saies again vers 18. I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven As if he should say I foresaw this when I sent you out that it would be so I knew that he would come down as swift as the lightning Beloved this Freedom makes sinners vomit up Devils where it comes what a wonderful thing is this 7. That the dead should be raised would you not Wonder to see a man raised from the dead If so be that any of you should stand in a Church-yard and while you are looking upon a grave and think of the person that lies dead and buried there and how many years ago it is since he died and that now he were rotten and consumed to see him come forth and stand up and live Why now such a marvellous work is done by this Freedom it hath spiritually opened the graves of many thousand Souls and blessed be God we are not without some such that live and walk amongst us at this day and that are with us in this Congregation Beloved do but turn your eyes now and look upon such a man and such a woman that fears God and you have this wonderful sight before you concerning whom it may be said as in Eph. 2. 1. And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins By this Freedom God shews Wonders to the dead the dead arise and praise him Psal 88. 10 11 12. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead shall the dead arise and praise thee Selah Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave or thy faithfulness in destruction Shall thy wonders be known in the dark and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness Why yes God doth so in this case that I am upon And therefore if you that have any Relations any Children any Friends that are for the condition of their Souls stark dead you cannot perceive the least motion or breathing in them towards God or any thing that is good Why 't is true indeed if you be spiritually alive your selves you can't but do that which persons use to do for their Friends that are dead you cannot but mourn for them and in this sense you may and you must do that which would be a great sin in another sense you may pray for the dead and you may be stirred up to it by the consideration of the wonderful nature of this Freedom that it is a thing that will put life into the dead You may look upon a wicked Child or Relation it may be so far gone in sin that they are even past hope as we use to do upon people when they are dead oh as long as they were alive tho very sick yet while there 's life there is hope as we use to say but when we see they are dead then hope is gone Yea but as to this I am speaking of how know you but Christ may come to the grave of that dead Soul and raise it as he did to Lazarus So beloved we that are Ministers of Christ we preach of this Freedom to you and as to divers of you we are afraid we preach to the dead and one would think Why then what hope is there were it not as good to give over Oh no! Preach we must for all this in hope that you may live we are sure that if God please to give you this Freedom tho you have it not yet when it comes it shall do Wonders in you 't will fetch you out of your graves Our Preaching to sinners 't is like Ezekiels prophecying to the dry bones cap. 37. God brought him and set him down in the midst of a Valley full of them vers 1 2. and when he had been viewing them well and seen what a sad Spectacle there was now Son of man can these bones live saith he dost think 't is possible that ever they should live And he answered O Lord God thou knowest As if he should say O Lord that 's with thee who can resolve that but thy self verse 3. Well in vers 4. Come do thou prophecy upon them saith God and keep on prophecying and see what I will do by it Now vers 7. the Prophet prophesied as he was commanded As if he should say That I did and that was all that I could do but mark what wonderful success here was see vers 7 8 9 10. and you read in vers 10. that they lived c. The Lord bless our preaching as he blessed Ezekiels prophecying here 8. That Death it self should be killed Is not this a strange thing You know what a killing thing Death is you have heard of many and seen many that have been slain by it it is a killing all over the World Whether you consider Death naturally or spiritually what a great destroyer ' t is But now that there should be something that should cause Death it self to dye would not this be a wonder why this Freedom doth it it kills the bodily death by the Resurrection of the body it kills the spiritual Death by their being risen with Christ it kills the eternal Death by giving them eternal Life You have two Verses in Joh. 11. 25 26. that speak to this says our Saviour there I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me tho he were dead yet shall he live And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never dye See also 1 Cor. 15. 54 55 56 57. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 9. That a man should be made able to do all things Would you not Wonder to see a man that is so able It may be you will not believe that there is any such man in the World Nay that if he could do all things he would not be a man and 't is true if you take all things in the largest sense he cannot do all things that God can do but he can do all things through God that he hath to do Phil. 4. 11. A true Christian is in some sense weak and yet strong as Paul saith When I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12. 10. And says our Saviour to the man that brought to him his Son possessed with a Devil beseeching him to help him Mark 9. 23 If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth As if he should say Art thou got into Freedom if so there 's nothing that thou hast to do but thou maist go through with it by faith in me A man that hath this Freedom and improves it as he should do he can be poor he can be rich he can do and he can suffer he can live
live without light they are dark men and women in their Souls Another thing that Christ preaches to them is in ver 24. the Lord open your hearts in the reading of it I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins Dying in ones sins is the saddest death that a man can die that person dies to die As the children of God die to live so these they die to die again When they die the natural death they die the Eternal death they die to be damned to be separated for ever from the Lord as those that he will never have any thing to do with more but in a way of tormenting them for their living and dying in their sins And these of all that die out of the World are the persons whose death is to be most lamented If God takes away any of your Relations or Friends or Neighbours if you have but good hopes that they died in Christ 't is comfortable but this same dying in sin Oh! that 's the terrible that 's the lamentable death as you say of some persons sometimes that died in some horrible way Oh! such an one he came to a sad end so do all that die in their sins A sad end the Lord knows One were better never to have been born than to die such a death But I pray mark here what is it that will bring people to such a death Why says Christ If ye believe not that I am he ye shall die in your sins If ye abide Unbelievers if you don't come to me own me give up your selves to me as sure as can be saith he this will be your case ye shall dye in your sins There be some that die to their sins that 's a good death and all Gods Children dye so There be some that die in their sins that 's a sad death as you have heard and all Reprobate Sinners die so There be some that die for their sins eternally and such are all they that die in them and the way to die in them and for them is to live in them These and such kind of things Christ is here preaching I have but named that which I conceive to be most needful for you Well now what 's the success of Christs preaching to his Hearers Why you may observe it was this That of those that heard him some were complying and some were cavilling The Lord grant that all of you may be of the first sort and none of the second Some were complying Hearers This kind of Doctrine took upon their Souls v. 30. As he spake these words many believed on him Oh that there might be such a presence and power of God in our Assembly here that as we are speaking you might be believing applying taking home the Truths of the Gospel so as to be converted to Christ Now these kind of Hearers Christ encourages and bids them go on as they had begun and they should have a Threefold Priviledg The first of them is in v. 31. They should be Disciples indeed not in name and in shew only but in reality q. d. I 'le own you for sincere ones such as Nathanael was concerning whom Christ said John 1 48. Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile You have some that do offer towards Christ begin as if they would follow his Rules and Doctrine but they don't continue in his Word and so shew that they are not Disciples indeed none of the right kind of Professors The other Two Priviledges which Christ saith these shall have are in v. 32. 1. Ye shall know the Truth i. e. have experimental knowledg of the Truths of God God and Christ would reveal themselves further and further to them in the matters and mysteries of salvation He promises inward and sound illumination to them that they should have another manner of knowledg of spiritual things than they have who have nothing but what swims in the brain 2. That the Truth which they should have an understanding of should make them free not like those that abide in slavery and bondage but they should have a state of Freedom Now amongst these Hearers some as I said were cavilling Hearers And this is the sad success that the Word hath upon some that it sets them but a cavilling at what is delivered And thus the Gospel is the favour of life to some and the savour of death to others Now the carnal and unbelieving Hearers take occasion unjustly to cavil at Christ from those last words which he spake to his complying Hearers in the Text shall make you free As if they should say Why then pray what do you make of us We perceive that you count us Slaves or Bond people Your Disciples and Followers shall be taken out of the company of such as are in thraldom why then be-like we are no Freemen Here they thought they had a great advantage against Christ see v. 33. They answered him We be Abrahams seed and were never in bondage to any man How sayest thou Ye shall be made free This that they said was not true in the letter and as to the outward bondage that they had never been in bondage to any man for had they not been in bondage in Egypt and in bondage in Babylon And they were at this present under Tribute and subjection to the Romans Note that a cavilling Spirit is a lying Spirit too They that are given to the one sin are given also to the other But Christ did not mean this in the letter or of any outward bondage but of bondage by sin that they were in And so v. 34. he doth explain himself Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin i. e. is in bondage to it and so will find himself to be at last v. 35. when he shall see that he must not abide any longer among the Children and Sons of God but shall be sent away as the Servant or he that is bound to his Master is afterwards sent out of the house while those that are the sons and Free ones are kept in as those that have a Right and a Priviledg to stay as I that am Gods natural Son do and shall abide for ever in my Father's house together with all his adopted Children who believe on me This 36th Verse to which I am now come is Christ's drawing a conclusion from all this applying this that he had been speaking about Bondage and Freedom to their case that they if they had had Grace might have made a saving use of it for their own everlasting good If the Son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed i. e. If I who am the Son of God and therefore am free and can give freedom to others if I make you free ye shall be free indeed Wherein you have 1. The name by which Jesus Christ calls himself the Son of God or as 't is in the Greek that Son that is such a Son as none is
his conscience and great zeal for the purity of Gospel-worship kept him from conformity Hereupon with some thousands of his brethren he was slain by that fatal Axe the Act of Bartholomew-day O! when will the living God give them resurrection Lord revive thy work in the midst of our days in the midst of judgment remember mercy These Abels tho dead are yet speaking The Bush burns and is not consumed Certainly God hath some great work for them who tho sentenced unto death are yet alive We hope in the living God who quickneth the dead who hath delivered them from many and great deaths we hope I say that he will yet deliver them from this death also For sometime after his silencing Mr. Ball lived in the same Parish where he had been formerly Minister and when the Oxford Act came forth he removed five Miles farther Where he peaceably behaved himself and won upon many of a different perswasion by his moderation sweetness of deportment and holy and unblameable conversation He bore a singular love to all that lookt heavenward tho of a different perswasion from himself therefore kept up a brotherly and Christian correspondence with that worthy Conformist in whose Parish he lived He judged it his duty to preach and that necessity was laid upon him a wo unto him if he did not preach the Gospel Hereupon be neither could nor would be idle but preached frequently and studied to preach in such times and places as were least offensive to authority It grieved him to hear his spiritual children complain they wanted Bread when he had it for them Very many reaped the fruit and benefit of his labours since he was outed his publick Ministry as Cambridg Epping Bayford and other places to which he was related He spent himself in doing good to Souls for maintenance he relied upon that providence which feeds the fowls and cloathes the Lillies and was of blessed Mr. Hierons mind That God who feeds the Ravens would not starve his young Hierons And indeed his numerous family were maintained to a miracle He sought not the world but his God He did his masters work trusting to his bounty for wages and would often say he never lived better than when he knew not how to live He liv'd by faith upon Gods promises committed his ways unto God and had a firm perswasion that the Lord would provide for him and his which was verified He kept a Diary of Gods providences to himself and family of mercies and afflictions of supports and deliverances This quickned him unto thankfulness these experiences strengthned his faith and made him abound in hope in the Lord his God When his goods were seized on for preaching contrary to Law this holy man took that spoil patiently and joyfully knowing that he had a better and more enduring substance reserved in the Heavens and that those losses sustained for Christ and a good conscience would prove gains at last and work out for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory If he was concerned it was for his enemies whom he pitied from his Soul and for whom he prayed as his Lord and Master that they might be forgiven because they knew not that they did the Devils work His great labours in his Masters Vineyard shortned his days but drew him the nearer and sooner to his rest In his sickness his patience was most exemplary bearing his pains with a Christian fortitude resigning himself for life and death unto his Lords disposal For him to live was to glorifie Christ to die gain So he might be farther useful and serviceable in his Ministry he was well contented with life but to be dissolved and to be at home with Christ being better for him in case of unserviceableness this was earnestly desired by him To such as visited him in his languishing he gave serious counsels of providing in health for sickness in life for death in time for eternity He was much in prayer for the afflicted Church of God bitterly lamenting the case of England mourning for those great sins committed in the midst of us and trembling at the thoughts of those heavy Judgments hanging over our heads He sadly and sorrowfully laid to heart the unnatural breaches among Protestants the divisions of Reuben the quarrels and enmities among Joseph's Brethren especially now the Canaanite was in the Land He was grieved at the heart for the unbecoming lives of many Ministers and of multitudes of professors of so pure a Religion whose lives indeed are a flat contradiction to it and for whose abominations God would certainly visit unless there were speedy sincere and extraordinary humbling and reforming with seven worse plagues than ever But the Lord took him from the evil to come after he had languished for some time in a Consumption and breathed ardently after Heaven and Glory He was called upon as the Witnesses to come up hither He had long waited for his blessed charge and that salvation he had believed prayed and expected the Lord his Master whom he had faithfully served put him into the possession of at last He left this life for a better this vale of tears for a Paradise of joys for rivers of evelasting pleasures the eight day of September and in the year of our Lord 1681. and the 58th year of his age Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their works follow them Spiritual Bondage AND FREEDOM John 8. 36. If the Son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed CHAP. I. The Text opened The Doctrine inferred thence The first Branch of it handled FOR the making of our passage clear to this Text we must look back a little upon the foregoing Verses where we shall see that Christ is a preaching to the people and what the success of his preaching was In his preaching amongst other things I would desire you specially to take notice of Two things that he delivers concerning himself which I mention because I would by no means have you to let them pass because they are of great moment to your Souls One is that in ver 12. a very precious place Christ was sent to give light to the World i. e. to bring them out of that darkness which they are in by nature 'T is just as if a man stood in some dismal dark place where he can see nothing knows not where he is nor whither to go and one comes to him with a light and if he does but follow it it brings him into the open view of things So Christ those that follow him he leads them into the light of life into the light of spiritual life that he shall see spiritual things which no man doth or can that does not follow Christ and into the light of Eternal life where at last he shall see and be with God for ever So that all that live without Christ they
as much intend them as the other that his people might not precisely know the very time when their deliverance should be that it should be this year or this day to teach them still to depend upon him for deliverance even when they might think that their deliverance was nearest We must trust God for deliverance but the very time when it shall be we must leave that to him He useth to reserve that in his own breast But to go on 3. In that deliverance God honoured his people Deut. 4. 34. Isa 43. 3 4. He gat them a Name and made them high above all Nations They were a People that all the World did talk of that heard what God had done for them how he had redeemed them and how he had chosen them and how he went before them Well now beloved you see this was an honourable deliverance that God gave to them but this Freedom by Christ is the most honourable Freedom of all God never so honoured himself by any deliverance as by this nor did he ever so honour his promises nor did he ever so honour his people For the first see John 12. 28. for the second Luke 1. 68. to 74. for the third Luke 2. 32. They are so honoured by this that they that partake of this Freedom are said to be made Kings to God Property 4. This Freedom is a Heavenly Freedom They who are interested in it are said to be partakers of the heavenly calling Heb. 3. 1. And they are called the heavenly Jerusalem cap. 12. 22. and Jerusalem which is above Gal. 4. 26. 'T is such an Heavenly Freedom that the very Angels desire to look into this salvation which it brings 1 Pet. 1. 10 11 12. Other Deliverances were earthly or at most the best and greatest of them as I said were but types and shadows of better things but this Freedom is all made up of Heavenliness I shall make out this by Four things a little 1. It is the Sons Freedom 2. The Souls Freedom 3. The Saints Freedom 4. The Scripture-Freedom 1. I say 't is the Sons Freedom that which the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God hath procured 'T is the Son that makes free You have had this largely opened to you Now what an heavenly Freedom must this be that God imployed his own Son in and sent him from Heaven on purpose about it When the Lord would redeem his people out of Egypt he sent Moses and Aaron for that work and they were but Men but when he would give this Freedom he sent one that was more than a Man 'T is true he raised up Christ from amongst the Jews according to the flesh and the humane Nature did not come immediately from God but 't was made of the Seed of David Yea but God was manifested in this flesh and upon this account he is said to come down from Heaven John 3. 13. and to come out from God and to come forth from the Father cap. 16. 27 28. So that in this Freedom beloved there came one from the Throne of God yea one that was God to give it to us 2. 'T is the Souls Freedom the Freedom of the Soul Now you know they must be all heavenly things that can reach that to do it any good In other Deliverances they were the Bodies of men that were set free but in this Christ brings Souls out of Prison and Bondage And indeed herein lies the very main of all the excellency of this Freedom that it is a Freedom for Souls If I should have said nothing else about it but only this That the precious Souls of Men and Women are redeemed by it you must needs have said 't is an excellent Freedom Yea beloved all that I have said or have yet to say or can say runs into this Oh blessed joyful heavenly Freedom by Christ What a thing is this What to bring salvation to Souls to set the Heart Mind Will Understanding Affections Conscience at liberty that when all was bound within with spiritual Chains and Fetters that were Ten thousand times stronger than those that are made of Brass and Iron that when the Soul sat in darkness and in the shadow of death there should be redemption for that that Christ should pity lost and undone souls Oh heavenly heavenly heavenly Freedom Well may I use those words to you here which the Angel used to the Shepherds Luke 2. 10 11. Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savioue which is Christ the Lord. Here 's a Saviour for your Souls Where are your Souls Sirs by Nature What a condition are they in Oh! they are kept the closest Prisoners that ever were in the deepest darkest Dungeon that ever was and this Prison they are cast into for Debt for Theft for Murder for Treason and no Debt like this Debt for 't is the Debt of Sins and Iniquities and no Theft like this Theft for 't is for robbing God of his Glory and no Murder like this Mruder for 't is for destroying your own Souls and no Treason like this Treason for t is against the Crown of Heaven And yet if you will repent and believe the Gospel here 's a Freedom for your Souls out of all this Methinks it should be even with us in the hearing of this as 't is said in Luke 19. 37 38. that we should rejoyce and praise God with a loud voice And if we should not be affected with this Freedom one might think as ver 40. that if we should hold our peace the stones would immediately cry out 3. It is the Saints Freedom Indeed 't is to make sinners free but it is not the Freedom of sinners That is as long as persons are out of Christ they cannot truly call it theirs 'T is the portion and priviledg of the children of God A wicked man may have it but a true Believer hath it The one is under a possibility of it but the other is in possession of it Rom. 5. 2. They have their standing in this Grace They stand upon Gospel-ground Now what a Heavenly Freedom is this that none but Saints enjoy The men of the World may enjoy other Freedoms but one must be in Christ to enjoy this It belongs to the holy Company Eph. 2. 19. Ye are Fellow-Citizens with the Saints Indeed this Freedom doth not find us Saints but it makes us so And therefore hereby you may know whether you have any thing of it Do you think that you are made free by Christ and abide ungodly To be sure you deceive your selves The Lord Christ never redeemed any Soul to leave it where he found it he puts it into a contrary state to that which it had before he found it in darkness but he puts it into Light he found it in Death but he puts it into Life he found it in Wickedness but he puts
he will with him also freely give you all things Rom. 8. 32. Priviledg 14. They that are made free by Christ are under special protection as you know the children of Kings and great Persons they must have some always with them to see that they get no harm So beloved these persons they are well guarded the Lord himself watches over them 'T is true he doth employ Angels for their safety and you 'l say that 's a great matter that Angels must wait on them and be doing them all the good they can Psal 91. 11. Heb. 1. ult But God is so tender over them that he will not trust Angels alone with them but he hath also committed them the care of them particularly to his Son Whereupon Christ saith Joh. 17. Those whom theu hast given me I have kept and yet he will look after them himself too He is with them Isa 41. 10. or he goes before them and then he is behind them too Isa 52. 12. and then on every side of them Psal 125. 2. If this be not enough for their protection then he will lead them Isa 49. 10. if that be not enough then he will cover them Psal 91. 4. if that be not enough then he will carry them Isa 46. 4. Priviledg 15. They are interested in the prayers of all the Saints in the World It may be they are prayed for some where or other all the day long yea all the week yea all the year yea all their life For it is like that there is a continual stock of Prayers a going by some or other of them night and day And they don't use to pray for themselves alone but for others and for their Fellow-Members most of all as Paul did for the Churches of Christ Priviledg 16. Their Priviledges about their Afflictious are very great as that they shall be 1. moderated God will not lift his Arm too high when he strikes nor make his Rod too big when he whips them 1 Cor. 10. 13. 2. Sweetned Heb. 12. 6. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth Loveth and Son these be words to sweeten his Corrections 3. They shall be sanctified they shall be for our profit ver 10. There is either some Sin to purge out or some Grace to be brightned or increased or some choice Experience to be learned 4. At last removed God will be sure to hold his hand when 't is enough and to comfort them when they have mourned enough and to take them out of the fire when they have been tried enough He that hath redeemed Israel it self shall also redeem Israel out of all his troubles Priviledg 17. They have acceptance of their poor sincere duties Alas what is it that they do or can do for the great God to take any notice of it and yet God is well pleased with them Heb. 13. 16. But to do good and to communicate forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased 1 Pet. 2. 5. Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house an holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Priviledg 18. They shall be blessed in and after death in their death for they shall die in the Lord and after death for they shall be for ever with the Lord. As here they are brought into a Kingdom of Grace so there they shall be brought into a Kingdom of Glory Then comes the rest the inheritance the pleasures for evermore the building of God the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens the blessed hope the everlasting life Much time might be spent about these Priviledges and many others that might have been mentioned But I shall stay no longer upon them Now beloved Is not this Freedom by Christ an excellent thing upon this account too namely the excellent Priviledges which come by it And truly now you have heard them methinks you should not be able to forbear going to God when you come home pouring out your most earnest cries to him in these words with which I will close up this 5th Head Psal 106. 4 5. Remember me O Lord with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people O visit me with thy salvation That I may see the good of thy chosen that I may rejoyce in the gladness of thy nation that I may glory with thine inheritance CHAP. X. Concerning the excellent Vses that may be made of this Freedom THE Sixth way of making out the excellency of this Freedom by Christ is to acquaint you with the excellent Vses that may be made of it The worth and value of any thing is seen in the Uses to which it may be put That which is of no use is naught that which is of some use is good that which is of great use is very good but that which is of the greatest use is best of all Now beloved to give this Freedom its due place I must put it amongst those things which are of the highest use and in doing so I shall not set it one jot above what it deserves for the highest place doth of right belong to it Now in speaking upon this I might shew 1. The excellent Vses which Christ makes of this Freedom 2. The excellent Vses which Christians may make of it I shall be brief upon the first because I do chiefly intend the latter To the 1st I will hint but Four excellent Uses which Christ makes of it 1. By this Freedom he brings home all the elect of God He fetches them one after another into the Kingdom of Grace and Glory It was the will of God concerning those whom he hath chosen in the eternal purpose of his love that they should be made holy in this World and happy in the World to come Now by this Freedom Christ doth accomplish that will of his Father he brings them unto holiness by it Tit. 2. 14. and he brings them to happiness by it 2 Tim. 1. 10. So that this Freedom will discover who they are that are elected and who are not For they that are elected will be sanctified and glorified and they that are not will remain in their sins and be damned It will separate between the precious and the vile between the Tares and the Wheat between the Sheep and the Goats By that time the work of this Freedom is finished it will set the children of God by themselves and the children of the Devil by themselves that they shall never come near one another more Matth. 25. 31 32 46. 2. By this Freedom Christ repairs the great breach by the Fall of mankind He heals that deadly wound and makes up that unspeakable loss for as many as believe on his Name In that Apostacy from God the Devil did a World of mischief to the Sons of Men but by this Freedom Christ undermines him and out-plots him and he brings his whole design against the Elect of God to nothing and
Service blessed be his Name but should you not do him more You bring forth some fruit but should you not bring forth more 'T is not enough for you to be gracious but you should be zealous Christ as I may so speak hoped you would when he gave you this Freedom see Tit. 2. 14. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works 3. That so many are gone to Hell for refusing this excellent Freedom Oh what a sad thing 't is to think how many Souls have perished for want of closing with Christ 'T is true they had other sins but whatever other sins they had they would have been forgiven if they had not neglected this great Salvation that made them that they could not escape As the receiving of this Freedom by Faith hath been the Salvation of many so the refusing of it by unbelief hath been the Damnation of more tho poor wretches they are not here to be told of it because they are now gone to their own place Oh! the price that they had once in their hands but now they have lost it for ever and it may be some of these might be your Friends and Relations the Wives of your own bosoms and the Children of your own bodies Well if they were they are perished without hope there 's no fetching them back again you may perhaps mourn to think what is become of them but now they are past recovery your prayers can do them no good and your tears can do them no good and now you must labour to rest satisfied with this that the Will of the Lord is done and that he is glorified tho it be in their eternal destruction 4. That so many sinners tho they are yet on Earth will shortly be in Hell too for the same sin For alas how many be there of those who are yet alive that are making light of Christ and of this excellent Freedom and many of them will go on to do so to their dying day and so come to the same pass to which the unrepenting sinners before them have brought themselves The generations of Christ refusers is not all gone they that were in the ages that are past are swept and snatch away but there are others that stand up in their room there 's a succession of these ungodly hard-hearted sinners that tho we offer Christ and Salvation to them and beseech them as for our lives to be reconciled to God yet they go on and 't is to be feared will go on in the broad way that leadeth to Destruction 'T was a sad word that Christ spake to them in Joh. 5. 40. Ye will not come to me that ye might have life Mark he doth not say you do not come but he delivers it in a kind of hopeless expression you will not come As if he should say I see some of you are of that temper that as you are you will be you are in your sins and you will be in your sins let them that hear me mark it concerning you if you do not dye out of me I pray God it be not so with some of you that are here Really Sirs 't is matter of mourning to see how some of you trifle in the things of your Souls would it not grieve ones heart to think that some of you that have attended upon all this that hath been preached upon this Text should yet look after a Christ no more than you do I am this day to finish this work and I am afraid of divers of you that this Text will leave you as dead as it found you Well the Lord be witness between you and me whether I have not set Life and Death before you and whether if you perish it be for want of being sufficiently told of the misery of your Bondage of sin or of the excellency of the Freedom by Christ Beloved 't will be a sad thing when such a Text as this is done to leave any of you undone Vse 4. Of Examination You have heard much of this excellent Freedom put this question home to your selves every one of you Am I got out of prison yet How shall I know that you 'l say Ans Take it in three things 1. If a man be got out of Prison he hath made his peace with those that cast him in suppose it be for debt that one hath been laid up and you see him afterwards out of prison and you ask him why you were a prisoner how got you out Why saies he I have compounded with my Creditors I have made my peace or I have got an able surety to be bound for me So Sirs have you made your peace with God for your great debt of sin Have you got Jesus Christ to stand bound for you Why then you are no longer Prisoners but if you have not peace with God through Christ you are in Prison still for the condition of your Souls see Zech. 9. 11. As for thee also by the blood of thy covenant I have set forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water God sends forth none out of Prison but by the Blood of that Conant which Christ hath made with God on the behalf of the Prisoner that he will pay the debt for him 2. Another sign that a man is got out of Prison is That he bears a great love to him that freed him If one comes and sees him lye there in a sad condition and hath compassion upon him Well saith he I 'll procure your Freedom for you I 'll undertake it he will have a great respect for that person to be sure when he hath done it Oh! saith he if it had not been for this Friend I had perished I have reason to make much of him Sirs if you don't prize Christ you are in Prison still you have not his Freedom if he hath not your best Love Col. 1. 13. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son Mark how those words his dear Son are brought in with the mention of this Freedom and I look upon them as to be understood not only in reference to his Father but also those who are freed by him As if he should say Dear to his Father and dear to us too 3. If a man be got out of Prison or Bondage he is afraid to go thither again he thinks what a sad condition he had when he was there and he desires he may not come there again so do you fear and watch lest any sin bring you into Bondage again Is there no lust that you would be any longer a servant to Do you dread the thoughts of holding secret correspodence with any false way Why then you are made free You may say as 't is in Psal 124. 7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler the