Atheists in Opinion likewise they say in their Hearts though they don't speak it out with their Tongues that there is no God Psal 14.1 they have not a thorough belief of a Deity or of a future State of Rewards and Punishments Or else it is in the last place because of their great Security Multitudes of professed Christians are fast asleep in their sins they give up themselves sinfully and many of them are given up of God judicially to a spirit of slumber and of deep sleep And when this is the case with men no wonder they are without any dread of Death or Hell or any thing else You know when a Man is in a deep sleep he fears no danger whatsoever These and such-like are the reasons why many carnal persons do spend their days in mirth and sensuality without any actual fear of Death or of it's dreadfull consequents But then it must be remembred that these very persons are subject or liable thereunto and if God awaken their Consciences and rouze them out of their security Job 24.17 Psal 55.4 5. then they are as 't is in Job in the terrors of the shadow of death horror overwhelmes them as 't is in that Psalm and the terrors of death fall upon them Like Foelix they fall a trembling and like Belshazzar their knees are ready to smite one against another 'T is time now that I should come to the second branch of the Question which is By what Means and Methods are the Children of God deliver'd by Christ from the fear of Death To this I shall return an Answer First By shewing you what Christ hath already done and then Secondly What he continues still to do in order to this end 1. I shall shew you what Christ hath already done to deliver or free the Children of God from the fear of Death He himself in his own Person hath suffered or tasted death for them This is every where declar'd in the New Testament and 't is hinted to us in the Text. Christ by death that is by his own death hath delivered the Children from the fear of death The death of Christ hath made Death to look with another face than formerly it had As the Wood that Moses cast into the waters of Marah did alter their property so the Death of Christ hath alter'd the property of Death and taken away the bitterness and formidableness thereof hence 't is that the death of Believers in Scripture is call'd a Sleep It is said of Stephen when he dyed though it was by a violent death That he fell asleep Acts 7.60 And the Apostle Paul says 1 Thes 4.14 That as Jesus dyed and rose again even so them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him It is well observed by some that the Apostle doth seem purposely to vary the Phrase he says that Jesus dyed and that the Saints sleep in Him and the reason is because that he sustained Death with all its terrors that so it might become a calm and quiet sleep unto the Saints The Death of Christ must needs sweeten the fore-thoughts of death to the Children and Chosen of God because that he dy'd in their stead he did not only dye in their Nature but in their Room not only for rheir good but also in their stead You know how it was with the Sacrifices of old they were put to death in the room of the Sacrificers So it was with Christ the truth of those Sacrifices he was put to death in the room of Sinners and they dy'd in him as their Representative Now this serves to free them from an enthralling fear of Death why should they fear that which Christ hath undergone in their place and room There are two things more to be considered under this Head 1. Christ by his Death hath taken away the true Reason of the fear of Death that is the Curse and Condemnation of the Law of God The Apostle Paul says That the sting of death is sin 1 Cor. 15.56 and the strength of sin is the Law Death hath it's wounding power from sin and sin hath it's condemning power from the Law 't is the Law that discovers the nature of sin that enhanceth the guilt of sin that denounceth condemnation against him that commits it and 't is this condemnation of the Law that torments the Sinner with the fear of death Now Christ having in our stead subjected himself to death and so undergone the penalty of the Law he hath taken away the Curse and condemning power thereof He hath says the Apostle Paul redeemed us from the curse of the Law being himself made a Curse for us Gal. 3.13 There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 The death of Christ hath satisfi'd every demand of the broken Law The Law of God hath nothing now to lay to the charge of God's Elect it owns the Blood of Christ to be a sufficient compensation for their violations of it there are no petty satisfactions to be made by themselves since Christ hath made compleat satisfaction for them and in their behalf The Law now is ready to acquit the Believer it says Thou mayst live for all me and live eternally I require not thy death as being satisfied with the Death of Christ When thou dyest a natural death it is rather to comply with the appointment of God and in order to the raising up hereafter a better and more curious Fabrick of thy Body than to satisfie any demand of mine 2. Christ by his Death hath deprived the Devil of the power of death and by this means also he hath deliver'd the Children from a servile fear of Death The Devil as I said before hath a power to terrifie the Consciences of men with the apprehension of death and the dreadful consequents thereof you see into what bondage he brings men upon this account many times he brings the Children themselves into the suburbs of Hell and lays them under dreadful terrors and horrors the pains of Hell says one of them gat hold of me I found trouble and sorrow Psal 116.3 2 Sam. 22.6 and again at another time the sorrows of death compassed me about Now this power of Satan is taken away by the Death of Christ The Blood of Christ hath cancel'd or at least contracted and lessened his Commission So that when he assaults a Believer in this kind he is easily resisted the Devil gives ground if the Believer stands his ground he can't prevail against a Child of God unless God give him a special Commission or unless he yields to his Temptation being justified by Faith in the Death of Christ we have that peace which all the Devils in Hell are not able to disturb the weapons of his power and warfare in this way are wrested out of his hands by the Death of Christ Thus you see what Christ hath already done 2. Let me proceed to shew you what he
continues still to do in order to the freeing and delivering the Children of God from the fear of death and the bondage that ensues thereon 1. He worketh and increaseth those Graces of his Spirit in them which are destructive hereof and opposite hereunto you 'l say which are they 1. There is the Grace of Faith This is the Grace that conquers the World that conquers the Devil and that conquers also the slavish fear of Death This excellent Grace of Faith hath such an excellent hand in the conquering of all these that it is call'd the conquest and victory it's self This is the victory says the Apostle John 1 John 5.4 even your Faith Our Saviour tells Peter Luke 22.31 32. That Satan had desired to have him that he might sift him as Wheat And with what did he sift and shake him Why it was with the fear of Death he was afraid they would deal with him as they did with his Master It was his slavish fear of Death that made him deny Christ and to do it once and again but anon he recovered himself and got above this fear he was reâ—dy by and by boldly to confess Christ and that in the face of Death and danger How came this about Why it was by means of Faith Christ had pray'd for him that his Faith should not fail it may be said of those that are fearful of death that they are of little Faith 2. A second Grace is Love An ardent love of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ will banish all slavish fear of death out of the Soul 1 John 4.18 There is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear Of what fear doth he speak The next words tell you he speaks of slavish tormenting fear of that fear which hath torment By perfect love he means a greater measure and degree of love I said but now of fearfull Christians that they have but little Faith I may add also that they have but little Love for perfect or great love expells all tormenting and servile fear 3. A third Grace is Hope The very nature of Hope is quite contrary to fear Where there is a Hope of eternal life there can be no prevailing fear of Death 'T is said of the righteous Prov. 14.32 that they have Hope in their death and those that have Hope in their death they are not afraid to dye Then Hope doth more especially free us from an inordinate fear of Death when it grows up to that which the Scripture calls The full assurance of Faith Heb. 6.11 this is a gracious Gift which the Father bestows upon many of his Children they know that they are in him that they are pass â—â— from death to life 1 John 2.5.3.14 2 Cor. 5.1 that when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolv'd they shall have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Ay this is that which steels and fortifies them against the fear and terror of Death This leads me to consider of a second way or means whereby Christ delivers the Children from a slavish fear of death 2. He delivers them from it by convincing and parswading them that they shall not be Losers but Gainers yea great gainers thereby It was this perswasion that made the Apostle Paul to desire death rather than to dread it I desire says he to depart or to be dissolv'd which is far better Philip. 1.23 And again v. 21. he saith For me to dye is gain It were easie here to expatiate and shew the advantage the exceeding great advantage that Believers have by Death It is commonly said to consist in these two things in a freedom from all Evil in the fruition of all Good 1. It consists in a freedom from all Evil which is sub-divided into the evil of Sorrow and the evil of Sin Believers are freed by Death from the evil of Sorrow 'T is one blessed Notion of the life to come that God will wipe off all tears from his peoples eyes and remove all sorrow and causes of Sorrow from their Hearts Believers also are freed by Death from the evil of sin which is indeed the greatest evil the evil of evils all the evils of sorrow are but the effects and fruits of the evil of sin By Death they are deliver'd from all actual sins not only from Fleshly but Spiritual filthiness Now they are deliver'd ordinarily from inordinate actions but then also from inordinate affections they shall never any more be troubled with Pride Passion Discontent Unbelief or the like By Death also they are discharg'd from Original sin and all remainders thereof when the Body dies Believers are rid of that body of death which dwelleth in them and is always present with them they no more complain of themselves as wretched creatures upon the account thereof 2. It consists in the fruition of all Good Believers when they dye they enjoy God Himself who is the chiefest Good He is bonum in quae omnia bona all other things that are good and desireable are comprized in him as the Sun-beams are in the Sun the Saints enjoyment of God in this life is a Heaven upon Earth but our enjoyment of God after death will be the Heaven of Heavens David says in one Place Psal 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee There are Saints and Angels and Arch-Angels in Heaven says Musculus with whom David and such as he will have to do but what are these to God Believers won't barely enjoy God after death but they will enjoy him fully In this life they enjoy a little of God and oh how sweet and refreshing it is But in the life to come they shall have as much enjoyment of God as their hearts can wish or hold Now they enjoy God in the use of means in Prayer in hearing the Word and in receiving the Lords Supper but hereafter they shall have not only a full but an immediate fruition of God Now they see the Face of God in the Glass of his Word and Ordinances and 〈◊〉 what a lovely sight is it But then they shall see God face to face and what tongue can mention or heart imagine the loveliness of that sight If it were not too great a digression I could readily demonstrate the gain and advantage of Death from other Topicks Believers in the other life shall possess and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven which doth more transcend the Kingdoms of this World and all the glory of them than the light of the Sun doth excell the light of a Candle they shall be most gloriously perfected both in their Souls and in their Bodies their vile bodies at the Resurrection shall be changed and fashioned like unto the glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ Phil. 3.21 Their gain and happiness will be greatly augmented in the other life by the work and employment that they shall do and by the Society and Company that they shall
worthy than that which I have now mention'd of the depth of the Riches of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God which may be allowed to be on the top of this foundation-stone and round about the Stone that which follows Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity Which words I shall at present be confined to they may be understood as a seasonable Caution least any that heard of the Continuance and Assurance of Gods Care and Love should be puffed up for as the Apostle would not have the defection of others to cause any to despond so he would by no means have others security upon any pretensions whatsoever to cause them to presume but as a wise Physician having prescribed so great a Cordial against their fainting at the sight of others falling ◠Cor 3.9 by telling them that they who were of God's Building should stand he gives them direction how to use this Cordial least if unwarily taken it might strengthen their distemper in which Direction we may take notice 1. Upon whom this Injunction is laid viz. Every one that nameth the Name of Christ 2. The Injunction it's self viz. To depart from Iniquity which last words to depart from Iniquity I shall suppose to be so far understood as that I need not to stay in the Explication of them All Sin is an unequal and unjust thing against our Duty which we owe to God or Man 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the manner of the Apostles expression is equivalent to a Negative Form which is most comprehensive and therefore Eight of the Ten Commandments at least are Negative but they do all include the contrary positive As the forbidding us to have any other God commands us to take Jehovah for our God and to Love and Obey him accordingly And thus the departing from Iniquity includes not only the leaving of all Sin but the following after and practising of Holiness in all Duties that are required in every Relation and Condition So that there is no Duty to God or Man but he that names the Name of Christ is required to practise it nor no Sin against God or Man against the first or second Table but he is enjoyn'd to forsake it which will farther appear when we have considered 1. What is meant by naming the Name of Christ or who is understood by the Apostle to name this Name of Christ 2. That such an one as thus names the Name of Christ is especially concern'd and obliged to depart from Iniquity As to the first What is meant by naming the Name of Christ What is meant by naming the name of Christ it is evident that it cannot be understood of a bare speaking of the word Christ sounding the letters of which it is made which Pagans and Mahometans may do and the wicked Jews often did but by naming the Name of Christ is understood a making some special use of it or of him that is signified by it We must therefore consider That wheresoever there is any thing of Divine Revelation there mans Fall and Misery is manifested for tho by natural Light it could be perceiv'd that all was not well with Man hence the many complaints that Nature dealt very hardly with Man the noblest visible Creature that had rule and command over the rest of the Creation yet that he was so short-lived so full of misery and trouble Job 5.7 which seem'd as natural to him as for sparks to flie upward This was for a lamentation amongst the very Heathen But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence all this mischief came they knew not In Scripture only we find the Cause of our disease and the Remedy against it and here Vbi invenitur venenum juxta latus ejus nascitur Antidotus Where we may discover the Malady we may seek for and discover the Remedy In the Word of God we have Means prescribed Institutions appointed which being used and observed will help and recover us In the former Oeconomy and Dispensation they were vail'd under Shadows and Types The wages of Sin being Death Gen. 2.17 Rom. 6.23 every Transgressor of the Law forfeits his Life and his sin cannot be expiated but by Blood it might justly have been his own blood and no others But the Law-giver being graciously pleas'd to accept of Animam vicariam anothers blood or life such as he should appoint he did for a while accept of the sacrificing of Beasts in the stead of the Sinners till the fulness of time was come in which he sent his Son this Christ whom the Text mentions to make full satisfaction to his offended Justice and by his Death to expiate for all the sins of them that by Faith apply themselves unto him Hence it is said he was made sin for us and that he was bruised for our Iniquities 2 Cor. 5.21 Isa 53.5 and that the chastisement of our peace was upon him But as under the Law the Transgressor was to lay his hand upon the Beast to be sacrific'd thereby acknowledging that he was the Creature that had deserv'd to dye and desiring that the death of the Beast to be sacrificed might be accepted in his stead Lev. 3.2.4.4 so under the Gospel we must apply to Christ with a due sense of our sins and our deserving of death for them and be accordingly affected with them Yet more when all the outward Ceremonies were perform'd the sacrific'd Beast accepted and slain thô the Law according to the letter was satisfied and a legal Expiation did ensue and a legal Atonement was made yet if the Person that brought the Sacrifice did not mortifie his sin as well as the Priest kill the Sacrifice his Conscience inwardly remained defiled and God still provoked and incensed Nay if the Sinner had done one without the other killed his Beast and spared his sin alive God look'd upon it as a double Iniquity for so indeed it was to acknowledge he had offended God and to pretend that he desired to be reconciled unto him and yet to go on in provoking of him Hence God did forbid and reject their Sacrifices tho of his own appointment Psal 50.9 I will take no Bullock out of thy house nor he-goats out of thy fold Nay he declares that in such a case he that killeth an Oxe Isa 66.3 is as if he slew a Man he that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a dogs neck he that offereth an Oblation as if he offered swines blood he that burneth incense as if he blessed an Idol and elsewhere Bring no more vain oblations Isa 1.3 incense is an abomination unto me Now that all Sacrifices were Types of Christ thrô whom only they had their virtue and efficacy is confessed by all Christians Thus Christ was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the World Rev. 13.8 And the Christian when affected with his sin and desirous to be reconciled to God whom by his sin he
sence of the believing World Believers generally know as having found it by experience that they are naturally impotent to spiritual good They find much weakness in themselves after grace is wrought in them and nothing but weakness before God work it They acknowledge they cannot work any degree of grace in themselves when some already they have much less could they work it in themselves when they really had none And how come others to have more strength than they Did not they fall in Adam Or had his Apostasie a less malignant influence upon them than upon others How come they to have such a reserve of Spiritual strength when the rest of the World hath lost it 4. If they can work repentance in themselves why do they not do it sooner Why do they defer it so long when they cannot deny but one time or other it must be wrought Is it a fit return to God for the goodness he hath shewn them all their days to live in sin all their days and turn to him when they can live no longer in it Or will it be an acceptable answer to him when he calls them to a reckoning that they had not served sin long enough nor had their fill of their lusts or else they would have turned to him sooner 5. And how many be there who to encourage themselves in their present impenitency and the enjoyments of their sinful pleasures fancy they can turn themselves when they please yet if God open their eyes and awaken their Consciences and they begin in good earnest to set themselves to labour after repentance they are soon convinced of the hardness and deadness of their Hearts and their utter disabilities to such a work and are fain in spight of all their high thoughts and conceits of themselves to look up to God and implore his assistance and depend upon him for the working of that grace in them which they fondly imagined they could work in themselves 5. God may not give them grace to repent when they come to die Admit they have time and means yet God may not give a blessing to the means Let it be considered First To how few God ever gives repentance at the last even of those who have as good means and helps as their weak and dying condition will admit of It is one of the saddest parts of a Ministers work to visit dying sinners How few do they leave any better than they find them How few give any hopes of a through change wrought in them How few can they perswade to believe in Christ when they have an hundred times before rejected him How few can they bring to repentance then when they never minded it before Ministers even the best are but Men and not God flesh and not Spirit and means instructions exhortations are but means whose whole efficacy depends on Gods co-operation with them and when he with-holds his Blessing they are altogether ineffectual When they judge of man's eternal State though their judgment is not to be rash nor peremptory yet it should be reasonable some good grounds they should have for it But alas if they keep to Scripture-rules in how few of them that never repented before do they find when dying so much as a foundation for a charitable judgment of their Spiritual state 1. If we set aside those that die in gross ignorance of the things of God of the very first Principles of Religion the nature of God the Offices of Christ the ends of his Death the necessity of satisfaction for sin the nature and use of Faith the terms of the Covenant c. Ignorant indeed of those truths some knowledge of which is necessary to the very being of saving Grace How many such do we find and what hope can we have of the truth of their Repentance and so of their Salvation How can their Hearts be holy when their Minds are so blind What Heavenly heat can their be in there affections when there is such an hellish darkness in their understandings Such may read their doom Isa 27.11 2. Set aside those that die stupid without any awakenings of Conscience any sense or concernedness about their spiritual state and so die as much like Beasts as they lived 3. Those that die despairing fill'd with horror and void of hope overwhelmed with the sense of sin the thoughts of approaching vengeance and a fearful expectation of appearing before the Tribunal of that righteous God whom they cannot escape and dare not trust They have not hearts to pray to him hope in him or commit their Souls into his hands when they die having never loved nor served nor regarded him while they lived 4. Those that die presuming Such are the ignorant before mentioned such are Formalists Moralists proud Pharisees conceited self-justifiers The Innocency of their Conversation the Profession they make or the Duties they perform are the righteousness by which they expect to be justified Nay how many after a Life of sin hope to be saved meerly by the mercy of God without respect to any righteousness at all either of Justification or Sanctification either imputed to them or inherent in them either that whereby they may have a title to glory or meetness for it Sure I am such as these are void of repentance and when the greatest part of dying Sinners may be reduced to one or other of these sorts to how few doth God give repentance at the last of those who did not before seek it of him Secondly With how many is the day of Grace past and the time of God's patience run out and then we may be sure God will not give them repentance They have so many times rejected the counsel of God against themselves Luke 7.30 refused the Offers of Grace turned a deaf ear to the calls of the Gospel stiffned their necks and refused to return that now they are past it God that waited on them so long will wait no longer They had a time of acceptation a day of salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 but that being over they are to have no more God was nigh to them and might have been found of them Isa 55.7 but is now withdrawn from them and they may seek Christ and die in their sins John 8.21 the may seek and not find call and God give them no answer Prov. 1.28 Thirdly God may have judicially hardned their Hearts when they had sinfully hardened them before And this seems to be one great cause of that stupidness and insensibleness we so often find in Sinners at the time of death True God infuseth no sin into them yet he may wholly abandon them to the power of the hardness they have contracted and give them up into the Devils hands to delude and blind to act and manage them according to his pleasure and their own corrupt inclinations They may not have so much as an heart to desire to repent or pray to God for Grace to enable them to to it all those
like but worse than the Beasts for the fiercest Beasts of Africa or Hyrcania have a respect for their own likeness tho' they devour others yet they spare those of their own kind but Men are so degenerate as to be most cruel against their Brethren These are some of the Evils that proceed from sin as their natural Cause And from hence 't is evident that sin makes Men miserable were there no Hell of torment to receive them in the next State 2. I will consider the Evils consequent to sin as the penal effects of the sentence against sin of Divine Justice that decrees it and Divine Power that inflicts it and in these the sinner is often an active instrument of his own misery 1. The fall of the Angels is the first and most terrible punishment of sin God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell reserved in chains of darkness to judgment How are they fall'n From what height of glory and felicity into bottomless perdition How are they continually rackt and tormented with the remembrance of their lost happiness If a thousand of the prime Nobility of a Nation were executed in a day by the sentence of a righteous King we should conclude their crimes to be atrocious innumerable Angels dignified with the titles of Dominions and Principalities were expell'd from Heaven their native seat and the sanctuary of life and are dead to all the joyful operations of the intellectual nature and only alive to everlasting pain One sin of pride or envy brought this terrible vengeance from whence we may infer how provoking sin is to the holy God We read of King Vzziah that upon his presumption to offer incense he was struck with a Leprosie and the Priests thrust him out and himself hasted to go out of the Temple a representation of the punishment of the Angels by presumption they were struck with a Leprosie and justly expelled from the Celestial Temple and not being able to sustain the terrors of the Divine Majesty they fled from his presence 'T is said God cast them down and they left their own habitation 2. Consider the penal effects of sin with respect to Man They are comprehended in the sentence of death the first and second death threaten'd to deter Adam from transgressing the Law In the first Creation Man while innocent was immortal for altho his Bâ—â—y was compounded of jarring Elements that had a natural tendency to dissolution yet the Soul was endowed with such vertue as to imbalm the Body alive and to preserve it from the least degree of putrefaction But when Man by his voluntary sin was separated from the fountain of life the Soul lost its derivative life from God and the active life infused by its union into the Body It cannot preserve the natural life beyond its limited term A righteous retaliation Thus the Apostle tells us Sin came into the World and death by sin Even infants who never committed sin die having been conceived in sin And death brought in its retinue evils so numerous and various that their kinds are more than words to name and distinguish them Man that is born of a Woman is of few days and full of trouble at his birth he enters into a labyrinth of Thorns this miserable World and his life is a continual turning in it he cannot escape being sometimes prick'd and torn and at going out of it his Soul is rent from the embraces of the Body 'T is as possible to tell the number of the waves in a tempestuous Sea as to recount all the tormenting passions of the Soul all the Diseases of the Body which far exceed in number all the unhappy parts wherein they are seated What an afflicting object would it be to hear all the mournful lamentations all the piercing complaints all the deep groans from the miserable in this present state What a prospect of Terror to see Death in its various shapes by Famine by Fire by Sword and by wasting or painful Diseases triumphant over all mankind What a sight of woe to have all the Graves and Charnel-houses open'd and so many loathsom Carcasses or heaps of dry naked Bones the trophies of Death expos'd to view Such are the afflicting and destructive effects of sin For wickedness burns as a fire it devours the Briars and Thorns Besides other miseries in this life sometimes the terrors of an accusing Conscience seise upon Men which of all evils are most heavy and overwhelming Solomon who understood the frame of humane Nature tells us The Spirit of a Man can bear his infirmity that is the mind fortified by Principles of moral Counsel and Constancy can endure the assault of external Evils but a wounded Spirit who can bear This is most insupportable when the sting and remorse of the mind is from the sense of guilt for then God appears an enemy righteous and severe and who can encounter with offended Omnipotence Such is the sharpness of his Sword and the weight of his Hand that every stroke is deadly inward Satan the cruel enemy of Souls exasperates the wound He discovers and charges sin upon the Conscience with all its killing aggravations and conceals the Divine mercy the only lenitive and healing Balm to the wounded Spirit What visions of horror what spectacles of fear what scenes of sorrow are presented to the distracted mind by the Prince of darkness And which heigthens the misery Man is a worse enemy to himself than Satan he falls upon his own Sword and destroys himself Whatever he sees or hears afflicts him whatever he thinks torments him The guilty Conscience turns the Sun into darkness and the Moon into blood the precious promises of the Gospel that assure favour and pardon to returning and relenting sinners are turn'd into arguments of despair by reflecting upon the abuse and provocation of mercy and that the advocate in Gods bosom is become the accuser Doleful state Beyond the conception of all but those who are plung'd into it How often do they run to the grave for sanctuary and seek for death as a deliverance Yet all these anxieties and terrors are but the beginning of sorrows for the full and terrible recompenses of sin shall follow the Eternal Judgment pronounc'd against the wicked at the last day 'T is true the sentence of the Law is past against the sinner in this present state and temporal evils are the effects of it but that sentence is revocable at death the sentence is ratified by the Judge upon every impenitent sinner 't is decicive of his state and involves him under punishment for ever But the full execution of judgment shall not be till the publick general sentence pronounc'd by the everlasting Judge before the whole World It exceeds the compass of created thoughts to understand fully the direful effects of sin in the Eternal State For who knows the power of Gods wrath The Scripture represents the punishment in expressions that may instruct the mind
sense of misery that a man would fain be rid of and can't 't is a Yoke whereby his Neck is gall'd but he can't put it off and if he should be released from it by any undue ways or means it would be to his farther detriment and danger in the end Now from this Fear of Death the Children are said to be delivered by Christ There are many evils from which he redeems and delivers them he delivers them from the bondage of sin and Satan from the rigour and Curse of the Law from everlasting Punishment and Wrath to come and he delivers them also from the Fear of Death This is imply'd if it be not express'd in the Text for upon the mentioning of their deliverance he gives this description of the Persons that are delivered that they wâ—â—e such as were afraid of Death and lyable to continual bondage by reason thereof Hence all Expositors both ancient and modern do rationally inferr That the Fear of Death is one of those evils from whence we are deliver'd by Jesus Christ The Text thus briefly open'd administers a fair occasion of resolving this Case or Question From what Fear of Death are the Children of God deliver'd by Jesus Christ and by what means doth he deliver them from it I shall break this Question in two and enquire 1. From what Fear of Death the Children of God are delivered from by Jesus Christ And then 2. By what Means or Methods he doth deliver them from it 1. From what Fear of Death are the Children of God deliver'd by Jesus Christ That I may resolve this Question aright I must distinguish of the Fear of Death 1. There is a natural Fear of Death This is common to all Men as Men and 't is more or less in them according to their different Constitutions and other accidental Occurrences This is nothing else but Natures aversation to it 's own dissolution and in it's self it is a sinless infirmity such as sickness weariness or the like To be loth or afraid to dye is humane and inseparable from the nature of man this fear of Death is found with the best of men Nature as one says hath a share in them as well as in others and will work as Nature or like it self The Apostle Paul tells us how good godly men are unwilling to be uncloath'd and to put off the body 2 Cor. 5.4 Our blessed Saviour who was a true though not a meer Man without the least impeachment of the Holiness and Perfection of his humane Nature express'd at some times an aversion to death John 12.27 Mark 14.35 This therefore is not the fear of Death of which the Text speaks and from which the Children of God are deliver'd by Jesus Christ 2. There is a slavish Fear of Death which hath Torment in it or which torments the Souls of men which fills their hearts with terrors and distractions which discomposeth their minds and unfits them for the duties of their general or particular callings and totally disables them from prosecuting the things that belong to their Peace and Welfare This is that fear of Death of which the Text speaks and from which the Children are deliver'd such as genders unto bondage and is servile or slavish a fear of Death as poenal and drawing after it everlasting punishment This fear of Death takes hold of carnal men they are not so much afraid of Death as of that which the Scripture calls the second Death Revel 2.11 20.6 Heb. 9.26 't is that which follows after death that makes it so formidable to them after Death as that Text speaks comes Judgment when they must receive according to the things which they have done in the Body When they dye they must launch out into an endless Ocean and go the way as Job says from whence they shall never return Job 16.22 And if Death overtakes them in their unregenerate state and condition then it will be an entrance or inlet into outer darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth These and such-like are the considerations that make Death so dreadfull to the Children of Men that give it the denomination of the King of Terrors and of terrible things the most terrible they are not as one said afraid to dye but they are afraid to be damn'd Hence it is that though Death be terrible to all men yet it is most terrible to those whose Consciences are awakened and whose understandings are enlightned who have been instructed in the Knowledge of God and of a future State of Retribution Death as one observes is not half so terrible to a Heathen as it is to an ungodly Christian Heathen men are in the dark and see but little of that which is the true terror of Death But enlightned Christians who have been acquainted with the Scripture who know that the Wrath of God is reveal'd from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men Rom. 1.18 1 Cor. 6.9 Psal 9.17 2 Thes 1.7 8 9. that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God that the wicked shall be turned into Hell and all Nations and people that forget God that Jesus Christ shall be reveal'd from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power That the greatest part by far of the wages of sin which is eternal damnation shall be paid in another World These are they that are surrounded with the slavish fears of Death 'T is true that many wicked Persons who live under the Gospel are under none of these terrors but then 't is because they look on Death at a great distance from them and the remoteness of any Object though in it's self never so terrible takes away the fear of it Or else it is because they are over-busied and taken up about the things of the World as the lust of the flesh or of the eyes or the pride of life and if any thoughts of Death and of the World to come arise in their minds they are presently smother'd and stifled by worldly objects and diversions Cain was a while afraid of Death he thought every one that met him would slay him but by and by he gets into the Land of Nod and there he falls a building of Cities and doth so immerse or drown himself in the affairs of the World that by little and little the slavish fear he had of Death did wear out of his mind Or else it is because of their Atheism or Infidelity there is a great deal of this amongst professed Christians All wicked men as the Apostle Paul says are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 2.12 without God in the World or as it may be rendred they are Atheists in the World They are all practical Atheists and too many are
have they shall associate with an innumerable company of Angels and with just men made perfect with many of their dearest Relations and Friends whom whilst alive they dearly lov'd and whose death and departure hence they greatly lamented Let me close this with one Text 't is in 1 John 3.2 There the Apostle tells us wherein the gain and glory of the godly consisteth after death he summs it up in two things They shall be like Christ and they shall see him as he is Ay that is the happiness of the Children when they dye it lyes in Conformity to Christ and in the Vision the beatifical Vision of him 3. Christ delivers Believers from the slavish fear of Death by giving them some real Foretastes of Heaven and of Eternal Life It is usual with God to give his People some Cluster of the Grapes of Canaan here in the Wilderness to give them some drops and sips of that new Wine which they shall drink full draughts of in the Kingdom of their Father he gives them to taste not only of the good Word of God and of the heavenly gift but of the powers of the world to come and this sets them a longing to have their fill thereof Even as the Gauls when they had tasted the Wines of Italy they were not satisfy'd to have those Wines brought to them but they would go and possess the Land where they grew This foretaste of Heaven is that which the Scripture calls The earnest of our Inheritance Eph. 1.14 't is both a pledge and a small part of that Happiness which the Saints shall hereafter inherit Rom. 8.23 We says the Apostle that have the first-fruits of the Spirit even we our selves do groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of our body By Redemption he means the Resurrection of the Body at the last day which the Scripture calls a Resurrection unto Life The Apostle knew there could be no Redemption of the Body without the dissolution thereof therefore in waiting for the one he must needs also wait for the other The Apostle and the Believers with him did groan for this they were so far from groaning under the fears of Death that they rather groan'd to be partakers of that which follows after Death nay In this they groan'd earnestly 2 Cor. 5.2 as he elsewhere speaks Now whence was this but from their having the first-fruits of the Spirit which are all one with the foretastes of Heaven and everlasting Happiness of which I have been speaking Those that whilst they live have these tastes of future Blessedness they are not afraid of Death the door by which they enter into the full enjoyment of them Having thus resolved this Question in both its Branches give me leave to make some short Application of what I have said and I 'le conclude I would Exhort you that are the Children of God and Oh that all that read these Lines were of the number of such I would earnestly beseech and exhort you to prize and improve this great Priviledge to wit a deliverance from the slavish Fear of Death 1. Be perswaded to Prize it it is a Priviledge that was purchas'd for you at a dear rate even with the precious Blood of Christ Oh what a blessed Priviledge is this not only to be delivered from the second Death but also from the servile and enthralling fear of the first Death This is the benefit and blessing that the Apostle Paul seems to be so much affected with Thanks be to God says he who hath given us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ What Victory doth he mean The foregoing words tell us 1 Cor. 15 5â— that he means a Victory over Death with all its fearful concomitants and consequents Death is become a Friend and not an Enemy 't is without any Sting or Curse attending of it Oh! this is owing to Jesus Christ he is the great Deliverer he hath so order'd the matter that though we must dye yet we shall not be in bondage all our dayes through a slavish Fear of Death 2. Be perswaded to Improve this Priviledge put in for a part and share therein See to it that you be Partakers of this benefit of Christ's Death to live without any tormenting fear of your own You 'l say how shall we help it can we contribute any thing towards our Deliverance from the Fear of Death I answer You may And therefore as I have shewn you what Christ hath done and doth to deliver you so now give me leave to shew you farther what you must do towards your own Deliverance I 'le give you some short hints of things which you may enlarge upon at your leisure in your own thoughts 1. You must be earnest with God that he would apply to you this benefit of his Sons Death by his blessed Spirit Oh! begg of God and that with all importunity that the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus may set you free from a tormenting Fear of Death This hath been done for others and who can tell but it may be done for you likewise Ezek. 36.37 only remember that God will be enquir'd of by you to do this for you 2. You must give all diligence to the attaining of a greater measure of Faith Love and Hope yea to the attaining of a full Assurance of Hope 't is by means hereof as you heard before that the Children are deliver'd in part from the Fear of Death 'T is Grace and the Assurance of Grace that is the Anchor of the Soul that keeps it safe from the fear of Shipwrack 3. You must resist the Devil and withstand his Temptations not only to other sins but to the sin of Despondency in particular You must not give place to Satan nor give way to enthralling Fear when he tempts you thereunto Remember as I told you before 't is the Law of the Combate betwixt the Devil and you that if you fight he shall fly if you stand your ground he must give ground 4. You must have frequent Meditation of Death and of the gain that is to be gotten thereby the frequent thoughts hereof will familiarize Death to you and if once Death and you be familiar together you won't be so much afraid of it 5. You must have frequent Contemplation also of the Resurrection You find that Job had conquer'd the Fear of Death and if you read the 9th Chapter of Job and Ver. 26 27. you will see that his thoughts of the Resurrection were very helpful to him herein He is a Conqueror over the Fear of Death that considers with the Apostle Paul that the Grave shall lose its Victory 1 Cor. 15.56 It was the saying of a worthy Minister of our Nation That nothing lifted him over the Fear of Death like the belief and Meditation of the Resurrection to Eternal Life 6. You must take heed of living or allowing your selves in any known Sin if it be as
and duration and so could not give us a just measure of the demerits of sin 3. If we consider the sufferings of Christ they will prove that the evil of sin is unmeasurable they were such as could not be expressed and therefore the Ancient Christians used in their Prayers to beg of Christ that he would deliver them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by thy unknown torments Lord deliver us And hence we may infer that the Love of Christ must needs be unmeasurable because he delivered us from unmeasurable wrath by unconceivable torments 2. The Love of Christ to sinners is unmeasurable for these Reasons 1. Reas We have no scale in nature in which we can weigh no line in created things by which we can measure it § 1. If we examine the love of Relations we find them all limited and bounded and they ought to be so The love of a Father to a child is an intense love the love of a Father to an undutiful child a rebellious child may stretch the line somewhat farther yet this will fall vastly short of the Love of Christ to sinners The highest instance of this love that I remember was that of David to his rebellious Son Absalom expressed 2 Sam. 18.33 O Absalom my son my son would God I had died for thee O Absalom my Son my Son Here is Paternal love strained up to the highest pitch imaginable That a King should desire to die for a Rebellious Subject that a Father should be willing to die for the most disingenuous and rebellious of Sons This was great but yet we find this love extended but to a natural death he would have been unwilling to have died a Cursed death to have been made a Curse for him to have been made sin for him And yet the torrent of this impetuous love soon dryed up it was founded in passion rather than judgment and perhaps in cool blood he would have been unwilling to have died that such a wretch might live I question much whether David durst deliberately advisedly and premeditately have laid down his life to save that of a vitious debauched Son yet such was the Love of Christ who laid down his life for sinners the greatest of sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 And laid it down voluntarily when none could take it away John 10.18 and not only died against the persuasions of his friends to save his life Mark 8.32 but against that bitter malice of his Enemies which always sparkled and at last flamed out in the most cruel bloody implacable fury that ever was in the World nay against the just displeasure of God as a Judge all which he had a clear prospect into and yet gave this great pregnant proof of his unconquerable Love that he not only poured out his Soul in tears Luke 19.41 his Soul in prayers Luke 23.34 Father forgive them but his Soul in sacrifice too unto the death Isa 53.12 But if the love of a Father to his Son will not measure this Love of Christ perhaps the love of a Mother to her Son may And this is indeed naturally the more soft and passionate Sex and of this love the case is put Isa 49.15 Can a Woman forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her Womb The case is put exceeding strong A Child a sucking Child that hangs upon the breast and is always crying for pity in its natural dialect the Son of the Womb that 's more than the Child of the breast she can hardly forget that at any rate which she brought forth at such a dear rate yet the circumstances may be such that this tender Mother may forsake and forget nay kill and destroy too this innocent Child such exigences they have been in that Nature has prov'd unnatural or Nature in one instance has overcome Nature in another A Mothers hunger has caus'd her to forget her pity to the Child of her Womb Lam. 4.10 The hands of the pitiful Women have sodden their own children to forsake to forget to kill to cook and at last to eat is certainly the greatest stemming of the current and stream of natural affection that we can conceive of but Christ's Love will not suffer him to forget to forsake he has oftens forgotten himself to remember them he has forgotten his own food that he might provide for their Souls John 4.34 he has forgotten his own approaching death that he might provide for their life 1 Cor. 11.23 The same night in which he was betrayed he took bread c. And yet perhaps the love of the Husband to his Wife may come up to this example of Love Ephes 5.25 Husbands love your Wives as Christ loved his Church and gave himself for it Here 's an argument indeed to enforce that conjugal Love and here 's a president for conjugal Love to look upon but that As is not a note of equality but of some general similitude for the Husband gives himself to his Wife but will not is not bound to die for his Wife he cannot be persuaded to have her sins charg'd upon his Soul How short are all the Loves the Affections of Relations to give us a pattern and example of the Love of Christ But possibly we may find a love in Nature more strong than any of these And that if any where must be amongst some of those great instances of Love which have been amongst friends It is indeed said 1 Sam. 18.1 3. That Jonathan loved David as his own Soul and in Deut. 13.6 The friend is said to be as a Mans own Soul But yet when we come to examine these expressions they fade away and signifie nothing but the life where is the friend that will make his Soul an offering for sin Isa 53.10 However this is the highest flight that ever humane love took to lay down life for a friend but Christ has put this quite out of countenance John 15.13 Greater love has no man than that he lay down his life for his friend but a far greater Love than this had Christ that he laid down his life for enemies Christ laid down a better life for them that were worse And this is proposed to our consideration as that which has out-done all the love in the World Rom. 5.7 8. Scarcely for a righteous Man will one die No I think it s out of question that none will for who would be so friendly to him that walks by the rules of strict justice that will do no wrong yet shews no mercy but peradventure for a good Man some would even dare to die If there be an instance found in the World of any that has laid down his life for another it must be for a good Man one that is a publick blessing to the age wherein he lives some one may throw away his private life which is not very useful for so generous a Person that is a Common good to his Country but if such an instance be found which
things which we comprehend not III. That which makes believing so difficult is the seeming contradictory acts of Faith it seems not to consist with it self Here I take Faith more generally as it has for its Object the whole Word of God the Law and the Gospel the special Object of Faith as Saving is the Promise Saving Faith seeks Life which is not to be found in Commandments and Threats but in a Promise of Mercy Faith acting upon the whole Word of God seems to contradict it self for Faith believes a Sinner is to die according to the Law and that he shall live according to the Gospel Faith has the Word of God for both both for the Death and Life of a Sinner and both are true the Law must be executed and the Promise must be performed but how to reconcile this is not so obvious and easie to every one Is the Law then against the Promises of God God forbid Gal. 3.21 't is impossible both should be accomplished in the Person of a Sinner he cannot die eternally and live eternally yet both are wonderfully brought about by Jesus Christ according to the manifold Wisdom of God without any Derogation to his Law and Justice God and his Law are satisfy'd and the Promise of Salvation made good to the Sinner and so both Law and Gospel have their ends not a tittle of either falls to the ground Heaven and Earth may sooner pass away than this can be O what a mistery is Christ Flesh and blood can't reveal this to us every believer assents to the truth of the Law as well as the Gospel he knows that both must have their full course the Law is fulfilled in inflicting Death the Gospel in giving Life the Law contributes nothing to the eternal Life of a sinner but kills him and leaves him weltering in his blood is no more concerned about him for ever if God will bring this dead sinner to life again he may dispose of him as he please the Law has done its utmost against him so the Law did against Christ spared him not but killed him out-right and left him for a time under the power of Death but having slain a Man who was God as well as Man Death was too weak to hold him he swallows up Death in victory he whom the Law slew as Man rises as God by the power of his godhead the Law contributed nothing to his Resurrection the Law had the chief hand in his Death but none in his Resurrection And here begins our eternal Life in the Resurrection of him who dies no more and is the Resurrection and Life to all who believe in him IV. The reigning unbelief that is among the generality of Men even among those who are of greatest reputation for Wisdom and Learning Ay and among those who carry the vogue for Zeal and Religion are counted the Head and Pillars of the Church Some pretending to Infallibility others set up themselves and are cryed up by many as such competent Judges in all matters of Faith that their judgment is not to be questioned but readily complied with by all who would not be counted singular and Schismatical So 't was in our Saviours time the Jews who had been the only Professors of the true Religion for many ages in opposition to all Idolatry and false Worship they stumble at the Gospel the Greeks who were the more Learned sort of the Heathen World they counted it foolishness And thus was the whole World set against Christ here was the greatest outward hinderance of the belief of the Gospel that could be imagined and add to this the indefatigable pains and industry of the Devil to keep out the light of the Gospel from shining in upon us he blinds the Eyes of Men by a cursed influence upon their corrupt minds that they should not believe Is it not a hard matter under all these discouragements to embrace the Gospel and declare our belief of it Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him But this people who know not the Law John 7.48 49. Why should any regard what a company of poor illiterate people do Their following Christ is rather an argument why we should not follow him they are all but fools and ideots that do so A cursed sort of people This is the judgement the Men of the World have of believers There is nothing among too many self-conceited Scepticks lies under a greater imputation of folly and madness than faith in the Lord Jesus Christ O what a pass are things come too that after so many hundred years profession of Christianity we should grow weary of Christ and the Gospel V. The notorious Apostacy of many Professors this day who have made Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience 1 Tim. 1.19 may convince you all that 't is no easie matter to believe so to believe as to persevere in the Faith VI. Believers themselves find it a difficult matter to act their Faith if their Lives lie upon it they cannot act it at their pleasure without the special aid and assistance of the Spirit 't is God must work in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure Believers are hardly put to it great is the labour and travel of their Souls in believing they meet with much opposition from flesh and blood in every act of Faith they put forth they are forced to cry out for help in the midst of an act of Faith lest they should fail in it I helieve Lord help my unbelief q. d. I am now under some light and power of Faith but I see I can't hold it if thou dost not help me I feel flesh and blood rising up against my Faith I begin to stagger already Lord help me that I may not be run down by my carnal Heart Temptations shake our Faith many times there is a perpetual conflict between Faith and Diffidence yet Faith fails not utterly there 't is still Psal 31.22 23. Psal 42.6 9. Faith upholds the Heart still Psal 116.7 Unbelievers they tremble and turn away from God but true believers in their greatest frights and fears do run to God Psal 56.3 make towards him still Were it an easie matter to believe such suddain fits of unbelief would not come so strongly upon believers themselves Secondly The Reson why many Professors count it an easie thing to Believe The main Reason is this and I will insist upon no other viz. Because they mistake a formal Profession of Faith for real believing this undo's thousands who because they are qualified as National Protestants for all worldly preferments here they rest and make no other use of their Religion as if the Articles of their Faith obliged them to nothing A formal Profession is general takes up Religion in gross but is not concerned in any one point of it But real Believing is particular brings down every Gospel Truth to our selves shews us our concernments in it Save thy self saith
Of Man's wickedness in both these thieves who had spent all their time in sin even to the last hour of their lives but especially in the impenitent thief whom neither Bonds nor Tryal nor Condemnation had humbled or mollified or brought to repentance but being still under the power of an hardned heart we find him at the last gasp railing on a Saviour instead of believing in him and belching out his blasphemies in the very mouth of Hell vers 39. If thou be Christ save thy self and us II. Of Divine grace in the penitent thief First Converting grace and that 1. In the power and efficacy of it for how powerful must that grace needs be which had wrought so great a change had suppled that heart in an instant which had been hardning in sin for so many years overcome so many stubborn inveterate lusts at once and made the Man all on a suddain commence one of the most eminent Saints the World had ever yet had and act faith to such an hight as might not only have become the chiefest of the Apostles but did really exceed any they had hitherto shewn The Disciples of Christ who had sat so long at their Masters feet yet were hardly induced to believe his Resurrection even after he was risen Luke 24.25 When this thief who hitherto had been a stranger to him and now saw him hanging on a Cross and dying yet by faith sees him in his Kingdom triumphing over his Cross and Death too 2. In the freeness of it for 1. Gods grace did not wait for his preparations good moods good dispositions these were all over if ever he had any but it takes hold of him when at the hight of sin and not only was void of grace but seemed past grace i. e. never like to come to it by any ordinary methods 2. It seised on him and passed by the other though no worse that we know of than himself Grace makes a difference where none was before of these two in the like case it takes one and leaves the other II. Pardoning grace This appears in our Lords answer and carriage to him vers 43. He doth not upbraid him with the abominations of his forepast life his Theft or Rapine or Violence his hardness of Heart or long Impenitence but easily readily gently receives him and is so far from denying him a pardon that he assures him of a present Salvation To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise The case of these two thieves doth in a good measure parallel the case of other dying sinners though dying upon their beds They were in the extremity of their lives drawing their last breath both full of pain and anguish in their Bodies and very likely full of shame and confusion in their Minds considering their death was not only cruel and grievous but reproachful in the eyes of Men and accursed by the sentence of God So that here was much to interrupt disturb and distract them in so great so close and serious a work as Repentance is And is it not so with others who live in sin all their days and pretend to Repent at last They are taking their leave of the World groaning under their Diseases racked with pains and have many things tho not the same the thieves had to discompose disquiet and divert them from or hinder them in the like work But if we look to the issue the parallel will not reach so far Here is Man for Man one of the thieves humble believing repenting and accordingly accepted the other unbroken unbelieving impenitent and dying like a reprobate This equality is not to be found among other dying sinners as hereafter we shall see However from the example of these two thieves we may safely infer this Proposition Doctrin That tho a very late even a death-bed repentance may be sincere yet it is not safe to run the hazard of it Two parts there are of this Proposition 1. That even a death-bed repeentance may be sincere this I shall speak to by way of Concession 2. That yet it is dangerous running the hazard of it by deferring repentance till such a time this I shall handle by way of Assertion I. It is possible that a death-bed repentance may be sincere In speaking to this I shall briefly 1. Premise something in general concerning the nature of Repentance 2. Lay down the reasons of this Concession First For the former Repentance may be considered either I. In the Act or exercise of it which the Scripture usually expresses by turning or returning implying that sinners are out of the way to God and their own happiness till by repentance they return into it If we speak distinctly of it we may consider 1. The Essence of repentance which is the turning mentioned a turning from sin to God i. e. from all sin both of Heart and Life as to the love and allowance of it and subjection to it and a turning to God as our Sovereign Lord from whom we had revolted to walk with him in all known ways of obedience and holiness And tho we cannot attain to a legal perfection in this Life either as to freedom from all Sin or the practice of all Duty yet there is not meerly a temporary and transient but a peremptory fixed and setled purpose for the one and against the other which is more than a promise de futuro and amounts to a present breach with all sin and an actual will to engage in every duty a respect to all Gods Comandments Psal 119.6 in the degree of our obedience to which we notwithstanding may oftentimes fail 2. The causes from which it proceeds First A right sence of sin as to the guilt defilement and dominion of it It s being offensive and odious to God Jer. 44.4 as well as hurtful to our selves in the danger to which it exposeth us the blot it leaves upon us and the tyranny it exerciseth over us Secondly An apprehension and belief of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus to them that do repent This is always the principle from which Evangelical repentance proceeds Tho the terrors of the Law may help to drive Men from sin yet there must be Gospel attractives to draw them to God either in a way of faith or repentance Who will dare to trust him from whom he expects no mercy or care for serving him from whom he looks for no acceptance Hence it is that Gods mercy is used as the grand motive to perswade Men to repentance Matth. 3.2 The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and Isa 55.7 From these proceed both that Godly sorrow for sin and that hatred of it which always accompanies Gospel repentance and in a good measure promotes it Paul seems to place Godly sorrow among the causes of repentance 2 Cor. 7.10 II. If we consider repentance in the habit I need say no more but that it is that grace of the Holy Spirit which he infuseth into the Soul as the immediate
Had he had none himself he would not have been so much concerned for the others want of it 5. He makes a publick profession of his faith in Christ and owns him to the very teeth of his Enemies and that too when Peter had denied him the other Disciples forsaken him and those that had rallied after their rout and were now come to be the Spectators of the most doleful Object had ever been presented before their eyes were so far from making any such publick confession of him that their Faith was ready to expire with him ch 24.21 II. Repentance being Gods gift and God being a Sovereign Agent he may give it where and when he pleaseth as to whom he will to one and not to another so at what time he will to one sooner to another later He may give it to one early in the morning of his days to another late and when his Sun is Setting And if the great Master of the Vineyard shall call some into it not only at the sixth or ninth hour but even at the last minute of the eleventh hour what is that to any who shall call him to an account for it 3. God being not only a Sovereign Agent but an Almighty one can by his Power and that in an instant remove all hindrances on the Creatures part and whatever might obstruct his work and so with one turn of an Omnipotent hand bring about the heart of the most obdurate Sinner work repentance in the most unlikely Subject and where there is most within to make head against him and resist his Grace suppose the most obstinate and rooted habits of sin Grace is an infused and supernatural habit and the power that works it a supernatural and creating Power and we are not to confine God in his working Grace to those methods whereby men acquire natural or moral habits In these I grant there may need time to unlearn and extirpate those vitious habits they have so long been contracting and to acquire new ones by a long series of and accustoming themselves to better actions Custom in Men may be strong and like another Nature and they may not be able presently to overcome it nor on the sudden to bring themselves to a readiness and easiness in doing those things which tho their reason approves yet their boysterous appetites strengthned too by custom hurry them against But let the habit of sin be never so deeply radicated in the Soul and the Heart of Man never so averse to holy actions yet God can soon make a change soon remove the sinful disposition and enable and encline the Soul to what it was most averse and impotent He can even in a moment overcome that love of sin and hatred of holiness which is either natural to a Man or contracted by him and both abate lessen weaken the power of sin in the Soul whereby it was wont to resist the workings of his Spirit and restrain and suspend any actual resistance it might make Let the mind of a Man be as dark as darkness it self yet he that caused light to shine out of darkness can enlighten that mind when he pleases 2 Cor. 4.6 Let the Soul be never so dead in sin and destitute of all Spiritual Life yet he that quickens the dead and calls things that are not as tho they were Rom. 4.17 can quicken it and breathe the Breath of Spiritual Life into it and whatever there be in the Soul to oppose him in his working yet the same power can at once quell the opposition and produce the Grace 4. God having infused the habit can as easily enliven it and draw it out into act in those that are capable of exercising grace wrought in them as I suppose dying sinners to be at least when they are capable of exercising their rational faculties For there is less to make opposition against God than in the former case the prevailing power of sin being broken and something in the Soul to take Gods part in the work viz. grace now begun and some habitual promptness and disposedness of the heart to spiritual good and compliance with the will of God It doth not require more power to awaken a vital principle tho dormant than to infuse it where there was none before 5. It may be for Gods honour sometimes to give Repentance to dying sinners the honour of his Sovereignty and free Grace in shewing that he hath mercy on whom he will Rom. 3.18 and that the deepest guilt even of an old hardned sinner cannot hinder the outgoings of his grace and mercy and the honour of his power when it prevails over the most setled habits of corruption Should God work only upon lesser sinners and who are not so confirmed in evil Man might be apt to think that he could not do it and that Mens lusts might be too hard for his power and so reflect on his Omnipotence or to think he could not find in his heart to do it and so reflect upon his Mercy II. By way of Position or Assertion It is a very dangerous thing to run the hazard of a death-bed Repentance or defer Repentance till the approach of death that is to neglect the doing a Mans own part in order to the obtaining this grace as was above premised viz. the seeking it of God and using all those means by which he ordinarily works it The danger of this neglect may appear by the following considerations 1. That no Man knows the time of his death any more than the manner of it or means by which it shall be brought about Our breath is in Gods hands Dan. 5.23 No Man hath a lease of his earthly Tabernacle but is Tenant at will to his great Landlord Who knows when he shall die or how Whether a natural death or a violent one To how many thousand unforeseen accidents are Men subject Not only Swords and Axes may dispatch them but God can commission Insects and Vermin to be the executioners of his justice upon them Hatto Archbishop of Mentz A great Prelate may be eaten up of Mice and a potent Prince devoured by Worms Acts 12.23 And who doth not carry the principles of his own dissolution perpetually within him Death lies in ambush in every vain in every member and none know when it may assault them It doth not always warn before it strikes If some Diseases are Cronical others are Acute and less lingring and some are as quick as lightning kill in an instant Men may be well in one moment and dead in the next God shoots his arrows at them they are suddenly wounded Psal 64.7 How many are taken away not only in the midst of their days but in the midst of their sins The lusting Israelites with the flesh between their teeth Numb 11.33 Julian if Historians speak truth with blasphemy in his mouth and how many frequently with the Wine in their heads In such cases what place what time for repentance for seeking it
it was a rule amongst the Heathens that a wise man should worship all their Deities The Romans were so insatiable in Idolatry that they sent to forreign Countries to bring the gods of several Nations an unpolisht Stone a tame Serpent that were reputed Deities they received with great solemnity and reverence But the true God had no Temple no Worship in Rome where there was a Pantheon dedicated to the honour of all the false gods The reason he gives of it is that the true God who alone has Divine Excellencies and Divine Empire will be worshipt alone and strictly forbids the assumption of any into his Throne To adore any besides him is infinitely debasing and provoking to his dread Majesty Now sin in its nature is a conversion from God to the creature and whatever the temptation be in yielding to it there is signified that we choose something before his favour Sin is founded in bono jucundo something that is delectable to the carnal Nature 't is the universal character of carnal Men they are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God To some riches are the most alluring object The young Man in the Gospel when our Saviour commanded him to give his estate to the poor and he should have treasure in Heaven went away sorrowful as if he had been offer'd to his loss To others the pleasures that in strict propriety are sensual are most charming Love is the weight of the Soul that turns it not like a dead weight of the Scales but with election freely to its object in the carnal ballance the present things of the World are of conspicuous moment and outweigh Spiritual and Eternal blessings Altho the favour of God be eminently all that can be desir'd under the notion of riches or honour or pleasure and every atom of our affection is due to him yet carnal Men think it a cheap purchase to obtain the good things of this World by sinful means with the loss of his favour This their actions declare Prodigious folly as if a few sparks struck out of a Flint that can neither afford light or warmth were more desirable than the Sun in its brightness And how contumelious and provoking it is to God he declares in the most moving expressions Be astonished O ye Heavens Jer. 2.12 13. at this and be horribly affraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord. For my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hewed them out broken cisterns that can hold no water This immediately was charg'd upon the Jews who set up Idols of jealousie and ador'd them rather than the glorious Jehovah and in proportion 't is true of all sinners for every vicious affection prefers some vain object before his Love and the enjoyment of his glorious presence that is the reward of obedience 5. The sinner disparages the impartial Justice of God In the Divine Law there is a connexion between sin and punishment the evil of doing and the evil of suffering This is not a mere arbitrary constitution but founded on the inseparable desert of sin and the rectitude of Gods nature which unchangably loves holiness and hates sin Altho the threatning does not lay a strict necessity upon the Lawgiver always to inflict the punishment yet God having declar'd his equal Laws as the rule of our duty and of his judgment if they should be usually without effect upon offenders the bands of Government would be dissolved and consequently the honour of his justice stain'd both with respect to his nature and office for as an essential attribute 't is the correspondence of his will and actions with his moral perfections and as Sovereign Ruler he is to preserve equity and order in his Kingdom Now those who voluntarily break his Law presume upon impunity The first rebellious sin was committed upon this presumption God threaten'd if you eat the forbidden fruit you shall die the Serpent says eat and you shall not die and assenting to the temptation Adam fell to disobedience And ever since Men are fearless to sin upon the same motive Psalm 50. God chargeth the wicked Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy self not concern'd to punish the violation of his sacred Laws The sinner commits the Divine Attributes to fight against one another presuming that Mercy will disarm Justice and stop its terrible effects upon impenitent obstinate sinners From hence they become bold and hardnen'd in the continuance of their sins Deut. 29.17 19 20. There is a root that beareth gall and wormwood and when the curse of the Law is declar'd and denounc'd against sin the wicked blesseth himself in his heart saying I shall have peace tho I walk in the imagination of my heart to add drunkenness to thirst This casts such a foul blemish upon the Justice of God that he threatens the severest vengeance for it The Lord will not spare him but the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that Man and all the curses written in this book shall be upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under Heaven Psalm 50. Consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver 6. The sinner implicitly denies Gods omniscience There is such a turpitude adhering to sin that it cannot endure the light of the Sun or the light of Conscience but seeks to be conceal'd under a mask of vertue or a vail of darkness There are very few on this side Hell so transform'd into the likeness of the Devil as to be impenetrable by shame What is said of the Adulterer and Theif sinners of greater guilt and deeper dye Job is true in proportion of every sinner If a Man sees them they are in the terrors of the shadow of death Now from whence is it that many who if they were surpriz'd in the actings of their sins by a Child or a stranger would blush and tremble yet altho the holy God sees all their sins in order to judge them and will judge in order to punish them are secure without any fearful or shameful apprehensions of his presence Did they stedfastly believe that their foul villanies were open to his piercing pure and severe Eye they must be struck with terrors and cover'd with Confusion Will he force the Queen before my face was the speech of the King inflamed with wrath and the prologue of Death against the fallen favourite Would Men dare to affront Gods authority and outragiously break his Laws before his face if they duly consider'd his omnipresence and observance of them it were impossible And infidelity is the radical cause of their inconsideration It was a false imputation against Job but justly applied to the wicked Jâ—â— 22.13 14 Thou sayest How does God know can he judge through the dark cloud Thick clouds are a covering to him that he sees not And such are introduced by
Favour of God he is eminently precious Who can break the Constraints of such Love If there be a spark of reason or a grain of unfeigned Faith in us We must judge that if one died for all then all were dead and those that live should live to his Glory who died for their Salvation Add to this that in the Sufferings of Christ there is the clearest Demonstration of the Evil of 〈◊〉 and how hateful it is to God if we consider the Dignity of his Person the Greatness of his Sufferings and the innocent recoilings of his humane Nature from such fearful Sufferings He was the eternal Son of God the Heir of his Fathers Love and Glory the Lord of Angels he suffered in his Body the most ignominious and painful Death being nail'd to the Cross in the sight of the World The Sufferings of his Soul were incomparably more afflicting For though heavenly Meek he indured the Derision and cruel Violence of his Enemies with a silent Patience yet in the dark Eclipse of his Fathers Countenance in the desolate state of his Soul the Lamb of God opened his Mouth in that mournful Complaint My God my God why hast thou forsaken me His innocent Nature did so recoil from those fearful Sufferings that with repeated ardency of Affection he deprecated that bitter Cup Abba Father all things are possible to thee let this cup pass from me He address'd to the Divine Power and Love the Attributes that relieve the Miserable yet he drank off the dregs of the Cup of Gods Wrath. Now we may from hence conclude how great an Evil Sin is that could not be expiated by a meaner Sacrifice then the offering up the Soul of Christ to atone incensed Justice and no lower a Price than the Blood of the Son of God the most unvaluable Treasure could Ransom Men who were devoted to Destruction 4. The consideration of the evil of sin in it self and to us should excite us with a holy circumspection to keep our selves from being defiled with it 'T is our indispensable duty our transcendent interest to obey the Divine Law entirely and constantly The tempter cannot present any motives that to a rectified mind are sufficient to induce a consent to sin and offend God Let the scales be even and put into one all the delights of the senses all the pleasures and honours of the World which are the Elements of carnal felicity how light are they against the enjoyment of the blessed God in glory Will the gain of this perishing World compensate the loss of the Soul and Salvation for ever If there were any possible comparison between empty deluding vanities and celestial happiness the choice would be more difficult and the mistake less culpable but they vanish into nothing in the comparison so that to commit the least sin that makes us liable to the forfeiture of Heaven for the pleasures of sin that are but for a season is madness in that degree that no words can express Suppose the tempter inspires his Rage into his Slaves and tries to constrain us to Sin by Persecution how unreasonable is it to be dismayed at the Threatnings of Men who must dye and who can only touch the Body and to despise the terrors of the Lord who lives for ever and can punish for ever Methinks we should look upon the perverted raging World as a swarm of angry Flies that may disquiet but cannot hurt us Socrates when unrighteously prosecuted to Death said of his Enemies with a Courage becoming the Breast of a Christian They may Kill me but cannot Hurt me How should these Considerations raise in us an invincible Resolution and Reluctancy against the Tempter in all his Approaches and Addresses to us And that we may so resist him as to cause his flight from us let us imitate the excellent Saint whose Example is set before us 1. By possessing the Soul with a lively and solemn Sense of Gods Presence who is the Inspector and Judge of all our Actions Joseph repell'd the Temptation with this powerful Thought How shall I sin against God The fear of the Lord is clean 't is a watchful Sentinel that resists Temptations without and suppresses Corruptions within 'T is like the Cherubim plac'd with a flaming Sword in Paradise to prevent the Re-entry of Adam when guilty and polluted For this end we must by frequent and serious Considerations represent the Divine Being and Glory in our Minds that there may be a gracious Constitution of Soul this will be our Preservative from Sin for although the habitual thoughts of God are not always in act yet upon a Temptation they are presently excited and appear in the view of Conscience and are effectual to make us reject the Tempter with Defiance and Indignation This holy Fear is not a meer judicial Impression that restrains from Sin for the dreadful Punishment that follows for that servile affection though it may stop a Temptation and hinder the Eruption of a Lust into the gross act yet it does not renew the Nature and make us Holy and Heavenly There may be a respective dislike of Sin with a direct affection to it Besides a meer servile Fear is repugnant to Nature and will be expell'd if possible Therefore that we may be in the fear of the Lord all the day long we must regard him in his endearing Attributes his Love his Goodness and Compassion his rewarding Mercy and this will produce a filial Fear of Reverence and Caution lest we should offend so gracious a God As the natural Life is preserved by grateful Food not by Aloes and Wormwood which are useful Medicines so the Spiritual Life is maintained by the comfortable Apprehensions of God as the Rewarder of our Fidelity in all our Trials 2. Strip Sin of its Disguises wash off its flattering Colours that you may see its native Ugliness Joseph's reply to the Tempter How shall I do this great wickedness Illusion and Concupiscence are the Inducements to Sin When a Lust represents the Temptation as very alluring and hinders the Reflection of the mind upon the intrinsick and consequential Evil of Sin 't is like the putting Poison into the Glass but when it has so far corrupted the mind that Sin is esteemed a small Evil Poison is thrown into the Fountain If we consider the Majesty of the Law-giver there is no Law small nor Sin small that is the Transgression of it Yet the most are secure in an evil course by conceits that their Sins are small 'T is true there is a vast difference between Sins in their nature and Circumstances there are insensible Omissions and accusing Acts but the least is Damnable Besides the allowance and number of Sins reputed small will involve under intolerable Guilt What is lighter than a grain of Sand you may blow away a hundred with a Breath and what is heavier than a heap of Sand condenst together 'T is our Wisdom and Duty to consider the Evil of Sin
Hell unspeakable Glory and Happiness for them that obey the Gospel and conform themselves to the Law and Rule of the new Creature an everlasting shame contempt and torment for those that are workers of iniquity Know such a life hath admirable delights to sweeten it in the way and inconceivable rewards to Crown it in the end I earnestly beseech you to propound such serious and weighty Questions as these to your selves when you do either feel the stirrings and motions of Sin or are assaulted by temptations to it from without Doth such an action become me whether will it contribute to or detract from my honour interest or comfort Is a life of Debauchery and Prophaness worthy of a man that hath an immortal Soul and do expect when I die and leave this World to launch into the Ocean of Eternity would I have my Lord when he cometh find me so doing Is not this that I am now inticed and inclined to contrary to the Law and end of my Creation to the Gospel-Law and to the dictates of right reason will this be for my advantage either now or hereafter if this be the Seed I sow what will be the Harvest that I shall reap will Sin ever pay me for the cost I am at upon it and for the pains that I take about it the Scripture tells us the wages it gives its Servants are Death and what Wise Man will do hard Work for no better Wages Suppose that it doth afford present pleasure that tickles a vain carnal mind will that pleasure last Is there not a Sting to follow that honey will it not be bitterness in the latter end Certainly it will issue in shame and sorrow And who will choose to walk in that way though it be a Carpet one that will go down to and lodge the Traveller at last in the Chambers of Death and the Bed of Flames As for those of you who have hitherto been vain and loose and wicked and God knows there are too many of you do not stop your Ears to the Voice of the Charmers do not oh do not hate to be reformed It is better for you to break off your Sins by a timely and speedy repentance than to go on because none of you can tell but the very next step that you take you may tumble into Hell since every step in Sins way takes hold of it What Daniel therefore said to that proud and haughty Monarch Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 4.27 I will say to you Let my counsel be acceptable to you break off your sins by righteousness and your iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor if it may be a lengthening of your tranquilliâ—y or as you have it in the Margin of your Bibles an healing of your errour If every one would mend one how soon should we see a lovely face and excellent beauty upon the whole nay if the generality or major part of the Inhabitants of England and London would be prevailed with to come over to a Sober and Religious Life if Princes Nobles and Gentlemen will be exemplary therein Sin and Debauchery would learn to abate something of its Impudence and grow more modest than it is In stead of walking up and down with a brazen face at Noon-day in our Streets as it hath done it would seek Corners and hide it self under the covert of darkness as in the Apâ—stles times when they that were drunk were drunk in the night 1 Thess 5.7 Now that I might promote in all Persons according to their several Spheres and Capacities a consciencious care and endeavour to suppress Prophaneness I shall close this Discourse with these few following Directions First Pray for some of Christ's Eye salve that your Eyes being thereby open'd you may see the ugliness and deformity of Prophaneness Do not give credit to that report which Sin makes of it self no nor to theirs neither who are its sworn Slaves and Vassals For what true Information can you expect to receive from them who are under the power of strong delusions who are self-deceived and have their minds blinded by the God of this World and run away with a lye in their right hand But do you sit down and take the Word of God for your guide and counsellor and from thence your measures and seriously consider what beauty can there be in that which hath defaced the whole creation that was at first a most exquisite and curious piece and every thing in it very good What excellency can there be after the most diligent enquiry found in that which is in itself contrary to the best and Supream good and makes every thing else so that is so What desirableness can there be in that from whence have come all those stings with which man is tormented and all the poisons by which he is indanger'd Oh! That you could look upon it with such an eye as the infinitely wise and holy God doth and then I am sure you would see it to be out of measure sinful and so hate it with a perfect hatred and flee from it more than from the Devil for it made him what he is and is worse than He who had it not been for sin would still have continued a glorious Angel Oh that you would take a view of it as it is represented to you in the Glass of Scripture precepts which do expresly forbid it and in the glass of Scripture-threatnings which are most dreadfully thundered out against it and in the Glass of those many tremendous and amazing Judgments which have been executed up and down in the world by which God hath reveal'd his wrath from Heaven against all the ungodliness unrighteousness and wickedness of men sparing neither People nor Princes but hanging up some of both sorts as it were in Chains that they might be for the admonition and warning of them that do survive Once more look upon it in the Glass of our Saviours blood which had never been shed no not a drop of it had it not been for sin but that caused the shedding of it all even his Heart Life Blood And it was absolutely necessary according to the divine determination in order to mans Salvation that it should be so for without the shedding of bloud there would have been no remission Heb. 9.22 Had not the blood of Jesus God-man been shed and made Satisfaction as a propitiatory Sacrifice to Divine justice infinitely provoked by the Sin of man the offence and displeasure caused by sin would have to all everlasting remained without any hope or as far as we know any possibility of a Reconciliation The least sin is such an anomy or transgression of the divine Law such an affront to the Divine Majesty gives such a blow at the Soveraignty and Government of God and carrieth in it so much of malignity and provocation that there needs no more than it to sink the guilty person into the bottomless pit of endless misery I leave it then to you to consider