to take heed of sinning though mixt with pleasures and delights Consider these motives Motives 1. What thing that is wherein thou doest take pleasure Why What is that wherein thoâ— doest take pleasure what is it O man that hath enticed thee and what is it O man which in thee is so enticed It is sin that hath enticed thee and it is thy soul which is thus enticed by sin Sin enticeth thee then which no evil is worse thy soul is enticed then which no part in thee is so precious And wilt thou adventure that precious soul that immortal soul which must live for ever wilt thou adventure it for a sin for one draught of sinfull pleasure Wouldest thou adventure all thy earthly estate for one draught of Beer as Esau did his for one mess of pottage Thou wouldest not Yet wilt thou adventure the eternal being of thy soul for one minutes pleasure of sin Though thy sins be pleasant in thine eyes yet they are odious in Gods sight though thy sins do delight thee yet they do grieve him they do incense and provoke him Hast thou nothing to take pleasure in but that which provokes thy God and will damn thy soâ—l 2. Thou mayest enjoy thy pleasures without sin Hast thou not Thou mayest enjoy thy pleasures without sin a Wife to delight thee an Husband Children many outward comforts not a God not a Promise not a Christ that thou longest onely for forbidden fruit 3. Is sin a thing to take pleasure in did it not shed the bloud of Is sin a thing to take pleasure in Christ doth it not break a righteous Law transgress an holy Will grieve the Spirit of God cast the clouds of threatnings over our heads bring down all our Judgements on body kindle our terrours in Conscience heap up all our wrath against the day of wrath is this the thing of thy pleasure call you this a delight If one should say unto thee Be drunk commit filthiness and within an hour after thy whole body shall be roasted in a fire or thy skin shall be flead off thee or every bone in thy body should be distinctly broken in pieces wouldst thou now sin And what are these punishments to sins themselves and what are these punishments to those of Conscience or to that of Hell 4. God can easily shorten thy pleasures of sin and he hath many God can easily shorten thy pleasures of siâ— waies to do it First Is not his Word of mighty power is it not a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart can it not divide twixt the marrow and the joint Is it not a light and a fire Is it not the sword of God a two-edged sword able to pierce and that with quickness and that with sharpness Or Secondly if yet thou be able to maintein thy sins and by the strength of sensual pleasures to beat off the purest convictions and revelations and pursuits of the Word cannot the Spirit of God drive home the sharp displeasure of God cannot he break through the midst of all thy resolutions and delights and so enter into thy conscience can he not in a moment awaken that drouzie conscience can he not inliven that seared conscience can he not injoin it to stand up and act its accusing power when he hath irresistably inlightned it and set the great sins of thy delight before thee and when conscience is deeply wounded where then are all thy pleasures O it will be as bitter then unto thee as hell the wrath of God felt and the guilt of sin felt and the terrors of Conscience felt O how will they drown thy pleasures sink thy spirits and if God be not the more merciful confound thy soul Yet this God can do and he can easily do it if he saith but the word My wrath be upon him Conâ—cieâ—ce arise and accuse him it is done and then where are thy dâ—lights Those sins of thine unto which thou hast been enâ—iced by a little false pleasures even they alone shall rise up and be the sufficient punishment for all their pleasures Or Thirdly He can shorten thy pleasures by many Judgements he can lay such a disease upon thy body or such a loss on thy estate or such a rottenness on thy name or such a vexation upon thy spirit or such a madness in thy mind or such a cross in thy delight that thou shalt find no more pleasure in any thing Or Fourthly Can he not send forth the King of Fears that which thou least thinkest of and which will make thy joynts to tremble Death it self upon thee Hath not He the Keys of Life and Death and when life is gone where then are the pleasures of thy sin Sin makes way for death and death to a wicked man though it makes not an end of his sinning yet it makes a full end of the pleasures of sinning thou shalt never rejoyce in the way of thy wickedness more thou shalt never taste delight more neither lawfull delight nor unlawfull delight And cannot God do this suddenly and art thou able to withstand him art thou greater then he 5. Thy pleasures of sin will end in bitterness Read the Scripture Thy pleasures of sin will end in bitterness see whether it be not so and I beseech thee tell me hast thou not found it so already canst thou not say That thy sin hath been an evil thing and bitter Canst thou not say What fruit have I in those things whereof I am now ashamed Two things remember There is a certainty of bitterness for former sinnings Eccl. 11. 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment 2. Thou knowest not the manner of that bitterness The sinning that is thy work but the punishing of thy sins that is Gods work thou hast taken the pleasures which sin delivered unto thee and thou must now take the bitterness which God will inflict on thee And canst thou tell 1. When the Lord will begin to account with How sudden thee either to night or to morrow thou art not secure a moment Secondly How the Lord will begin with thee whether How great in thy body or in thy soul or in both in conscience or estate Thirdly How far the Lord will extend the cup unto thee perhaps How endless it shall be in thy hand a cup of fury and trembling and amazing horrour and whether he will have thee to drink to the lowest dregs of his wrath how knowest thou This bitterness after thy pleasures may be purely judicial which shall not be tempered with any comfort nor yet at all with the hope of any mercy it may be an endless displeasure from God Object Yea but we mean to repent hereafter and so we
over-rule the The heart of a sinner may be above his miseries heart or to mend it As it was with Gallio when the Jews did beat Softhenes and kept a stir the Text saith He cared not for any of those things i. they made no prevailing impression on him so as to divert his purpose In like manner may it be with the miseries which personally befal a man his heart notwithstanding may not regard them neither may he lay things to heart they may be thrown off in respect of any beneficial impression as water from a rock as is evident in Pharaoh and in the Jews see Isa 42. 25. He hath powred upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battel and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew it not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart Here was anger and fury of anger and poured out and so as to set him on fire and to burn him yet he laid it not to heart If you should take dross and corrupt stuff and put it into the fire you shall never refine it it is to no purpose the founder in such a case would melt but in vain Jer. 6. 29. so in this case For the proper operation of all miseries is onely moral and rather reâ—resentative then effective i. they can of themselves do nothing perhaps they may point a man to his sins but his heart may effectually resist that evidence of sin by the rod of God as well as by the word of God Look as it is with the Light of the Sun though great and gentle yet it never opened a blind mans eyes nor yet the Lightning which runs swiftly in the time of Thunder For that natural privation exceeds the strength of such Agents So it is with a sinner his heart may so cleave to sin that neither the Light of the Sun I mean the blessed Word of God nor yet the Lightnings and Thunders of afflictions may divorce him so great may the power of sinfull love be that not the kindest mercies nor the sharpest miseries alone shall ever be able to melt him or turn him The love of sin may increase even an incorrigible and desperate perversness in the Will such perversness that the afflicted sinâ—er possibly may be so far from leaving his sins that therefore he will cleave to his sins the more and in a proud despite will forsake God as that prophane person This evil is of the Lord why should he wait for him any longer 2 Kin. 6. 33. 4. Lastly Miseries do not always bring men off from their sins Mâ—n hate holiness more then miseries because Men hate holiness and a godly life more then miseries i. There is a greater contrariety twixt their sinfull natures and holiness then twixt them and miseries it is confessed that misery in some respect is contrary to nature at least to the peace and ease of nature yet misery is not so distastfully contrary to a wicked nature as holiness and godliness Sin can live and rule whiles the sinner is under misery but it never can do so when he is under grace You know that a man never can turn from sin but when he loves holiness now holiness is that which many a sinfull heart like Paul before his conversion persecutes to the death Why if some sinfull hearts will venure the loss of heaven rather then they will be holy will they not rather then endure the loss of friends and estate c. and if they will adventure the pains of hell rather then they will come off unto an holy life will they not rather endure some temporal distresses c. and doth not this shew that some had rather be passive in misery then active in holiness Now I proceed to the usefull Applications of all this to our selves Where 1. for Information Do not straits and miseries always Vse 1. Information bring men off from their sins then 1. An afflicted condition is no infallible testimony of a safe condition Some people are of an opinion that if God doth punish An afflâ—cted condition no infallible testimony of a safe condition them in this life in crosses losses sicknesses penuries c. they have all their portion of misery already and undoubtedly shall besaved To which I reply 1. Though as the Israelites came at length to Canaan through the Red Sea and through the wilderness so a person may after many afflictions and miseries come to heaven Heaven can admit of a poor Lazarus and of a distressed Job and of a pursued David 2. Yet it is not always so A person may be under many miseries and notwithstanding them he may never be happy the meer presence of miseries is of common providence and not a distinguishing priviledge by what is before us whether outward good or outward evil we can know neither love nor hatred but as it is with the Ships at sea whether of the Kings Loyal subjects or of hostile pirats either of them are exposed to winds and storms to leaks and rocks and sands so is it with good men and bad men each of them are exposed to outward calamities as each of them are capable of outward mercies there may be a change in their outward condition when yet there is no change in their inward dispositions Job may hold fast his uprightness under all his miseries and Pharaoh may retain his hardness under all his Judgments And where the sinful affection and practice is still retained he shall not be free because of his present miseries but for ever rejected because of his continued iniquity 2. That the Conjunction twixt Sin and the sinful soul is very The Conjunction betwixt sin and the soul is very strong strong For as much as very great straits and miseries effect nothing many times You see here that though the Prodigal had spent all and a famine yea a great famine arose over the Land in which he was yet he is so far from returning and giving over his sinful course that he does not so much as think of it or mind it assuredly the Covenant of affection is very firm which cannot be untied with the fairest promises nor with the severest indurances When the Lord shall come to a sinner meet him in his course and way and because of his contempts and rebellions distrein his estate and goods and then lay an Attachment of sickness on his body and more then this indite him for his life by the summons of death And yet neither the loss of all the Mercies which once he had nor the presence of all the Evils which now he feels neither the poverty of his Table nor the rags on his Back nor shivering in his Bones nor anguish in his Conscience no nor appearance of Death nor yet the roâ—râ—sentations of Hell do turn him from his sinful affections and courses judge whether the tree be not tough which no Wedge can cleave and the disease be not
unconverted man is of all men on the earth in the saddest vilest miserablest condition Why Because he is spiritually dead dead spiritually dead A wounded man is in a tedious condition and a diseased man is in a languishing condition but what is a wound to death what is a disease to death Me morienti mori Death is the Sun-set of all comfort Death is the drowning of a little world Death is the very Hermitage of forgetfulness and loathsome corruption Death is the lowest and vilest condition what then is a spiritual Death No Death like the spiritual Death O my friends consider spiritual Death either in comparison in its proper complexion Consider this death or in the consequents of it surely no Death no condition is so dismal as it 1. In comparison with any other In comparison with other death Death This is the worst this is the heaviest There is the Death of our Goods and Estate into which Job fell of our Name and Reputation into which David fell of our Bodies and natural Life into which Lazarus fell of the Soul the immortal soul of man into which every unconverted sinner is fallen Now what is a dead Estate to a dead Soul Or what is a dead Name to a dead Soul Or what is a dead Body to a dead Soul It is not so much as the death of a Dog to the death of a Man Every unconverted man hath a dead soul a converted man may have a troubled soul but the unconverted man hath a dead soul sin hath slain his precious soul If the soul be dead what is alive What is that man whose soul is dead In all other deaths something is alive if Goods be gone the Name lives if the Name be gone the Body lives if the Body be gone the Soul lives But if the Soul also be gone what lives 2. In it self Why spiritual Death is a total privation of God In iâ— self of Christ of Grace no life of God no life of Christ no life of Grace is there in any unconverted person none at all Ah poor wretch what art thou and what is thy condition who art thus dead A total corruption diffusion possession with sin S. Austin affirms That the very Vertues of the Heathens were but splendida peccata meer flowers on a dead man And Solomon The sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord. What a gastly sâ—ght would it be to open a grave and see the dead body run over with crawling worms and a general putrefaction over all the parts And truly so it is with the soul of an unconverted person it is the filthiest nastiest corruptedst may I say Câ—â—â—on Luther said once So many sins so many hells surely I may then say So many Sins so many Deaths The unconverted man is full of sin his heart is full of evil so Soloman He is filled with all unrighteousness so Paul affirmeth Job was filled with botches yea but he was not filled with sins and Lazarus was filled with sores yea but he was not filled with sins and Davids soul was filled with complaints and Christs soul was filled wich sorrow yea but it was not filled with sin Every unconverted mans dead soul is filled with living sins as a good mans soul is filled with dying and dead sins and a soul full of living sins is much like a soul filled up with Hel-fire There is no evil so evil as sin and no sin so evil as living sin and no living sin so evil as a fulness and an onliness of living sin 3. In the consequents of it I will name but three of them In the consequents of it 1. All the guilt of all those sins lie on him alone 2. All the wrath of God looks on him the sentence of curse 3. An eternal death may soon befal him 2. Then no marvel that publick and private admonitions counsels No marvel that admonitions reproofs counsels prevail not with most men reproofs prevail not with the most of men We Ministers preach and we think we preach Religion and with evidence enough of Reason and deliver things fairly and plainly and convincingly and now we wonder at it that men should hear such clear and undeniable truths and not be moved and perswaded And Parents give admirable counsels and instructions to their Children and no good comes of them c. Why Sirs are not unconverted men dead men And what can all our undertakings alone considered do unto dead men Assuredly unless the Lord of Life himself will speak these counsels and these admonitions unto sinfull men they will never hear them so as to be stirred so as to be moved so as to be converted by them they will remain in their sinfull condition and obstinate wayes to eternity 3. Then it is of Gods meer mercy and pity and power if ever It is Gods mercy that any soul is converted thy poor soul be converted Never ascribe it to thy excellency what excellency is there in a dead man to thy power what power is there where there is no life to thy self preparations what active disposing or preparation can a dead man afford The dead sinner is the meer object of purest mercy and the dead sinner is without all strength if ever his souls lives then to Christ must that life own it self and to Divine Mercy and Power c. The next Use shall be for Trial or Examination Since every unconverted man is spiritually dead let 's therefore search our Vse 2. Trial Whether we be spiritually dead Four Tokens of it hearts in what a condition they are Are not many of us yet dead in sins and trespasses spiritually dead men There are four Tokens of a man spiritually dead 1. Vnsensibleness Where there is no life there is no sense of all sinners the unsensible sinner is in the most deadly condition Tanto pejor quanto insensibiliter saith Austin Do what you will to a dead man he is Unsensibleness unsensible of it call to him he hears not put the sweetest perfumes to him he smels not kick him cut him burn him he feels not although he be full of loathsomness he perceives it not Now I beseech you mind this Trial for verily if spiritual unsensibleness prevail upon you you are spiritually dead If spiritual sense be the first evidence of Life then è contra spiritual unsensibleness is a sure evidence of Death And what spiritual sensation is yet wrought in you There are sins upon sins mountains upon mountains in your hearts the least of them hath been an heavy burthen to a living soul but what hast thou ever felt of thy sinfull heart and life There is in the Ministry of the Gospel no less than riches of Mercy freeness of Love glories of Heaven tendred to you but what do you perceive in it Didst thou never yet feel and cry out of a body of Death O here here is a dead heart an ignorant heart a
received unless the apprehension of their kindness and goodness descends to the affections they never stir up thankfulness and as it is with the promises unless their excellency and sutableness come down from the mind to the will they never excite faith so is it with sin unless besides the consideration of it there be not an operation and influence upon the heart to grieve and mourn it will never prove right and penitential Thou sayest thou knowest thy sins as well as any man can tell thee Be it so but if thy heart remain hard not humbled abased broken grieved for these sins alas as their unworking faith Jam. 2. so thy unaffected speculation of sin is vain but findest thou this that upon the serious consideration of thy sins thy heart is humbled and abased in thee that thou art cast down in the sense of thy exceeding vileness O wretched man that I am O Lord to me belongs nothing but shame and confusion and that thy heart is grieved within thee and afflicted that bitter mournings arise because of bitter sinnings my soul hath them in remembrance and is humbled within me Lam. 3. Thy heart melts before the Lord I assure thee this is a right and blessed consideration of sin 3. If it work in him Detestation of sin Griefe seemes to be more If it work Detestation of sin passionate but hatred is a more fixed quality as I may so phrase it Ezek. 36. 31. Ye shall remember your own evil wayes and your doings that were not good here is the consideration we speak of and ye shall loath your selves in your own sight for your Iniquities and your abominations here is detestation the proper effect of true consideration for in a right consideration the singular causes or reasons of hatred do arise v. g. Excess of evil absolute repugnancy to our best good effectual prejudice and greatest injury Repugnans Offendens the Schoolmen make the two chief grounds of hatred Vide Summistas in 1. 2dae q. 29. But I will not prosecute that Now then peruse thy self Hast thou considered of thy sinnes aright if thou doest not hate them thou hast not Seest thou sinne and art thou brought to hate it Let me but propound a few things unto thee that thou mayest see whether thou loathest and hatest sin or no. Is it peace or is it war If sin lies quietly in the soul it is peace it is not hatred hatred breeds variance enmity opposition conflict Paul hated sin Rom. 7. 15. and wars with it v. 23. Is it a deadly war is it for life will this suffice thee that sin doth not terrifie thy conscience or wilt thou not be satisfied till sin be mortified and crucified in the lusts and affections thereof Is it like Davids war wherein he left not one Amalekite to escape and carry tidings and not like Sauls to kill some and spare the rest Canst thou say Lord I hate the thing that is evil Psal 97. 10. and I hate every false way Oh if there be raised in thee upon the consideration of sin a deadly enmity and defiance with it an implacable general dislike abomination resistance and desire to root it out happy art thou thy consideration of sin is rightly and effectually penitential 4. If it work in him Reformation of sin Do you not read in If it work in thee Reformation Psal 119. 59. that David considered and thought on his wayes I thought on my ways saith David so do many many indeed do so but not as David did for after he had said I thought on my ways he addeth and turned my feet unto thy testimonies He so thought of his ill ways that he left them and betook himself unto good ways If thinking on sin doth not produce leaving of sin it is nothing if thinking of sin doth not breed leaving of sin then going on in sin will make you leave thinking of sin And though we think of an ill way yet if we do not enter into and walk in a good way it is nothing There is a two-fold leaving of sin one which is proper to the condition of Glory another which is proper to the condition of Grace I speak not of the former which is the absolute dissolution of sin but of the latter which is an imperfect though true separation from sin consisting in Affection wherein the Will is alienated from sin the evil which I would not do saith the Apostle In Mourning O wretched man who shall deliver me from this body of death In Endeavour willing or endeavouring to live honestly Heb. 13. 18. There is a purpose to walk in new obedience and an hearty desire so to do and not to serve sin any longer and also an active endeavour to put off the former conversation and to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof To consider of sin and yet still to love it and still to live in it to study to fulfil the lusts of it to give up our selves to the service of it to walk in darkness to be the same in our affections to it and in our obedience unto it this is not onely a vain but a fearfull consideration But if when we have throughly considered of sin in the vileness of it we are effectually wrought upon to arise from our sinfull course O Lord I have sinned exceedingly and done very foolishly I am resolved to leave this sinfull way Lord help thou me give me thy grace turn thou me and I shall be turned turn away my heart and eyes cause me to put off my old conversation enable me to walk and live in newness of life This is an happy Fruit especially if it hath two other Effects accompanying it viz. 1. Fervent Supplication if it carries the soul to God in Christ for mercy for grace for strength The resolution to reform if it goes no further than the strength of the soul it will easily cool and quickly fail us if ever it prove right it must carry us to Christ for as much as it is by his strength and by his grace that we get our hearts turned from sin or that we are able to forsake our sins Hast thou considered of thy sins why and doest thou not discern such infinite guilt in them as makes thee for ever accursed if thou hast not mercy in Christ and doest thou hereupon apply thy self in all humbleness of heart to the Throne of mercy O Lord be mercifull to me a sinner according the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions Behold me through the bloud of Christ yea O Lord heal my sinfull soul O Lord change my heart O Lord dissolve the powers of sin in me by thy mighty power subdue my iniquities turn me from all sin make me a servant of righteousness 2. Diligent application of our selves to the Means private and publick ordinary and extraordinary through the right use of which we may expect sufficient grace from God to work
life and maintain the bent and inclination of the will It doth arise from and depend upon mature consideration and upon deep conviction The sinner doth first look into and seriously peruse and weigh an impenitent and sinful course and seeth the strongest and forciblest and justest causes to renounce it for ever and also upon due trial and searching and weighing in the ballance of the Sanctuary he doth find the wayes of new obedience to be the 〈◊〉 and only wayes of life to which if he doth not turn he cannot please God nor be saved and unto which if he doth turn then he is under the best God and in the most excellent and saving condition and hereupon begs of God for grace and strength and so resolves c. In a Word the Resolution is well grounded when it followes serious deliberation and is raised upon divine assistance and entred into with earnest supplication for our strength cannot bring forth nor maintain so great a work as reformation 2. It is a strong purpose of the will The operations of the will are reputed strong when either they are not divided A strong purpose of the will but united or when they are rooted in an habit or principle and not only in an occasion and accident or when they are absolute and not conditional If the operations be divided they are weak as Rivers c. so when a man partly wills this and partly that he is inclined somewhat to leave his sin and yet he is inclined to keep it this division hinders right resolution which is not so indifferent so indeterminate so divided but centers the inclination of the will only one way viz. to a peremptory rejection of evil and a peremptory election of good the soule goes down and it is not a grain which will turn it Again if the operations of the will arise only from occasions which is busied in alterable circumstances they can never be strong as the colour in the face which ariseth from violent exercise only goes off presently so that resolution if it may be so called which ariseth from changeable impressions is alwayes weak and fading a deceitful bow unstedfast In their afflictions they will seek me early but c. Hos 6. 4. But to the production of a penitential resolution which makes a strong purpose in the will there must be an habit which will set the heart and incline it so that it will not be taken off as in Ruth to Naomi Intreat me not c. there was a strong principle of love which made up this strong purpose to cleave unto her Again if the operations of the will be conditional they can never be so strong as when they are absolute for a supposition and case where the will may put off and dispence with it self cannot make the act of the will so firm as where the case is absolute for now the whole bent of the will is carried without any check or diminution If a man saith I will leave such a sinful course in case I may have the countenance of such friends or the benefit of such an estate and I will lead a godly life in case I may hold correspondence and esteem in the world c. purposes upon variable conditions are variable These conditions do diminish the strength of Resolution but when a person is carryed in an absolute way come what will come friendship or enmity greatness or poverty life or death I will change my course this is a strong purpose of will and a right Resolution 3. It is a constant purpose or continued The â—hylosophers do It is a constant purpose well distinguish twixt Passions which are but the soul in a mood and a fit and twixt Qualities which are setled tempers and Constitutions as it were Resolution is not a transient passion but it is a fixed quality Not that it is not interrupted but that it is not renounced and given over but is still maintained Nor that it is not assaulted but that it is not changed A twisted Cord Propositi tenax that is a resolute man sibi constans but a double minded man an unstable spirit a will though strong as Passion yet if unstable as water hot in the first assault as if we would be stronger then Men and flat in the succeeding assaults as if we were weaker then Women these humours are rather some complements which still shrink at the acting then resolutions for change of Life Passions are violent but not constant as the Galathians to Paul 4. Lastly It is an active purpose for as it is a vain thing to It is an active Purpose deliberate much and to resolve on little at length so it is a vain Resolution which purposeth great things but doth nothing If I resolve to take Physick for my health and never take any what avails that Resolution Like Antigones I will give but never gave So if a man resolve to leave his sins but the day is still to morrow he sets not upon it indeed but yet a little slumber yet a little sleep as S. Austin spake of himself cras cras this is vain But true resolution is stirring and striving it puts a man upon the work as the Prodigal I will arise and goe to my Father who indeed did thereupon arise and go I am resolved to confess my sins to judge my self to seek unto God by prayer and I do indeed do so I do confess judge pray use the means c. Quest 2. Why this Resolution is requisite to a sound Reformation Why Resolution is Requisite 1. Because Reformation of our wayes cannot be performed without much Opposition As when Nehemiah began to repair the walls There can be no Reformation without much opposiâ—ion was wiâ—h much opposition If you will not serve sin as a Lord you must expect to hear of sin as an Enemy if you will not serve its Lusts you shall be hindred and molested with its Lusts Stronger rowing is requisite against a strong Tide So for Satan he will not easily be dispossest if you will not follow his Counsels you shall feel his Darâ—s and the world will wonder at you and reproach you and vilifie you temptations on the right hand and on the left Now all these shocks and brunts will not be sustained without a firm Resolution It must be an house strongly built upon an unmoveable Rock which will stand against all winds and waves 2. Because sin hath been very dear unto us and is beyond measure Sin is very subtle to Intice us subtile to perswade and entice us It is not an easie thing though death otherwise be threatned to make a man willing to have his Arm or Leg cut off Sin is as our members ot us it is called our self born and bred with us The separation is not easie where the Conjunction is Natural and hath been more familiar It will not be done by reasoning or intreaty but Resolution is
or Instrument of the Divine spirit for much good unto believing souls Among the rest it hath a singular virtue to breed assurance of Gods love and therefore it is called a Seal in Ro. 4. 11. In it Christ Jesus in whom God is reconciled is most distinctly represented in his Passion as making peace by his blood for our souls In it the same Christ Jesus is particularly offered and applyed unto us with all the benefits and efficacies of his person Take eat this is my body which was given for you 1 Cor. 11. 24. As if God should say As surely as I give thee this bread and wine so I give thee my Son and the purchase of his death even reconciliation and pardon and mercy A believing celebration of the Sacrament is a most admirable means to remove our doubts and to establish our hearts with an Fervent and patient Prayer assurance that God is reconciled unto us 3. Fervent and patient Prayer prizing the favour of God as David did Psal 63. 3. Hungring and thirsting after it as he hid Psal 106. 4 5. And thus continuing to seek with diligence being withall tenderly careful in our hearts and wayes to please the Lord we shall have the desires of our Souls crowned with the testimonies of his love here and with the full glory of his face and favour hereafter Luke 15. 21 22 23. 21. And the Son said unto him Father I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son 22. But the Father said to his servants Bring forth the best Robe and put it on him and put a Ring on his hand and Shoes on his feet 23. And bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry These words contain in them 1. The real acting of a penitential intention The matter whereof in his humble and sad confession I have insisted on already when I touched on v. 18 19. Now I shall observe a little more from the circumstance and manner of it 2. The strange alteration of his condition The heart of man never alters from sin to its prejudice the best courses ever draw after them the best comforts While he was a prodigal he had neither bread to eat nor Rags to cloath him nor house to lodg him much less Jewels to adorn him and feasts to entertain him But now he becomes a penitent here is a Father to admit him into a house to put the best Robe on his back and the Ring on his finger and Shoes on his feet and likewise to provide meat even the choicest for his belly Before I touch on these distinctly and particularly there are some Propositions which I will briefly touch on v. g. Doct. That no not the kindest expressions of mercy do silence a The kindest expressions of mercy do not hinder an humble confession of sin truly penitential heart from an humble confession of sin Kindest mercies draw out humblest confessions The Father pities meets embraces kisseth this penitential Prodigal What doth he rise up and slight all that hath been evil Oh no! mercy melts him down and he confesseth with tears Father I have sinned c. q. d. What is this that thou shouldst so easily so freely so mâ—rcifully behold so sinful so unworthy a wretch as I have been As David when God declared unto him the intentions of his further mercies for him and his posterity He sate before the Lord and said Who am I O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto So is it with the true penitent upon the Declaration of pardoning and accepting mercy Now O Lord God who am I I who have done so wickedly yet to be remembred so graciously The same you find in Paul who though he received a testimony of his pardon and acceptance by a messenger graciously dispatched from Jesus Christ himself Acts 9. 17. Yet he doth most frequently and humbly acknowledg and confess the kinds and greatness of his former transgressions There is for the time a twofold Confession 1. Antecedent There is a twofold Confession Antecedent Consequent which is that humbling way which God designs for the assecution of mercy See Prov. 28. 13. 1 Jo. 1. 9. To make us indite and condemn our selves that he may acquit and pardon us 2. Consequent which is that judging and self-condemning way after mercy is obtained The sight of mercy breeds four notable effects in a true penitent 1. Much Admiration Oh that God should look on me 2. Much Detestation Oh that God should ever pardon me 3. More contrition Oh that I should sin against such a God 4. More Confession I have sinned and done very foolishly to sin against a God much in mercy 2. This consequent confession which followes the expressions or Consequent confession hath these qualities It is an ac-â— knowledgment of sin with more compunction testimonies of pardoning mercy hath these qualities 1. It is an acknowledging of sin with more compunction of spirit Sight of pardon doth not only open our lips but our eyes and fetcheth forth not only words but tears the heart doth break out when mercy breaks forth The heart never confesseth sin with more filial grief then when it apprehends sin much sin discharged with a paternal love the wind breaks the clouds but the Sun melts them most into showers so c. 2. It is an acknowledging of sin with more indignation The greaâ—er mercy makes a penitent With more indignation to be the sharper Judg the more God is now pleased with him the more is he displeased with himself for sinning against him When God remembred his Covenant Ezek. 16. 60. then did the penitential Israelites remember their wayes with shame v. 61. And when he made it known to them that he was pacifyed towards them then were they confounded and never opened their mouths more v. 63. 3. It is an acknowledging of sin with more With more aggravation aggravation Servile confessions are usually more deceitful and partial as Adam did acknowledg his sin but puts it on Eve no coâ—fessions are so free and full as such which arise from the apprehension of mercies David got his pardon for a great transgression but then hoâ— exact is he in the distinct accusation of himself and humble acknowledgment of his sin in all the articles and circumstances of it Psal 51. 4. It is an acknowledgment of sin with more detestation Evidence of pardon produceth two With more detestation effects One is more ardent affection of love to God Another is which necessarily followes a deeper hatred of sin which opposed so gracious a goodness All that good which God mentions in the Covenant Ezek. 36. 25. to the end of v. 30. produced a better remembrance of former evils and also a deeper loathing of themselves for their iniquities v. 31. As Job upon Gods appearing to him and conferring with him now abhors
Without saith it is impossible to please God Hebr. 11. 6. 2. But let us proceed further and search what Reasons may be produced to demonstrate the Assertion That the natural or Reasons of it unconverted man is spiritually dead and as to spirituals altogether dead Thus then 1. He who hath no Communion at all with Hâ—â—ath no communion with the principles of spiritual life the principles of spiritual life is in a spiritual sense altogether dead for where there is no principle of life there cannot be any thing but death Tolle animam tolle vitam but the impenitent and unconverted sinner hath no communion with any one principle of spiritual life Therefore c. There is a twofold principle of this life 1. A primitive conjunction with God in the estate of Innocency but this is lost 2. Arenewed Conjunction with God by Christ but yet this is not attained to by an unconverted sinner It is a confessed truth that Jesus Christ is the Author of spiritual life to the sinner He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life Joh. 5. 17. And the sinner hath it partly by Faith which taking Christ takes life from him by the Spirit of Regeneration which renews and makes him alive but the unconverted sinner hath neither the one nor the other had he either he were then converted 2. Original sin whilst reigning is a compleat cause of spiritual Original sin is a compleat cause of spiritual death death But original sin reigns in the impenitent and unconverted sinner therefore he is dead The Fathers have diversly Phrased Original sin some call it Venenum Syerpentis so Cprian others Plagam serpentis so Ireneus others Vitium parentum so Pauâ—inius in Austin the Apostle Paul calls it sometimes the body of sin sometimes the body of death sometimes the Law of sin and death sometimes the Vncircumcision of the heart Our Divines generally conceive two things in it viz. In Original sin there is 1. A total deprivation of original righteousness The Faculties remain but the Rectitude is gone It is reported of an excellent Philosopher that he fell into a Disease which dashed out all the Learning that ever he acquired so that he forgat even his own Name Original sin is like the extinguishing of a Candle the Candle remains still but the Light is gone Or like the quenching of red Iron the Iron remains but the fiery redness is all gone Or like a Tree the Limbs remain but the Life is gone It is an Universal spoil it hath robbed us of all our supernaturals worse to us than the Devil to Job who took away all that he had yet spared his Life But Original Sin not onely took away Paradise and Righteousness but all self-power so much as to desire to be good 2. A total depravation of all the man Seges ubi Troia The Soul of Man was once like a Garden fully set with the sweetest Flowers of Righteousness but now it is become like a Wilderness run over and filled with Briars and Thorns Or it is like a Face which once was the most curious of features every part expressing most amiable sweetness now it is like the same Face most deformed with the clusters of the Pox and the very shame and reproach of it self There is not a Faculty in the Soul but it is like the Bough of a fruitfull Tree thickly laden with Iniquity It is a Spring bubling out nothing but aversation enmity resistance to spiritual good and readiness inclination eagerness unsatiableness to all that is evil God saw that every imagination of the thoughts of the heart of man was onely evil continually Gen. 6. 5. The best of men complain of blindness of dulness of deadness Alas then what or how is it with the worst of men Paul could not do good a wicked man would not do good Paul complains for want of power what then may an unconverted man do By all this I think it manifectly appears That the unconverted man is spiritually dead because Original Sin reigns in him if in any then in him and where Original Sin reigns there is a total privation or absence of all spiritual Life and total corruption or presence of spiritual Death in the Soul The terms used in Scripture to express conversion 3. The Terms used in Scripture to express a sinners conversion do seem sufficiently weighty to prove That before his conversion he was spiritually dead For it is set forth sometimes By the Resurrection of the dead Ephes 5. 14. Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead By the Generation of a person Of his own good will begat he us with the word of truth Jam. 1. 18. By Creation 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature Now observe if Conversion be a Resurrection a spiritual Resurrection then the soul before Conversion was spiritually dead if Conversion be a Regeneration then a new life is brought into the soul which it totally wanted before If Conversion be a Creation and the converted man qua talis be a new creature then he had no spiritual being before If spiritual Life be a creature onely of Christ's making then c. 4. To me those spiritual Promises which God makes of giving The promises of giving a spiritual being and life a spiritual being and life do abundantly clear that man is dead As of pouring forth the Spirit of Grace giving his Spirit taking away the heart of Stone and giving the heart of Flesh of giving Knowledge Love Fear c. Such kinds of Promises imply three things 1. Our total want and need 2. Gods undertaking to bestow them 3. A free and total donation of them to us on Gods part 5. S. Austin useth the Duty of Prayer to prove this Assertion The duty of Prayer against the Pelagians Petenda à Deo bona omnia ergo nihil boni ex nobis possumus And in an Epistle to Vitalis he saith Prorsus non oramus Deum sed orare nos singimus si nos ipsos non illum credimus facere quod oramus 6. I will add but one Argument more viz. That man is totally dead quantum ad spiritualia who cannot so much as Man cannot prepare himself to life prepare himself no not remotely no not in any degree unto the life of Grace But the Unconverted man cannot virtute propria and without supernatural aid in the least degree prepare himself c. for without that aid he cannot desire deliverance out of his sinfull estate nor mourn over it nay not feel it nay not spiritually know it The Use which I desire to make of this Point I shall reduce unto 1. Information 2. Trial 3. Instruction 1. For Information Is every natural and unconverted man a Information spiritually dead man Hence we may be informed of several The unconverted man is in the saddest condition Truths 1. That the
Faith doth doth act for relief and will hold some communion with God 6. They are abated by the Ordinances 7. They are but for a time 8. They end in fullest setling and glorious comforts and likewise with advantage to their gracious condition And truly it is impossible that wicked and ungodly men should ever enjoy that serenity and peace as the godly do for as much as all the principles and causes of uncomfortableness abide on the wicked 1. Sin is in them in all its strength They have a thousand hells and arrows of guilt sticking in their hearts they have souls full of plague sores the deadly strokes of death the restless motions of evil spirits 2. They carry a roaring Lion in their brests I mean an evil accusing smiting wounding racking condemning Conscience which if it once awake it will tear the caul of their hearts and crush them with the flames of unavoidable unsupportable and continual wrath 3. They have no City of Refuge open to their succour no land or shore no place to cast anchor no portion in Christ and therefore the Law of God stands in full force against their souls and under its curse they lie and at that Bar of Justice must they be tried 4. They end in an éternal and perfect Hell 5. Take them at their best God is their Enemy they never yet made peace with him and all their outward blessings are steeped in gall and drenched in Wormwood as their sorrows so their blessings are distributed in wrath 2. Many converted persons are not really sad and uncomfortable Many converted persons are not really sad they onely seem so but onely seem so to the mean and childish opinions of vain men 2 Cor. 6. 10. As sorrowfull yet always rejoycing The joy of Christians is an hidden joy Hidden Manna Revel 2. 20. it is a spiritual joy to which thou art a stranger meat to eat which thou knowest not of Suppose that thou rejoycest not in a fine Baby and a Toy which is a Childs great delight art thou therefore sad All objects yield not contentment to an high mind nor joy to a good man he cannot take pleasure in an Alehouse and Tavern in swaggering and masking in dicing and carding and swearing and whoring but yet he can take delight in a reconciled God in a Christ in the Word of God in praying to God in gracious returnes from God in expectation of the Glory of God A swine delights in mire but a man doth not The Moon is oft times dark to the world when yet that part which faceth to the Sun is beautiful and lightsome The countenance and carriage of a Christian as to the world seems dull and uncomfortable but if you could look into the heart of him which faceth towards heaven O there is Righteousness there is Peace there is Joy in the Holy Ghost 3. If any converted persons be sad and want actual joy and comfort If they be sad Conversion is not the cause of it yet their Conversion is not the cause thereof Can the Sun be any cause of darkness But amongst others these are the Causes of it Either 1. Thy unconversion It is the unconverted husband child master which makes sadness in the heart of the converted wife father c. It is thy drunkenness thy cursing and swearing thy scorning and scoâ—â—ing thy resisting and shifting the offers of Grace thy lying and slandering thy pride and loosness which makes the hearts of Ministers ready to break and the hearts of thy godly friends ready to sink in them O they tremble at thy condition and they grieve to see God so extremely dishonoured Psal 119. 136. Rivers of tears run down mine eyes because they keep not thy Law ver 158. I beheld the transgressors and was grieved because they kept not thy Word 2 Pet. 2. 7 8. The wicked deeds of the ungodly Sodomites vexed the soul of righteous Lot Luke 19. 41. It was Jerusalems proud obstinacy that would not know in her day the things which concerned her peace that made Jesus Christ to weep 2. Their Captivities to sin Pauls conversion did never trouble him but this did trouble him that he did the evil which he would not his Corruption not Conversion That the Law of his members led him captive against the Law of his mind It was not Peters Conversion but Peters transgression that made him go forth and weep bitterly It was not Davids Conversion but Davids great sinning which made him go so heavily and roâ—r so greatly Psal 32. 3. The Fears and Suspitions that they are not yet truly converted O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death O they feel so many working Corruptions still and so little of the strength of Christ still and so much unbelief still and so many indispositions still and so many failings still and so many doubts about these This â—race is not right the saving Work is not begun and these things make them â—o sigh and weep and go heavily all the day long 4. They are but newly crept out of the shell The Spirit of Bondage is yet hardly worn off some legal Dints stick on them they are either still in travel or but newly delivered Or if they be got out of the state of Bondage yet they are for the present under spiritual conflicts and as spiritual Bondage before Conversion so spiritual conflicts after conversion suspends the taste of a present and actual joy Or if that be not the damp then perhaps it is some ignorance or unexperience they are not yet come to read their Fathers Will and Christs Testament what portion is left and laid out for the Children of God Or if that be not it then perhaps it is a present fit of unbelief they cannot yet be perswaded that God means so much mercy and so much love and so many great things for them Is it so That â—onversion brings the person into a very joyful Vse 1. condition Hence then 1. We may be Informed of four Information things 1. That they are enemies to their joy and comfort who are adversaries They are enemies to their joy who are enemies to Conversion to their Conversion Prov. 1. 22. How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity and ye Scorners delight in scorning and fools hate knowledg Six things shew one to be in an unconverted condition Unsensibleness Love of sin Path of evil hatred of Reformation despising the Means of Conversion loathing of Converted-Persons There are some persons who hate to be reformed who hold fast their â—â—ns and will not let them go they are like those stiff-necked Jewes who alwayes resisted the Holy Ghost a disobedient people to the Call of God they refuse to put their necks into the yoak of Jesus Christ and will not be bound with his cords They love their sinful wayes and will not return to the Almighty Why Write that man childless said God of Coniah So I