on this day than on others and an extraordinary exercise of Grace in them The whole day is his and unless works of Necessity and Mercy Mat. 127. relating either to Man or Beast intervene it must be wholly denoted to him The Duties of the day are not all of a sort but various there are all the means and ways of Communion with God on this day to take off Tediousness and promote Delight in them If you come with rejoycing Ps 122. 1. you will go away so Christ's coming in the Flesh was the fulfilling of the Law the coming down of his Spirit on this day was the fulfilling of the Gospel then he took our Nature on this we were made Partakers of his when he died he shed his Blood effectually for our Justification on this he shed abroad his Spirit abundantly for our Sanctification on this day he arose and then his Spirit quicken'd his natural Body on this day his Spirit descended and quicken'd his mystical Body when he ascended he carried our Nature up to Heaven and on this day he sent down his Spirit to us Now my Prayer for you shall be That the same Spirit that descended this day may sanctifie you that you may sanctifie this day and that you by it may be made holy that you may keep this day holy to God that made it so that keeping this day of rest here you may at last be taken up into his Rest that remains for ever hereafter Heb. 2. 9. Live to the Honour of that worthy Name in which you were baptiz'd and by which you are Jam. 2. 7. called Baptism is a sacred Flood sent not to drown but to save the World but then you must be in Christ the Ark and walk worthy 1 Thess 2. 12. of him that as you are in the Bond of the Covenant you may be also under the Blessing of it The outward Baptism of Water will avail you nothing Mat. 3. 11. without the inward Baptism of the Spirit The Sacrament of the Lords Supper was instituted by Christ and appointed as a standing Ordinance Matth. to the end of the World for the commemoration of Christs Death and his great Love in it and for the Confirmation of all those Blessings obtain'd by him to them that believe in him They only that are in the Covenant have a right to the Seal of it Some seldom receive it some never living in a wilful breach and contempt both of God's Law and Mans some are careless and negligent when they do receive But do you 1. Duely attend upon it 2. Come worthily to it 1. Duely attend upon it While you live in the neglect of it you reject not only motives but instituted means to subdue your Corruptions and strengthen your Graces question God's Wisdom as if he had ordain'd a needless and superfluous thing contemn Christ and his Love as if they were not worth the remembring and live in disobedience to a Gospel Command and thereby become liable to the Wrath of God He that came to the Feast Mat. 22. 3. 4 5 6 7 11 12 13. without a wedding-garment was destroy'd and so were they too that did not come 2. Come worthily to it The Sacrament is a Feast the Souls Exceedings if you come not to it you will starve your Soul if you come unworthily you will poison it eating Damnation as surely as you eat Bread and 1 Cor. 11. 29. drinking a Cup of Wrath instead of a Cup of Blessing and therefore do what you can to come in a worthy manner viz. With hungring and thirsting after Righteousness Unless you come empty you Mat. 5. 6. Luk. 15. 3. wil be sent away so With Faith without which Christus fide digerendus though you eat you will never be nourish'd You may touch the Body but you will receive no Vertue from it With inflamed Love to God for giving Christ to you and to Christ for offering up himself for you He is the Founder of the Feast and died to make it With a Heart deeply humbled for Sin that you may not crucifie him afresh but mourn over him Heb. 6. 6. who was crucified for you and by you A broken Saviour must be received with a broken Heart With Humility and lowliness of mind as unworthy of the Crums that fall from his Table much more as a Guest to sit there The more humble the more welcome With Praise and Thanksgiving The Feast is all of free-cost and you can do no less than take the Cup of Salvation Ps 116. 13 and bless him for it In the Sacrament Christ's death is shewn forth and in a holy Conversation his Life now when in that you have shewn forth his Death go and shew forth his Life in the Holiness of yours that it may appear you have an interest in the Power of his Cross as well as in the Merit of it Sin is an Impostor it comes of a cheating kind by the Fathers and Mothers side viz. the Devil and your Heart he is the Incubus and that the Womb. The first Sin by which you may judge of all the rest came into the World by a cheat and all whether Angels or Men that ever had any thing to do with it have been deceived by it your great wisdom Pro. 11. 18 therefore will be to understand the deceitfulness of Sin and Heb. 3. 13. to watch against it Our first Parents expected Gen. 3. 5 6 7. to be as Gods but they became as Devils Unbelief is a Sin That gave life to the first actual Sin and ever since gives life to Gen. 3. all and maintains the life of them in the Judgment as in a Castle in the Heart as in a Closet and in the Life as in a Trade All Grace acts in the strength of Faith and all Sin in the strength of Unbelief A Sin that puts God in the Devils place and the Devil in God's for By dis-believing God you believe the Devil A Sin that binds the Guilt of all other Sins fast upon you they deserve Punishment but this binds you over to it Hell seems to be prepar'd on purpose for Unbelievers and Hypocrites as the chief of Sinners I hope you have so much Faith Heb. 3. 12. Quantò magis à Deo recedimus tantò minus sumus as to believe this that you may take heed and beware of an evil Heart of Unbelief in departing from the living God By going from a living God will go to a killing Devil Pambo was thirty years as he says learning how to rule his Tongue and yet had not perfectly learn'd that Lesson and Saint James tells us the Tongue is an unruly Member not easily tamed yet an endeavour to do it is not more difficult than necessary for without it your Religion is Jam. 3. 8. 1. 26. vain The Sins of the Tongue are many but I shall here only advise you in an
to cure you 4. Poverty So great is the Poverty you are fallen under by sin and so low are you brought by it that all the Creatures on Earth are not able no nor all the Angels in Heaven to raise you or set you up again nothing less than the Riches of Heaven and Treasures of a Deity can and Christ onely has them who became poor for our sakes that we through his poverty might be rich and therefore to 2 Cor. 8. 9. Rev. 3. 18. him you must go that you may be enriched by him Of other Riches the promise is conditional onely but of these it is absolute but then you must come and buy them and you need not Isa 55. 1. fear for it is a buying without Money all the price is a will to accept them 5. Nakedness Tamar when deflowred rent 2 Sam. 13 18 19. her Virgin Robe and sin by defiling the Soul rent off the beautiful Garment that Virgin Robe of Innocency with which it was cloath'd but Christ is not onely Armour for defence against weakness an Ornament for Beauty against Deformity but a Vesture for covering against Nakedness and therefore you must by Faith put him on if you would be cloathed with Salvation not for Rom. 13. ult an out-side Garment of Profession onely or in shew but in reality not as a covering for sin but for Righteousness in Justification and for Holiness in Sanctification as a defence against the guilt and power of it that your nakedness may not be uncovered nor your shame seen Your own Righteousness like the curtail'd Clothes of David's 2 Sam. 10. 4 5. Ambassadors sent to Comfort Hanun is imperfect scanty and too short to do it Christ's Righteousness onely can and without it you can never obtain the Blessing Gen. 27. 15 27. for as you came Spiritually naked into the World so if you go out so you will be covered Dan. 12. 2. with everlasting shame Onely this you must remember that though Christs Righteousness is a Garment large enough to cover you yet the Rags of Nature must be pull'd off before that Robe will come on for it will come upon none but a naked Soul 6. Bondage A cruel Bondage worse than that of the Israelites in Egypt for it is to Sin and the Devil the worst of Tyrants and without the least degree of Ease or Liberty He in the Gospel that was Mark 5. 3 4. Luke 4. 13. possessed could break all Chains asunder but those of the Devil and from other Bondage you may be able to redeem your self but from this you cannot either by your self or others but by Christ onely the Angel of Redemption 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. and great Redeemer that paid the price of your Ransom You are not free-born but made so and by none but by him John 8. 36. and therefore you must by Faith go unto him that you may be so if he make you free you shall be free indeed but unless he do you must be a Slave for ever Other Slaves after their Service have Freedom or by Death obtain it but they that die in this are so for ever their Chains are Jude 6. everlasting You must be either a King to Rev. 5. 10. God or Slave to the Devil 7. Death Sin 's sickness was to Death but Christ the Heavenly Physician came down to raise the dead in sin to life again you were kill'd in the first Adam and may be made alive in the second but not untill by Faith you receive him for he that hath not the Son of God hath 1 John 5. 12. not life It is the life of Heaven in you that will bring you to that Heavenly Life and therefore without this Life of Grace you can have no sure hope of the Life of Glory the Title to that is by Christ and the Title to Christ is by this so that unless here you are Spiritually alive by him you John 3. 3. cannot hereafter live with him All that dye in sin are buried in Hell 8. Wrath. Not the wrath of Men no not of the greatest of them nor of Devils but of God a wrath that cannot be withstood for it Psal 90. 11. is irresistible nor endured for it is intolerable it cannot be comprehended much less endur'd nor either avoided or appeased but by Christ who came to deliver from it and to be as a shadow 1 Thes 1. 10. 5. 9. Cant. 2. 3. from the scorching heat of it There is no way to Mercy but by deliverance from wrath nor any way to that but by laying hold on Mercy nor any way to Quarendus est Deus in Pradicamento relationis Mercy but by Christ for God is the Father of Mercy as he is the Father of Christ and therefore Luke 3. 7. if you would flee from this wrath you must flee to Christ who appeas'd it and brank that bitter Cup off to the bottom that you might never taste of it Mat. 26. 39. Nothing but his Blood could quench that flame of wrath 3. Duty when recovered out of Misery All Priviledges whether Temporal or Spiritual Civil or Religious oblige to Duty in themselves they are engagements to it and should be so to all that are Interested in them Spiritual Priviledges are of all the highest and most obliging they are given to engage to Duty they afford the best means and advantages to it they aggravate sin and become a Curse instead of a Blessing where they are not effectual to it for as Mercy abounds so sin against Mercy abounds also A change in state calls for a Nova vita novos mores postulat change in Life and a new condition requires a new conversation If then you are cleansed by the Blood of Christ from all sin keep your self pure and unspotted from James 1. ult sin and the world If the Enmity betwixt God and Eph. 2. 16. you upon the account of sin is slain by Christ be subject to Rom. 8. 7. his Laws and live as one reconciled to him that all your Services Prov. 15. 8. may be accepted by him He that will not accept a gift Mat. 5. 23 24. of one at enmity with his Brother will much less accept it from any at enmity with himself If you are called out of darkness into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2. 9. Eph. 5. 8. shew forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness by walking as a Child of light If through his poverty you are 2 Cor. 8 9. 1 Tim. 6. 18. Prov. 14. 21. made rich be rich in good works and have mercy on the poor If you are released from your spiritual Bondage stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free and be not intangled again with the Yoke of Bondage Gal. 5. 1. to sin and the lusts of Men. If by Faith you have received Christ
God through Luxury and Sensuality a disregard of the promise of Life and a disbelief of Death threatned he did eat of the forbidden Fruit and by it fell from his state of Innocency and Happiness into a state of Sin and Misery 1. Of Sin In the loss of his Original Righteousness and the depravation of his Nature in all Gen. 6. 5. Job 14. 4. 15. 14. the faculties of his Soul and the members of his Body 2. Of Misery In the loss of his Communion with God in Pararadise Gen. 38. 10. 23. 1. and subjection as justly obnoxious to all the direful effects and consequents of his wrath in this World and in that to come Adam was not a private but publick Person the Representative of all Mankind and the Covenant Acts 17. 26. made with him was not for himself only but for his Posterity also that should by ordinary Generation descend from him He was the Head of the Covenant and they Parties engag'd with him by that stipulation Legally Parties in that Covenant Dum punitur aliquis pro peccato primi Parentâ— non punitur pro peccato alterius sed pro peccato suo Aquinas quaest 4. de pec orig Art 1. Rom. 3. 9 10 11 12. 23. Rom. 5. 18. 19. Rom. 7. 18 19. and as naturally in him the Head of it as streams in the Fountain and branches in the Root in his standing they stood and in his fall they fell sinning in him they fell with him and partake with him both in his sin and misery 1. In his Sin By the imputation of that particular sin committed by him and by a communication of that corruption derived from him whereby they are indispos'd to all good and inclin'd to all evil 2. In his Misery Being justly Gal. 3. 10. Col. 3. 6. Mat. 13. 42. Rom 2. 5. Rev. 19. 20. Mat. 10. 28. Mat. 5. 26. Mark 9 43 44. 2 Thes 1. 9. lyable to all the punishments of sin in this World both outward and inward on their Souls and Bodies and to those in the World to come in the sharpness universality and eternity of them The Head of Nilus is admir'd because it cannot be found out but the Spring-head from whence the misery of all by Nature arises may viz. from sin the Spring is known but how many and how bitter the streams are flowing from it cannot easily be known the River that watered the Garden of Eden branched Gen 2. 10. out into four streams onely but the streams flowing from the sin committed there are innumerable broad and deep a complex misery as to kind and degree Rom. 3. 16. 7. 24. comprehending both sin and punishment some are sins and not miseries and some are miseries and not sins of both which something may be seen in these eight following particulars viz. 1. Filthiness 2. Enmity 3. Darkness 4. Poverty 5. Nakedness 6. Bondage 7. Death 8. Wrath. 1. Filthiness Adam at first as he came out Ezek. 16. 5. of Gods hands was pure without spot or wrinkle within and without but as he came out of Mat. 12. 45. the Devils hands or when by sin that unclean Spirit entred into him he and in him all his Posterity Isa 64. 6. became as an unclean thing All that are brought out of this Ezek. 36. 25. Heb. 9. 14. 10. 22. Eph. 5. 26 27. state are sprinkled with the Blood of Christ and cleansed from all their filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit but they that are not though Noble by Birth are but as Naaman Noble Lepers tho 2 Kings 5. 1 2. Princes by Blood attainted yea though Angels for outward Beauty yet but as Devils in the sight of God in his Eyes they are unclean though not in their own and the more when they are not so Grace is the Ornament of the Psal 16. 3. 45. 11. Soul and all that are adorned with it have Christ's Beauty upon them a Beauty that God greatly desires and delights in But Sin has defiled the whole man from Head to Foot not one part only but every one inside and outside A capite ad calcem Rom. 6. 19. 3. 13. Gen. 6. 5. Isa 1. 6. 2 Cor. 7. 1. 1 Thes 5. 23. Heb. 10. 22. Tit. 1. 15. Eph. 4. 29. Flesh and Spirit Body and Soul the Faculties of one and Members of the other Mind and Conscience Thoughts and Imaginations Affections and Desires Words and Deeds All of them in general and especial are become altogether filthy by it Some sins defile the Body but all Sins defile the Soul and that with a filthiness so great that all the filth in the World should it meet in one common sink cannot Horrenda vox equallize the pollution of it 2. Enmity viz. Habitual and actual inward and outward in Affection or Action Reconciliation offer'd implies it for there can be no Reconciliation 2 Cor. â— 20 where there is no Breach nor any Peace made before the Enmity is subdu'd Adam at first was in a state of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. â— Friendship with God God and he were as nearly conjoyn'd as a Creator and Creature could be without sin but sin made a breach and separated these Friends All that are brought out of this state have thrown down their Weapons of Hostility are reconciled Rom. 5. â— to God and at Peace with him but they that are not are like David and Absalom in open 2 Sam. 1â— 5 6 7. 1â— Hostility against him and as Absalom made all the means he could to stir up the People in Rebellion against David so they employ their whole strength of Soul and Body against God They are Enemies to him both actively and passively Haters of God and hateful to him Haters of him and hated by him as clearly appears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the terms of Difference on their part and on Gods 1. On their part who gave the Offence They are Strangers to God and unacquainted with him Job 21. 21. Eph. 2. 12. â—3 19. Eph. 4. 18. they are Foreigners and alienated from the Life of God without him afar off and at distance from him they know not God nor Isa 1. 3. Job 35. 10. Mal. 2. 17. desire it for he is not in all their thoughts they acknowledge no wrong say not What have we Jer. 8. 6. done nor repent of their Wickedness they seek not after God Rom. 3. 11 Joh. 5. 40. Jer. 2. 31. Psal 14. 2. Psal 10. â—3 nor for peace with him nor are willing to come to him for it they will not accept of Overtures Parleys and tenders of Peace nor read the Articles of Agreement or Covenant of Peace but Hos 8. 12. count it a strange thing they will not hearken to God's Voice Jer. 13. ult â—… 22. 21. â—… 25. 4. Mat. 28. â—7 Psal 81. â—1 Psal 2. 2. nor regard it will
not be perswaded nor gathered to him but reject and contemn him and take Counsel against him They bid him stand off and depart they deâ—ire Job 21. 14. not the knowledge of his ways abuse his Ambassadors Acts 26. 18. 2 Tim. 2. 26. Psal 139. 21. Job 8. 44. that are sent to treat of Peace and List themselves under the Command of Gods utter Enemy the Devil and rise up in Arms â—nd open Rebellion against him When God is for Peace they â—re for War 2. On Gods part Who as he is a just Enemy so â—ver an Enemy to all impenitent â—inners He is strange to them â—eeps at a distance and withâ—raws from them knows them afar off and is Angry Isa 57. 17. Ps 138. 6. Psal 7. 11. Ps 18. 26. Isa 1. 11. 59. 2. Psal 5. 5. 11. 5. Psal 146. 9. Psal 1. ult 2 Cor. 5. 19. Prov. 15. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with them Curses their Blessings rejects their Services and counts them an Abomination hates them and walks contrary to them has a Controversie with them Proclaims his Hos 5. 6. Jer. 25. 31. 1 Pet. 5. 5. Displeasure against them and reâ—sts them in open Battel array turns their way upside-down and causes it to perish They are Outlaw'd Enemies God had no Friends among Men untill he made Friends out of Enemies He was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself 3. Darkness Adam at first was made a Son of Light the Candle of the Prov. 20. 27. Monstrum ingens cui lumen ademptum Eph. 4. 18. Lord was put into him but affecting the Tree of Knowledge above that of Life he brought Darkness upon himself and all his Posterity All that are brought out of this state are Light in the Lord they Eph. 5. 8. were blind but now they see John 9. 25. but they that are not are Darkness Rev. 16. 10. in the Devil the Prince of Darkness whose Kingdom is full of Darkness they are not onely dim of sight but stark blind Children of Darkness doing the works of Darkness which lead to Eternal Darkness 4. Poverty Adam at first was the Rich Heir Rev. 3. 17. of the World and Lord possessor of all but by sin he became a Bankrupt and then Justice seized on him as the Creditor on his Debtor and turn'd him the unjust Minimè natus at maximè dilectus Possessor out of all he was not the first-born yet had a double Portion but by losing all at one cast he fell into decay and became the first-born of the Poor Isa 14. 30. He was undone and all his Posterity had been ruin'd with him had not Christ the Jewel of the Imperial Crown been parted with to discharge the Debt All that are brought out of this Rev. 3. 18. state are Rich and have all things but they that are not are indigent Beggars without substance Isa 40. 20. or true Riches having no Oblation to offer unto God nor any thing of their own to satisfie that double Debt which they owe viz. of Obedience as Creatures and of Satisfaction as Sinners 5. Nakedness Adam at first was arrayed with Ezek. 16. 7. Rev. 3. 17. the resplendent Robe of Righteousness he wanted neither external nor internal Ornaments but sin the Mother of shame defiled them both and the Devil as a Conquerour with his Captive in War stript him of all those Ornaments and left him naked All that are brought out of this state are clothed with the Robes of Christs Righteousness Solomon in all his Glory was not arrayed Mat. 6. 29. like one of these but they that are not are in the Raggs of Nature filthy Raggs which as filthy defile and as Raggs cannot hide nor cover the shame of Rev. 3. 18. their Nakedness Sin left us and Christ found us as the Man in the Gospel Naked and out of our Wits 6. Bondage Adam at first had perfect freedom Acts 8. 23. and was in bondage to none but Sin brought him and all his Gal. 4. 4. Posterity into it a Yoak that neither he their Father was nor they his Children are able to bear All that are brought out of this state are made Free by Christ John 12. 31. the Devil is cast out and Rules not as a King though sometimes he may as a Tyrant but they that are not are Slaves not onely near to Slavery but actually in it they may say with the Jews that they were never in Bondage to any but they are and that in Soul and Body too The Moralist says if the great ones of the World were divested of their Robes it would plainly appear what Slaves they were but all both great and small high and low with all their outward Ornaments are Slaves they were so before they came out of the Prison of the Womb and greater when out of it than when there to Sin and the Devil 1. To Sin Not onely Pride but every sin else as a Chain compasses them Psal 73. 6. about for they are in the Bond of Iniquity sold under it and Bond-servants to it So many Lusts so many Masters and every one give contrary Commands 2. To the Devil John 14. 30. Acts 26. 18. Eph. 2. 2. 2 Cor. 4. 4. 2 Tim 2. ult He is the strong Man and Prince of this World that has Snares by which he takes them Captive and a Power by which he Rules over them as a Tyrant over his Vassals from whom he exacts Tribute as a Master over his Servants who are under his Command as a Conquerour over his Captives who are led by him at his will and as a Father over his Children from whom he expects Obedience they are not onely Children of the Devil but 1 John 3. 10. Slaves to him They are his by possession though Gods by right 7. Death Adam at first was alive but when the Devil the first-born of Death as Prince of Death and first Condemn'd to it devour'd Job 18. 13. 38. 17. his strength the Gates of Death viz. present and certain Death Temporal on his Body and Spiritual on his Soul were opened to him and but a step there was Rom. 5. 12. betwixt him and Eternal Death All that are brought out of this Gal. 2. 20. Eph. 2. 1. Rom. 6. 11. Ma. 8. 22. Rom. 7. 9. Rev. 3. 1. state are alive in Christ alive by him and alive to him but they that are not are dead not onely sick weak or diseased but dead They may be indeed alive as to their own Opinion so Paul for a time was and in the Opinion of others so the Church of Sardis was and may be alive as to sinful works living in them and to them but this their Life is their Death for it is not a Physical Death which is a loss of the Faculties but a Moral one which is a loss of the goodness of them Sin cast Adam and
all his Posterity not into a swoon onely but a Death and they are all ever since by Nature not as Christ said of Lazarus asleep but dead John 11. 11. Luke 10. 30. in sin not as the Wounded Man in the way to Jericho half dead but altogether so under the sentence of a Natural Death under the power of a Spiritual Death and under the guilt of an Eternal Death Sons of Death for they are all Sententiâ legis Psal 102. 20. Condemned 8. Wrath. God is Love and Adam innocency 1 John 4. 8. Quoad effectum non quoad affectum found favour in his sight and was greatly beloved by him but by sin his Anger was kindled and his wrath waxed hot against him All that are brought out of this 1 Thes 1. 10. state are delivered from wrath wrath present and to come but they that are not are under wrath wrath is their Fee-simple and proper Inheritance to them it is due and to them it belongs for as Children of wrath they are Eph. 2. 3. born to it The Scripture concludes all under Rom 3. 23. Eph. 5. 6. Rom. 6. 23. sin and sin concludes all under wrath it is sins wages and God will see Justice done 2. Of Recovery out of Misery God left not miserable Man thus Luke 10. 30 31 32 33. fallen as the Priest and Levite the wounded man in his way to Jericho but with the good Samaritan had Compassion upon him and sent his Son to heal those wounds sin had made and to recover him from that state of Mal. 4. 2. Misery into which by sin he was fallen by his wounds he healed him and by dying restored him to Life Adam was the first man the Primus foederatus Natural Head of all men Christ the second man the Mystical Head of all Believers He was the Earthly man this the 1 Cor. 15. 47. Lord from Heaven The Titles given to him show as Remedies do the Disease the misery of all by sin on our part and the happiness of all Believers on his He is a Mediator and the onely Mediator an Advocate a Heb. 9. 15. 12. 24. 1 Tim. 2. 5. 1 Joh. 2. 1. Joh. 4. 42. Rom. 11. 26. Heb. 1. 3. 2 Cor. 5. 19. John 1. 12. Deliverer Healer and Purger of Sins a Reconciler Saviour and Redeemer he is all these in himself and whatever the necessities of lost and undone sinners can need or require but none of them to any unless by Faith they receive him and therefore if you expect any help from him you must by Faith go unto him and you need not fear going if you Mark 10. 49. see a present and absolute need of him for behold he calls you and this need you will find if you consider that your condition by Nature is no less than a state of Filthiness Enmity Nakedness Darkness Poverty Bondage Death and Wrath. 1. Filthiness 1. A Filthiness so deep that it is not onely extensive but intensive Jer. 2. 22. 17. 1. Isa 1. 18. Jer. 13. 23. compared to marks and brands in the Flesh which are not easily got out to colours of the deepest dye double dipt in the wool and web to the spots of a Leopard which are not by way of accidental or external but innate coherence and to the blackness of an Ethiopian which cannot be washt off the Colliers blackness may be washt off but not the Ethiopians and the Lepers spots may be taken out but not the Leopards A Filthiness so great that neither the Tears of Repentance nor the Flames of Hell-fire nor any thing but the Blood of Christ can wash or purge it away the sacred Laver cleansing Jordan and healing Bethesda set open for all that will to wash in for sin and uncleanness The Priests Zech. 13. 1. Rev. 1. 5. under the Law cleansed by the Blood of Beasts but Christ by 1 John 1. 7. his own Blood his will is that you should be clean and therefore you must by Faith apply his Blood that you may be so Christ washt his Disciples Feet with Water but their Hearts with his Blood and unless he thus wash you you can have no part in him and unless by Faith you go unto him you cannot be thus John 13. 8. washed by him 2. Enmity A degeneracy beneath the brute Beasts for none of them are at enmity with God with us they are and we may blame our selves for it for they never Rebell'd untill we Rebell'd But yet God is willing Isa 27. 5. By doubling of the Phrase Make Peace Make Peace as by doubling of the Dream to Pharaoh it appears a thing certain and establisht by him Cen 41. 32. to be at peace for he commands it prescribes a way to it and assures it to all that like the terms of it he offers it freely and sues for it earnestly and therefore it highly concerns you to make peace with him it is not convenient onely and fit to be done but necessary and that which must be and if ever it must be in his way and at his time 1. In his way viz. by Faith in Christ for the blessing of peace is the blessing of Faith in him who as Priest purchased it as Prophet preached it and as King works it in all that believe in him 2. At his time and that is the present time viz. of Life and therefore let not the Sun of your Luke 12. 58 59. Life go down upon your Enmity to God for if you do terms of peace shall neither be offered to you nor accepted from you There is no Quarter given in Hell to Enemies 3. Darkness A Darkness that implies a state of evil both sinful and penal not of the Body but Mind a Eph. 4. 18. Corruption of the most excellent Faculty yet not incurable for Christ the Sun of Righteousness Mal. 4. 2. Isa 42. 6. Luke 1. 78. 79. Luke 2. 32. the day-spring from on High was sent into the World as a Light not onely to all the Types Prophesies and dark shadows but to them that sate in the darkness Joh. 8. 12. 12. 46. Acts 26. 18. of sin and misery that from him they might receive the light of Spiritual knowledge and comfort and therefore if you are brought out of this state of darkness it concerns you as the blind Man in the Gospel did when healed by John 9. 25 27 30. Christ to appear for him against all that oppose him to cast off the works of darkness and walk Eph. 5. 8. as a Child of light but if you are not it concerns you as much Mark 10. 46. to go unto him as blind Bartimeus did for the Eyes of his Body Omnia extra Christum tenebricosa Marlorat Luke 4. 18. Rev. 3. 18. that you may receive your sight Christ is the great Oculist sent from Heaven and none but he has the Eye-salve
semper incipit à fine 1 Cor. 10. 31. let it be so to you mind it as your chief good the supream end and chief good are one refer all the general and particular actions of your Life to it ultimately the end makes the means lovely make all other Finis dat amabilitatem medis finis impeliit agentem finis est summe appetibilis finis ultimus dat ordinem mensuram Prov. 6. 21. Ps 63. 8. Numb 6. 14 24. Eccles 9. 10. Rom. 12. 11. 1 Tim. 5. 10. Mat. 6. 33. Psal 63. 1. things subservient to it and let this as Commander in Chief give Laws to all carry the remembrance of it always in your mind place it next to your Heart and uppermost in your thoughts be diligent in it and prosecute the Interest of it both fully and earnestly not as the last and least business of your Life but as the first and greatest viz. in order and dignity not secondarily but primarily before all other things and above them Two principal ends can never consist together Two things may encourage you to this work and in it 1. Strength is promised to it 2. A Reward attends it 1. Strength is promised to it Tripho the Jew in his Dispute against Justin Martyr tells him that those Precepts Christ left about the Duties of Religion were so harsh and burdensome that he would have but few if any Disciples and many there are that either through mistake think they find this stumbling-block in the way of Religion and cannot get over it or lay it there and will not it is true to carnal minds by reason of the contrariety of their Nature to Religion through Rom. 7. 14 22. the corruption that is in them and by reason of custom in sin which makes the contrariety stronger the work 's difficult and uneasie but to them that are renewed it is not or if so at first yet by use it becomes pleasant and delightful for Christs Yoke by constant wearing grows easie Mat. 11. 29. Grave dum tollis suave cum tuleris But if it were not so yet strength shall be given to it that will make it so In the Body where there is a vein to convey Blood there is an Artery to convey Spirits and in the Scripture Deut. 10. 16. 30. 6. Phil. 2. 12 13. where there is a Command to work there is a promise of strength to it what is a Command in one place is a Promise in another Now difficult work and easie are both alike if a sutable and proportionable strength be given Ezek. 18. 31. 36. 26. to the performance of it 2. A Reward attends it viz. Of Honour Pleasure Profit and Peace 1. Of Honour There was no way to the Temple of Honour among the Romans Psal 45. 9. 149. 9. but through the Temple of Vertue nor is there any coming to Honour now in the Prov. 13. 5. 14. 34. 1 Thes 4. 4. Rom. 6. 21. broad way of sin but in the narrow way of Religion for as the future issue of sin is Death so the present fruit is shame Indeed the Enemies of Religion who fetch their Scutcheon out of the Devils Herald-Office count sin their Honour and glory in their shame but God who is the Fountain of all true Honour Prov. 21. 21. places it in Righteousness and Holiness he is Glorious in Holiness and if it be his Honour it may well be esteemed yours this is John 5. 44. the onely true Honour and it cometh from God only and if by 1 Sam. 2. 30. this you Honour him you shall be everlastingly honoured by him a Spirit of Glory shall rest on you 1 Pet. 4. 14. here and a Crown of Glory be put upon you hereafter All seek Honour and some to Honor calcar babet the loss of their Lives and Souls but none but the Religious truly find it 2. Of Pleasure The Enemies of Religion think if once they espouse the profession of it that all Joy and Mirth must be cast out as the Minstrels were by Christ out of the Rulers House when he came to raise his Mat. 9. 23 25. Daughter to Life but they are much mistaken for Christ the increated wisdom of the Father 1 Cor. 1. 24. Prov. 3. 17. says that the ways of wisdom have pleasure in them not the end onely but the way and not some one way onely but all the ways and every step in them are not onely pleasant but pleasantness yea pleasantnesses having all pleasures that are good both as to kind and degree in it The Sheep has delights as well as the Swine though it wallows not with the Swine in the mire and the Religious their pleasures though none that are vain and sensual All look for pleasure in Life and most think there is no Life without it but the Religious only find it 3. Of Profit Religion brings gain this the Job 1. 9. 10. 1 Tim. 6. 6. Devil could not deny when he accused Job of Hypocrisie now the praise of an Enemy is as Aristotle Psal 37. 4. says a universal good Report and this God has assured Mat. 19. 28. 29. Mark 10. 29 30. to all the sincere Professors and Friends of it and that no ordinary gain neither but an increase greater than the World can promise or secure for it is a hundred fold not ten in the hundred but a hundred upon ten a hundred to one use upon use viz. either in kind or vertue in this World and in the World to come Life eternal You may lose something for Mat. 6. 33. 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. Religion but you shall never lose any thing by it for if God be yours all things are yours all things conditionally if he absolutely The Offerings of Old increased 2 Chron. 31. 9 10. their store 4. Of Peace The Enemies of Religion talk Prov. 3. 7 17. Psal 119. 165. much of their Peace but without any Reason for there is no Peace to them in that they are Enemies to the God of Peace without the Spirit of Peace and therefore without Peace the fruit of Isa 48. 22. the Spirit and Fighters against Christ the Prince of Peace who speaks Peace not to his Enemies that commit folly but to his Subjects Psal 85. 8. that return no more to it Joy as the Philosopher says is the shadow of all Vertue as inseparable perhaps from it as the shadow from the Body and the fruit of Righteousness as the Apostle says is Peace there is James 3. 18. Rom. 3. 17. no Peace without it and all true Peace in it and it is worth the having for it abides not onely in Life but at Death too The end of the upright is Peace Psal 37. 37. Peace in Life is a rare Blessing but at Death a greater and was there no other benefit in this World to be got by Religion it is
by custom and calling most inclin'd to and how to accommodate and sute his Temptation to it Now that sin you are most frequently tempted to that is your sin 2. The captivating conquering sin against which you are most weak and by which as Samson by Delilah you are most easily Rom. 6. 12. Ezek. 16. 30. Rom. 6. 16. 2 Pet. 2. 19. overcome You are most his who is Master over you and whose Servant you are 3. That sin you are most tender of and indulgent to that sin you Judges 6. 31. defend and most excuse We always take the part of them we love 4. That sin you make most provision for for which any thing Rom. 13. 14. shall be given and to which any thing shall be Sacrificed The best Friends are ever best provided for 5. Or that sin which is most highly esteemed of viz. as a right Hand and a right Eye that has the Throne of the Heart and Commands in Chief that which the thoughts and desires are most busied about and most approve affect and follow after Jer. 22. 7. Hos 4. 8. The Affections make any thing most our own This is a sin against knowledge and of all sins the principal a sin that shews not onely the Communion of the Heart with it but the Union also of the Heart to it and the greater because so for the more a sin is against Knowledge and the more there is of the Heart in it the greater it is and therefore above all either great or small you must resist and oppose it David prov'd his uprightness Psal 18. 23. before God by this viz. that he had kept himself from his Iniquity and you cannot be sincere unless you do so too That sin you love most God hates most Of other mens sins Merchants can Trade in bottoms that are not their own and a Trade in sin may be driven by you by other mens sins as well as your own and then it is when either you advise or provoke them to sin consent to it or indulge them in it Jonadab was guilty of Amnon's 2 Sam. 13. 5. uncleanness with Tamar Ahitophel of Absalom's with his Fathers Concubines 2 Sam. 16. 21 22. for they advis'd them to it and the Chief Priests and Pharisees were guilty of Christs death John 11. 47 53. for they sat in Council about it Sapphira was guilty of the sin Acts 5. 1 2. of Ananias for though she kept not back part of the price yet she was privy to it and Saul of Stephen's Death for he consented Acts 22. 20. 26. 10. to it and kept the Raiment of them that slew him and of many others that were put to Death for he gave his voice against them Jezebel was guilty of Ahab's sin 1 King 21. 7 25. and of Naboth's Death for she stirred up Ahab to it Balaam and 2 King 17. 21. Numb 23. 14. 25. 1. Rev. 2. 14. Jeroboam were guilty of Israels Idolatry for they provoked them to it and Eli of the sin of his Sons in that he restrained them not when they made themselves vile a sin so great that it was 1 Sam. 3. 11 12 13 14. not to be purged with Sacrifice These are some of those many ways by which others have been and by which you may be guilty of the sins of others and therefore it concerns you to avoid them that you may not It is bad to sin of your self but worse to advise others to it for it shews a great ripeness in sin Flowers and Herbs when ripe shed their Seed By consenting to the sin of another you discover a will to act it if you had Opportunity and are equally guilty with them The Receiver is as bad as the Psal 50. 18. Thief By provoking others to sin you will provoke God to vengeance against them and your self too Jeroboam caused Israel to sin and it was the Ruine both of him 1 King 13. 34. and them To defend sin is a high degree of sinning and to indulge it is not the least To indulge the least sin some say is as bad as the commission of the greatest if not yet the least sin indulg'd becomes great The non-execution of God's Law against sin is an open and evident breach of it He that does not punish sin Qui non prohibet Jubet when his Duty and Place obliges to it Commands it Therefore never either secretly or openly in will or in word by permission or approbation flattery or applause consent to the sin of another nor either allure or entice incense or provoke any to sin but either restrain them from it or reprove them for it that you may with Paul Acts 20. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be pure from the Blood and clear from the guilt of the sins of all with whom you converse If any Mischief happened under the Law either to Man or Beast fallen into a Pit he was guilty that saw the Pit open and did not cover it and so will you be of the sin of another though not acted by you if not prevented by you so far as you are able before it is committed or not reproved and condemned when it is Now that you may not spoil Gods Cause with ill Pleading nor become an Advocate for the Devil when by the reproof of sin you appear one for God you must do it 1. Seasonably 2. Speedily 3. Prudently 4. Meekly 5. Boldly 1. Seasonably Reproof is an affirmative Duty that binds all though not all Semper non ad semper alike but not always for every time sin is committed is not a fit time to reprove it therefore you must chuse a fit season for it The best time to strike the Iron is when it is hot and pliant to Plough when the Earth is made soft by Rain and the best time to reprove sin is when the mind of 1 Sam. 25. 36. the sinner is prepared to receive it There is a time to keep silence Eccles 3. 7. as well as to speak 2. Speedily Take no season that is not fit for Reproof nor neglect any that is for either the person to be reproved Heb. 3. 13. may be out of your reach and then it will be impossible or more hardened in sin for the habit of sin is intended and confirmed by custom and then it will be more difficult to reclaim him The longer any are the Devils Captives the stronger are the Chains he binds them with 3. Prudently All persons are not alike nor are all sins neither nor must they be reprov'd alike you must therefore consult not onely the convenience of time and place but the Nature of the sin and both the quality and temper of the sinner that your reproof may be receiv'd not as an affront but as a kindness to him Nettles and Thorns must be Ezek. 2. 16. handled in a different manner 4. Meekly If Hatred
transgressions 1 John 3. 4. of Gods Law Thoughts are free from the censure Cogitationis paenas nemo luit de minimis non curas lex of Humane Laws and small offences are little regarded or taken notice of but the Divine Law reaches to the least sins and forbids the whole Latitude of sin from the beginning to the end from thoughts to deeds and from the appearance to the act for 1 Thes 5. 22. Mat. 5. 28. Heb. 4. 12. Gods Law as the Exchequer Accounts reaches to the least sums and farthings Little spots as well as great ones made a Leprosie as much crookedness may be in a small line as in a greater and as much contempt of God and his Law in the least sin as in the greatest 2. Little sins are Mortal The breach of every Law of Earthly Kings is not Capital and Mortal but all of the King of Heavens are for the wages of sin the transgression of those Laws viz. of sin indefinitely is Death they are not all alike great but all are Mortal and will Rom. 6. 23. without Repentance bring sure Damnation though not equal degrees of it for as the promise is annexed to the least Grace so a curse is to the least sin A little leak unstopt will sink a Ship a little Sword will kill as surely as a great one a little Debt will cast into Prison as well as a great one and a little sin unrepented of will as surely send you to Hell as a greater and when once there it will be but sorry comfort to think what you are there for whether for great sins or small ones 3. Little sins make way for greater David by being Idle became wanton and from a wanton glance of his Eye he proceeded to Adultery from lust to act and from one act to another viz. from Adultery to Murder Solomon from sensual Lusts went on to Spiritual viz. to Idolatry Judas from Covetousness to Murder first he grudg'd the costly Oyntment bestow'd on Christ and then betray'd him and Peter from Lying to Perjury and so will all not only Seducers but all that indulge any sin wax worse and worse and 2 Tim. 3. 13. Jer. 9. 3. proceed from evil to evil viz. both as to kind and degree Little Wedges make way for greater little Burthens strengthen for greater little Coals kindle greater the lowest stair helps up Principis obsta to the highest the least figure in Arithmetick increaseth the Sum In minimo esse fidelem magnum est Aug. and in the least sin there is a tendency to the greatest it is of an increasing Nature and will unless timely prevented proceed untill it is out of measure sinful That sin is ever most dangerous that is most contemptible Of Custom in Sin Much might be said as to the evil of Custom in sin viz. that it will indispose you to any thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo that is good and disenable all the Faculties of your Soul to receive it that it will put you upon sinning with freedom facility pleasure and delight and bring you under a fatal necessity of sinning whether you will or no or at least without any sense of it like the People of Alexandria who did not mind their Earthquakes because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omne peccatum vilescit consuetudine fit quasi nulium qui ad ostia Niâ—i vivunt nimium audiendo nihil audiunt ex voluntate perversâ facta est libido dum libidini servitur facta est consuetudo dum consuetudini non resistitur facta est necessitas they were daily Or like them that lived at the Cataracts of Nilus who by hearing too much heard nothing at all A doleful Paradox but true But all that I shall say relating to it shall be onely two things viz. 1. That nothing provokes God more than Custom in sin 2. That nothing is more hardly remov'd than Custom in sin 1. That nothing provokes God more than Custom in sin Custom in sin is sin by Multiplication for it is not got by one act but by many and the multiplication of sin is the great aggravation of it the breach of Humane Laws is not lessened but aggravated by a frequent repetition of it and so is the breach of Divine Laws too for as sin has a Power and a Law by which in some it reigns so it is the more heinous when it is so for the least sin that reigns is more displeasing to God than the Rom. 6. 12 16. greatest that does not All Acts whether good or bad please or displease as the good or evil habits are from whence they come 2. That nothing is more hardly remov'd than Custom in sin Evil Habits as well as good are got by degrees and perfected by use for Acts strengthen Habits and Aâ—io perfecta non recipitur nisi imperfecté primó Ab imperfecto ad perfectum consuetudinem vincere dura pugna the stronger they are with the greater difficulty will they be conquer'd and overcome Trees well Rooted and of some standing are not easily transplanted streams of Water of long continuance are not easily diverted from their Chanel the League of Friendship betwixt Old Friends is not easily broken nor sin easily remov'd when habituated by Custom for Custom is a second Nature and that is not without difficulty if at all repell'd Naturam expollas furcâ licet usque recurrit Mark 9. 17 21 26. The Devil that possess'd the Young Man from a Child was of all with the greatest difficulty cast out The Cretians when they Curse one another say the Devil lead you into an evil Custom but my Prayer for you shall be that God would keep you from it that you may not be hardened in sin Zech. 7. 12. Adamas né ferro quidem cedit nullis seilpris nullis malleis domaâ—ilis Mark 6. 52. 16. 14. The stone of the Heart is in all by Nature and felt by all that are not dead in sin your Heart by Nature is a stone and by custom in sin it will be as an Adamant the hardest as Naturalists observe of all stones a greater Misery than which you cannot lye under either here or in Hell for Hell it self would be no Hell to any of a tender and broken Heart Of Thoughts The great Misery come upon all by reason of sin is that every Gen. 6. 5. imagination of the thoughts of their Heart are evil onely evil and continually so Evil thoughts are all thoughts of evil against God and Man so called either as arising from evil or tending to it Thoughts are known to God Gen. 6. 16. The Ark that was made close on every side had a Window on the top towards Heaven as an Emblem of Gods Omniscience who sees you not onely when in secret but the secret within you for he knows your thoughts yea your thought every single thought afar off viz. either
God unprofitable to the World scandalous to them that are good and burdensome to your self be wise therefore as the Wise men in Esther knowing your time and get understanding Esther 1. 13. 1 Chron. 12. 32. The heads of them were two hundred but there are few or none of that â—ribe in this sense left Rev. 10. 6. with the Children of Issachar to know what you ought to do and do it be ever doing something for your own good or the good of others that you may with comfort look over into Eternity and not fear when the Angel shall stand on the Earth and lift up his Hand and swear by him that lives for ever and ever that time shall be no more God has his Book of Remembrance and whatever you do in time is there Registred for Eternity Rev. 20. 12. 2. As to Death and Judgment How much it concerns you to be in a daily expectation of and preparation for them will appear if you consider 1. As to Death 1. That Death is certain All are included in the Statute of Death made in primo Adami Gen. 2. 17. no Priviledge can be obtain'd against it nor is there any way to avoid the Sentence of Heaven given for it It is a decree not to be revers'd Heb. 9. 27. A Statute not to be repeal'd 2. That Death may come sooner than you are aware of You stand upon dying ground and know not how soon Death's sithe may cut you down you are near it in health as well as in sickness and in a moment Death may lay his cold hands on your mouth and stop your Breath Since then Death may come in Job 21. 13 a moment live as expecting it's coming every moment 3. That Death when it comes will not stay for your Repentance Venientem nemo bil aris mortem recipit nisi quise ad illam diu composueris Seneca and if it stay never so long before it comes it will come too soon if you have not repented Dye when you live and you shall live when you dye 2. As to Judgment viz. 1. That it will be certain There will be a general and a particular Judgment the general to compleat and perfect the particular and to manifest and declare the Justice of it that will be at the end of the World this at the end of Life that at Dooms-day this immediately after the day of Death It may be a long while before that come and very likely will if the Destruction of Antichrist the Conversion of the Jews a universal Promulgation of the Gospel a Quan quam in fine muâ—di dominus semel veniet omnibus tamen singulo cuique venit cum adest mortis tempus in dei decretis nulla litura Catholick Unity and Charity among Christians and the calling in of the Elect must precede it but this may come before you think of it or expect it it is as sure as Death and as uncertain uncertain as to the time to any and yet most certain sooner or later to all for it is treasur'd up in God's decrees and cannot be recall'd He that says he comes quickly Act. 17. 31 Rev. 16. 15 3. 11 may come sooner than you think of viz. in his appointed though not in your exed time 2. That it will be impartial Here some are too great to 1 Cor. 4. 5. Rom. 2. 6 16. Mat. 12. 36. 1 Pet. 1. 17. 2 Cor. 5. 10. Rev. 20. 12. give an account of their Actions to any but there both great and small must give an account of their Thoughts Words and Actions to God whether they will or no here some judge and others are judged but there all shall be judg'd for The Sentence of Death being past upon all Judgment the consequent of Death will pass upon them too 3. That it will when once past be irrevocable That state you are found in at Death will be your everlasting state for Judgment Death's Second stands at Death's back and as that leaves you so Judgment will find you and as it finds you so it will leave you for ever for then your everlasting state and condition will be actually determined and finally setled so as never to be alter'd Judgment is the critical time for Damnation and Salvation The particular Time when Matt. 24. 36. 44. Death and Judgment will come is concealed that none might presume but that it will be is certainly foretold that none may be surprized and that you may Latet ultimus dies ut observentu omnes not 1. Keep a Register of your Sins keep your Book and God will cross his Often reckoning makes friends 2. Renew Repentance daily If you would have that day to Acts 3. 19. Mat. 25. 21 Rev. 7. 17. be a time of refreshing to you from the presence of the Lord you must be in sorrow for your Sins in your day if then you would enter into Joy Sorrow must here enter into you and if then you would have Tears wiped away from your Eyes they must now be found there for None but Mourners shall be Mat. 5. 4. comforted 3. Make the Judge your friend Christ has redeem'd you from slavery that you might be free for his Service and therefore 1 Cor. 6. 20. give him that which he has so dearly bought and paid for It will avail you nothing to Matth. 7. 22. 23. Luke 19. 27. call him Lord then unless you make him your Lord now for if here you are not ruled you shall then be destroyed by him 4. Judge your self If you judge others you shall Mat. 7. 1. 2 1 Cor. 11. 31. be brought to divine Judgment but by judging your self you will prevent it for Judgment shall not pass in both Courts what you condemn Christ will acquit so that if yours be a Court of Judgment his shall be a Court 2 Pet. 3. 10 11. of Mercy Holiness will give comfort in that day and a serious meditating on it may be a means to promote Holiness live therefore well in your day or blot out the belief of this If you live to have Children be careful to bring them up in the Eph. 6. 4. Nurture and Admonition of the Lord. Some are so far from blessing God for their Children that they are ready to say as Daniel to Belshazzar his Gifts be to himself Dan. 5. 16. 17. and his Rewards to another Some count them no Blessings or but beggarly ones and some there are that make them none for through their neglect they prove Curses instead of Blessings They are anxiously solicitous to get great Estates for their Children but not at all concern'd what they are or should be to whom they leave those Estates they are daily contriving for them how they may live while here but take no care how they shall live nor where when they shall die and live here no more they can tell you when dying what they