what plagues and punishments here and hereafter lashes stripes and wounds And that 1. Sometimes from God in this world they have punishments and judgments inflicted upon them by a just and righteous angry God who scourgeth them often in this life for their sin and plagueth them for their iniquity So those that are slaves unto their lusts are punished with filthy diseases in their bodies Prov. 7. 22. He goeth after her a whorish Woman straightway as an Ox goeth to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks 23. Till a dart strike through his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life 26. She hath cast down many wounded yea many strong men have been slain by her 27. Her house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death And this you may too often see and observe in the Weekly bills of Mortality that these silly filthy slaves of lust are rewarded with the loss of life So those that are slaves to their sensitive appetite and given to please their flesh in excessive eating and drinking are brought to poverty Prov. 23. 21. and to death digging their â—raves with their own teeth And if they do â—scape outward judgments on body and eâ—ate yet they are under Spiritual judgments â—n their Souls as blindness of mind hardness of heart loss of Gods favour under the reigning power of sin which are a thousand times worse than any bodily plagues though less lamented 2. Sometimes they have lashes from their own Consciences being filled with inward gripes and pangs with horror and amazement which they are not able to bear but cry out and roar that they would rather die than live to feel these inward scourgings of their own Consciences Those two slaves of Sin and captives of the Devil Cain and Judas when they had done the Devils drudgery the one in murdering of his Brother the other in selling and betraying of his Lord were so filled with inward terrors of Soul that the one cryeth out My punishment is greater than I can bear Gen. 4. 13. and would rather be slain by any that should meet him than live to feel the terrors of his Conscience the other in the anguish of his heart confessed I have sinned in betraying innocent blood and would rather hang himself and die by his own hands and be his own executioner than suffer what he felt in the accusations of his Conscience Mat. 27. 3 4 5. thus these wretched slaves of Satan and Sin are sometimes filled with Hellish sorrows before they come to Hell are noâ— these then hard wages for the works oâ— Sin 3. At the last these Captives shall certainly and eternally after death have harder wages and greater misery than any in this life from God from Devils and their own Consciences 1. God shall pour out his wrath upon them he shall support them in their beings by his ovver that they may not die under his heavy hand and shall plague and punish them by his Justice vvith one hand shall keep them from sinking into nothing and vvith the other shall inflict such vvrath upon them that they vvould rather die than live to suffer and endure 2. The Devil shall be Executioner of Gods wrath He that tempts them novv shall torment them then he that sets them novv at vvork shall hereafter pay them their vvages the very company of the Devils shall afright them and the presence of so many Devils shall be no little torment to them 3. Their own Consciences when they come to Hell shall for ever vex and gnaw upon them if now thy Conscience be asleep and mercies do not waken it and judgments do not waken it and Ministers cannot waken it but thou sinnest and Conscience is silent thou sinnest and thy Friends reprove thee and Ministers reprove thee but thy Conscience doth not reprove thee but though nothing doth awaken thy Conscience now yet the flames of Hell shall certainly awaken it the pains and torments there shall certainly awaken it then Conscience shall be at rest no longer and suffer thee to be at rest and peace no longer then this sleeping Lion shall awake and it will cry out and roar most hideously and then thou canst not go unto thy drinking bouts to bowls and sports and recreations that thou maist not hear the clamours and the out-crys of thy Conscience And shouldst thou say unto thy Conscience Peace be still and let me alone say no more unto me now than thou didst when I was upon the earth what shall Conscience say be at peace Oh I cannot I cannot though I would yet now I cannot God is angry I see his anger I feel his anger and the smarting pain of his Indignation I cannot be at peace I was blinded but now I see I was seared but now I feel I feel such heavy strokes of revenging justice that I must cry out against thee for thy folly and thy madness to be a servant to thy lusts and flesh and devil that brought thee to this place of torment God is lost and Christ is lost and Heaven is for ever lost be silent now I cannot Oh I cannot these are intolerable pains this fire burns it burns Oh it burns these flames are hot exceeding hot and thou art tumbling in a lake of brimstone and can I be silent in the midst of flames in a burning fiery furnace I cannot I must not I will not be silent do not intreat me for I cannot now be silent But that which yet still is worse than all the rest all this misery is eternal eternal wo and alas it is eternal had this fire been to burn only for a thousand thousand years and this pain to be endured only for a million of years yet I must have made my complaint against thee and accuse thee of thy madness and folly that wouldst serve these Devils and hearken to the temptations of these Devils against the counsels and commands of God himself that thou shouldst be such a very fool to buy short and fading pleasures at so dear a rate as to suffer for them such lasting pains but when I do consider these torments are not for certain years but for eternity here I am in flames in restless scorching flames and which is worse here I must for ever be there is no end there is no end wo is me there is no end if I weep my tears cannot quench these flames do not put out this fire they are but like the water which the Smith casteth on his fire that makes it burn so much the more I weep but the fire burns Oh let me call to all this damned crew to all this cursed company of damned captives weep weep weep abundantly come and try you would not weep out your sins come and let us try if we can weep out these flames Weep so we do so we have these thousand years and yet our tears do not put out
this means he keeps them still in slavery and captivity 2. They are bound with the chain of Ignorance of their misery and danger by reason of sin These captivated Souls are in danger of Gods eternal wrath and curse and do not fear it because they do not see it in danger of eternal torments and do not tremble at it because it is hid from their eyes they see not the evil in sin and consider not the evil after sin but think themselves to be safe though there is but a single thread of a frail life betwixt them and the miseries of the Damned When sinners eyes are opened to discern their dangerous condition the conscience awakened they cry out as they Act. 2. 37. Men and Brethren what shall we do I see I am lost tell me Oh tell me what shall I do I am in danger of the torments of the damned if you can for Gods sake tell me if you have any love or pity to a poor perishing Soul tell me what shall I do if you know of any way or means for me to escape that Hell I have deserved tell me is there pardon for such sins as mine is there any hope for such a sinner as I have been and as yet I am my time is short my days are few and I now do see I am as near to Hell as to the Grave Oh what shall I do that I may escape so great damnation So the Jaylor Act. 16. 30 31. but while sinners are ignorant of their misery and danger Satan hath them fast bound 3. They are bound with the chain of Ignorance of the remedy to escape this misery and danger that their souls are in Christ is the only Saviour of lost Sinners Act. 4. 12. Ignorance of Christ is a strong bond to hold men in their state of bondage Some are grosly ignorant of Christ they know not who he was nor what he did nor what he did endure ignorant of his Natures and ignorant of his Offices ignorant of his Satisfaction and of his Intercession how should these get out of bondage that cannot while thus ignorant believe on him that is the only Redeemer of such captives And how should they believe on him whom they have no knowledg of others might have some notional knowledg of Christ the only Redeemer that they may be able to talk of Christ and of his sufferings and of his undertakings for Sinners that yet have not any saving knowledg of him that do not experimentally know the power of his Death and the power of his Resurrection as one might have some knowledg by hear-say of a man that they have no acquaintance with but are utter strangers to if you see your sin and if you see your misery by sin yet if you do not see the Redeemer have no knowledg of him you are captive still and fast bound in the Devils fetters 4. They are bound in the chains of Ignorance of the Covenant of Grace that was framed on purpose for the relief of captive sinners they know not the terms and conditions of the New Covenant how Christ and his benefits purchased by his Death are to be applied and conveyed over unto them Faith in Christ is a riddle to them and while they remain ignorant of the way means and conditions proposed in the Gospel how they should be partakers of Redemption purchased by Christ they will remain in a state of bondage and captivity for the breaking of this cord consider 1 the necessity of Spiritual knowledg no Salvation without it Isa 27. 11. 2 Thes 1. 7 8. 2 The excellency of it Phil. 3. 7 8. 3 The utility of it it is profitable to your avoiding of sin resisting temptation performance of duty escaping of misery obtaining of glory The means to get it 1. Read the Scripture 2. Learn some Catechism What do you make Children of us you are so being ignorant old in years but Children in point of understanding If thou wert an hundred years old if thou dost not know them it is no shame to learn them Set thy self under the constant preaching of the Word there God often opens the eyes of the blind 4. Keep company with the people of God they will be discoursing with thee of things needful to Salvation The lips of the righteous feed many 5. Pray to God to open thine eyes that thou maist see such things as yet thou never sawest Mat. 20. 30 31 32 33. CHAP. IV. The second Chain is Prejudice 2. THe Captives and Bond-slaves of Satan are bound with the chain of Prejudice against the ways of God and serious Religion they have misapprehensions of Godliness hard thoughts of God of the people of God they judg before they try and prejudice against a mans person makes men will not hearken to his counsel or have to do with him I knew that thou wast an hard austere man and therefore I hid thy talent in a napkin there is what is thine said the prejudiced slothful servant Mat. 25. 24. Prejudice against a calling a particular trade or way and manner of living keeps a person from being of that calling or entring into that way Prejudice against the way of Godliness holds sinners fast in the way of wickedness Slaves in Turkâ— have good thoughts of the condition of those that are free and at liberty in their own Country and therefore are exceeding desirous to be in their capacity but the slaves of Satan have a prejudicate opinion of the condition of Godâ— free-men and therefore care not to be of their number And there are several Links in this Chain which we will bring forth and shewâ— how they may be broken that poor sinner might not be any longer bound or detained in their slavery thereby 1. They have this prejudice against the ways of God that they are melancholy ways if they become serious in Religion they must be mourning and sorrowing and leave their pleasures and never have a merry day more This is a clear mistake a groundless prejudice for first though there must be sorrow and mourning and repenting yet this is in order to rejoycing Have you not sinned and if you have sinned must you not should you not sorrow is it not reasonable you should grieve that you have dishonoured God provoked God wronged and undone your own Souls If your Child hath rebelled against you would you have him go on in his rebellion and disobedience still because if he return unto his duty and be received into your favour he should be humbled and profess his sorrow and repentance that ever he did rebell against you do you expect this from your stubborn and disobedient Child and might not God expect this much more from you and would you look upon it as an aggravation of his disobedience to go on therein without sorrow and repentance and that it would be much better for him to sorrow and return if you would judg impartially you would determine the case to be as
howl and fruitlesly lament their woful state and their irrecoverably-lost-happiness 3. Death to the Lords Free-men is the gate to glory and their passage and entrance into eternal life It is the opening of the door to let them into their Fathers house a Messenger sent by God to fetch them into the presence of their God and Redeemer to live and reign and dwell with him for ever that their freedom here begun might be consummated and perfected in heaven In that very day they dye they are admitted as free Citizens of the glorious Kingdom of God Luk. 16. 22. 4. Death to the Lords Free-men shall come in the best time All men dye in Gods time whenever he appointeth but the redeemed by Christ shall dye in the best time when their work is done and when God seeth it is better for them to dye than to live God takes the best time and fittest season for the removing of his by death out of the world But the wicked slaves of sin and Satan are cut off in a bad time when-ever they dye it is a bad time to them because whenever it is they go that day to hell and to eternal torments the day of their dissolution is the day of their damnation and will not that be the saddest day they ever had they dye before their work is done before they have believed and before they have repented and that must be a sad day when-ever it comes Men cut down Weeds at any time but the Corn in the best time in the fittest season when it is ripe to be carried into the barn 5. Death to the Lords freemen hath lost its terribleness And though all Gods redeemed are not actually and totally freed from the fears of death but sometimes kept in bondage through the fears of death yet they have grounds and reasons why they might not fear it But the Devils Captives have always cause and reason to be terribly afraid of death and if they be not it ariseth from the blindness of their minds and the hardness of their hearts It is a wonder that men should be as near to hell as to the grave and yet not be afraid to dye It is a wonder that men should be as near to an endless miserable life as they are to the end of this short uncertain life and yet their fears should not prevent their sleeping in the night and their jovial merriments in the day-time The Devil hath blinded them as well as bound them and that is one reason of it But these cannot upon any solid rational and religious grounds be freed from the fears of death But so may the Lords freemen and this they have from and through Jesus Christ Heb. 2. 14 15. 5. Christ will set believers free from the grave by a joyful resurrection that though they come under the stroke and power of death and are lodged in the grave for a while yet it shall be but for a while Death and the grave shall not always have dominion over their body Death doth bind them but Christ will loose these bonds and will set them free as Christ did break the bonds of death for death was not able to hold him in his grave Act. 2. 24. So he will knock off the fetters of death from all his and bring them forth and make them happy and this as surely as he himself is risen 1 Cor. 15. 13 c. And not only free them out of the grave but also from those evils and imperfections that in this life their bodies are subject to that though they shall have the same bodies for substance that now they have yet they shall be better bodies as to the qualities that they then shall have 1. Then Christ will free them from that mortality that now they are subject to now liable to death every day and hour but then they shall dye no more for ever 2. Then Christ shall free them from all pain and sickness from cold and hunger and thirst they are now often sensible of their head shall never ake their hearts shall never be sick no part in the least pained to all eternity 3. Then Christ shall free them from a necessity of food to sustain them and of nourishment from the use of creatures by which they are repaired and supported daily on this side the grave but on the other side of the grave they shall need this no more than the Angels do in heaven 4. Then Christ shall free them from that weariness that now our bodies often feel and do groan under for he will make them strong and powerful bodies Now-a-days work in the service of God doth weary our bodies but hereafter though they shall be imployed through an endless eternity in praising and glorifying of God they shall neither be weary of it through wickedness nor weary in it through weakness for as much as Christ will free them from both 1 Cor. 15. 42 43. 5. Christ will then so free them from all imperfections that they shall be made like to Christs glorious body And can we desire greater freedom for our bodies than to be made like to Christs glorious body Phil. 3. 21. 6. Christ doth free all his from the damnation of hell that when the Devil 's Captives shall be pained and tormented by exquisite and unspeakable punishment rowling and tumbling shrieking and howling and with bitter cries lamenting themselves the redeemed of Christ shall never be touched with the flames of that fire the second death shall have no power over them Rev. 20. 6. Christ will take care that those that love him above all and chuse him before all shall never come into condemnation Joh. 3. 16 18. Oh what mercy is this to be freed from hell Oh what grace and kindness is this to those that once were Captives and had deserved it and were in danger of it that by Christ they should be freed and delivered from it Oh what mercy would the damned that have felt the pains and punishment of hell think say and confess it to be if they may be let out and freed from it But they are in it and shall never be delivered from it but the Lords free-men are out of it and shall never be cast into it so great is the liberty we have by Christ the Redeemer of Captives in respect of what we are freed from What are the positive blessings that by Christ we are made free unto For Christ did come to poor sinners to redeem them when Captives not only that they should not be miserable but that they should also be happy These things are many and great and glorious let me give you a taste in these few 1. By Christ believers have freedom and liberty to come to the throne of Grace A burden to wicked graceless hearts it is to come and pray to God are backward to it weary of it as if it were a part of their slavery and bondage to come and beg for mercy for