Crime Disobedience That were sometimes disobedient in the days of Noah To whom To the Spirit of Christ In whom Noah Where 〈◊〉 the old world Why did the Spirit appear in visible shape No but in Noah a Preacher of righteousness They hearkned not to Noah and for that they perished That is the great crime for which men have from the beginning of the world gone down into Hell for their disobedience to the Spirit of Christ in his Prophets and in his Ministers Why what were the sins that they were guilty of that Noah called them to repent of Why you shall see in the 6 Chap. of Gen. and the 5 ver they were a wicked sort of people and made God repent that ever he made them Gen. 6.5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually Here were wicked spirits wicked souls they are the principals in sin and they are the principals in punishment The wickedness of their hearts Men are condemn'd for the wickedness of their thoughts as well as for the wickedness of their lives The 11 12 13 Verses The earth also was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence And God looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth And God said unto Noah the end of all flesh is come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them and behold I will destroy them with the earth Here are wicked hearts and wicked lives wicked thoughts and wicked deeds When God does imprison souls in Hell it is for their wicked thoughts as well as for their wicked lives and some of you perhaps never take account of the wickedness of your thoughts and yet God does take a a special account of your wicked thoughts And in this state of sin they were a secure people they feared nothing they went on in trading and merry in their business as the world is just now As in Mat. 24.38 As in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and givîng in marriage until the day that Noah entred into the Ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away so shall also the coming of the son of man be They were sinners wicked rebellious sinners and secure sinners and Noah was sent to awaken them out of this security and called them to repentance and threatned the wrath of God upon them if they did not repent But says Christ they regarded it not no not to the very day that the flood came And so it will be says he against the coming of the son of man And is it not so now Look about your streets in the morning there you hear the clattering of your Shop doors and setting out of your wares and buying and selling and when Breakfast or Dinner or Supper comes you set down and eat and drink you lie down and rise again and sometimes you go to the Change and busie you are like so many Ants and here we Ministers of the Gospel come like Noah we say Repent repent for God hath appointed a day wherein he will judg the world for sin by the man Christ Jesus Yea that he hath a prison to throw your souls in at death where he hath darkness to affright you and chains to bind you and fire to burn you and you mind us no more than these people did in the days of Noah no not you till sickness comes or the day of your death and then you begin to bethink your selves and cry O that I had an Ark now O that I had an interest in Christ O that I had Grace and a title to Heaven Now nothing but Christ nothing but Grace nothing but praying and sending for Ministers to come and talk with you Here is a Customer come in O don't talk to me now O I must mind Heaven But before that time you are as careless as the old World was until the flood came and swept them all away O you poor fools what do you do you are busie for time and regardless for eternity Death is at your doors and you know not how soon you may hear the blows and clattering about your body and your house fall and your souls hurried away and yet do you mind nothing but eating and drinking buying and selling and the like What will you do The Lord awaken you Here you sit and hear me and you are stupified many of you you gaze upon me you do not know what to think of what I say and thou art questioning whether what I say be true and thou art thinking to escape but assure thy self sinner that as sure as God is in Heaven thou wilt not escape if thou dost not believe now in this thy day when God is calling upon thee now hear his voice but if thou goest on secure as the old World say you had warning and that I gave you warning this day God knows but before seven days hence thou maist be in this prison O come to Christ that your debts may be discharged But you go away go to dinner and come again make it a hearing-business and do no more and think your selves secure This will not serve thy turn poor sinner no no no this will not do Go into thy Closet and down upon thy knees tell God what a sinner thou art tell him how much thou hast provoked him and promise him to obey him for the time to come and never give him rest till he hath given thee an interest in Christ and an assurance of an Ark and then go comfortably man about thy business when thou hast got an assurance of another world Noah might go and eat and drink comfortably he had an Ark to go into when the flood came so thou poor soul if thou wouldst but repent and believe in Jesus Christ thou maist comfortably eat and drink and buy and sell as thou hast occasion for thou hast an Ark. But for thee to live in a wicked ungodly way and take no thought for eternity what wilt thou do sinner when death comes and awakens thee O that the Lord would awaken you this day How few of you have been a hammering upon this Ark a making this Ark I tell thee I will be a Prophet to thee sinner thou wilt wish a thousand times that thou hadst taken this counsel Be wise now in time thou wilt repent that thou hast not prayed more that thou hast not repented more O do it now then for the Lords sake for when thou art once thrown into prison thou art gone for ever It is for the disobeying of the Gospel and therefore the rich man in the Gospel cried Father Abraham I have brethren upon earth O that some would go and tell them no no says Abraham they have Moses and the Prophets if they will not believe them neither
upon the Cross The loss of blood and the anguish and pain the nails in his feet and in his hands kill'd him he died there his soul separated from his body he cryed with a loud voice and gave up the Ghost so he was put to death in the Flesh that is as to his human Nature That is plain The following words have more difficulty in them But quickned by the Spirit What 's the meaning of quickned And what 's here meant by Spirit that we must enquire into because it will tend to open the difficulty that lies in the following words Quickned as the Greek hath it Vivificatus autem spiritu made alive which is of the same import with quickned he died as to his human Nature but he did not continue in a state of death but was made alive again Christ that died for sinners was made alive What was made alive That which was dead What was dead The man Christ so that that which died for our sins was made alive again that is raised from the dead that 's the meaning of it There 's nothing can be made alive but that which was dead The Apostle useth this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for to signifie the Resurrection of the body and therefore in reason it may signifie so in this place 1 Cor. 15.22 For as in Adam all died so in Christ shall all be made alive 'T is the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made alive that is they shall be raised from the Grave So here Christ died as to the flesh but he was made alive that is he was raised from the dead Raised How was he raised it follows In or by the Spirit What Spirit is here Why it is that Spirit that did efficiently raise him he was quickned in or by the Spirit Now by this Spirit say the Papists is meant the human Soul of Christ For this reason it cannot be meant of the Soul of Christ because that the Soul of Christ being a creature could never quicken could never raise the dead body of Christ For Christ was perfect God and perfect Man as he was Man he had a Soul and body his Soul and body were creatures and though the Spirit or Soul of Christ was an excellent pure holy Soul without sin yet it was not God and had not an Almighty power None but God could raise the dead therefore the soul of Christ could never raise the body of Christ What was it then It must then be the Holy Ghost it must be the Spirit of God which is God which is Almighty that can raise the dead and did raise the dead Christ For what reason do I think that by Spirit is here meant the Holy Ghost Why I will tell you Because all the Miracles that Christ or his Apostles did whether they healed the sick whether they raised the dead or cast out Devils were all attributed to the Spirit of God to the Holy Spirit of Christ And therefore no wonder if the very Resurrection of Christ be given unto the Spirit of God And if I mistake not that is the meaning or the import of the Apostle in Rom. 1.3 4 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness Holiness in the abstract that is by the Greeks commonly used for the concrete and you may read it thus According to the Holy Ghost he was declared to be the Son of God with power with the power of the Holy Ghost by the Resurrection from the dead he was raised by the Spirit of God by which all works of Miracles were wrought or done by Christ and his Apostles he was raised from the dead by this Spirit And now That which follows will be somewhat clear For if by being made alive is to be understood the Resurrection of Christs human Nature and by the Spirit that raised that human Nature is to be meant the Holy Ghost then proceeds by which or in which he went and preached He went Who went Christ went By which Spirit by which Holy Ghost he went and preached to the spirits in prison Why did Christ the Son of God preach to the old world before he came in the flesh Yes How By his Spirit What immediately No but by Noah for he was a preacher of righteousness Why all the Prophets they had their Prophetical gifts and they had them all from the Spirit of Christ 2 Pet. 2.5 And spared not the old world but saved Noah the eighth person a preacher of righteousness bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly You must know all the preachers under the Gospel have their gifts from the Spirit the Spirit is employed in sending them out the Spirit assisteth them the Spirit said Seperate me Barnabas and Saul It was the Spirit which sent all the Prophets out the Spirit of Christ sent out Noah made him his Preacher So then by this Spirit of Christ Noah preached or Christ preached in Noah To whom To the Spirits in prison that is to the souls of those wicked men that are now in prison that were in prison at the time when Peter did write When God drowned the world that was not all their bodies lay floating upon the great Sea but their souls went down into Hell Well but say you Did Christ by his Spirit preach to them after they went to Hell No. They were preached to when they were sometime disobedient in the times of Noah as in the verse following the Spirits in prison that were sometime disobedient Disobedient to whom To the Spirit When In the time of Noah for they disobeyed Noah regarded not his preaching nor the building of the Ark looked upon him as a mad-man they took not the warning and were swallowed up in the flood and are now in prison for their disobedience they were disobedient to the Spirit of Christ in Noah The Papists by the Spirits in prison they would perswade you is to be meant a Limbus Patrum as they call it a middle state between Heaven and Hell wherein the Patriarchs were held until the time that Jesus Christ died and that when Christ was dead and his body in the grave for that three days and nights that Christ in his soul did descend into this Limbus and there did preach himself unto the soul of Abraham of Isaac and Jacob and the rest of those good Spirits that were alive in former days and took them out of that state and carried them to Heaven Thus say the Papists this is their Interpretation First But this is not to be believed because the Apostle speaks of such Spirits that were disobedient not of the Spirits of the Fathers for the very Papists themselves speak of no Spirits in their Limbus but only good Spirits But the Apostle in this place speaks of none but disobedient Spirits Secondly 'T is a vain Interpretation
because if that their Limbus or middle state is only a receptacle of good Spirits Why they needed not to have preaching after their death to them because they believed while they were upon the earth and if they believed whilst upon the earth they were justified and if they were justified their sins were taken away and what then should keep them out of Heaven 'T is a very impertinent thing to think that Christ should go into their Limbus to preach faith to them that have believed already Thirdly Their Interpretation dependeth much upon the interpreting the Spirit by which he was quickned interpreting that to be meant of his soul But if that cannot be meant of his soul but of the Holy-Ghost then their notion falls to the ground for they read it thus Christ was dead in the body but kept alive in his soul by which he went and preached unto these Fathers in their Limbo Lastly The Scripture is plain that Christ did not go down into any such middle-state for he said to the Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise This can't be any middle-state where Paul said He saw and heard things that were unutterable Well then this is that the Apostle meaneth that those Spirits that are now in prison were sometime alive in the body as we and they heard the preaching of the Spirit of Christ in Noah but for their disobedience they were taken off by the flood and their souls were laid up in Hell as in a prison Now the Doctrine shall be this That the Spirits or souls of wicked men when they die they shall as prisoners of Gods justice be dragged out of their bodies and by the righteous sentence of God shall be laid up in the prison of Hell for their disobedience unto the Spirit of Christ that preacheth in his Ministers All this is contained in the words In the opening of it there are these things I shall speak to First What are these Prisoners Spirits Secondly How are these Prisoners carried away to their Prison By death as those of the old world were by a death caused by the flood Thirdly What 's this prison Hell Fourthly What 's the cause of their commitment Disobedience disobedience to the voice of the Spirit of Christ in his Ministers Lastly Here is the justness of the Sentence implied for inasmuch as they are Gods prisoners so they are prisoners that are justly imprisoned I pray God by what you and I hear of it this day it may never be any of our lots that you and I may never prove any of these dreadful Prisoners First What are these Prisoners Spirits Souls those immortal Souls that live and abide in you while you are in this world Your bodies they are like houses that are made up of clay of earth but a house is not without its Tenant God hath made no body but he hath made it for a Tenant Every human body hath his Tenant What 's that The Soul the Spirit It is that immortal Spirit that is in you by which you live move act reason by which you see hear walk all the motions that are seen or done by any part of you come from the Spirit from the Soul And as it is with an old house or any house if it be pull'd down the Tenant goes out of doors if it be fir'd down the Tenant steps out of doors and perhaps on the other side of the street looking upon his house burning down The house is burnt but the Tenant's alive So it is with you when these bodies of clay of yours fall are they drowned with these of the old world should they be burnt should they fall by a Fever or any other way your souls like Tenants they come out That living spirit in you comes out you give up the Ghost give up the Spirit The body returns saith Solomon to the earth your Spirit returns to God to be judged This is the Prisoner But O what a sad Prisoner is the soul of a wicked man when stript of his body He is a naked Prisoner and a friendless Prisoner which are two sad circumstances of a prisoner When God sendeth the Serjeant death and seizeth upon the spirit of a wicked man knocks at the door of his body the body is fast bolted locked no getting in What does death do breaks down the Body pulls it about his ears sometime death drowns him sometime death hangs him sometime stabs him sometimes he goes to Sea and is cast away sometimes a Cart goes over him and so the poor soul of the wicked man is arrested death lays hold of him and drags him away to the Tribunal of God and there is he in a naked condition naked of the world naked of his body A poor thing When a wicked mans spirit is in the world he hath a house a body and out of his body he hath the casements of his eyes to look through and hath some kind of enjoyment in his meats and drinks But when death comes he pulls down the house about his ears and the soul 's drag'd away and there is no more the light of the Sun no more eating and drinking no more the delights of the flesh He is like the malefactor that hath committed some great crime and the Prince sends the Officers and they surround the house and break it open and drag him away in his shirt and won't give him time to put on his cloaths This is a sad sight Just so will thy wicked soul O thou wicked man be dragged away without shirt or hose or shoe out of the house of thy body And when the poor prisoner the spirit of a wicked man is sent by death to the Tribunal of God he is in a friendless condition If a man is Arrested for debt there may be some composition some good neighbours may come and say Pray have pity he is a poor man he cannot pay you he will pay you when he can I will lay down somewhat for him you have such a thing as that is here that saves the poor man from prison But alas thou poor wicked soul that wouldest take no warning but hast been disobedient to the Gospel when death comes with a Commission from God from Christ the great Judg of quick and dead he seizeth upon thee draggeth thee away and perhaps when thou art dragging away thou lookest about what can I have no friend to intercede for me O for a little more time to repent in A little more time to pay my debts in What will none lay down a ransome for me No No. Thou wicked man while thou art in the body Jesus Christ comes often in his Ministers saying to thee Thou wicked sinner thou art ten thousand Talents in debt Come sinner believe in me repent of thy sins against me and I will pay all thy debts I will discharge them all but thou poor rebel wouldest not hearken to it but thou wouldest go on and run farther and farther
days together And if still he were impenitent to declare him unfit for Communion with the Church and require the people to avoid him and binding him over to the judgment of God who will not pardon the impenitent I will recite part of a short Writing which his Hearers gave me now since his death in their own words At his first coming to Newington-Butts which was about 1653 He preached constantly twice every Lords-day And had monthly meetings with us where he prayed and preached In the Summer for half a year he preached a Lecture And in the winter every day of the week except Saturdays neither cold nor wet did keep him from his work which was Praying and Expounding which he constantly performed at seven a Clock in the morning And on Saturdays he spent the afternoon in Catechizing And finding much ignorance in the Parish he was the more laborious for their instruction and once every week in the Winter he would be-speak a house in the Street at the end of an Alley and thither he would send for the poor people out of the Alleys and spend much time in instructing them and praying with them the next week he would do the same in another place and where he himself had been the former week he would appoint one that could write well to follow him and repeat a Sermon and pray with the people in the same place to keep on their hearts what had been wrought and such of the willing persons as could not repeat sufficiently he appointed to read some fit Book to the hearers usually the book called A Call to the Unconverted And that against Making Light of Christ which in a great measure answered his ends And finding by going thus through all his Parish that not only Children but Servants and Ancient persons were very ignorant and the more because they could not read he sent to the Vniversity for a young man who is now a Minister in Sussex and gave him his maintenance to go three days a week to teach people to read by which means aged persons some of sixty years of age and some more did learn to read to their great comfort And to farther their understanding of the Principles of Religion he Printed a short Catechism of Twelve Questions and Answers and gave them freely to all the Parishioners that would come for them and for them that were poor and old he bought a great number of Testaments and gave them to the elder poor people and servants that could not buy them and when he asked many poor people why they came not to the Publick Worship of God and they would answer because they had not cloaths he would stir up some friends which he had in London to relieve them and so got cloth and clothed them His health calling him to abide most in the Country at Theobalds he got a grave Minister Mr. Parsons to be his Assistant in Southwark and so divided his labours to Two Congregations being one day with one and the next with the other And having a competency of his own he never took any Stipend or Maintenance from either of them but lived as believing that it is more honourable to give than to receive That very small proportion which was Contributed he left his Assistant who needed it to receive This faithful Servant of Christ did for many years perform these hard but pleasing labours under that sore disease the Stone in the Reins which some think was Paul's prick in the flesh though others rather take it for Reproach or Persecution And though by the ordinary use of North-hall-Waters he seemed long to keep it under yet leaving the Country coming to abide again at London after twice preaching with very great fervency he fell into that extremity of pain which in a short time brought him to his Death which how peaceably and comfortably he underwent to the last Mr. Brag hath told you in his Funeral-Sermon His dissected body shewed that a Stone in the Bladder as well as his calculous and corrupted Kidneys was his Death The affection of his Flock to their departed Pastor made them desirous that his last Sermons might be published not because they excelled all the rest for in these you may see his ordinary fervency and familiarity in preaching but the last words of our friends affect us most and as we remember them best so we are desirous to commemorate them to others It will be thought by some an injury to the deceased Author that such popular and plain Exhortations should be published when no doubt had he lived to publish them himself they would have appeared in a less homely dress But I take it for no disgrace but a great and necessary duty to speak the important matters of Salvation not in a slovenly but in as plain and familiar and fervent a manner as its well known the common ignorance and dullness of most Hearers do require Who can speak too plainly or too earnestly to such And Writings must be suited to such Readers Capacity as well as Sermons to such hearers Two instances encourage me to this recommendation viz. The works of Mr. William Fenner and of Mr. Thomas Hooker which were popularly delivered and taken from their mouths in so broken and rude a manner as greatly injured the Authors and are not to pass as the notice of their judgments in points of Controversie yet did more good by their plainness and familiar earnestness than most Books that I have known But those that the same men published themselves in a closer stile have far less profited the world of ordinary Readers That is good which doth good To shew the reasonableness that all Ministers should deal thus faithfully and plainly with such as are under their Ministry I will lay open somewhat of the case before you and then judg reasonably of it as you are men The Eternal God delighting in the wonderful diversity of his Creatures hath made man of a middle nature between Bruits and Angels giving him Vital-power Reason and Free will He hath placed him in this World as for a race or warfare resolving that as he behaveth himself it shall go with him in another World for ever For though his body be dust and must to dust return his soul is from above and liveth in blessedness or misery for ever By Sin we have all forfeited our right to Heaven But Eternal Love hath given us a Redeemer who is God and Man who as our Surety became a Sacrifice for our sins and by his Merits hath purchased a Conditional Grant of free forgiveness and of renewing Grace and endless Glory And being ascended into Heaven possesseth it in our nature and intercedeth for us being now as Redeemer Lord of all And as the Sun above us sendeth down its beams on Earth so doth our Glorified Lord his Spirit to quicken enlighten and sanctifie Souls who were dead and dark and disaffected to God to Holiness and Heavenly
theirs who have made a covenant with hell and with death and cry a short life and a sweet who forget they have souls while they thus speak and resolve and will not believe there is a God till they wish for rocks and mountains to fall upon them to hide them from him nor believe there is a hell till they feel it O what a deep sense had the Apostle Paul of the misery and immergent ruins of his Country-men Rom. 10.1 His hearts desire unto God for them was that they might be saved he could wish himself accursed that they might escape I know no man more like-minded to him than this Servant of God who is with the Lord who delighted in nothing no work in the world like plucking brands out of the fire saving men from hell and sending men and women before him to heaven if he could I hope the impression upon my heart from the consideration of that incomparable transport of his Soul in the Preaching the last Sermon as if he had known his time was so short and that Sermon his last shall still remain fresh upon me After Sermon I told him of it and he told me His heart was carried out with zeal and pity that he could not keep to method but he could not help it All that knew him can bear him witness that he was able to write or speak for matter and form gratefully to any but he studied plainness and therefore purposely declined great Auditories to my knowledg a clear proof of his meek and self-denying spirit Gain-say it who can He sought not honour from men whilst alive and now he is dead let his own Works praise him in the gates If any should enquire why or who call'd me to interpose these few rude lines I only say It is pia fraus to steal an opportunity to testifie more publickly the great veneration I have for the name of this holy man who indeed was one of the Sons of Davids Worthies As also to signifie my longing after the Souls happiness of all that were his ordinary Hearers Whom again I beseech to read and afterwards to ponder who and what moved him to speak his heart in these last words unto them if peradventure God may give them repentance unto life by the Ministry of him who not only saved himself but shall then save also them that heard him A.P. 1 Peter III. the later part of the 18 the 19 and part of the 20 Verse Being put to death in the flesh but quickned by the Spirit By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison Which sometimes were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the Ark was a preparing IN the opening of this portion of Scripture we will First Consider its Scope and then we will consider the words themselves and give you a short Explication thereof and then we shall draw that Practical Observation from them which the Lord bless unto your Edification As for the Scope of them in the former part of the 18 Verse I have shewed you how the Apostle was acquainting us with the great benefit that sinners do receive from the death of Christ that I have already opened to you Christ hath once sufferd for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God Now in the following Verses the Apostle passeth on from the death of Christ unto the life of Christ and shews that we have not only benefit by a Christ dying but by a Christ living For Christ is our Saviour both ways We are saved by his death meritoriously we are saved by his life as he lives for to see the purchased-blessings of his death made good to us Now the Apostle in these words I have already read considereth the life of Christ two ways First With respect to the world before he came in the flesh with respect to the old World above Two thousand years before he came in the flesh Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God was alive then yea before the World was he was alive and was God blessed for ever by him the World was made To the old World even that world that was destroyed by the Flood to that world he was a Saviour by designation and he took care of them The care of mankind from the fall hath been deposited in the hands of Christ he hath taken care of sinners from the fall of man into sin Then Secondly The Apostle does speak of the advantages that the Church hath by a living-Christ upon his Resurrection from the dead as he speaks in the 21 v. The figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us then there comes in a Parenthesis How does Baptism save us Why by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ When he was on earth he preached the Gospel promised pardon and salvation to the penitent believing sinner and died for him when he had done preaching and arose from the dead and is gone to Heaven to make good every word We are now upon the consideration of the benefits that the old World had from Christ above two thousand years before Christ was born in the flesh Why what was the benefit that the old World had Why Christ by his Spirit did send Noah a Preacher of righteousness to preach repentance to the old Word the Spirit of Christ was in Noah by which Spirit Noah Prophesied of the destruction of the world By which Spirit he was directed to build the Ark to prepare for himself and those that should repent for that time that the Floold should come upon the world Christ by his Spirit preached then to that world of sinners that were drowned then and not only drowned but their spirits damn'd which was for disobeying Christ for disobeying the Spirit of Christ in Noah Having now given you the Scope of the place we shall proceed according to that light I have to give you the understanding of the words and phrases of this Scripture for it seemeth to be a Scripture that is not without its difficulties We will begin at the First First What it is to be put to death in the flesh that we must enquire into Secondly What is it to be quickned by the Spirit What does the Apostle understand hereby Thirdly What is this preaching What are Fourthly These Spirits that are in prison And what 's the prison And so we shall take in what follows in its order Being put to death in the flesh Who put to death Christ By whom By the unbelieving wicked Jews they were his accusers Put to death in the flesh by whom By Pontius Pilate as his Judg. Put to death in the flesh by whom Why by those Executioners that were employed by Pontius Pilate to see him Crucified The Jews Pontius Pilate and the Soldiers put him to death Put to death in the flesh What 's that That is after he was made flesh he was put to death as he was man he hung
Now says Christ I will have no more to do with him Justice seize upon him Serjeant of death arrest him drag him along with thee bring him to my Tribunal and there to prison thou must go and now poor soul thou hast no body to pay thy debts for thee now thou must go and pay them all thy self but thou wilt never be able to pay the uttermost farthing nay thou art not able to pay one farthing Well but whether must I go To prison What 's that prison Hell man that 's the prison so it is called a prison Rev. 20.1 2 And I saw an Angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand And he laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him Where why where he was loosed afterwards for a time Vers 7 And when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison This deep pit is here call'd a prison this deep pit where the Devil is chained is a prison and thither must every arrested sinner be dragged into this pit and laid in this prison in chains under darkness Why say you Why is Hell call'd a prison for these poor spirits to be laid in Why because of the resemblance that it hath to a prison In these three respects Hell is called a Prison First It 's a place of punishment as Prisons are Secondly It 's a place of Restraint Thirdly It 's a place of Abode 1. A prison is a place of Punishment Alas your prisons are full of the instruments of punishment Go into a prison and there you shall see your dark dungeon without any light or next to none there you may see your Press-yard where the malefactors are sometimes press'd to death and you may see the press and the weights that are laid upon them go into Prisons and there you shall see Racks to torture men to stretch them to pull their limbs and members out of joynt there you shall see Chains Chains for the feet for the hands to bind them to load them to pain them Prisons are places of punishment torment misery Hell is called a Prison because it is a place of pain and torment Why what is there in Hell that answers to these Racks Presses Irons Chains Why there is darkness there 's your Dungeon utter darkness extream darkness For Misery there is weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth For Torment there is fire everlasting fire that will never go out There 's a rack for the Spirit there 's the worm that never dieth For a Jaylor there 's the Devil that is in for his own fault and to be tormented himself and to torment others O! 't is a sad Prison to be under a cruel Jaylor in Chains and fire with a worm gnawing at the very heart under the wrath of God! This is a sad state sinners a sad state The Lord help you to believe it But you are apt to hear this as a Fable but believe it you will find this true The old world was as secure as you are Repent faith God or I will drown you all and that which is more I will damn you too I will send your bodies to rot in the ground and your souls to the Prison of Hell Noah tells them so Says God to Noah Prepare thy Ark against the time He did so Why what did the rest do They believed it not they regarded it not they thought Noah must say something and they look't upon him as a Mad-man and so you do Us. Sinners take heed that death does not come and drag you away before you have repented and obeyed the voice of Christ in his Ministers The old world because they did not repent they were damn'd for not hearkning to Noah and you shall be damn'd if you will not hearken to Us. The Lord awaken your sleepy souls that you may not sleep the sleep of death that you may not go down with your bodies to the Grave and your souls to Hell But again Hell is called a Prison because it is a place of restraint you can't go out when you please Go to Newgate they will talk with you through the grates but they can't go out of doors neither can friends come to them but must ask the Jaylor leave and if he hath commission to deny any away you must go though a Wife though a Father or Brother So poor soul when God hath stript thee of thy body and laid thee in this Prison thou shalt be restrained and others restrained from coming to thee there 's no friend to come to thee then Noah preached to the old world in the body and so we do to you but when you have by your disobedience provoked God to cut you off and lay your souls in this Prison there 's no coming to you no preacher then no Christ and no Spirit to offer Salvation then you are poor Prisoners restrain'd and kept from all manner of comfort O saith the rich man in Hell Father Abraham O that some would come and give me but the refreshment of a drop of cold water to cool my tongue in this torment No says he there 's a gulf between us and you 't is a Gaol and the Prisoner is bounded up by the Justice of God and there is a charge none shall come from us to you nor from you to us It 's a Prison you are restrained poor sinners Will you believe No you don't believe Because you dont believe you will be damn'd This damn'd the old world and this will damn you if you don't believe Thirdly Hell is a Prison as it is a place of Abode When you are in Prison if it be for debt How can you get out Why these Three ways you may get out of these Prisons 1. By breaking of them but you can't break the gates of Hell no you can't you may clamber these walls and come down by ropes but there is a great gulf that you may as well think of clambering the Stars as to get out of this Prison And again 2. There is an other way if you can't pay your debts another may But there is no paying for you out of Hell Christ hath once done it if you will repent he will pay all for you but if once clapt into that Prison Christs blood will profit you nothing Or Lastly By Pardon If no body will pay the debt the Creditor may forgive him but believe it sinner you will never have such a pardon from God for here 's your time of pardon if thou wilt repent Christ he will pardon thee To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts but if you die no more pardon no more offers of Grace then thou art shut up for ever 'T is a Prison Never man that was in Hell got out of Hell more So much for the Third Fourthly What 's the Crime having discoursed of the Prison Whâ—â—'s the
receive thee But if thou art stubborn and rebellious and wilt go on thou maist expect no other but that God will inflict upon thee hell to thy soul at death and at the Resurrection hell to soul and body But there are Aggravations of this thy stubbornness for thou art stubborn First Against the tenders of mercy that are made to thee Secondly Against the long-suffering of God to thee And Thirdly Thou art stubborn notwithstanding thou hast had so much warning And these things will justifie God and lay a foundation for condemning thee in thine own Conscience As First Mercy mercy I will pardon their iniquities let a wicked man forsake his sins What then I will have mercy upon him and will abundantly pardon him Here are tenders of mercy offering strength to help thee to conquer thy lusts according to that of the Prophet O ye simple ones how long will ye love simplicity Are you blind I will teach you Are you weak I will strengthen you How wilt thou do it I will pour out my Spirit upon thee Hast thou a mind to have Grace He will give it thee Hast thou a mind to have the Spirit of Grace and Supplication He will bestow it upon thee But for thee to go on in sin and reject pardon when offered What canst thou say for thy self Again These tenders of mercy are made with long-suffering There are a great many sinners I am afraid some here are not yet Converted who all for a long time have heard Sermons God hath been calling upon you As God said of the old world Here is a wicked people What shall I do with them What Why Justice might have said destroy them No saith God they are a rash giddy-headed-people I will give them warning How long Why almost one hundred and twenty years So sinner God saw thee Drunk heard thee Swear Justice might have said cut him off No saith God I will try him with another month of Sermons another year of Sermons I will try what my Children that are his Friends will say to him O sinner The long-suffering of God waiteth upon thee Grace cries repent and I will pardon thee Repent and I will give thee my Spirit though thou art a wicked Rebel I will not snatch thee away I will let thee live five years longer ten years longer O if thou goest to Hell what will Conscience say O thou art a stubborn sinner Thou must say Righteous art thou O God in all thy ways and just in all thy judgments I might have been in Heaven but I would not and now I am in Hell and that justly because I preferred my lusts before God Lastly Never say 't is an unjust Sentence because God gives you warning There is the merit of the cause If nothing will do Why then take notice God gives you warning He does not let you go on and say let them alone I will be even with them at length He might have done so No but in pity to poor sinners he gives them warning Sinner repent saith God and be reconcil'd to me come and lay hold upon Christ for else I will damn thee Take notice of it there is a Tophet prepared and everlasting burnings prepared a worm that never dieth and I tell thee before-hand what it will cost thee and yet sinners will go on still Never complain that God hath done thee wrong he hath offered to give thee his Spirit to sanctifie thee and save thee But if thou wilt not after all thank thy self if thou goest to Hell O sinners What will you do Will you imitate the old world or imitate Noah Why if you imitate the old world you see then what a desperate course you are running you are running your bodies to the Grave and your souls to Hell For when the flood came there was not one spared The flood takes whole Families they look gastly one at another Father what shall I do saith the child And when the world was full of cries and scrieks and they all drowned one would have thought this was enough yet God had no pity upon them for as soon as they were dead their disobedient souls were laid in Prison Well now say you What shall we do Why obey the Gospel This is your Duty Obey Christ Jesus speaking by his Spirit in Us poor men that are the Ministers of Jesus Christ for we are but as instruments to convey the mind of the great God to you for certainly what I have Preached to you is no other than the word of Jesus Christ and he will make it good O get into some corner and cry mightily to the Lord and pray Christ to pay all your debts for you and that the blood of Christ might take away all your iniquities and that you might have an Ark to save you from the fire that will burn the world as Noah had an Ark to save him and his house from the flood that did drown the world and then you are safe and never safe till then The Lord awaken you that you may take warning and not go away and mind no more what you have heard than they did and so be lost as they were 1 Peter III. the later part of the 20 Ver. While the Ark was a preparing wherein few that is eight souls were saved by water IN the former words you have an account given you of the Destruction of the old world by the flood They were all drowned Men Women and Children God neither spared the grey-headed-sinner no nor the sucking-infant children of wicked and Rebellious Parents he drowned them all The reason of this wrath of God that was poured out upon them was their Disobedience their disobedience to the Spirit of Christ by which Noah Preached to them What did he Preach He Preached to them Repentance called them to repent and reform their lives and if they would not God would drown them all Why what were their sins Why the very thoughts and imaginations of their hearts were evil and that continually They were men of wicked hearts they were devising nothing but mischief they thought of nothing but the satisfaction of their lusts I wish it be not the case of some here I am sure it is the case of every unconverted sinner the imaginations of his heart are evil and that continually for he does defile even his good thoughts with unbelief And their sin was likewise the sin of their lives Their hands were full of violence they were oppressors they were cruel they were bloody and besides this they were secure and wanton and they minded nothing but eating and drinking and marrying and giving to marriage their whole hearts were taken up in these things No man enquired after God no man regarded the voice of God in his servant Noah God waited upon them after he had sent Noah and forewarn'd them above a hundred years and that while was Noah a building his Ark but they despised the long-suffering of God which should