tending towards Good or procuring Loss and Evil to themselves Every one Desires good to himself and would avoid evil Hurt and Inconveniency As he is a Man of Understanding and Prudence to let him Judge and do according to the most likely Way to obtain the one and avoid the other See I have set before thee this Day Life and Good and Death and Evil I call Heaven and Earth to record this Day against you that I have set before you Life and Death Blessing and Cursing Therefore choose Life that thou and thy Seed may live Deut. 30. 15. VVhoever reads or hears these Lines whether thou examinest them in thy Closet or by a casual View whether this Book be read to thee by another or few or many be present To each Man or VVoman singly I do apply my self and I call the Angels to witness that these things be set home to thy Heart that this doth not turn for a Testimony against thee and when such things were laid before thee thou wouldst not mind but refuse Thou Man or VVoman of whatever Rank or Degree of whatever Age State or Condition of Life young Men or Maidens yea and Children that can in the least apprehend what I say I speak to you all severally and joyntly even in this very Moment of Time in this very Instant now even in the same Day that this is declared unto you I speak to every one of you in the Prophet's Phrase BEHOLD YOVR GOD. And I do most humbly and earnestly intreat of his divine Majesty which he is more ready to do than I to ask him O Lord God Almighty behold thy Sons and Daughters that from this Hour and Day they may take thee for the Lord their God consecrate themselves entirely and universally unto thy Service improving this and all their remaining Days for every Opportunity to do good and carefully watch against and eschew all Occasions of evil Hence forward to mind nothing but God and the things pertaining to him how they may most please and be accepted with him If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them Yea blessed is he that readeth or they that hear that they may know these VVords and immediately without any Delay keep and observe the things written therein CHAP. III. That Surmise and Imagination is spoken unto whereby some People think that they have so grievously offended God that they dare not come unto him THe second Hindrance which keeps People off and was proposed to be spoken unto in the Beginning of this Book is that some imagine that they have so grievously offended God that they dare not come unto him The first Example of this we have in our Father Adam And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him where art thou And he said I heard thy Voice in the Garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself Gen. 3. 9 10. A Consciousness of his Guilt and Disobedience did make him keep off yea and unwilling to approach unto God when he was called Perhaps he thought that God knew not his Transgression but would discern it by some outward Sign when he came somewhat nearer VVhereas God both saw and heard them talking under the Tree in the midst of the Garden and did more clearly discern their Temptation and Sin than he could inquire and be informed afterwards But he came and would examine the matter after the Manner of Men. Both to vindicate his Justice and also to manifest that he yet continued his Grace and Familiarity to our Nature For even in the Curse and Punishment pronounced Mercy is intermixed A most precious Promise is conveyed into what may seem a terrible Sentence It shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Gen. 3. 15. Thus Mercy rejoyceth against Judgment and even overcometh it at last And whereas it is said I will greatly multiply thy Sorrow and thy Conception In Sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the Days of thy Life Vers 16 17. Here also is somewhat released of the pronounced Punishment for God who is sovereign doth not execute in so severe a Degree as his VVords did seem at first to import for though indeed there is Trouble Pain and Sorrow in our coming into and Continuance in this VVorld yet blessed be God it is not altogether so continually grievous as what might have been expected when the VVords first proceeded forth Thus is the Lord merciful and gracious even when he is righteous and just And as his Mercy is over all his VVorks so it comes in as a Balm to mollifie his Vengeance God first calls upon our sinful Parents to shew that he had not quite cast them off and that they should not languish under a perpetual Separation from their Maker He finds out a Method of Reconciliation and Accommodation Tho' withal he ordained them and us a Punishment yet we may truly say the Lord hath punished us less than our Iniquities do deserve Hence we may learn and be encouraged that if we have not heretofore obeyed the Voice of his Commandment yet still we ought to come when he calleth us and it shall not be worse but better for us Thus saith the Lord behold I frame evil against you and devise a Device Return ye now every one from his evil Way and make your Ways and your Doings good And they said there is no Hope but we will walk after our own Devices and we will every one do the Imagination of his evil Heart Jer. 18. 11 12. VVhen People have committed much already their Conscience is accused of Sin and they are sensible how that they are obnoxious to God's VVrath and Punishment and fearing they shall one Day suffer under it they think it the same if they suffer for much as for little and so they fall from one VVickedness to another Nay with some there is a most strange and horrid Imagination as Persecutors and such like who conceiving an Hatred and Enmity against God but dreading withal he will be stronger than they when they come to meet him and therefore they take Advantage in this Time of Trial and Forbearance as it were out of foregoing Revenge to act stubbornly rebelliously and contemptuously against him as eveâ— they can It is written in the Revelations of those who gnawed their Tongues for Pain and blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their Pains and Sores and repented not of their Deeds Rev. 16. 10 11. Some again did give Glory to God for his Judgments The first Sort whilst they were yet in the VVay did provoke him yet more who at length was too hard for them and hath delivered them over unto the Tormentors Like as we have known or heard of some desperate condemned Rebels who might have their Pardon if they would sue and make Supplication for it but they would not through Stubbornness or a pretended Bravery and therefore they did all the Mischief they could before they died
love thee O Lord my Strength the Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer my God my Strength in whom I will trust my Buckler and the Horn of my Salvation and my high Tower And so they may go on to declare and make a Rehearsal in order of the several great and good things which God hath done in his works of Creation and Redemption how that from the Forming and Transgression of Adam unto Jesus Christ being manifested in the Flesh and from thence to the Pouring out of the Spirit upon us from on High till the very last days it went on all along with Men and Women in all the Habitable parts of the Earth and throughout all the several Generations till at last it came to this Blessed upshot Conclusion and Period Thou hast deliver'd me from the Strivings of the People and thou hast made me the Head of the Heathen By which two Words People and Heathen are comprehended all those who Worship God and who Worship him not as also both them who Worship him in a true or in a false manner for when David Prays in another Place to to Visit all the Heathen Psal 59. 5. He includes under that Word Heathen also those sinful and Wicked Jews whom he there speaks of and amongst whom he dwelt Even as there have been all along Those of the Synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews but are not but do lie Rev. 3. 9. Which say they are Christians and Servants of the Lord and are not but do lie for they are Heathen in Manners tho not in Worship And such for all their Name of Christian are not known of Christ they being workers of Iniquity but many of them shall cease to be such and then he shall begin to own and know them When such and all others come to serve him When the People are gathered together and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord Psal 102. 22. When that which hath been said will be fulfilled A People whom I have not known shall Serve me I am sought of them thâ—… asked not for me I am found of them that sought 〈◊〉 not I said Behold me Behold me unto a Nation that was not called by my Name Isa 65. 1. And when the Prophet doth afterwards complain I have spread out my hands all the day unto a Rebellious People He saith the first of the Gentiles but this last and worst Character he gives of the Jews By which is intimated forth and confirmed that old and true Observation That as good People do commonly meet with more Kindness and Civility from meer Strangers than from Acquaintance and Kinsfolks So it is a more easie matter to convert and bring over unto God meer Heathen and Infidels than to Reform obstinate Jews superstitious or formal Christians from the Error of their ways and to bring them off from their vain and sinful Customs So God speaks unto Ezekiel Son of Man go get thee unto the House of Israel and speak with my Words unto them for thou art not sent unto a People of a strange Speech and of an hard Language whose Words thou canst not understand Surely had I sent thee unto them they would have hearkened unto thee But the House of Israel will not hearken unto thee for they will not hearken unto me Ezek 3. 4 5 6 7. And so God doth elsewhere take notice how they did Pollute his Name among the Heathen which before was Sanctified among them It is a more easie matter to instruct them in the true Knowledge of God who never heard of him before then it is to them who have heard him Preached and Talked of all their Lives long and yet they have not the Knowledge of God I speak this to their shame For manysuch are found to be in this Christian Nation who know nothing more of him than in a general way what they have heard only with the outward Ear or they have received in false Notions and Apprehensions concerning him for in this case so many things must be unlearned again and so many Errors must be removed out before the Truth can come in That one who is a pure Man not before prepossessed with wrong Imaginations but hath the common Principles of Nature and Powers of Knowledge when such an one is instructed truly and perfectly in the ways of God he will forthwith assent unto them and he will judge it the most reasonable thing in the World to do according to what is written At that day shall a Man look to his Maker and his Eyes shall have respect unto the Holy One of Israel Isa 17. 7. That Mortal Man should be Subject and Obedient unto the Almighty and everlasting God for a Creature to be Governed by his Creator especially when he sees hears and finds it in his Heart to be enforced with that Demonstration and Power as it may be As soon as they hear of me they shall Obey me The Strangers shall submit themselves unto me The Strangers shall fade away and be afraid out of their close Places There is a manifold Wisdom of God and so there is a manifold Sense and Interpretation of his Word which yet is all true and genuine so besides that meaning of the word Strangers before assigned There may be intended also such as are Jews Christians and Servants of God in Name or Profession only for they are Strangers or strange Children Psal 144. 7. Who pretend and seem outwardly to own and serve God when indeed and in truth they do not serve and obey him Whatever Thoughts Deceits or false Imaginations such have in their Minds they shall fade and come off from them and they shall be afraid thereof when the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord and of the things pertaining to his Kingdom all their own Reasonings and Imaginations shall Vanish and be utterly Abolished and every High thing that heretofore exalted it self against the Knowledge of God shall be cast down and fall to the Ground that the Lord alone may be exalted in that day and every thought both in Man or Woman will be brought into Captivity unto the Obedience of Christ As soon as they hear of me they shall Obey me The CONCLVSION THE Wickedness and Rebellion of former Generations did endeavour to Dethrone God and Christ Nay it did put Christ to Death who was the Prince of Life whom God again loosed from the Pains of Death it being not possible that he should be holden by it for God raised him up And the very same degree of Rebellion and VVickedness would if such a thing were possible which was not with Reverence be it spoken have Killed God himself Yea they would what lay in them Vngod him from whence they are properly called Vngodly Men for they would not that God should reign over them Hence did arise up those Strivings of the People But herein the Heathen did rage and the People did imagin a vain thing For after
their Ignorance and Forgetfulness of him For would not his Holiness and Purity keep them in perfect Order and Subjection when one who is a less Partaker thereof than a Drop to the whole Ocean doth cast a Damp and clog that they cannot so freely enjoy the Pleasures of Sin nor run on so uncontroulably in the broad Way which leads unto Destruction When now they would refrain to do such a thing if a strict Demand and Account should be required of them would they not much more abstain if they were sensibly assured that the Lord himself shall come with Ten Thousand of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all He now sitteth in the Heavens and prepareth his Seat for Judgment and as sure as this is the Time of Trial so there will be a Day of Examination and rendring unto every one according to his Deeds Who are now so averse and afraid to hear or speak of him when we know but little more than of his Name and Truth which we hear with the Ear and see it thus written of him and conceive in the Mind But how will they fly back and be astonished when God himself shall come and the very things shall be manifested whereof it is now a Vexation only to understand the Report Who would not receive the Kingdom of God when heretofore it was in Word how must they submit unto it when it shall be actually in Deed When he sent a Message to reign over them and Officers to set up his Kingdom but they did not receive that and did evil entreat them whom he had sent what will they do when the King himself shall come with his Armies and miserably destroy those wicked Men He now speaketh from Heaven by his Word and the Time draweth nigh when he will fulfill the same This Word drops in by way of silent Thought to the Heart or it is heard by hearing of the Ear from a Fellow Creature or it is conveyed unto us by Means of Ink and Paper all which is but a still Voice whereby God doth now manifest himself unto us So he sent his only Son the eternal Word which was made Flesh who dwelt here and became as one of us that God might be more familiar and acquainted with our Nature and also to try whether we would thus receive and obey him But as many as received him to them he gave Power to become the Sons of God John 1. 12. It is said nothing is more free than a Gift so the tendring and offer thereof is free so likewise the Receipt and Acceptance thereof is a free Act for it might be refused If God the Father had shewn his Greatness and Glory then People would run unto him as now they ignorantly stay away for a little shadow and representation thereof from the World But when he hath revealed himself in a little contemptible Appearance this will prove whether they will take their Lot and Portion with that at present and expect the greater things to come Whether notwithstanding the Vail and Covering drawn over the things of God they can yet discern the Glory that excelleth whether they will believe this Word which hath spoken of more than what is now seen or had Again If he should at present reveal himself in his Majesty and Power then People would presently yield unto him who is mighty much more than they now pay Reverence and Submission to the King and great Men as he who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords doth exceed the greatest and highest of the Sons of Men. VVhich is so infinite that no Compassion can be made to express the just and true distance But when this God hideth himself when he seems as one asleep and taketh no notice when he doth not actually give his Favour presently to them that do well nor yet doth he immediately Manifest forth his severe displeasure against them who sin and transgress when it is alike with Subjects and Enemies VVho fear God and who fear him not this will exercise our Faith and waiting as also prove their Rebellion and Contempt Indeed there are the Promises and Threatnings annexed and all must partake of the one or they are liable to the other But yet the Conditions of one are put into our power and none unless by his own fault or wilfullness doth fall under the other His Kingdom and Dominion is over all every thing that can be named or doth any where exist but then he ruleth over them according to their several Natures The VVinds and Sea Obey him necessarily Beasts Birds and Creeping things go constantly according to that Instinct implanted in them which is as it were a Law unto them To Man is committed Revelation and Reason for to guide him nevertheless he may disregard act contrary or yield unto and comply with its dictates So much is left to his freedom and choice There is set before him Life and Good Death and Evil with a repeated inculcation to choose Life And though when these two opposite things are simply and abstractedly proposed every one hath so much Understanding as would preserve and make him happy Yet the great doubt and mistake is concerning the way and means of one or the other which also are laid before the Sons of Men and offered to their choice and liberty as the End is It might first of all be rationally and assuredly concluded That where the End is Right Good and Desirable so is every thing that necessarily tends towards it for upon a rotten Stock and Foundation there can never be a sure Building So contrariwise where the End is dismal and feared by every one they might well suspect the several steps leading towards it and consequently refrain to move a step further which they might if they would As they evidently see and know that God hath put it into their power at first to go into one way or another and when they are in a little they may stand still or go backwards or rather turn aside from out of it So likewise by God's Grace and Invitation They may come unto Life John 5. 40. and it is of themselves that they fall into Death and Destruction Hos 13. 9. This last thing being attendant to their refusal of coming unto God and Obeying his Voice doth seem to imply as if they were forced But if so they would actually do it for are Men stronger than He God is Allmighty and must prevail if it were the purpose of his Heart to compel Mankind unto his Obedience He could raise up Hell from beneath and set it evidently before our Eyes as Nebuchadnezzar did the Fiery Furnace He could even now Command his Angels to sound the Trumpet as at the last day when the dead shall hear his Voice that every Nation Country and Language all that are now living should fall down and VVorship him or they shall be cast into Hell He could so order it even at this present time That those which
carnal Considerations or worldly Inducements no present Motive nor yet a like Danger and Inconvenience did hinder or excuse with him but he immediately went to Jerusalem Undoubtedly all these did for the best and God was well pleased with them He did accept and reward them more than those who seek out for Excuse and Delay or such who first refuse to hear his Gracious call or if they do at any Time hear or it is made known unto them yet they will not yield unto it The Word of Exhortation stands continually for all People both young and old to hear and read it The Spirit and the Bridegroom say always come There is one knocking at the Door of their Hearts for Admission God is ready at all Times to set up his Kingdom within us his Law is already written in our Heart and inward Parts He sends his Prophets rising up early and sitting down late Who being dead speak yet unto us in their Writings There are constant Dictates of Mind to serve and obey our Maker There are Examples of those who do it in our Age and Circumstances of Life There is hardly a Chapter or Verse throughout the whole Bible but some way or other calls and stirs us up The Scripture is opened and alledged The Word preached in the several Congregations throughout our Land and in all the Nations of the World are a Sermon to us also For we are the same Creatures and stand in the very same Relation to the great God over all as those several Persons who hear such and such Truths with their outward Ears We might also know and hear more than we do and those who hear and understand are to declare it unto us to acquaint their Neighbours and Kinsfolks and they to others So that the Word of God might dwell richly and have free Passage among us There is a sufficient Call and Warning to all People in their several Generations and Ages of Life God now commandeth all Men every where to repent because he hath appointed a Day in the which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given Assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the Dead Acts 17. 31. As every one knows Christ to be a Saviour so there is the same Notice conveyed that he is to be our Judge And as God shall bring every secret thing into Judgment all the Actions of our Lives for each single Day will be called to account So it will be demanded why such and such did not come when they were called as they sensibly knew by a powerful Conviction over their Spirits when it was inculcated over and over to Day if ye will hear his Voice harden not your Heart When they might have considered more and more and themselves did find that the more they did consider the more they were pressed instantly to close with Christ and therefore they did put off considering their Wayes They might at such an Opportunity have heard God's Word which would have urged them to have turned from their evil Ways and therefore they would not attend to them They might at such a Day and by such Means have learned the Knowledge and Fear of the Lord but they would not His Statutes were laid before them but they would not let the Ears hear which were made to hear nor the Eyes see which were ordained for that End And further when the Thoughts thereof did recur to the Mind they would put them far away When God rises up and enters into Judgment how shall Men answer for such things And whosoever now looketh upon or hears what is written in these Lines and he is convinced of the Truth and Sincerity of them but if he should go away and not comply with the Purport thereof or be willingly ignorant or take no notice for fear he should be brought over unto God more suddenly than he otherwise intended how will he give account to the Judge of all Men for the same Even to that God who knows all his Thoughts and Imaginations concerning this or any other matter who will reprove and set the things he hath done in order before him even from the Time he had the Beginning of the Knowledge of Good and Evil unto the Day of his Death God knows all things but we know not as God knoweth and therefore we are so puzzled and distracted in things pertaining to him He seeth all things in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth at one Sight and knoweth all things to the utmost as they are known But we now see one thing and then another in order and Succession of Time as he shews them unto us Those Things which are more hidden and invisible he reveals them by his Word and Spirit and still we know nothing perfectly and comprehensively And it may be all confined to things pertaining to us Men which is not the Ten Thousandth Part of the things to be known nor yet one Half of what doth immediately relate unto and concern us The Sum and Comprehension of all is to know God and his Law our Duty to him in each particular and when we do vary from it It may be observed that the whole Scripture which is called the Lord's Book may be all reduced to this Besides the natural imprinted Knowledge God is there more discoverd to us by the History of the Creation of the World his Manifestations unto his Servants that worshipped and feared him his wonderful Works that he did from Time to Time the Descriptions given of him in sundry Places and also the Commandments enjoyned to the Sons of Men. The Law was given by Moses unto which he added much Exhortation to the Observance thereof So did David and the Prophets whose Writings were to press People unto Obedience and a Reproof of Transgression Which last was an orderly Declaration of Matter of Fact and according to Truth how People did turn aside from the Commandments delivered unto them It was a Telling of or Declaration unto the House of Jacob their Sins and Transgressions Which was expressed in general or more particular Terms but yet so plainly that every Offender might understand himself was spoken of and called upon for to amend his Doings There is a strong Sense and Obligation upon the Heart of Man to keep the Law of his Creator and he is sensible of as much every Time he is put in Remembrance thereof As on the other hand he is troubled with Shame Regret and Condemnation when he thinks of and more especially when he is told of his Sin and Error This proceeds from the Consciousness of having offended God and from the Fear of his Anger and Judgment A secret Thought doth arise from Ignorance or Unbelief that either God doth not see or not take notice of such evil Deeds and will not require for them But such an one brings their Sin to Remembrance and makes it recorded before God which
Contempt and cast them into a bottomless Pit to suffer the Vegeance of eternal Fire In God is first contained and from him is derived every good and perfect thing even what is enjoyed or can be further desired by the Sons of Men. O Lord the Hope of Israel all that forsake thee shall be ashamed and they that depart from me shall be written in the Earth because they have forsaken the Lord the fountain of living waters Jer. 17. 13. God sendeth Rain upon the just and the unjust He giveth common Mercies promiscuously and indifferently to all but there is somewhat more and greater in being the Hope of Israel Somewhat is hidden and reserved there only for those who come unto him as again who forsake him miss thereof And when this shall be opened and actually given then Shame Vexation and Anguish will possess those who by their former demerits and provocation have lost their share and portion in this matter They that depart from me shall be written in the Earth When they have left and gone aside from him above they must cleave unto and pursue after somewhat And they cannot follow after any thing but what is in this place where they live And seeing they have chosen the Earth either the Men or Things therein let them make the most thereof But what will they do when the Earth and all the Works thereof shall be burnt up When themselves and others who inhabit here shall die And if they thought themselves well enough because tho' the things herein are perishing yet themselves are perishing likewise and they serve for their Time Nevertheless they must remain elsewhere for they have immortal Souls and returning Bodies And what shall they do throughout the Length and Space of Eternity when all the things wherein they before trusted are utterly gone and removed from them Even the Men of this World which have their Portion in this Life Psal 17. 14. might thus know and conclude As they thought it worth their while to secure this Place and Time who were for getting the best and fattest things that they might live happily and comfortably who were for the greatest and wisest Company in the whole Country of their Abode they might have looked up and have learned to be acquainted with thee O King of Nations for as much as among all the wise Men of the Earth and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee They might understand and seek after the Lord whose is not only the Earth but the whole World and all that is therein for he made Heaven and Earth and all things Who whilst they lived did bless their own Soul Psal 49. 18. did so hug themselves with the Comforts and Conveniencies of this short Time they might much more hope for and endeavour after the good things of Eternity and take a more diligent and greater Care how themselves might live blessed for ever They might have further trusted unto him who as they experimentally found did good giving them Rain from Heaven filling their Souls with Food and Gladness So the Lord will perfect that wich concerneth them Psal 138. 8. Those perishing and fading Comforts were an Earnest and Assurance that he would give the true and enduring Happiness for such who should endeavour to be found worthy for to receive the same If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon who will commit to your Trust the true Riches Luke 16. 11. As he provided them with the meat which perisheth which was had by Labour Dressing and other forgoing Means and that did preserve Health and Life for the Time so likewise he afforded the Meat which endureth unto everlasting Life which also was to he had by using such Means of Grace And as many as did receive and comply with the Workings of that Grace they shall be crowned and actually invested with the other to which it did tend and grow up As he is the God of the Earth so of the Heavens also And as he hath determined our Dwelling and Abode here for a Space so he will take us up unto the Heavens for evermore Here we have no continuing City but now we desire that which would continue and that must be an heavenly Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a City Heb. 11. 16. which like himself must remain for ever He took us out of our Mothers Womb and doth hold us up from the Cradle unto the Grave In the mean while he reneweth his Mercies and Preservation every Morning and there is still something more than all this Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with Benefits even the God of our Salvation He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto God the Lord belong the Issues from Death Psal 68. 19 20. In that Word Salvation is comprised more than can be possibly had in this World Salvation imports to be free from all Evil Fear and Danger which none is in this World For consider of those who are in the most safe Condition and think themselves so yet the last Enemy waits for them which is Death and thence is Fear and Doubt But we have Assurance from our God who brought us into Being who carrieth us thro' here who is Lord of Life and hath Power over Death that he will give a Rising and Deliverance from that Now we have the most doubtful Apprehensions concerning Death and the future State For though on this Earth we are encompassed about with Fear Pit and the Snare yet we know what is the utmost of things here and what usually happens unto others So we are contented and freed from Terror and Amazement But further on if we did consider rightly we have more Hope and Security from the Lord being our Hope and the God of our Salvation And there he declares beforehand that neither he nor we shall be ashamed For hereby he will do more for us than we can ask or conceive and we shall find it to be infinitely more than we could expect and which will make an abundant Compensation for whatever Difficulty Loss or Trouble we did sustain in coming to be Partaker thereof And though our God shall cause us to inherit high Places Isa 58. 12. yet we shall not be in the least Danger or Suspicion of falling Thou shalt be far from Terror for it shall not come near thee Isa 54. 11. We shall be more strongly secured from every Evil or Misery and be wholly exempt from the Thought and Apprehension thereof as we shall be let into the Possession and Enjoyment of all Good and Excellency so the Continuance thereof to everlasting that we shall never lose nor be deprived of it will be made so sure and ratified unto us as they are certain of that Moment wherein they have it or as we are at present sensible that we live and breath or that we have what we grasp at this Instant
Truth of God We could reason even from the very first Principle of Action and make even the man himself whether he be in a meer natural state or if he knoweth what we say whether he be learned or unlearned yet we could leave it to every man to judge what is best even for himself to do and which is lIkely to tend most unto his own good Nothing is more certain and evident Then that there is no fruit of Sin It is like dross Psal 119. 119. which melts and slides away The pleasure or profit thereof passeth away and comes to nothing at all there is nothing therein which doth remain and endure nothing which will abide the Fire or stand in any stead in the evil day Not the least comfort or happiness can possibly arise from it Wherefore then should any one continue in Sin Or why should any one go to add Iniquity to Iniquity To draw it on as with a Cart-Rope when hereby he doth not only lose so much good but bring on himself the more guilt and misery If he hath offended God by former sins he doth yet more by present continuance in the same if he hath been filthy he will be worse by wallowing yet further in the mire and the sooner he draws back from the ways of wickedness he will abate God's displeasure against him No flesh can stand under the power of his Anger they cannot endure nor are their hearts strong in the day when the Lord shall deal with them And seeing we must all appear before him to receive Good or Evil to be sentenced unto Life or Death What can be done too much to intreat our Judge in the mean while that we may have him favourable and propitious and be found accepted with him What intercessions and care should be used against this great day of Trial and everlasting Decision How should we in the mean while behave our selves towards him that now sits above to take notice of those who fear him and think on his Name and also expecting till his Enemies be made his Footstool Those who will not submit willingly at first must at length by force who will not do it of their own accord shall be made to do it Wherefore should any debate or doubt arise in the minds of men concerning this Had they not better forthwith close in with that God of whom it is graciously written Who is a God like unto thee who pardoneth Iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage He retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy Micah 7. 18. He would wink at and pass by former Iniquities if People would be careful to please him for the time to come if they would not perversly abuse things as to stir up his Anger so much the more because he doth not retain it nor yet to presume upon that Mercy which he delighteth in The right consequence is That if God doth not retain his Anger then they should not retain their Sins if he delighteth in Mercy they should both Pray and also endeavour to be Partakers thereof to meet God as it were in the way of Goodness to have good-will towards him that he may shew Mercy towards them with what Affection thou behavest thy self towards God he will manifest the same towards thee With the merciful thou wilt shew thy self merciful with an upright man thou wilt shew thy self upright With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure and with the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward Psal 18. 25 26. According as men are so will God be towards them Now seeing that every one knows that it is in the power of God to save or destroy to do good or to punish no man can be indifferent as to which he would partake of for he would have the good and avoid the evil let him then go the most likely way to obtain the one and eschew the other and that is not to be determined by a sudden thought or slight apprehension of things for such may be the temptation and delusion of Satan But consult the Word of God the very truth and reality of things for seeing that God made doth now govern and will dispose of all things we may rest fully assured that so it shall be as he hath said and decreed where his Word doth promise Forgiveness there the man may be assured thereof as again where it threatens Punishment there he hath just cause to fear and dread it Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Isa 55. 7. But the wicked think that this may be done hereafter so that he is for keeping to his own way in the mean while Then he will continue and go further in a wrong way out of which he must at length come or perish the longer he goes on therein the more way it is to come back those things which he now doth must be undone He must endeavour to please and be reconciled with that God whom now he provokes and sets afar off He must have an awful Regard and Reverence for him whom he now despises What strangeness and contradiction would it be to do those things now which he shall hereafter really wish and desire that he had never done Repentance comes in upon a better and more truly informed Judgment When the prodigal came to himself Luke 15. 17. then came in him the resolution of going home and framing right Principles of Life hence forwards Then it is discerned that he was in an Error heretofore that he had chosen the worst part but now he would mend and lay hold of the better then he verily assents and is really resolved That if such a thing were to do again he would not do it But how can this be that when either he doth already or might know as much yet he doth the same The whole doth depend upon a full and true knowledge That God is to be obeyed and pleased in all things and that it is best for men in all circumstances and at all times so to do If in one instance so likewise in another and then in a third and so throughout all parts of our Duty It is better to be temperate in all things than to run to the full excess of Riot to do Righteousness at all times Psal 106. 3. then to practice wrong or deceit at any time It is better to observe the several parts and stated seasons of Worship than to live in irreligion or contempt of God It is grievous to have forsaken God and it is good to draw near and hold fast unto him in every thing this may be known by that long series and tryal how it is with the condition of Mankind those several dispensations and accidents the sundry changes and chances of this mortal Life the temptations and what may
God's Will for himself is more than all the Generations of Mankind and so more than all that are now living He is more than ten thousand times ten thousand kind of Creatures which are any where in the World above the Firmament or in the vast and spacious Air in the habitable parts of the Earth or any where underneath and without the visible World for all things were created by him whether Visible or Invisible Thrones or Dominions Principalities and Powers Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Matt. 6. 10. So it is more Universally as Heaven is greater than Earth which is but a part and next to nothing The Innumerable Company of Angels Heb. 12. 22. Those many sorts of Creatures whether Animate or Inanimate Those ten thousand of his Saints whereof Enoch prophesieth Jude 14. The hundred and fourty four thousand of all the Tribes of the Children of Israel and that great Multitude which no Man could number of all Nations and Kindreds and People and Tongues Rev. 7. 4 9. All these obey and fulfil the Word of God and they do his Pleasure And those are many more than all those Rebels now living upon the Earth or those Generations of sinful Men since the World began Whom the Lord hath carried away as with a Flood Psal 90. 5. to be delivered over to the Lake of filth and stink or like the Grass which in the Evening is cut down and withereth Verse 6. and is to be burnt with unquenchable Fire And so it will be of all those which are yet to succeed until there be an End made of Transgression and the Sinners be consumed out of the Earth and the Wicked be no more Psal 104. 35. A little after the Creation All Flesh had corrupted its way upon the Earth Gen. 6. 12. which caused the Flood whereby the World that then was being over-flowed with Water perished But the Heavens and the Earth which are now by the same Word are kept in store reserved unto Fire against the Day of Judgment and Perdition of Vngodly Men 2 Pet. 3. 6 7. As certainly as the Flood came upon those in the days of Noah so certainly shall the whole World be consumed by Fire The Punishment and Vengeance of God are executed by Fire and Water which do drown and consume many as well as few And Death that consigns them over unto it hath reigned from Adam ever since Hell hath enlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure and their Glory and their Multitude and their Pomp and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it Isa 5. 14. which hath been and continues unto this day to be fulfilled So it is a vain Shelter and foolish Safety to think to escape with the Many for God can and doth as easily deal with them as with few We sensibly know that within seventy or eighty Years within the compass of the Age of a Man he doth quite empty the Earth of all its Inhabitants and causeth others to spring up in their stead whom again he takes away in his own order And though now they assemble themselves in Companies to commit Wickedness and gather by Troops to do Mischief Yet they drop away one by one into the Bars of the Pit and he scatters them that they fall severally until they all die away and come to nothing He doth now give his express Command by his Servant Moses Thou shalt not follow a Multitude to do Evil Exod. 23. 2. and forewarns us by the Son of his Love whom he sent to Redeem and Preserve us from it Wide is the Gate and Broad is the Way which leadeth unto Destruction and many there be which go in thereat Matt. 7. 13. So that who is for being amongst the Multitude He will be amongst them also and so he will miss of that narrow way which leadeth unto Life Nor will he be one of those few who find it Indeed there is an Inclination in Man to do as the rest of his Brethren do but then he hath some seeming Reason for it or he is void of Understanding as to have no set and inward Principle of Action and then he can just conceive what others do and order himself to do according Example is a sensible and visible thing and thereupon it hath such a strong Prevalency over most and it is yet stronger over those who know not what it is to live by Faith nor act by hope of unseen things But they are most led on thereby who least think within themselves A Multitude is made up of several distinct Persons which conspire in one thing or near the same But it was received of one or few before it is made known unto and embraced by many and then the like Disadvantage lay against it as now they conceive on the other side But it is said now it hath the more general Acceptation Why the most do swallow it without Examination And who admit thereof must have some Rule Then which God hath given none other unto Men besides his Word which is to try Good and Evil Duty and Transgression as also what may be discerned from the Truth and Reality of things There is no other way under Heaven whereby we may be Happy but this only Now every one desires to be Happy that is To enjoy what Good he can and to avoid Evil. Even those have that Wish and Intention who turn aside every one to his own Way Who live as their Neighbours and Acquaintance and as the rest of the World do why this hath a shew of Peace and Good Will and they do hereby avoid the odious thing of Singularity and the Irksomness of Reproach But they should do well to consider in the first place of Glory to God in the Highest How is that annexed to their kind of Peace on Earth and Good Will towards Men. Their Hearts should be lifted up with Angels and the Heavenly Host towards him who sitteth above and remaineth King for ever And how is he honoured by such a kind of Life as the Inhabitants of the Earth lead which is made up of Forgetfulness of their Maker Sin and Sloth How are his Statutes kept and his Laws observed Are Peace and Truth met together as in the days of Hezekiah see Isa 39. 8. Or is it like the Hills of the Robbers the Assemblies of the Ungodly and Wicked an Agreement together to preserve their old accustomed Ignorance Corruption and Error And then those who would teach Knowledge and guide into Truth shall be reputed Enemies to Civil Society and Troublers of Israel the Church of God And what is the commonly called Good Will but to let every one do what is right in his own Eyes Not to meddle with their Sins and Transgressions To avoid Sound Doctrine Reproof Correction Instruction in Righteousness for all this hath a shew of Disturbance It is said to spoil Family-Peace and good Neighbourhood Even in this Antichristian Age wherein things are