and send his Spirit so to move upon her affections so to actuate her endeavours so to encourage her with promises that it may not lye in the power of the Devil nor in the power of her Lusts to gain-say or contradict or dash the resolutions she hath taken where the Soul doth with strong desires pour out these her requests before God the good Father opens the Gates of Heaven le ts in the Messenger makes him welcome smiles upon him and sends him back laden with Mercy and puts words into his mouth and bids him tell the Soul boldly from that God who heareth Prayer I have heard thee in an acceptable time in the day of Salvation have I succour'd thee I 'll pour out my Spirit upon thee I will open a river in high places and fountains in the midst of valleys I will make thy wilderness a pool of water and thy dry land springs of water I will plant in the wilderness the Cedar and the Myrtle and the Oil-tree I will set in the Desart that thou mayst see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this and the Holy one of Israel hath created it 2 Cor. 6.2 Es. 41.18 19 20. Up then Christian who art resolved not to let the concerns of thy Soul lye at six and sevens who art afraid to hazard Eternity with the careless besotted world like another Lazarus beg Alms of the King of Heaven Cry aloud and spare not shew him thy wounds thy ulcers thy poverty thy want thy necessity let a greater fervency attend thy Prayer for Spiritual blessings than others use in begging for Temporal Mercies Prayer is the way to be enrich'd with all the Treasures of Heaven seek Gods assistance with tears in thine eyes remember thy Soul is infinitely more precious than thy Body and if a Beggar in the street is so earnest with those that pass by to give him something for the relief of his corporal wants oughtst not thou to be all fire to procure those blessings which will enrich thy Soul for ever Josephs Brethren were pinch'd with Famine because they knew not that their Brother reign'd in Aegypt why shouldst thou starve Christian when thy elder Brother reigns in Heaven who knows what thou wantest and is a faithful High Priest and is touch'd with the feeling of thy infirmities and was in all points tempted even as thou art Come boldly to the throne of Grace that thou mayst obtain mercy and find help in the time of need If God hath done good to others for his servants sake who have pleased him what will not God do for thee for his Sons sake in whom alone he is well pleased if God doth so highly esteem the Piety of Men that he professes for my servant Jacob's sake for my servant David's sake I will be kind to such a one will he derogate dost thou think from the merits and love of his own Son will he harden his heart or stop his ears or turn away his eyes when thou callest upon him for Christs sake to send down upon thee the day-spring from on high Christ is the very object of Gods delight nothing is sweet nothing is pleasing to him but through and in Christ what ever is amiable and acceptable in us it is for Christ his sake that God doth think it so Without light all colours are invisible there is no beauty in them the light shining upon them makes them look lovely and amiable without Christ nothing would appear pure or lovely or great or delightful He that looks on a green Glass fancies all things he looks upon to be green God looking upon our Holy endeavours in Christ Jesus they all appear to him lovely and good because all that Christ did was good and infinitely pleasing to him The world had perish'd ten thousand times if God had not look'd upon it through his Son and so supported it he that looks through a Glass upon a stinking carcass afar off doth not smell the ill scent of it so God through Christ looks upon our imperfections and he smells not the ill savour of our performances Take courage then and lay hold on the horns of this Altar and if thou knowest not what to say when thou hast taken a serious view of thy ways make use of this or some other Form Oh thou who art the Father of the Spirits of all flesh the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning here lies a poor miserable sinful wretch before thee not worthy to lift up his eyes and hands to Heaven I know not where to look for shame and confusion of face so long have I gone astray from thee so often have I provoked thee so often have I slighted thee so often have I turned thy grace into wantonness so long have I hunted after broken Cisterns which can hold no water forsaking the Fountain of living water that thou mayst justly absent thy self from me for ever so disingenuously have I dealt with thee so often have I endeavoured to blind thy all-seeing Eye and to cheat my self that thou mightst justly cause me to fall a prey to Satan look stern upon me and charge me never any more to see thy face O wretched creature that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Oh my Lord how often hast thou darted Rays of Light into my Soul and the impure fire of my Lusts hath prevailed against them how often hast thou suggested to my Soul the danger it hath been in and yet I have not trembled how often hast thou stung my heart prick'd it and goaded it into serious reflexions and how soon hath this vain world taken me off again and dull'd and dash'd those considerations how often hast thou sent sparks of Grace into my Soul while I have done what I could to smother that Holy fire how justly mightst thou say My Spirit shall no longer strive with thee O my God there is no plague no punishment that 's threatned in thy Law but I have deserved it I only stand amazed at thy patience that I have escaped so long without being consumed and ruined Wilt thou receive such a Prodigal into thy favour wilt thou be reconcil'd to so great a rebel wilt thou pass by unkindesses of so deep a Dye are the gates of Mercy open yet for so vile a wretch Doe not I come too late O my Lord to the throne of Grace will God be yet intreated for such a poor forlorn creature Is there yet compassion left for such a poor sinner O my God I question not thy Power but thy Will to pity such a Traitor as I have been I know thy Mercy is infinite it would be a disparagement to thy Glory and Perfection to deny the exceeding riches of thy Grace thou couldst not be God if my sins exceeded thy power to forgive but when I reflect on thy threatenings how justly thou denouncest wrath
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
marvel if they fright men away from our Assemblies and bring darkness upon all the Land of Goshen The just indignation I have taken at the injuries our Church suffers from these scandalous men hath been partly the occasion of this Treatise For I see mens Cures lie within their own breasts and that so many are sick unto death and ready to perish the reason is because they will not reflect what unreasonable men they are nor represent to themselves the wrong they do to their own Souls by a lively Consideration as will evidently appear in the ensuing Discourse I confess divers accomplishments which render a Book acceptable to curious Palates such as are Rhetorick Elegancy of Stile Fancy Wit and quotations of Authors c. will be found wanting here but as I profess no skill that way so my design was not so much to fill mens heads with Notions as their hearts with Fire It was to engage the ignorant and careless to a substantial improvement of their reason and if what I have said can prevail with those that have lived like Beasts to recover themselves into men again I both undervalue the little Censures of supercilious men and content my self with that success We cannot all shine as stars of the first magnitude in the wide Firmament of the Church those that cannot must give such light as they are able to dispense I envy not our Eagles in Divinity that they see far more than I but thank God I see so much and while the greater Sages offer Gold and Myrrhe and Frankincense I am happy enough if I may be allow'd to bring Goats hair and Badgers skins towards the accomplishment of the Tabernacle A critical eye may spy faults in this Free-will offering and I do not wonder at it for my duller sight now I have done discovers more than I wish there were in 't But my discourse is fitted to my end Doing good is my intent if I succeed not it 's no more but what greater men have failed of Farewell The Contents of the Chapters contained in this Treatise CHAP. I. THE Nature of our Souls The Eternal State they are design'd for The Means God hath made use of to fit Men for Everlasting Bliss All these Means ineffectual without Consideration CHAP. II. Consideration no transitory view of spiritual things imports laying the Heart and Mind close unto spiritual Concerns resembles magnifying Glasses which discover things imperceptible by the naked eye The great Ingredients of it Self-Examinatian Expostulation and strong Resolution CHAP. III. The absolute necessity of Consideration in order to a serious life Gods frequent commands to that purpose Our Reason and the power of Consideration we are furnish'd or endu'd with prov'd to be given us for this end Without it Men have cause to suspect that their Reformation is counterfeit CHAP. IV. Of the various impediments and remora's of Consideration Men fancy greater difficulty in 't than there is indeed Are continually employ'd about sensual objects Loth to part with their sins Ignorant of the pleasure of Consideration Reflect upon the danger of lasing their unlawful gain Fear they shall fall into melancholy or go distracted with so much seriousness Are of opinion that Conversion in that sense the Scripture speaks of it is needless Mistake the nature of Consideration Are discouraged by evil company Neglect consulting with Ministers about this necessary work Delude themselves with the Notion of Christ's dying for the sins of the world CHAP. V. Of the various Mischiefs arising from Neglect of Consideration The want of it prov'd to be the Cause of most Sins Some Instances are given in Atheism Vnbelief Swearing Pride Carelesness in Gods-Service Lukewarmness Covetousness c. CHAP. VI. Of the various advantages of serious Consideation it 's that which makes a man master of all Christian Duties it helps a man to improve Sublunary Objects into Heavenly Contemplations It 's the greatest support under afflictions disposes a man to be a worthy Receiver of the Lords Supper Prepares him for an Angelical Life on Earth makes him prudent and discreet in Secular Affairs and Businesses CHAP. VII A pathetical Exhortation to men Who are yet strangers to a serious religious Life to consider their wayes the wilfulness of their neglect how dangerous it is how inexcusable they are how inhumane to God and their own Souls how reasonablel God's requests are and how justly God may turn that power of Consideration he hath given them into blindness and hardness of heart since they make so ill a use of it c. CHAP. VIII Of Retirement and Prayer the two great helps to Consideration Retirement proved to be necessary to make Consideration of our spiritual state more quick and lively Prayer call in the assistance of Gods Spirit and renders the work effectual A Form of Prayer to be used upon this occasion ERRATA PAge 39 l. 6. for harden r. charm p. 59. unseasonableness r. unreasonableness p. 108. l. 28. not r. no. p. 117. l. 15. immediately r. mediately p. 118. l. 14. tears r. teazes p. 127. l. 26. prepares r. prepare p. 148. l. 16. sleeping r. pleasing p. 195. l. 26. blown-balls r. blow-balls p. 198. l. 16. pass r. compass p. 200. l. 8. nearer r. meaner p. 207. l. 3. Love God r. How God p. 219. l 24. wherein r. who is p. 238. have perswaded r. have as well perswaded p. 293. l. 26. in r. is p. 310. l. 10. when r. where ibid. then r. there p. 337. l. r. saciety r. society p. 340. l. 26 Friends r. Fiends p. 372. l. 4. reasons r. reason p. 385. l. 25. Zachans r. Zachaeus p. 400. l. 12. delivered r. deliveredst Other literal faults and mlstoppings the Reader is desired to Correct as he reads CONSIDERATION THE Nature Usefulness and Necessity of it in order to a Serious Life CHAP. I. The Nature of our Souls The Eternal State they are design'd for The Means God hath made use of to fit Men for Everlasting Bliss All these Means ineffectual without Consideration THat we are design'd for Nobler Employments than Eating and Drinking and Sleeping and Playing and following our Trades and Businesses in this World a happiness which Beasts arrive to as well as we the great Souls which we carry in our Breasts do evidently demonstrate These being capable of knowing God of delighting in him and conversing with him for ever we may rationally suppose That those who suffer the Profits and Pleasures of this present World to engross their Affections go astray and Err from the great End of their Creation While the Atheist laughs at the immortality of his Soul and the Prophane selis his better part to the Devil the Religious who will prove the onely wise Man in the end and who hath none of those clouds and mists the other are troubled with before his eyes sees clearly what a Treasure the bountiful hand of Heaven hath bestow'd on him in shedding so excellent so angelical a Being into 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
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
to these sublunary Riches break into longings after a nobler Inheritance but neglecting this he Serpent-like feeds on Dust and prepares for anxiety discontent and vexation of Spirit and for a miserable death like a Hog lies rooting in the Earth and buries his Soul in a Chest of Money despises all admonitions to Charity and like the Smiths Dog can hear the hammering and beating of his Master and endure the sparks flying about his ears without being stirr'd or concern'd at it Hypocrisie is a sin which the painted Christian does not easily part withal yet would he reflect like a person that hates to sow pillows under his own Elbows can I read Christ's discourses against the Pharisees and not ask my own heart whether the Pharisees temper be an emblem of my complexion Have I no self-end in any Religious Duty What is it puts me many times upon doing good applause from Men or the love of God Do not I pretend God's Glory sometimes when I aim at nothing but mine own Do not I draw nigh to God with my Lips when in my heart and conversation I deny him Do not I by pretending to please God neglect my Duty to my neighbor Am not I more severe in pressing the lesser concerns of Religion than I am in urging the greater Doe not I commend that in a rich or great man which I can reprehend in my inferiors or meaner persons Do not I require those Duties of other men which my self am loath to practise Do not I applaud my self for my own sanctity while I despise others whom I fancy not so Holy as I am Am not I more curious to know other mens conditions than mine own Am not I more zealous in publick than I am in private Am not I Religious for filthy lucre's sake Do not I make a gain of Godliness and use Religion as a cloak to cover my secret sins Do not I make Devotion a scaffold to erect my own credit and profit by What is hypocrisie if this be not Though I can hide it from the sight of Men can I conceal it from him who knows my down-sitting and my up-rising and understands my thoughts afar off Can I remember the fate of Judas and not think of a serious repentance Can I hear the Son of God call so often Woe Woe to ye Hypocrites and hug the sin in my bosom Shall I harbor a Snake there which will sting me into endless gnawings of Conscience How shortly will all these delusions be discover'd Before I am a few days older God may summon me and lay open all my deceits and juglings in Religion Do I think to blind the Eyes of him in whose Book all my Members are set down Is the portion of Hypocrites no discouragement What promise in the Gospel can I lay hold of during this condition They all run to the upright in heart and must I go without these Cordials Must I see others run away with these Treasures while my self can expect nothing but Gods curse and anger Must I see others go to possess the Promis'd Land while I must stay behind in a Wilderness Must I see others gather Manna and feed upon the rich clusters of Canaan while my own Soul must perish for want of that Bread of Life Lord who shall abide in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in thy Holy Hill He that walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the Truth in his Heart And must I have no seat in yonder Mansion No House in that Jerusalem which is above No habitation in that City which hath foundations whose Maker and Builder is God O my Soul stay not here in Mesheck dwell no longer in the Tents of Kedar Away and hate this Garment spotted by the Flesh. Such serious thoughts would check Hypocrisie but the vain man hardens his Heart against them locks them out will give them no entertainment and that makes him serve God to please the Devil and turn Religion into a meer shew and formality burn in Words and freeze in Deeds and like that Son in the Gospel say I goe Sir but he goes not From the Premisses we may easily guess what to think of other sins viz. that the great cause of them is want of consideration and therefore the Holy Ghost likens men that live in any sin or indulge themselves in any transgression to a Horse that rushes into the Battel and considers not what he doth ventures among Swords and Arrows and the greatest dangers without recollecting what will be the issue of it Jer. 8.6 Consideration is the Bridle that must govern our sense and appetite take that away and the Beast runs away with the Rider and hastens him into a thousand inconveniences CHAP. VI. Of the various advantages of serious consideration it 's that which makes a man master of all Christian Duties it helps a man to improve sublunary Objects into Heavenly Contemplations It 's the greatest support under afflictions disposes a man to be a worthy receiver of the Lords Supper Prepares him for an Angelical Life on Earth makes him prudent and discreet in Secular affairs and businesses THough in the preceding Chapters we have already in a great measure discover'd what Men may hope for from Consideration and of what use it is to a truly serious and Christian life yet we must not leave so rich a subject thus without giving an account of some other positive advantages which do render it very desirable to a rational man And 1. It hath most certainly a very great influence upon all Christian Duties whatever qualification Christ or his Apostles require or recommend it 's by consideration of the excellency and dignity of that Duty that Men must expect to arrive to it The first and great Commandment is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and will all thy Soul and with all thy mind But he shall never be master of this Duty that doth not frequently and seriously consider the immense and stupendous love of God to him and indeed then I may hope to be acquainted with a sincere and cordial love to God when I give leave to such considerations as these to impregnate my understanding O my God can I think of so great so holy so infinite so merciful so munificent a Being and forbear to be enamour'd with thee whence are all my Mercies but from thee thou art the Spring the Fountain of them all Whatever Blessings are convey'd to me by the hands of Second Causes they come originally from thee and thou mov'st and order'st those Second Causes to come in to my assistance By thee have I been upheld ever since I was born when I lay in the shades of nothing thou didst awake me into a Being gavest me a rational Soul a Soul capable of admiring adoring and worshiping thee and ever since thy mercies have follow'd me and thou hast been a pillar of a Cloud unto me by day and a pillar of Fire by night what Parts
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