My feet run in the wayes of destruction and my eyes are dazled with external pomp and grandeur as much as ever An amorous Song is more pleasing to me than the most harmonious Psalm The Word of God is but a dead Letter to me while a Romance or a Book that Treats of Folly and Vanity Transports me into more than ordinary content and satisfaction And what I must eat And what I must drink And wherewithall I shall be cloathed Are questions I have a far greater desire to be resolved in than to know what I must do to please God and to be happy for ever If I have made light of the Thunders and Threatnings of Scripture I do so still If I have prefer'd my secular Interest before Gods Honour and Glory I do so still If I have feared Men more than God I do so still If I have been loth to do good with the Temporal blessings God hath confer'd upon me I am so still And what Sins I leave it 's more because I have no inclination to them or because I am afraid they 'll spoil and blemish my Reputation in the World than because I love that God who made me and hath obliged me by a thousand Favours to esteem and prize him above all And is this the Coat of the Sons of God Is this the Livery of a Christian indeed Is this done like a Man that lives upon Gods Bounty is fed by his Charity supported by his Alms and maintain'd from his Store-house and cannot subsist one moment without his Concourse and hath not a better Friend in all the World than him who is the Fountain of living Waters Consideration one great design of it being to know how the case stands between God and our own Souls such a Self-examination must of necessity be the Corner stone of this spiritual Building and comparing our Lives with the Rules of the Gospel and the proper characters of such as are in a likely way to enjoy God for ever may justly challenge the first Seat in this intellectual Paradise But then as building of a stately Gate without a House answerable to it doth but expose the Builder to derision and contempt so Self-Examination without a serious Expostulation with our own hearts is but to make the Accuser of our Brethren laugh at our vain attempts and God scorn the endeavour that could be crusht in the Bud and tired before half its Race is run II. Expostulation rouzes the Soul from her Slumber and drives it away from the soft Doune it would have rested and repos'd it self upon and gives the first blow for Self-Examination only threatens it to that Tree of Death I mean to the reigning power of Sin and I see not how Sin can shelter it self any longer or what excuses it can make for its stay and continuance where the Soul doth summon it to appear before the Bar of Conscience and enters into such reasonings and interrogations as these Are these things so and do I stand trifling with my salvation Do I run the hazard of everlasting flames and do I lie playing in the Suburbs of destruction Either I believe an eternity of Torments that shall attend a careless sinful life or I do not If not why dare not I profess my denial Why do I play the Hypocrite and make the World think I do believe it What 's the reason that I cannot shake off the fears of it if I would never so fain Why does something within me check me when I would be so profane as to deny it Can I ever be serious and not believe it But then if I believe it what a mad Man am I to loyter when the Candle I am allow'd to work by is almost burnt out and I know not how soon it may please my great Master to extinguish it Do I lead a life which is the readiest way to eternal Vengeance and shall I not step back and prevent it Can I imagine God will blow out that everlasting Fire to gratifie my vicious temper or destroy that Tophet out of tenderness to my Lusts and Corruptions Can I conceive it possible that God will go from his Word to please a stubborn Sinner or prove a Lyar that I may go with greater ease to Heaven Do I know that I shall be miserable if I continue in that course I have held on in hitherto and am I in love with eternal ruine Am I certain that Iniquity will be my confusion and am I resolv'd to dye I have all the reason in the World to believe that it was the Son of God that was the Author of those Threatnings and Comminations I find in the Gospel Do I believe him to be the Son of God and can I imagine that the least tittle of his words will perish I have run up and down in the World these many years and hunted-after those Vanities which sensual Men do dote upon But will these save me when I dye Will not the remembrance of my eager pursuit after these Butterflies and Gaudes fill me with anguish and sorrow Have I liv'd in the World all this while and am not I nearer Heaven than I was some years ago Must my body engross all my endeavours and must my Soul be starved I have a Soul that cannot dye and must not dye and must shortly appear before Gods Tribunal and shall not I study its safety and happiness as much as I am able Lord God! should Death arrest me before I have made my Calling and Election sure how fearful how wretched would my condition be should it fall to my share to howle in outward Darkness how should I curse the day that ever I was born should those Tortures the
Damn'd feel be inflicted on me how should I wish that I had liv'd all my dayes in Desarts and Wildernesses and spent my whole time in praying and praising of God and given all my Goods to the Poor and liv'd upon Bread and Water and undergone the greatest hardships and severities outpray'd a Saint and out-fasted a Hermit rather than ventur'd my Soul in so slight a bottom as worldly mindedness must necessarily be should that burning Lake be my Habitation for ever O how I should imprecate all my merry Companions that did allure me to run with them into Folly and Vanity O how I should wish that my eyes had never seen them that my ears had never heard their names that my tongue had been torn into a thousand pieces when first it entertain'd Discourse with them that my Arms had been cut off when they embrac'd those pleasures which like Syrens cheat men into misery and calamity O how I should curse the place where my Sins were committed the persons that occasion'd them the hour that ever I thought of them O how I should wish that I had improv'd those opportunities I do now make light of and believed Moses and the Prophets that gave me warning and turn'd to God while the doors of Grace stood open and applied my self to the Ministers of the Gospel and taken directions from them what I must do to be sav'd How should the possibility of such misery fright and terrifie me into watchfulness and seriousness Is not Eternity more to me than a moment of time Can that Gold and Silver I enjoy and do so much prize and adore be any motive to the great Judge of Life and Death to absolve me Can the pleasures of Sin be antidotes against Sin or my Jollities procure a pardon in that day when God shall judge men according to the Gospel What makes me thus stupid that I should forgo the Milk and Honey of Canaan for the pitiful Garlicks and Onions of Egypt What Devil doth possess me that I should prefer Dancing and Revelling for a few hours before endless joy where is my reason What 's become of my understanding Am I bewitch'd besotted beguil'd that I should believe a few flattering motions of flesh and blood before all the Oracles and Inspirations of the Holy Ghost Can there be any thing more reasonable than Christs precepts What is there in them that should discourage me If God had commanded severer things is not Heaven recompence enough I that forbear the greatest Delicacies shun the choicest Dainties will not be tempted to eat of the most palatable Dish when I am sensible it will bring upon me the pain either of Collic or Strangury Nay I that lying under a raging painful Distemper wish my self a Beggar or the poorest Body alive and would be content to stoop to the meanest offices so I might be but freed from the Malady which torments me can I scruple to obey these Laws when it is to avoid an eternity of pain and flames Was not Dives as stubborn as I can be and have not I reason to believe if he were on earth again he would think the Law of Charity the easiest and the reasonablest Law imaginable Have not I reason to believe he would go beyond Zachaeus leave himself but just enough to live on and study how to do good with the rest Have not I reason to believe that the Lawes of Christ would seem very facil and practicable to him Can I think he would say A Little more sleep and a little more slumber and delay his obedience He that hath felt the misery of another World would think nothing too good nothing too dear nothing too costly to sacrifice to him who is the King immortal invisible blessed for evermore God that gave me these Laws and hath entail'd everlasting bliss on my sincere obedience certainly knew best what was fit and expedient for me and he â—hat is acquainted with my sitting down and mine uprising and had a hand in my frame can I think he would prescribe me any thing prejudicial to my happiness These precepts as they are effects of the greatest wisdom so they cannot but be highly beneficial and promote my spiritual interest for they drop from a God that 's infinitely good as well as infinitely wise so that not to submit to them is not only to stand in my own light and to hinder my Soul from its proper food and nourishment but to make my self wiser than the Almighty and to extol my reason above his Omniscience and to accuse his immense wisdom of rashness and folly and shall I add blasphemy to my disobedience Am I afraid God is not enrag'd enough against me or that his Anger is not red enough shall I throw brimstone into the flame to make that consuming fire more terrible Is it such a pleasure to have God my Foe Is it such a satisfaction to have him that can destroy both Soul and Body into Hell for my Adversary such Labyrinths such Inconveniences do I cast my self into by my sinful life and are these encouragements to continue in it Is this the Wedding garment I may triumph in Shall I sing in Chains rejoyce in Fetters glory in my Shackles be proud of the Devils Service boast of my Slavery When is it that I intend to be clean shall I delay it one moment longer that know not but I may be in Hell before the Clock doth strike again Dull blockish heart what dost thou mean Dost thou stand upon the brink of destruction and art thou not afraid Dost thou see a crucified Jesus stretching forth his Arms to embrace thee and dost thou feel no warmth no heat no zeal no affection Dost thou see the great burning Lake before thee and dost not thou quake and tremble Dost thou see the Revenger of blood upon thy heels and wilt not thou run into the City of Refuge Dost thou see the Angel of the Lord preparing to rain down Fire and Brimstone on thee and wilt thou not save thy self in Zoar What hinders thee What is it stops thy progress Art thou still in love with that which will undo thee Why should Father and Mother Wife and Children Brethren and Sisters Lands and Houses make thee lose a Crown Hath Gods Favour no Temptation Is there no Charm in his Love Hath Heaven no Beauty If thou must be miserable hadst thou not better be so here than hereafter Shall the present Food flatter thee into eternal hunger And because the Tree is pleasant to the eye wilt thou prepare for being expell'd out of Paradise for ever Will a few pleasant Cups counterballance thy everlasting Thirst Wilt thou venture an everlasting storm for a present calm And run the hazard of an endless Tempest for a few months Recreation O Wretch that I am the Devil was never crucified for me never spilt one drop of blood for me never endured Agonies for me he never wore a Crown of Thorns for me he
the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God This would shew them Christ Jesus on the Cross this would bespeak them in the language of the Prophet Who is this that comes from Edom with died garments from Bozrah Wherefore is he red in his apparel and his garments like him that treads in the Wine-fat Isa. 63.1 2. This would shew them that the blood which trickled down from that sacred head trickled down upon the account of their follies and transgressions that their oaths and curses and blasphemies were the thorns that prickt his head that their lasciviousness and fornications and adulteries were the spears that open'd his side that their boldness in sinning their resolutions to be damn'd made the tears gush from his eyes that their hatred their malice their envy their revengeful desires were the hands that did buffet him that their covetousness and worldly-mindedness and neglect of their duty towards God and man were the Rods that smote him that their evil thoughts and idle words and extravagant actions were the furies that spit into his face that their perfidiousness their treacheries their hypocrisies were the nails that were struck through his hands and feet that their labouring after Hell their endeavors to be miserable their contempt of the goodness of God made him sweat drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane that their delight in abusing God and in trampling on his Laws was that which made him shreek out to the amazement of Heaven and Earth My God my God why hast thou forsaken me that the heat of their lusts was the cause of his drought and proved the gall and vinegar that was given him to drink that their sinful lives kill'd him and their deadness in duty murther'd him that their impatience and unbelief haled him to the Cross and their impenitence was the cause of that purple flood which the Angels for the rarity and strangeness of it descended from Heaven to behold Consideration would lay before them all the curses of the Law the terror the consumption the sorrow of heart that anguish that attends sin in the end the troubles of Conscience it will raise ere long the frights the disquiet it will produce This would represent to them the flames that Dives felt and made the Wretch cry out for a drop of water to cool his burning tongue This would shew them what blackness sin doth cast on their understandings and that their being baptized into the Christian Faith doth signifie little except they leave their sins and that they do name the Name of Christ in vain without they depart form iniquity This would shew them their error in flattering themselves with the hopes of Gods mercy and demonstrate to them how ridiculous it is to believe that God will pardon them because they pardon themselves or that he will forgive them because they are loth to suffer This would shew them that God sees and hears them and will judge them and set their transgressions in order before them for all the seeming delay of his vengeance Consideration would discover to them the pardon and reconciliation they must go without if they do not speedily return the blessings they deprive themselves of the comforts they bid defiance to the light the favor of God and the mercy of Christ Jesus they must for ever want and be destitute of if they flie not into his arms with the greatest expedition and alacrity This would aggravate their sins make them appear in their proper colours and shew that they are no better than Cockatrices Eggs and Spiders Webs Have not you seen the crafty Spider weave a Net and then lie close in an ambush till the silly Fly dazled perhaps with the curiosity of the Net hastens to those unhappy Labyrinths but while she is sporting her self in those chambers of death out comes the Murtherer and leads the Captive wretch in triumph home Consideration would shew them that thus it is with sin that with much fair speech as that Harlot Prov. 7.21 22 23. it causes the sinner to yield with the flattering of her lips she forces him He goes after her straightway as an Oxe goes to the slaughter or a fool to the correction of the stocks till a dart strike through his liver as a Bird hastes to the snare not knowing that it is for life This kindness Consideration would do them Thus and thus it would tell them and this is it men are afraid of and therefore care not for entertaining it Their sins afford them present satisfaction and the pleasure they promise is brisk and lusty on their fancies their body feels it their eyes see it their ears hear it their tongue tastes it it tickles all their senses it makes them merry and jovial and makes their blood frisk and dance in their veins It makes them forget their sorrows and puts the evil day far from them Frequent converse and long acquaintance hath made their friendship with sin inviolable And though it is really the greatest evil and the cause of all evils in the World though it murthers while it laughs and poysons while it smiles and cringes though it is so merciless that not contented to kill the body it attempts the soul too yet having like the Prophets Ewe Lamb 2 Sam. 12.3 been nourish'd and kept by its owners for many years and being grown up together with them and having eaten of their meat and drank of their Cup and lay'n in their bosoms and been to them as a Child the fondness is grown so great that nothing can make them willing to part with it Hence it is That Consideration is look'd upon as a sawcy ill-bred unmannerly Messenger that would part the dearest friends divide sin from their souls and cause a civil War in their bowels destroy the reigning power of Vice attempt its strong holds and storm its fortifications They lie encircled in its arms and though they hang all this while over Hell-fire by a twin'd Thread though God all this while shakes his Rod over them and while they hug the sin is preparing the instruments of death and whetting his Sword and bending his Bowe and making it ready yet it seems such is the present hearts-ease sin affords so sweet is the sleep it yields that men care not for being awak'd by Consideration We should wonder to see a man that 's ready to starve for want of food refuse the bread or meat which we offer him and wonder to see a person that 's ready to perish with cold reject the fire and cloathing we have prepared for him and wonder to see one who is blind scorn the help of him that would certainly restore him to his sight and wonder to see one who is fallen among Thieves and Robbers make light of the assistance of a Prince who offers to rescue him out of their hands And dost not thou wonder O my soul at the insufferable stupidity of sinful men that entic'd with the
apt to do evil because their Parents bid them though God enjoins the contrary when they sind in themselves an inclination to mourn more for displeasing their Parents than offending a gracious God and to be more pleased with the smiles of those which have the government of them than with the light of Gods countenance When Servants are moved to backbite and revile their Masters according to the flesh find an unwillingness upon their spirits to honour the froward as well as the gentle are apt to be unfaithful to them to imbezel their goods and to wrong them in things they have committed to their charge when thoughts of revealing the secrets of the Family meerly to sport themselves arise in their minds when they find inclinations to be industrious in their Masters presence careless and lazy in their absence to put them off with eye-service as Men-pleasers to murmur against their lawful injunctions to answer again if rebuked for their faults and to conspire against them by way of revenge What are all these motions and inclinations but Temptations of the great destroyer of Mens Souls These are some of the ginns and stratagems whereby he doth insensibly ruine the greatest part of Mankind and we may confidently affirm That whatever Thought Reason Argument Suggestion Proposition Imagination would discourage us from a close adherence unto God from a fervent love to our gracious Redeemer from earnest breathings and pantings after him from relying on him and obeying him and encourage us to any thing that 's displeasing to God or contrary to Christs rules and injunctions or prejudicial to the honour of God or to the welfare of our Neighbor or to a good Conscience whether the suggestion be immediately like lightning shot and darted into the mind or conveyed immediately by our corrupted hearts or by the world or be adversity or by prosperity or by good report or by evil report they are Temptations of the Enemy which how plausible soever design nothing but our decay in goodness and in the favour of God and the loss of our spiritual comfort and refreshment Consideration examines the end of all these motions and finding out the mischief they drive at discovering the Tempest they aim at it cannot but give great satisfaction to a rational Man that would not be a stranger to himself Indeed none are more sensible of the pleasure of this Consideration than those whom Gods Spirit hath rais'd from the death of sin and who have escap'd the pollutions of the world through lust These reflect with more than ordinary delight on the snares from which they have in a great measure been deliver'd And though they are still subject to Temptations yet that which very much contents them is that they are not ignorant of Satans devices They see the windings and turnings of the Enemy and can laugh at the miserable shifts he uses to deceive them They see his goings and his ways and can trace the Foe in all his stratagems They see his juggles and how he tears the sinner day and night Look O my Soul look upon yonder Sinner that hath renounc'd his follies and yet goes drooping under the burthen of his sins Dost not thou see the Enemy behind him The Foe can make him presume no longer and therefore he seeks to drive him to despair and he that before told the Wretch of Gardens and Walks and Pleasures now shews him nothing but Hell and a burning Lake He that before represented God to him as a mighty Sardanapalus one that doth not mind such little things as sins now sets out God array'd in a habit of vengeance and as one who doth but watch for an opportunity to condemn him He that before made the burthen lighter than straw and stubble now makes his little finger heavier than his loins and assures him that what seem'd but a Cloud before is all Hill and Mountain now He that before talk'd of nothing but mercy seats now changes his note and knows of no other remedies but Tribunals of judgment He that before made the silly wretch believe that God had no voice but that of mercy no sceptre but that of love makes God all thunder and lightning now Judas believes him and is lost Mary Magdalen sees the imposture and escapes she rests upon Christs word and is convinc'd that there is no sin that 's capable of true repentance but is capable of pardon too and that Christ is so far from casting those away that come to him with an humble and contrite spirit that the greatest ease and refreshment is their portion She sees that the poor in spirit have a right to the Kingdom of Heaven and that those that mourn shall never be destitute of comfort She is sensible how happy that person is that feels his heart bleeding and melting upon the account of his former sins and can make his Bed to swim with tears She is sensible the Holy Ghost moves upon these waters and that such a person is indeed baptized with water and the Holy Ghost This she beholds and beholds with pleasure Consideration gives her a prospect of the Devils subtilty and her eyes gush out with tears of joy And certainly if it be a greater pleasure to see than to grope in the dark a greater pleasure to know the precipices I am hurried into than to have them hid from mine eyes a greater pleasure to see the brink of destruction I do stand upon than to be ignorant of it Consideration must be a pleasure for this shews me the steep Rock Temptation this ignis fatuus would have led me to the Ditch this false light would have flatter'd me into the fatal Sea this false star would have seduc'd me into How have I seen a Traveller rejoyce when waking in the morning he hath seen the Water or the Mine he must have necessarily tumbled into if he had gone but one step farther and had not stopt where he did how doth he admire the Providence which hath preserv'd him and how doth he go on in his way rejoycing that he hath seen the gulph he might have rusht into and escap'd it And O sinner dost not thou think thou shouldst rejoyce to find by Consideration that thy aversness from Religion thy backwardness to Devotion thy unwillingness to spend time in private Meditations thy excusations of sin thy palliations of extravagant desires thy pleadings for Licentiousness thy Apologies for pleasing the lusts of thy flesh thy eagerness to run into evil company thy desires to wallow in uncleanness thy longings after things Gods Word forbids thy inclination to unbelief that all these are Temptations of the Devil Corn which that Fowler spreads and scatters before the unwary Birds to kill and to destroy them Consideration would dismantle Satan pull off his mask and vizard and convince thee that the sweetness of the Potion is but to make the Poyson go down more glib and however the Pill may be gilded it is but to dazle thee into
We would have healed Israel but they would not be healed XII Impediment XII Deluding themselves with the notion of Christs dying for the Sins of the World Why should they consider how to be rid of Sin and lay the pleasures of Holiness before their eyes Why should they torment themselves with thinking how Gods favor may be purchas'd and involve themselves in anxiety and trouble about their transgressions When Christ hath done all that is to be done appeas'd his Fathers wrath against the lapsed Progeny of Adam and purchas'd them a glorious freedom from the slavery of a severe Law If he hath satisfied God for the injuries he received by any sins why should they make a new satisfaction by holiness of their Lives Is not that it which all Pulpits ring of That the Eternal dyed that we might not dye eternally and that God would suffer that we might escape Torments for ever That Christ would be Crown'd with Thorns that we might have an incorruptible Crown of glory hereafter And that he endure'd Reproach and Calumnies and Contradictions of Sinners against himself that we might inherit everlasting Honour And why should they disparage Christs sufferings so much as hope to gain Heaven by mortification of their Lusts and poring upon their sin and misery This would be to undervalue so great a blessing and to tell the world that Christ's purchase of eternal glory for us was imperfect and without there be an addition of our own works and merits that redemption signifies little and hath not strength enough to pass what was design'd by it Thus men prevent Consideration of their spiritual Concerns and dash the checks and motions of their Consciences when prompted to call their wayes to remembrance They examine not the end of Christs death nor their own obligations They run away with the notion that Christ dyed for them and are not at all careful to know what his death signifies much like heedless servants who before they have half their errand run away and when they come to the place they are sent to know not what message to deliver The Doctrine is pleasing to their flesh and that they may not lose that pleasure they 'll be sure not to enquire what the true meaning of it is Would they but cast their eyes upon that Bible which they believe contains the Oracles of Heaven they would find that the great reason why Christ gave himself for us was to redeem us from all iniquity and to purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2. 14. They would find St Paul was of another mind when he wrote to the Romans In that Christ dyed he dyed unto sin once but in that he lives he lives unto God likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God Rom. 6.10 11 12 13. And that the Apostle is constant to himself appears from 2 Cor. 6.15 Christ dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again And indeed this is no more but common gratitude so great a mercy challenges no less than Reformation and Obedience Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles He that redeems another from Barbarian slavery doth it so much as enter into his thoughts that the Wretch can ever be so inhumane as to despise and scorn and vilifie so great a Benefactor That God could have given man access to his favor and reconciliation some nearer way than through the Cross and Death of Christ is very probable but it seems he would not This remedy was his choice he would pitch upon this stupendious way to amaze and to astonish men into holiness and seriousness He thought men could not possibly avoid being Converts and heavenly-minded when they should see the Son of God wading through blood and death to rescue them from Hell God look'd upon the mercy to be so dreadful and the kindness to be so full of majesty and compassion together that he thought the incomprehensibleness of the favor would carry terror with it and fright men into repentance and contrition He thought men would have so much sense and modesty in them as not to rush through agonies and torments and groans and sobs and sighs and tears and wounds and stripes of the Son of God into eternal destruction He thought those Thorns and Nails that wounded that sacred Head would scratch and sting them into awe and reverence of so great a love as they were rolling to eternal flames He thought they must divest themselves of all Humanity and Self-love if under the Cross of Christ they could work out their own damnation and make the streams of that blood a River to carry them into eternal darkness But thou hast seen O God and beholdest and canst not but behold it with sorrow and indignation how these men that pretend to be Christians live the reverse of thy designs How they improve the Cross of Christ into affronts of thy power and glory How under that Tree of Life they work out their own death and how that precious Blood doth but encourage them to bid defiance to Heaven and the sweat and toyle of the Son of God under the burthen of their sins makes them sweat and toyle to fall a Prey to the merciless Clutches of the Devil God indeed reconcil'd the World unto himself and Christ by his death purchas'd that reconciliation and eternal life but there is a great difference between the purchase of these blessings and the application of them between the possibility of possessing and the actual enjoyment of them A man may buy an estate and intend it for the use of such and such persons but when he hath bought it for them may lawfully tye them up to certain conditions upon which they shall enjoy the estate or in case of neglect of these conditions go without it A King that 's justly offended with his Subjects and for their notorious Rebellion hath design'd them all for ruine and destruction upon some noble attempt and generous enterprize of his onely Son the Prince may be mov'd or brought to a willingness to pass by their crimes but when the Kings good will is obtain'd the Prince may justly appoint some condition upon which the condemn'd Wretches shall receive their great Masters favour And as upon the Kings good inclination to be friends with his Subjects it doth not follow that he is actually reconcil'd to every one there being some conditions required upon which the Pardon shall be sign'd and sealed to every one of them in particular so neither do all men effectually
share in that reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ but those that turn to God with all their hearts and with all their souls and are weary of sin and heavy laden with the sense of it and in sober sadness resolv'd to submit to Christs yoke and government for though all mankind share in the possibility of enjoying this reconciliation and the Pardon may be truly said to be purchas'd for them and for their use yet all are not made partakers of the actual possession of it because all men will not consent to fulfill the conditions upon which that reconciliation is offer'd them viz. unfeign'd repentance and sincere obedience for the time to come Shimei was a man condemn'd to death 1 Kings 2.36 it 's like some Courtiers of Solomon got him his Pardon the King grants it but requires this one thing of him that he shall build him a house in Jerusalem and dwell there and go not forth thence any whither and fulfilling this condition without all peradventure he might have liv'd happy and safe as the best of his Neighbors but when he must needs be running after his servants and prefer a small advantage before perpetual safety he justly suffers the punishment the King appointed for him The Son of God by the blood of his Cross hath in truth gotten all Christians their Pardon but is resolv'd none shall enjoy it but those that will forsake their sins and resign themselves to his guidance and direction A reasonable demand a condition so equitable so just so easie that no man in his wits but must say as Shimei unto Solomon The saying is good As my Lord the King hath said so will thy servant do But then if the Pardon the Son of God hath obtain'd for them appear so inconsiderable a thing in their eyes that they do not think it worth enjoying and certainly they do not think it worth enjoying that will not agree to so reasonable a condition no marvel if they fall a prey to that wrath from which the Son of God is ready to deliver them and if their blood be upon their heads that do despight unto the Spirit of Grace and count the blood of the Covenant wherewith they were to be sanctified an unholy thing So that although a true Believer and a sincere Penitent may boldly say with the Apostle That Christ hath redeem'd him from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for him Gal. 3.13 And that ChriSt hath wash'd him from his sins with his own blood Rev. 1.5 And that he hath an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for his sins 1 John 2.1 And that Chris't hath made his peace with God Col. 1.20 Yet men that are strangers to the sanctifying work of Gods Spirit cannot be said to have at present during their unregenerate estate any other benefit by the death and passion of Christ but a possibility of all those great and glorious advantages and it 's possible for them to be freed from the Curse of the Law to be admitted into the number of those that shall be sav'd to enjoy remission of sins to escape the wrath to come and to see God face to face in Heaven and all this by virtue of Christ's death if they will but shake hands with their darling Vices and agree to a practical love of their Maker and Redeemer and Sanctifier To think that unconverted sinners do actually enjoy these benefits is to contradict Scripture and to give the Apostles of our Lord the Lye who unanimously tells us That these mercies are not effectually apply'd to the Soul till the Soul by sincere repentance and reformation of life applies herself to Christ Jesus And indeed this is the prodigious mercy of the second Covenant that God for Christ's sake will accept of sincere repentance in stead of perfect obedience which was the great condition of the first agreement between God and man and looking upon the precious blood of his Son will pass by whatever Men have done before if they will be in love with sin and destruction no longer and sincerely endeavor to please him in those commands which design nothing but our interest and happiness These things are not very hard to be understood but the generality of Christians seem resolv'd not to understand them that they may not be obliged to take their ways into serious Consideration This Doctrine That Christ hath freed them from the wrath of God in their sense makes Religion sit soft and easie upon them and doth not disturb them in their sensual enjoyments It 's a comfortable Doctrine to flesh and blood never could any thing have been invented more agreeable to their Lusts and if God had studied to do them a kindness he could not have done them a greater than to let his Son suffer all that is to be suffer'd by them and so after their delights and sinful satisfactions here conduct them into a far more glorious Paradise If it be so truly Consideration is Vanity and the Preachers are Fools and mad Men to press it upon their Auditors But who sees not that this is an invention of the Devil first to darken the sinners understanding and when the Candle is out to rob him of his everlasting happiness And Sirs will you be rob'd thus quietly of your bliss and glory Will you suffer yourselves to be stript of all you have without the least opposition Is it possible for you to believe That the Son of God came down from Heaven to encourage you in offending God and made himself of no reputation for you that you might render your selves contemptible in the sight of the Almighty and dyed for you to give life to your sins and follies How absurd how impertinent how contradictory is this Belief Love God and encourage sin Holiness itself and find out a way to promote iniquity Can there be any thing in Nature more silly or ridiculous This is abusing the Cross of Christ not trusting to it and you that make it an occasion of sin take heed it do not prove a stumbling block unto you and instead of Crucifying sin in you do not harden you in it It is a thing not unusual with God to punish sin with sin and if Men will be filthy in despite of all endeavors to purifie them from their filthinesses to doom them to continue filthy still and to make that their judgment which at first was only their transgression so great a love and written in such legible characters too slighted and abused and made a help to sin improved into licentiousness may justly be supposed to draw down that judgment we read of Isa. 6.9 10. Go and tell this People Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this People fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert
and be healed But what is worse than all this the death of the Son of God which thus instead of mortifying makes sin reign in your mortal bodies will be the greatest witness against you in the last day The stone shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber shall answer against the oppressor saith the Prophet Hab. 2.11 And then sure blood hath a louder voice the blood of a crucified Saviour Hebr. 12.24 will be one day the greatest evidence against you This like oyl will increase your flames and prove the brimstone that shall make the fire blaze the more That Jesus whose Cross thou despisest now will be thy Accuser then and woe to that man that hath the Judge himself for his enemy That dreadful spectacle the Crucifixion of the Lord of Life which cannot engage thy Soul to consider and look upon him whom thou hast pierc'd will be the great Argument then that shall cover thy face with everlasting confusion When thou shalt see in that day the spirits of men made perfect the men in white who have wash'd their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb when thou shalt reflect on their happiness a happiness which thou mightst have had as well as they if that blood could have persuaded thee to cleanse thy self from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit how will thine eyes flow with tears to think what strong delusions thou hast lay'n under in thinking that this blood was only spilt that thou mightest wallow more freely in the mire The Lamb which was slain from the foundation of the world and came to take away thy sins as well as thy Neighbors only thou wouldst not be clean That Lamb I say as harmless as its looks are now will then change his aspect and thou that now thinkst a Lamb can be nothing but kind wilt then find by woful experience that there is such a thing as the indignation and wrath of the Lamb. CHAP. V Of the various Mischief's arising from Neglect of Consideration The want of it prov'd to be the Cause of most Sins Some Instances are giuen in Atheism Vnbelief Swearing Pride Carelesness in Gods Service Lukewarmness Couetousness c. FRom what hath been said we may safely draw this Conclusion That want of Consideration is the unhappy spring from which most of the miseries and calamities of Mankind flow Indeed God Isa. 5.12 13. makes this the great reason Why his people were gone into Captiuity why their honourable men were famish'd and their multitude dryed up with thirst why Hell had enlarged herself and open'd her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp descended into it It 's the want of it which in all Ages hath procur'd Gods judgments which by Consideration might have been stopt and prevented Had Adam improv'd his solitariness in the Garden of Eden into serious Consideration of the Nature of the Precept his Master gave him and reflected on the wisdom of the Supreme Law-giver that made it on the immense bounty his great Benefactor had crown'd him withall on the abominable ingratitude he would make himself guilty of by breaking so reasonable an Injunction Had he but recollected himself when tempted to eat of the dangerous fruit under a pretence that it would open his eyes and make him wise as God and thought that the Creator of Heaven and Earth knew best what degree of wisdom and knowledge became a creature of his quality and condition and that he that was all love and beauty and kindness would not have interdicted him that fruit if the food might have any way advanc'd his happiness and that therefore there must be some cheat in the Temptation That the Angels which were lately thrown down from their glory could not but envy the felicity he enjoyed and for that reason would appear in all manner of shapes and try a thousand wayes to weaken the favor of God towards him and that it was without all peradventure the safest way to prefer an express command before an uncertain suggestion Had his mind taken a view of such Arguments as these of the uninterrupted prosperity and immortality he was promis'd upon his obedience it 's not the Charms or Rhetorick or soft language of a Wife nor the subtilty of a Serpent nor the pretended Omniscience the Devil flatter'd him withall would have made him leave that happy state which the infinite goodness of Heaven had plac'd him in But while he suffers the pleasure of a Garden to transport his Soul and to blind it fears no ill no mischief no danger among the Roses and Flowers of Paradice embraces the deceitful suggestion without examining the cause the manner or the end of it swallows the fatal bait without chewing believes a Wife and a Beast without considering the consequence of the fact and inquires not how God may resent his curiosity he falls into death and misery and drags all his Posterity after him Had the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah reflected like rational Men on the Reproofs and Admonitions of righteous Lot consider'd the kindness of the Almighty in sending them such a Preacher and thought with themselves That sure it could not be the Preachers interest to set himself against their Vices That except Conscience and a Divine Commission had prompted him to attempt their Reformation it was not probable he would enrage a debauched City against himself and make himself obnoxious to the fury of the People That the righteous Man spake nothing but reason and sought nothing but their good That Gods patience would certainly be tired ere long and his long-suffering turn into vengeance That the fire of their Lust would shortly pull down other fire and the heat of their unclean desires break into more consuming flames That God would not alwayes put up affronts nor suffer his methods to reclaim them to be baffled everlastingly That they could not hope to escape Gods indignation no more than the men of the first world and when their sins were equal Gods judgments would overtake them as well as they did their Brethren That God could intend them no harm by calling them to Repentance and being the great Preserver of Men could not but design their interest and happiness Had they suffered their thoughts to dwell on such truths as these made such Considerations familiar to their Souls they would have melted and humbled themselves and kept back that fire and brimstone which afterwards consumed them Want of Consideration made them secure in sin and that security prepared for their devastation Indeed there is no sin almost but is committed for want of Consideration Men consider not what sin is nor how loathsom it is to that God who carries them on his wings as the Eagle doth her young nor what injury they do to their own Souls nor what the dreadful effects and consequences of it are and that makes them supine and negligent of their duty To
a heart that hath any sense of Religion or Honesty nor do I see that people believe me any whit the more for swearing but I render my self ridiculous and make people think me dishonest unfaithful and treacherous who make so little conscience of what I say How can any man trust me that hears me abuse the best and deerest friend I have or what credit can any man give to me that sees me so treacherous to God to whom I owe all I have Can there be greater ingratitude in the World than I am guilty of by this sin the Air I breathe in the Earth I tread upon the Ground which nourishes me the Fire that warms me are all the Gift of God and is this the return I make to take his Name in vain that supports and maintains me Do I make nothing of God's threatenings How often doth he manifest his displeasure against this sin in his Word and can I think I am not concern'd in the commination what hope can I have that Christ's Bloud will save me when I swear it away and thrust it from me with both Arms how justly may God damn me that do so often wish for it and is there any thing in nature so barbarous to it self as I am in praying to God as it were to deliver me up into the clutches of the Devil No Devil would wish himself so ill as I do my own Soul and is there nothing in the inhumanity and horror of the sin to discourage and terrify me from it Did the Swearer but ruminate on these disswasive arguments how would it cool his courage but neglecting that he neglects his restorative and speaks as if he would be revenged on his Maker for giving him a Tongue How soon would the bladder of Pride break did the proud man but consider that he is Dust and what a wretched sinful creature he is and how much worse than other men and how much he forgets the Humiliation of the Son of God who being in the Form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation becoming obedient to the death of the Cross how odious this lofty Spirit is in the sight of God how amiable Humility how God detests the one and embraces the other how pride keeps out the operations and influences of God's Spirit and how the Holy Ghost refuses to come and lodge in that Soul that swells with vain conceits of its own worth how pride keeps him a stranger to himself how it makes his neighbor hate him raises him enemies and makes him an object of contempt and scorn how all the gifts and blessings and priviledges he enjoyes are but the effects of God's charity how the stately Fabrick which his Soul doth animate must shortly return to the earth from which it was taken what condescension God uses towards him how God who commands Heaven and Earth becomes an humble suitor to his Creatures and instead of consuming courts them to yield to his requests and injunctions how noble and generous it is to imitate him who is eternally happy in himself how in the Grave all distinctions dye how unfit that person is to be a Christian that is a stranger to meekness and humility how those that have domineer'd in this World and trampled upon Men and have thought it their interest and glory to despise their equals and inferiors are now roaring in the burning Lake and how they would now be contented to be the poorest meanest and most contemptible creatures in the World provided that they might be but freed from that never-dying Worm that gnaws their Souls and how shortly this pride and haughtiness if not seriously and timely repented of will end in weeping and gnashing of Teeth Were but these things rightly and seriously ponder'd it would cause a very strange alteration in the lofty censorious Man's designes and resolutions but while these observables are passed by as things out of his element no marvel if he idolizes himself and like a Hedgehog wraps himself up in his own soft Down and turns the Prickles to all the world besides Let the Soul that 's careless of God's service and lukewarm neither hot nor cold but try it and reflect Lord And is this a service fit for him that is of purer Eyes than to behold iniquity Is this slovenly Devotion a sit Present for him who searches the Hearts and the Reins should my Servants serve me as I do God how ill should I resent it and dare I offer the blind and the lame to God which I would scorn to accept of from my Slaves and Vassals I would have my Prayers heard and answer'd but how can I hope they 'l pass for acceptable sacrifices in Heaven when they want the fire of the Sanctuary to give them Flame will God mind a Supplication in which I do not mind his Greatness Majesty and Holiness or can I think God is so fond of answering my requests that he matters not with what frame of Heart I approach his Throne when the Primitive Christians that certainly knew best what was to be done in order to Salvation as having converse with the Disciples and Apostles of our Lord when they consecrated that time when their spirits were most lively to pious exercises and look'd upon that Religion as dead that had not fervency for its ingredient shall I hope to come off at a cheaper Rate Is the King immortal invisible blessed for evermore to be put off with the chips and shavings of Devotion should not I give him the cream and marrow of my endeavours that hath greater power over me than my Master my Father or my Prince so great a God and so mean a Sacrifice so infinite a Majesty and so pittiful a Present How deliberate how circumspect am I in my addresses to my King and is not God a greater Prince than he what is my careless devotion but mocking of God and my drowzy Prayer what is it but playing with him at whose Presence the Mountains tremble Am not I afraid of vengeance or can I think God will suffer a wretch that lives upon his mercy and makes no better return go unpunished How justly may he deny me his Grace and assistance who do not seek it more earnestly How justly may he say Depart from me I know thee not who am so indifferent whether I enjoy the light of his countenance or no How justly may he refuse to be found by me who seek him as if his favour deserved no pains or trouble Strive as it were for your lives to enter in at the strait Gate saith the Great Redeemer of Man and is this taking the Kingdom of Heaven by force when I look upon it as a thing that may be had at any time upon a Lord have mercy upon me Is this wrestling and striving when I suffer any outward worldly concern though never so slight and trivial to take me off from minding the great concern of my
own Bloud to this end thou eatest of his Bread and drinkest of his Wine and thus thou sealest the Covenant Dost not thou remember O my Soul how the world Was lost by eating of the forbidden Tree Behold by eating of this Tree of Life thou shalt be saved for ever in the breaking of the consecrated Bread thou seest how Christs Body was broke for thee in pouring out of the Hallow'd Wine thou seest how Christs Bloud was spilt for thee when the Holy Bread is reach'd out to thee thou seest Christ reaching out his crucified Body to thee that thou mayest see in his hands the print of the nails and put thy finger into the print of his nails and thrust thine hand into his side and shelter thy self under that wounded and mangled Body against the wrath and indignation of God When the sacred Wine is given thee thou seest how Christ offers thee his Bloud for the remission of thy sins canst thou behold so great a love and not loose thy reason in the admiration of its greatness when thou seest such condescension such kindness such compassion O canst thou forbear crying out O my Lord what do I see what mean these longings of Almighty God after my happiness what means this industry of that incomprehensible Being to be at all this charge and pains to make me blessed God that might sport himself with my everlasting groans what need he have cared whether I were saved or no God Who can be happy without company and needs no society but his own whence is it that this mighty God humbles himself thus to dust and ashes layes aside his Robes of Glory and wooes me to be content to lye for ever in his Arms and Bosom would no other remedy serve turn to recover me but the death of the Son of God God on whose Laws I have trampled Whose Authority I have slighted whose promises and threatenings I have undervalued that he should be thus concern'd for my welfare and contrive how to advance me unto Glory and contrive it by such stupendious means too will God suffer that I may not will the Eternal dye that I may not fall a prey to the second Death will God be crown'd with Thorns that I may wear an incorruptible Crown of Glory will God be affronted abus'd and scorn'd that I may inherit Glory and Honor and immortality what manner of love is this where is the spring of it what 's the impulsive cause of it how full of miracles is every circumstance here how pleasant is this contemplation What! God love a little slime and earth O my God! how wonderful is thy love it is all Ocean here is no shore to set my feet on be astonish'd at it O ye Heavens and tremble O thou Earth the Eternal the Immense Creator of Heaven and Earth stoops to a miserable creature the God who fills Heaven and Earth with his Presence bows down to a poor inconsiderable worm he that sits on the circle of the Earth and before whom all the Inhabitants of the Earth are as Grashoppers humbles himself to take notice of a poor forlorn wretch Here is love indeed Stay me with flaggons comfort me with apples my Head grows giddy with the Precipice here is an abyss of Love which I cannot fathom my head swims at the sight of it Sense can furnish me with nothing like it I am silenc'd here is a love answers all arguments that are brought for going on in sin Help me O thou blessed Spirit Help me O thou who art fairer than the Children of Men Help me thou who art all Love and Life Help me to admire thy Love In this Love are a thousand charms in this Love are omnipotent enforcives to love God above all the world Run O my Soul run into this Banqueting-house the Banner whereof is Love Is it so and must thou have perish'd and been undone for ever if the Son of God had not come in the Flesh and expiated thy crimes and doth not that Almighty love deserve thy Love see how the ambitious love the applause of men and wilt not thou love him who is brighter than the Sun see how the rich man is enamour'd with his stately Pallace and canst not thou love him who hath done that for thee which no Friend no Money no Gold no Silver could have purchas'd viz. reconciled thee to an offended God wilt thou slight this Love and hope to go unpunish'd wilt thou make this Love a refuge for wilful sins and hope for the light of Christs countenance will not he who loved thee beyond all presidents and examples double and treble his indignation upon thee if this Love cannot melt thee into a truly Spiritual life could the Devils but have such an offer of being partakers of the love of Christ how would they rejoyce and triumph and Love and Honour and Obey their God again as once they did when they were inhabitants of Heaven and wilt thou beworse than a Devil and spurn at that Love which Angels stand astonish'd at were it thine own case O my Sou wouldst not thou revenge such ingratitude with all the severity imaginable and doom the wretch that should affront such condescension to the direst Flames Be wise O my Soul and provoke not that God to swear in his wrath that thou shalt never enter into his rest who flees unto thee on the wings of mercy to embrace thee thou canst never have a more glorious sight of Gods love on this side Heaven than is discovered to thee in this Sacrament and if ever thou wouldst be perswaded to resign thy self entirely to thy Blessed Redeemer make his Will thy Will and desire what he desires and hate what he hates and love what he loves O come hither to the cross and see the Son of God weeping for thy sins come hither and see him sweat drops of Bloud for thy iniquities and offering thee pardon and reconciliation and peace with God and access to the Throne of Grace and union and communion with him and if this be not enough a title to Eternal Happiness or a right to that Throne himself doth sit on But why so backward O my Soul to come to the Table of thy Lord where thou mayst drink Wine and Milk without Money and without Price where thou mayst be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and eat of the living Bread whereof whoever eats shall live for ever hast thou forgot the peremptory command of Christ Do this in remembrance of me Is this remembring thy dearest friend to think of him solemnly but once or twice a year shouldst not thou remember him as often as thou hast an opportunity should thy Saviour remember thee no oftner than thou dost his death and passion how fearful would thy condition be canst thou represent his Love too often to thy mind and affections canst thou remember thy sins that brought him to the Cross too often art thou afraid of thinking too much of this
have no longings at all after external comforts and conveniencies but in Heaven all perishing sublunary objects are forgotten there those Friends and Relations those Children those Honours those Riches which too often made too great an encroachment on thy Love will be no attractives there thou wilt be contented without Bread satisfied without Drink the want of Cloaths will not trouble thee thou wilt have nobler friends than Father and Mother and Brethren and Sisters to converse withal nobler Food than the Delicacies of this world nobler attire than Silk or the softest Down can make there will be no need of contriving how to get a livelyhood Palaces will not tempt thee Gardens will not entice thee Gold will not dazle thee the greatness of the world will affect thee no more than Pebles the glittering Diamond will make no impressions on thee and all thy wants and necessities will be fully supplyed by an immortality of Joy and Glory Here the warm Sun of Prosperity makes thee sometimes forget and neglect the great work of thy Salvation makes thee apt to grow weary of Fasting and Prayer and mortification and self-denial and apt to yield unto Satans temptations but there the tempter must tempt thee no more he dares not fully those Christalline Walks with his steps he dares not come near that Holy place it 's past his skill how to incommode or molest a glorified Spirit Here often like Jonas thou fittest rejoycing under the Gourd or Vine and while thou art solacing thy self the Gourd withers and the Sun scorches thy Body and thou growest faint there this annoyance will have an end there thou wilt live above the Sun and that which is now thy Ceiling shall be then thy Footstool On Earth when Christ is pleased to communicate himself unto thee it s here a little and there a little and he gives thee but sprinklings of his Grace for while thou art in this Tabernacle of Flesh thou art not capacious enough to receive or entertain that stupendious Light in its full vertue and Power and Majesty but when thy Vessel of Clay thy Body shall be shatter'd into Dust and Atomes and thou shalt be freed from thy Prison and live like thy self all Understanding all Intellect all Spirits the Sun that shines in the highest Heavens and irradiates the Throne of God even the Lord Jesus Christ will then reveal himself to thee in his full splendor and Glory thine Eyes will then be strong enough to look upon that glorious and immense Globe of Light and thou shalt be like unto the Angels of God thy extravagant passions will then cease forever thy grief thy sorrows will have no admittance into those Seats of Bliss thou 'lt be refined then from all those turbulent motions which do now so often discompose thy rest Here the death of a near Relation troubles thee there thou wilt be above all trouble and vexation here thine anger like that of Moses doth often wax hot because thou seest thy God dishonoured and his Commands trampled upon there thou wilt see no such dismal sights here a sin thou fallst into against thy will makes thee wish for rivers of Tears there thy grief will be buried in eternal exultations there thy passions will all be calm'd and like water after a storm look smooth and quiet there will be no disorder in thy affections but like a Quire of tuneable Voices they 'l meet in everlasting harmony there no affliction must come after thee Here with Moses thy Body may be thrown into the Water with Joseph cast into prison with Shadrach Meschek and Abednego flung into a fiery Furnace with Daniel hurried into a Lions Den stoned with the Prophets crucified with St. Peter thrown down from a Precipice with St. James cast into a Kettle of boyling Oil with St. John thrust through with a Lance as St. Thomas bound to a tree with St. Andrew flead with S. Bartholomew burnt with Polycarp torn by wild Beasts with Ignatius in all which afflictions thou canst not but sympathize with thy individual companion for it 's by thee that thy Body feels the torments it endures but in that Heaven that glorious Heaven no Enemy can reach thee no Devil fright thee no storm surprize thee no Monarch frown on thee no sickness break thee no distemper crush thee no age waste thee no danger shake thee no Tyrant threaten thee no Lions meet thee no Tyger tear thee no Sword pierce thee no publick commotions startle thee the Sun shall not light on thee nor any heat for thou art secure under the shadow of the Almighties wings for ever The Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed thee by his everlasting saciety here it is A little while and you shall not see me and again a little while and you shall see me but there with open face and without a glass thou wilt look upon his Majesty for ever here Christ comes and departs there he will never remove out of thy sight there his everlasting love will support thee there his kindness will be subject to Clouds and Eclipses no more there thou wilt not be able to turn thy Eyes away from him This is that Lamb that will give thee to drink of his everlasting Springs Springs which can never be drawn dry Springs which can no more decay than the Son of God decays he is the everlasting Fountain of Delight and in this Fountain thou shalt bathe and recreate thy self forever his Attributes his Kingdom his Beauty shall charm and ravish thee for ever there thou shalt be in an everlasting extasie of joy there thou wilt not need to cry out with St. Bernard Hold Lord for my heart is not able to contain those joys which thou dost so liberally pour out upon me that everlasting Fountain of joy and content and satisfaction shall both fill and enable thee to bear that fulness of joy and light which shall then appear unto thee the remembrance of Christs merits and benefits and what Christ hath done for thee will then transport thee into everlasting Praises and Celebrations of his Goodness Songs as endless as thy duration will be The Rivers that water that Garden of God shall be a perpetuum mobile running and flowing to all Eternity In this Paradise are living no standing waters when millions of ages are past thy Glory shall be still green and lively and after many thousands of years thy happiness like Aaron's Rod shall bud and blossom and bear Fruit. O my Soul when that inexhaustible Fountain fades then and not till then need'st thou be afraid that thy delights will fade there God will put an end to all thy Tears what Rhetorick can reach the favour the Tears thou didst shed for sin the Tears which a deep sense of thy Spiritual poverty did force from thee the Tears which Tribulation and Anguish did command from thine Eyes these will all then be wash'd away How amiable are thy Tabernacles Lord God of