must die wiâ—â— you not believe us because you have lived so long and seen no Death coming Three or Four things there be that should bring any Matter to the Heart 1. If it be a Matter or exceeding Weight 2. If it concern not others only but our selves 3. If it be certain 4. If near All these things are here to be sound and therefore how should your Hearts be moved at the Consideration of this great Day 1. What Matter can be mentioned with the Tongue of Man of greater moment For the poor Creture to stand before his Maker and Redeemer to be judged to everlasting Joy or Torment Alas all the Matters of this World are Plays and Toys and Dreams to this Matters of Profit or Disprofit are nothing to it Matterâ— of Credit or Discredit are unworthy to be named with it Matters of temporal Life or Death are nothing to it We may see the poor brute Beasts go every Day to the Slaughter and we make no great matter of it though their Life be as dear to them as ours to us To be judged to an everlasting Death or Torment this is the great Danger that one would think should shake the stoutest Heart to consider it and awake the dullest Sinner to prevent it 2. It 's a Matter the concerneth every one of yourâ—selves and every Man or Woman that ever lived upon the Earth or ever shall do I am not speaking to you 〈◊〉 the Affairs of some far Country that are nothing to you but only to marvel at which you never saw not ever shall do no it is thy own self Man or Woman that hearest me this Day that shalt as surely appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ as the Lord liveth and as he is true and faithful and that is as sure as thou livest on this Earth or as the Heaven is over thee That Man that heareth all this with the most careless blockish Heart shall be awakened and stand with the rest at that Day that Man that never thought of it but spent his time in worldly Matters shall leave all and there appear that Man that will not believe these things to be true but make a Jest ofthem shall see and feel that he would not believe and he also shall be there the Godly that waited in Hope for that Day as the Day of their full Deliverance and Coronation they shall be there those that have lain in the Dust these 5000 Years shall rise again and all stand there Hearer whoever thou art believe it thou maist better think to live without Meat to see without Light to escape Death and abide for ever on Earth than to keep away from that Appearance Willing or unwilling thou shalt be there And should not a Matter then that so concerneth thy self go near thy Heart and awake thee from thy Security 3. That it is a Matter of unquestionable Certainty I have partly shewed you already and more would do if I were preaching to known Infidels If the careless World had any just Reason to think it were uncertain their Carelesness were more excusable Methinks a Man should be affected withthat which he is certain shall come to pass in a manner as if it were now in doing 1 Thess 5. 2. Ye perfectly know that the Day of the Lord so cometh c. saith the Apostle 4. This day is not only certain but it is near and therefore should affect you the more I confess if it were never so far off yet seeing it will come at last it should be carefully regarded But when the Judg is at the Door James 5. 9. and we are almost at the Bar and it is so short a time to this Assize what Soul that is not dead will be secure Alas Sirs what is a little time when it is gone how quickly shall you and I be all in another World and our Souls receive their particular Judgment and so wait till the Body be raised and judged to the same Condition It is not 100 Years in all likelihood till every Soul of us shall be in Heaven or Hell and it 's like not half or a quarter of that time but it will be so with the greater part of us and what is a Year or two or 100 how speedily is it come how many a Soul that is now in Heaven or Hell within 100 Years dwelt in the Places that you now dwell in and sat in the Seats you now sit in And now their time is past what is it Alas how quickly will it be so with us You know not when you go to Bed but you may be judged by the next Morning or when you rise but you may be judged before Night but certainly you know that shortly it will be and should not this then be laid to Heart Yea the general Judgment will not be long For certainly we live in the End of the World Qu. 4. My next Question is Whether are you ready for his dreadful Judgment when it comes or not Seeing it your selves then must be tried I think it concerns you to see that you be prepared How often hath Christ warned us in the Gospel that we be always ready because we know not the day or Hour of his coming Matth. 24. 44 42. and 25. 13 1 Thess 5. 6. and told us hos sad a time it will be to those that are unready Mat. 25. 11 12. Did Men but well know what a Meeting and Greeting there will be between Christ and an unready Soul it would sure startle them and make them look about them What say you beloved Hearers are you ready for Judgment or are you not Methinks a Man that knoweth he shall be judged should ask himself the question every day of his Life am I ready to give up my Account to God Do not you use to ask this of your own Hearts unless you be careless whether you be saved or damned methinks you should and ask it seriously Qu. But who be they that are ready how shall I know whether I be ready or not Answ There is a twofold Readiness 1. When you are in a safe Cafe 2. When you are in a comfortable Cafe in regard of that Day The latter is very desiraeble but the frist is of absolute Necessity this therefore is it that you must principally enquire after In general all those and only those are ready for Judgment who shall be justified and saved and not condemned when Judgment corâ—es they that have a good Cause in a Gospel-sense It may be known before hand who these are for Christ judgeth as I told you by his Law And therefore find out whom it is that the Law of Grace doth justify or condemn and you may certainly know whom the Judg will justify or conemn for he judgeth righteously If you further ask me who these are remember that I told you before that every Man that is personally righteous by fulfilling the Conditions of Salvation in the Gospel shall be saved
neglect and abuse of this they shall be judged and not meerly for sinning against the Law that was given us in pure Innocency so that Christ as Redeemer shall judg them as well as others though they had but one Talent yet must they give an account of that to the Redeemer from whom they received it But if any be unsatisfied in this let them remember that as God hath left the State of such more dark to us and the Terms on which he will judg them so doth it much more concern us to look to the Terms of our own Judgment Obj. But how shall Insants be judged by the Gospel that were uncapable of it Answ For ought I find in Scripture they stand or fall with their Parents and on the same Terms but I leave each to their own Thoughts VII For the seventh Head What will be the Cause of the Day to be enquâ—ed after what the Accusation and what the Defence Answ This may be gathered from what was last said The great Cause of the Day will be to enquire and determine who shall die and who shall live who ought to go to Heaven and who to Hell for ever according to the Law by which they must then be judged 1. As there is a twofold Law by which they must be judged so will there then be a twofold Accusation The first will be that they were Sinners and so having violated the Law of God they deserve everlasting Death according to that Law If no Defence could be made this one Accusation would condemn all the World for it is most certain that all are Sinners and as certain that all Sin deserveth Death The only Defence against this Accusation â—ieth in this Plea confessing the Charge we must plead that Christ hath satisfied for Sins and upon that Consideration God hath forgiven us and therefore being forgiven we ought not to be punished To prove this we must shew the Pardon under God's Hand in the Gospel But because this pardoning doning Act of the Gospel doth forgive none but those that repent and believe and so return to God and to sincere Obedience for the time to come therefore the next Accusation will be that we did not perform these Conditions of Forgiveness and therefore being Vnbelievers Impenitent and Rebels against the Redeemer we have no right to Pardon but by the Sentence of the Gospel are liable to a greater Punishment for this Contempt of Christ and Grace This Accusation is either true or false where it is true God and Conscience who speak the Truth may well be said to be the Accusers Where it is false it can be only the Work of Satan the malicious Adversary who as we may see in Job's Case will not stick to bring a false Accusation If any think that the Accuser will not do so vain a Work at least they may see that potentially this is the Accusation that lieth against us and which we must be justified against For all Justification implieth an actual or potential Accusation He that is truly accused of final Impenitency or Unbelief or Rebellion hath no other Defence to make but must needs be condemned He that is falsly accused of such Non-performance of the Condition of Grace must deny the Accusation and plead his own personal Righteousness as against that Accusation and produce that Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience and Perseverance by which he fulfilled that Condition and so is Evangilically Righteous in himself and therefore hath part in the Blood of Christ which is instead of a Legal Righteousness to him in all things else as having procured him a Pardon of all his Sins and a Right to everlasting Glory And thus we must then be justified by Christ's Satisfaction only against the Accusation of being Sinners in general and of deserving God's Wrath for the Breach of the Law of Works but we must be justified by our Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience it self against the Accusation of being Impenitent Vnbelievers and Rebels against Christ and having not performed the Condition of the Promise and so having no part in Christ and his Benefits So that in sum you see that the Cause of the Day will be to enquire whether being all known Sinners we have accepted of Christ upon his Terms and so have Right in him and his Benefits or not whether they have forsaken this vain World for him and loved him so faithfully that they have manifested it in parting with these things at his Command And this is the meaning of Mat. 25. where the Enquiry is made to be whether they have sed and visited him in his Members or not that is whether they have so far loved him as their Redeemer and God by him as that they have manifested this to his Members according to Opportunity though it cost them the Hazard or Loss of all seeing Danger and Labour and Cost are fitter to express Love by than empty Compliments and bare Professions Whether it be particularly enquired after or only taken for granted that Men are Sinners and have deserved Death according to the Law of Works and that Christ hath satisfied by his Death is all one as to the matter in hand seeing God's Enquiry is but the Discovery and Conviction of us But the last Question which must decide the Controversy will be whether we have performed the Condition of the Gospel I have the rather also said all this to shew you in what sense these Words are taken in the Text that every Man shall be judged according to what he hath done in the Flesh whether it be good or bad Though every Man be judged worthy of Death for sinning yet every Man shall not be judged to die for it and no Man shall be judged worthy of Life for his good Works It is therefore according to the Gospel as the Rule of Judgment that this is meant They that have repented and believed and returned to true though imperfect Obedience shall be judged to everlasting Life according to these Works not because these Works deserve it but because the free Gift in the Gospel through the Blood of Christ doth make these things the Condition of our possessing it They that have lived and died Impenitent Unbelievers and Rebels against Christ shall be judged to everlasting Punishment because they have deserved it both by their Sin in general against the the Law and by these Sins in special against the Gospel This is called the Merit of the Cause that is what is a Man's Due according to the true meaning of the Law though the Due may be by free Gift And thus you see what will be the Cause of the Day and the Matter to be enquired after and decided as to our Life or Death VIII The next Point in our Method is to shew you What will be the Evidence of the Cause Answ There is a fivefold Evidence among Men. 1. When the Fact is notorious 2. The Knowledg of an unsuspected competent Judg.
〈◊〉 Governour When it tendeth to Infidelity the evil will teach you to debase Man even lower than 〈◊〉 would do The two and thirtieth Excuse Sin is no Being and â—ll Men be damned for that which is nothing Answ 1. It is such a Mode as deformeth God's Create It is a moral Being It is a Relation of our â—â—tions and Hearts to God's Will and Law 2. They that say Sin is nothing say Pain and Loss 〈◊〉 nothing too You shall therefore be paid with one â—â—thing for another Make light of your Misery and 〈◊〉 it is nothing as you did of your Sin 3. Will you take this for a good Excuse from your â—hildren or Servants if they abuse you or from a â—hief or a Murderer shall he escape by telling the â—dg that his Sin was nothing Or rather have Death â—ich is nothing as the iust Reward of it The three and thirtieth Excuse But Sin is a transtâ— Thing At least it doth God no harm and therefore why â—uld he do us so much harm for it Answ 1. It hurts not God because he is above â—rt No thanks to you if he be out of your reach You may wrong him when you cannot hurt him â—nd the Wrong deserves as much as you can bear If a â—aitor endeavour the Death of the Prince in vain 〈◊〉 Endeavour deserves Death though he never hurt him You despise God's Law and Authority you cause the Blaspheming of his Name Rom. 2. 24. He calls it a Pressing him as a Cart is pressed with Sheaves â—â—os 2. 13. and a Grieving of him 3. And you wrong his Image his Church the pubâ—â—ck Good and the Souls of others The four and thirtieth Excuse But God's Nature is so â—â—od and merciful that sure he will not damn his own Creaâ—â—re Answ 1. A merciful Judg will hang a Man for a Fault against Man By proportion then what is due for Sin against God 2. All the Death and Calamity which you see in the World comes from the Anger of this merciful God why then may not future Misery come from it 3. God knoweth his own Mercy better than you do and he hath told you how far it shall extend 4. He is infinitely merciful but it is to the Heirs of Mercy not to the final Rejecters of his Mercy 5. Hath not God been merciful to thee in bearing with thee so long and offering thee Grace in the Blood of Christ till thou didst wilfully reject it Thou wiâ—â— confess to thy everlasting Wo that God was merciful had he not been so merciful thou wouldst not have been so miserable for rejecting it The five and thirtieth Excuse I would not so torment mine Enemy my self Answ No reason you should Is it all one to wrong you and to wrong the God of Heaven God is the only Judg of his own Wrongs The sixth and thirtieth Excuse All Men are Sinners and I was but a Sinner Answ All were not impenitent unbelieving rebelious Sinners and therefore all are not unpardoned condemned Sinners All did not live after the Flesh and refuse to the last to be converted as you did God will teach you better to difference between Sinners and Sinners The seven and thirtieth Excuse But if Christ have satisfied for my Sins and died for me then how can I justly suffer for the same Sins will God punish one Sin twice Answ 1. Christ suffered for Man in the Christ of Man but not in your Person nor you in him It was not you that provided the Price but God himself Christ was not Man's Delegate in satisfying and therefore received not his Instructions from us nor did on our Terms but his own It was not the same thing which the Law threatned that Christ underwent for that was the Damnation of the Sinner himself and not the Suffering of another for him it cannot therefore be yours but on Christ's own Terms He died for thy Sin but with this intent that for all that if thou refuse him thou shalt die thy self It is therefore no wrong to thee to die for it was not thou that diedst before and Christ will take it for no wrong to him for he will judg thee to that Death It is for refusing a Christ that died for thee that thou must perish for ever The eight and thirtieth Excuse But I did not refuse Christ I believed and trusted in him to the last and repented of my Sins though I sometime was overtaken with them Answ Had this been true thy Sin would not have condemned thee But there is no mocking God He will shew thee then thy naked Heart and convince thousands that thought they believed and repented that indeed they did not By thy Works also will this be discovered that is by the main bent and scope of thy Life as Mat. 25. throughout and Jam. 2. The nine and thirtieth Excuse I did many good Works and I hope God will set those against my evil Works Answ Thy good Works were thy Sins because indeed they were not good being not done in sincerity of Heart for God The best Man's Works have some Infirmity which nothing can cleanse but the Blood of Christ which thou hast made light of and therefore hast no part in If all thy Life had been spent in perfect Works except one day they would not make satisfaction for the Sins of that Day For they are but part of thy Duty Wo to him that hath no better a Saviour at Judgment than his own good Works The fortieth Excuse I lived in Poverty and Misery on Earth and therefore I hope I have had my Suffering here and shall not suffer in this World and another too 1. By that Rule all poor Men and Murderers and Thieves that are tormented and hanged should be saved But as Godliness hath the Promise of this Life and that to come so Impenitency and Wickedness hath the Threatning of this Life and that to come 2. The Devils and the damned have suffered much more than you already and yet they are never the nearer a Deliverance When thou hast suffered ten thousand Years thy Pain will be never the nearer an end How then can a little Misery on Earth prevent it Alas poor Soul these are but the Foretasts and Beginnings of thy Sorrow Nothing but Pardon through the Blood of Christ could have prevented thy Condemnation and that thou rejectedst by Infidelity and Impenitency His Sufferings would have saved thee if thou hadst not refused him but all thy own Sufferings will yield thee no Relief So much for the answering of the vain Excuses which poor Sinners are ready to make for themselves wherein I have been so large as that this part I confess is disproportionable to the rest but it was for these two Reasons 1. That poor careless Souls might see the Vanity of such Defences and consider if such a Worm as I can easily confute them how easily and how terribly will they be all answered by their Judg 2. I did it the
know whether you are ready for Judgment which is the fourth thing that I would advise you to enquire after O Sirs what shift do you make to keep your Souls from continual Terrors as long as you remain unready for Judgment How do you keep the Thoughts of it out of your Mind that they do not break your Sleep and meet you in your Business and haunt you every way you go while Judgment is so near and you are so unready But I shall proceed to my next Question Qu. 5. And in the last place to those of you that are not yet ready nor in a Condition wherein you may be safe at that Day my Question is How are you reslved to prepare for Judgmet for the time to come Will you do no more than you have done hitherto Or will you now set your selves with all your Might to prepare for so great a Day methinks you should be now past all Demurs Delays or farther Doubtings about such a Business aud by the Consideration of what I have said already you should be fully resolved to lose no more time but presently awake and set upon the Work Methinks you should all say We will do any thing that the Lord shall direct us to do rather then we will be unready for this final Doom O that there were but such Hearts in you that you were truly willing to follow the gracious Guidance of the Lord and to use but those sweet and reasonable Means which he hath prescribed you in his Word that you may be ready for that Day Alas it is no hard matter for me to tell you or my self what it is that we must do if we will be happy and it is no very hard matter to do it so far as we are truly willing but the Difficulty is to be truly and throughly willing to this Work If I shall tell you what you must do for Preparation shall I not lose my Labour Will you resolve and promise in the Strength of Grace that you will faithfully and speedily endeavour to practise it whoever shall gainsay it Upon hope of this I will set you down some brief Directions which you must follow if ever you will with Comfort look the Lord Jesus in the Face at the Hour of Death or in the Day of Judgment The first Direction is this See that your Souls be sincrely established in the Belief of this Judgment and everlasting Life For if you do not soundly believe it you will not seriously prepare for it If you have the Judgment and Belief of an Infidel you cannot have the Heart or the Life of a Christian Unbelief shuts out the most of the World from Heaven see that it do not so by you If you say you cannot believe what you would I answer Feed not your Unbelief by Wilfulness or Unreasonableness use God's Means to overcome it and shut not your Eyes against the Light and then try the Issue Heb. 3. 12 13 15 16 17 18 19. The second Direction Labour diligently to have a sound Vnderstanding of the Nature of the Laws and Judgment of God On what Terms it is that he dealeth with Mankind and on what Terms he will judg them to Life or Death and what the Reward and Punishment is For if you know not the Law by which you must be judged you cannot know how to prepare for the Judgment Study the Scripture therefore and mark who they be the God promiseth to save and who they be that he threatneth to condemn For according to that Word will the Judgment pass The third Direction See that you take it as the very Business of your Lives to make ready for that Day Understand that you have no other Business in the World but what doth necessarily depend on this What else have you to do but to provide for everlasting and to use Means to sustain your own Bodies and others of purpose for this Work till it be happily done Live therefore as Men that make this the main Scope and Care of their Lives and let all things else come in but on the by Remember every Morning when you awake that you must spend that Day in Preparation for your Account and that God doth give it you for that end When you go to Bed examine your Hearts what you have done that Day in the Preparation for your last Day And take that time as lost which doth nothing to this end The fourth Direction Vse frequently to think of the Certainty Nearness and Dreadfulness of that Day to keep Life in your Affections and Endeavours lest by Inconsiderateness your Souls grow stupid and negligent Otherwise because it is out of the sight the Heart will be apt to grow hardned and secure And do not think of it slightly as a common thing but purposely set your selves to think of it that it may rouze you up to such Affections and Endeavours as in some measure are answerable to the Nature of the thing The fifth Direction Labour to have a lively Feeling on thy Heart of the Evil and Weight of that Sin which thou art guilty of and of the Misery into which it hath brought thee and would further bring thee if thou be not delivered and so to feel the Need of a Deliverer This must prepare thee to partake of Christ now and if thou partake not of him now thou canst not be saved by him then It is these Souls that now make light of their Sin and Misery that must then 〈◊〉 them so heavy as to be pressed by them into the internal Flames And those that now feel little need of a Saviour they shall then have none to save them when they feel their Need. The sixth Direction Vnderstand and believe the sufficiency of that Ransom and Satisfaction to Justice which Christ hath made for thy Sins and for the World and how freely and universally it is offered in the Gospel Thy Sin is not uncurable or unpardonable nor thy Misery remediless God hath provided a Remedy in his Son Christ and brought it so near thy Hands that nothing but thy neglecting or wilful refusing it can deprive thee of the Benefit Settle thy Soul in this Belief The seventh Direction Vnderstand and believe that for all Christ's Satisfaction there is an absolute Necessity of â—ound Faith and Repentance to be in thy own self before thou canst be a Member of him or be pardoned adopted or justified by his Blood He died not for final Infidelity and Impenitency as predominant in any-Soul As the Law of his Father which occasioned his Suffering required perfect Obedience or Suffering So his own Law which he hath made for the Conveyance of his Benefits doth require yet true Faith and Repentance of Men themselves before they shall be pardoned by him and sincere Obedience and Perseverance before they shall be glorified The eight Direction Rest not therefore in an unrenewed unsanctified State that is till this Faith and Repentance be wrought on thy own
Soul and thou be truly broken off from thy former sinsul Course and from all things in this World and art dedicated devoted and resigned unto God Seeing this Change must be made and these Graces must be had or thou must certainly perish in the Fear of God see that thou give no ease to thy Mind till thou art thus changed Be content with nothing till this be done Delay not another Day How canst thou live merrily or sleep quietly in such a Condition as if thou shouldst die in it thou shouldst perish for ever Especially when thou art every Hour uncertain whether thou shalt see another Hour and not be presently snatch'd away by Death Methinks while thou art in so sad a Case which way ever thou art going or whatever thou art doing it should still come into thy Thoughts O what if I should die before I be regenerate and have part in Christ The ninth Direction Let it be the daily Care of thy Soul to mortify thy fleshly Desires and overcome this World and live as in a continual Conflict with Satan which will not be ended till thy Life do end If any thing destroy thee by drawing away thy Heart from God it will be thy carnal Self thy fleshly Desires and the Allurements of this World which is the Matter that they feed upon This therefore must be the earnest Work of thy Life to subdue this Flesh and set light by this World and resist the Devil that by these would destroy thee It is the common Case of miserable Hypocrites that at first they list themselves under Christ as for a Fight but they presently forget their State and Work and when they are once in their own Conceit regenerate they think themselves so safe that there is no farther Danger and thereupon they do lay down their Arms and take that which they miscall their Christian Liberty and indulge and please that Flesh whch they promised to mortify and close with the World which they promised to contemn and so give up themselves to the Devil whom they promised to fight against If once you apprehend that all your Religion lieth in meer Believing that all shall go well with you and that the Bitterness of Death is past and in a forbearance of some disgraceful Sins and being much in the Exercise of your Gifts and in external Ways of Duty and giving God a cheap and plausible Obedience in those things only which the Flesh can spare you are then faln into that deceitful Hypocrisy which will as surely condemn you as open Profaneness if you get not out of it You must live as in a Fight or you cannot overcome You must live loose from all things in this World if you will be ready for another You must not live after the Flesh but mortify it by the Spirit if you would not die but live for ever Rom. 8. 13. These things are not indifferent but of flat Necessity The tenth Direction Do all your Works as Men that must be judged for them It is not enough at least in point of Duty and Comfort that you judg this Preparation in general to be the main Business of your Lives but you should also order your particular Actions by these Thoughts and measure them by their Respects to this approaching Day Before you venture on them enquire whether they will bear weight in Judgment and be sweet or bitter when they are brought to Trial both for Matter and Manner this must be observed O that you would remember this when Temptations are upon you when you are tempted to give up your Minds to the World and drown your selves in earthly Cares Will you bethink you soberly whether you would hear of this at Judgment and whether the World will be then as sweet as now and whether this be the best Preparation for your Trial When you are tempted to be drunk or to spend your precious time in Ale-houses or vain unprofitable Company or at Cards or Dice or any sinful or needless Sports bethink you then whether this will be comfortable at the reckoning and whether time be no more worth to one that is so near Eternity and must make so strict an Account of his Hours and whether there be not many better Works before you in which you might spend your time to your greater Advantage and to your greater Comfort when it comes to a review When you are tempted to Wantonness Fernication or any other fleshly Intemperance bethink you soberly with what Face these Actions will appear at Judgment and whether they will be then pleasant or displeasant to you So when you are tempted to neglect the daily Worshipping of God in your Families and the catechising and teaching of your Children or Servants especially on the Lord's Day bethink your selves then what account you will give of this to Christ when he that entrusted you with the Care of your Children and Servants shall call you to a reckoning for the Performance of that Trust The like must be remembred in the very manner of our Duties How diligently should a Minister study how earnestly should he perswade how unweariedly should he bear all Oppositions and ungrateful Returns and how carefully should he watch over each particular Soul of his Charge as far as is possible when he remember that he must shortly be accountable for all in Judgment and how importunate should we all be with Sinners for their Conversion when we consider that we our selves also must shortly be judged Can a Man be cold and dead in Prayer that hath any true Apprehension of that Judgment upon his Mind where he must be accountable for all his Prayers and Performances O remember and seriously remember when you stand before the Minister to hear the Word and when you are on your Knees to God in Prayer in what a manner that same Person even your selves must shortly stand at the Bar of the dreadful God! Did these Thoughts get throughly to Mens Hearts they would awaken them out of their sleepy Devotions and acquaint them that it is a serious Business to be a Christian How careful should we be of our Thoughts and Words if we believingly remembred that we must be accountable for them all How carefully should we consider what we do with our Riches and with all that God giveth us and how much more largely should we expend it for his Service in Works of Piety and Charity if we believingly remembred that we must be judged according to what we have done and give account of every Talent that we receive Certainly the believing Consideration of Judgment might make us all better Christians than we are and keep our Lives in a more innocent and profitable Frame The eleventh Direction As you will certainly renew your Failings in this Life so be sure that you daily renew your Repentance and fly daily to Christ for a renewed Pardon that no Sin may leave its sting in your Souls It is not your first Pardon that
will serve the turn for your latter Sins Not that you must purpose to sin and purpose to repent when you have done as a Remedy for that is an hypocritical and wicked Purpose of Repenting which is made a Means to maintain us in our Sins but Sin must be avoided as far as we can and Repentance and Faith in the Blood of Christ must remedy that which we could not avoid The Righteousness of Pardon in Christ's Blood is useful to us only so far as we are Sinners and cometh in where our imperfect inherent Righteousness doth come short but must not be purposely chosen before Innocency I mean we must rather choose as far as we can to obey and be innocent than to sin and be pardoned if we were sure of Pardon The twelfth Direction In this vigilant obedient penitent Course with Confidence upon God as a Father rest upon the Promise of Acceptance and Remission through the Merits and Intercession of him that redeemed you Look up in hope to the Glory that is before you and believe that God will make good his Word and the patient Expectation of the Righteous shall not be in vain Chearfully hold on in the Work that you have begun and as you serve a better Master than you did before your Change so serve him with more Willingness Gladness and Delight Do not entertain hard Thoughts of him or of his Service but rejoice in your unspeakable Happiness of being admitted into his Family and Favour through Christ Do not serve him in drooping Dejection and Discouragement but with Love and Ioy and filial Fear Keep in the Communion of his Saints where he is chearfully and faithfully praised and honoured and where is the greatest visible Similitude of Heaven upon Earth especially in the Celebration of the Sacrament of Christ's Supper where he seals up a renewed Pardon in his Blood and where unanimously we keep the Remembrance of his Death until he come Do not cast your selves out of the Communion of the Saints from whom to be cast out by just Censure and Exclusion is a dreadful Emblem and Fore-runner of the Judgment to come where the Ungodly shall be cast out of the Presence of Christ and his Saints for ever I have now finished the Directions which I tender to you for your Preparation for the Day of the Lord and withal my whole Discourse on this weighty Point What Effect all this shall have upon your Hearts the Lord knows it is not in my Power to determine If you are so far blinded and hardned by Sin and Satan as to make light of all this or coldly to commend the Doctrine while you go on to the End in your carnal worldly Condition as before I can say no more but tell thee again that Judgment is near when thou wilt bitterly bewail all this too late And among all the rest of the Evidence that comes in against thee this Book will be one which shall testify to thy Face before Angels and Men that thou wast told of that Day and intreated to prepare But if the Lord shall shew thee so much Mercy as to open thy Eyes and break in upon thy Heart and by sober Consideration turn it to himself and cause thee faithfully to take the Warning that hath been give thee and to obey these Directions I dare assure thee from the Word of the Lord that this judgment which will be so dreadful to the Ungodly and the Beginning of their endless Terrour and Misery will be as joyful to thee and the Beginning of thy Glory The Saviour that thou hast believed in and sincerely obeyed will not condemn thee Psal 1. 5 6. Rom. 8. 1. John 3. 16. It is part of his Business to justify thee before the World and to glorify his Merits his Kingly Power his Holiness and his rewarding Justice in thy Absolution and Salvation He will account it a righteous thing to recompense Tribulation to thy Troublers and Rest to thy self when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his Mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power Even then shall he come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe in that Day even because his Servants Testimony and his Spirits among them was believed 2 Thess 1. 6 7 8 9 10. That Day will be the great Marriage of the Lamb and the Reception of thee and all the Saints into the Glory of thy Beloved to which they had a Right at their first Consent and Contract upon Earth And when the Bridegroom comes thou who art ready shalt go into the Marriage when the Door shall be shut against the sleepy negligent World and though they cry Lord Lord open to us they shall be repulsed with a Verily I know you not Mat. 25. 10 11 12 13. For this Day which others fear mayest thou long and hope and pray and wait and comfort thy self in all Troubles with the Remembrance of it 1 Cor. 15. 55 56 57 58. 1 Thess 4. 17 18. If thou wert ready to be offered to Death for Christ or when the time of thy Departing is at hand thou mayest look back on the good Fight which thou hast fought and on the Course which thou hast finished and on the Faith which then hast kept and mayest confidently conclude that henceforth there is laid up for thee a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judg shall give thee at that Day and not to thee only but unto all them also that love his Appearing 2 Tim. 4. 6 7 8. Even so come Lord Jesus Rev. 22. 20. FINIS The Danger of slighting Christ and his Gospel Mat. 22. 5. But they made light of it THE blessed Son of God that thought not enough to die for the World but himself also be the Preacher of Grace and Salvation doth comprize in this Parable the Sum of his Gospel By the King that is here said to make the Marriage is meant God the Father that sent his Son into the World to cleanse them from their Sins and espouse them to himself By his Son for whom the Marriage is made is meant the Lord Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God who took to his God-head the Nature of Man that he might be capable of being their Redeemer when they had lost themselves in Sin By the Marriage is meant the Conjunction of Christ to the Soul of Sinners when he giveth up himself to them to be their Saviour and they give up themselves to him as his redeemed Ones to be saved and ruled by him the Perfection of which Marriage will be at the Day of Judgment when the Conjunction between the whole Church and Christ shall be solemnized The Word here translated Marriage rather signifieth the Marriage-Feast
is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works Mat. 12. 36 37. But I say unto you that every idle Word that Men shall speak they shall give account thereof at the Day of Judgment For by thy Words thou shalt be justified and by thy Words thou shalt be condemned Many more most express Texts of Scripture do put the Truth of this Judgment out of all question to all that believe the Scripture and will understand it There is no place left for a Controversy in the Point It is made as sure to us as the Word of the living God can make it And he that will question that what will he believe What say you Sirs Dare you doubt of this which the God of Heaven hath so positively affirmed I hope you dare not 2. Consider it is a Master-part of your Faith if you are Christians and a fundamental Article of your Creed that Christ shall come again to judg the quick â—nd the dead So that you must believe it or renounce your Christianity and then you renounce Christ and all the Hopes of Mercy that you have in him It 's impossible that you should soundly believe in Christ and not believe his Judgment and Life everlasting because as he came to bring Life and Immortality to Light in the Gospel 2 Tim. 1. 10. so it was the End of his Incarnation Death and Resurrection to bring you thither and it 's part of his Honour and Office which he purchased with his Blood to be the Lord and Judg of all the World Rom. 14. 9. Joh. 5. 22. If therefore you believe not heartily this Judgment deal plainly and openly and say you are Infidels and cast away the hypocritical Vizor of Christianity and leâ— us know you and take you as you are 3. Consider that it is a Truth that is known by the very Light of Nature that there shall be a Happiness for the Righteous and a Misery for the Wicked after this Life which is evident 1. In that we have undeniable natural Reason for it 1. God is the Righteous Governour of the World and therefore must make a difference among his Subjcts according to the Nature of their Ways which ane see is not done here where the Wicked prosper and we Good are afflicted therefore it must be hereafter 2. We see there is a Necessity that God should make Promises and Threatnings of everlasting Happiness or Misery for the right Governing of the World for we certainly perceive that no lower things will keep Men from destroying all humane Society and living worse than brute Beasts and if there be a Necessity of making such Threats and Promises then there is certainly a Necessity of fulfilling them For God needeth no Lie or Means of deceiving to rule the World 2. And as we see it by Reason so by certain Expeâ—rience that this is discernable by the Light of Nature for all the World or almost all do believe it Evâ— those Nations where the Gospel never came and have nothing but what they have by Nature even the most barbarous Indians acknowledg some Life after this and a Difference of Men according as they are here therefore you must believe thus much or renouncâ— your common Reason and Humanity as well as your Christianity Let me therefore perswade you alâ— in the Fear of God to confirm your Souls in the Belief of this as if you had heard Christ or an Angel from Heaven say to you O Man thou art hasting to Judgment Qu. 2. My next Question is Whether you do ever soberly consider of this great Day Sirs do you use when you are alone to think with your selves how certain and how dreadful it will be how fast it is coming on and what you shall do and what Answer you mean to make at that Day Are your Minds taken up with these Considerations Tell me is it so or not Alas Sirs Is this a Matter to be forgotten Is not that Man even worse than mad that is going to God's Judgment and never thinks of it when if they were to be tried for their Lives at the next Assize they would think of it and think again and cast 100 times which way to escape Methinks you should rather forget to go to Bed at Night or to eat your Meat or do your Work than forget so great a Matter as this Truly I have often in my serious Thoughts been ready to wonder that Men can think of almost any thing else when they have so great a thing to think of What forget that which you must remember for ever forget that which should force Remembrance yea and doth force it with some whether they will or not A poor despairing Soul cannot forget it He thinks which way ever he goes he is ready to be judged O therefore Beloved fix these Thoughts as deep in your Hearts as Thoughts can go O be like that holy Man that thought which way ever he went he heard the Trumpet sound and the Voice of the Angel calling to the World Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment You have warning of it from God and Man to cause you to remember it do not then forget it It will be a cold Excuse another Day Lord I forgat this Day or else I â—ight have been ready you dare not sure trust to such Excuses Qu. 3. My next Question to you is How are you â—ffected with the Consideration of this Day Barely to think of it will not serve to think of such a Day as this with a dull and sensless Heart is a Sign of fearful Stupidity Did the Knees of King Belshazzar knock together with trembling when he saw the Hand-writing on the Wall Dan. 5. 6. How then should thy Heart be afffected that seeth the Hand-writing of God as a Summons to his Bar When I began to preach of these things long ago confess the Matters seemed to me so terrible that I was afraid that People would have run out of their Wits with Fear but a little Experience shewed me that many are like a Dog that is bred up in a Forge or Furnace that being used to it can sleep though the Hmmers are beating and the Fire and hot Iron flaming about him when another that had never seen it would be amazed at the sight When Men have heard us 7 Years together yea 20 Years to talk of a Day of Judgment and they see it not nor feel any hurt they think it is but talk and begin to make nothing of it This is their Thanks to God for his Patience Because his Sentence is not executed speedily therefore their Hearts are set in them to do evil Eccles 8. 11. As if God were slack of his Promise as some Men accounâ— Slackness 2 Pet. 3. 9. when one Day with him is as 〈◊〉 1000 Years and a 1000 Years as one Day What 〈◊〉 we tell you 20 Years together that you