the Lord that thou hast a standing infallible and uninterrupted evidence of thy Sincerity and an undoubted Security for thy perseverance to the end Is there not room for such a question What if I should fall short Art thou gotten beyond all possibility of miscarrying for ever Friends know that a possibility of falling into the Wrath to come were that Wrath throughly understood would work more fear than a certain expectation of all the Torments and Miseries of this Life O Fear Hast thou Faith Believe and Fear Hast thou Hope Hope and Fear Hast thou Joy Rejoyce with trembling Rejoyce in hope of the Glory of God and tremble and fear his Wrath and Vengeance There will be this double use and advantage besides others of this fear of the Curse 1. 'T will quicken our necessary fear of Sin 2. 'T will quench our sinful fear of the Cross 1. This fear of the Curse will quicken our necessary fear of Sin Yea and of all the temptations to it Sin is the sting of Death and this Death is the sting of Sin How bitter would Sin taste how gastly would it look were this Gall that lies in its Belly this sting it carries in its Tail discovered and heeded Thou wouldst quickly be filled with thine own wayes didst thou but see what stands at their further end That Bed of Scorpions whither Sin is dragging thee would make every Sin as a Snake or Adder And of all Sins 't would strike the Heart with the greatest fear of its beloved Sins These are they especially under which Hell lies in ambush for us these are Hell's strongest Ropes by which it pulls in Souls Hath any Sin cast a Cord of Love about thee That 's it that 's like to be the Rope to draw thee to the Slaughter Thou canst get loose from many Sins at pleasure but take heed that foolish Heart of thine will die for it s Beloved If thou ask What wouldst thou have O my my beloved Sin What comest thou to me so often for Why takest thou up thy dwelling so near mine Heart It will answer O 't is to please thee that I am so often with thee I know thou lovest me I am the delight of thine Heart and the pleasure of thine Eyes thou canst not be content without me I am that Ease or that Wealth or that Credit that thou lovest Is there not a league betwixt me and thee Am not I the nearest Friend thou hast Thy Health and thy Welfare and thy Soul are not so dear as I am to thee thou lovest me and therefore 't is I come that thou mayest have what thou lovest But what hast thou now to say to it No no Traitor 't is my Life thou seekest 't is my Soul thou comest to steal away and devour O I dread thy fawning Face thy smiles are Darts in mine Heart I tremble at thy wooings and embraces Get thee gone Harlot thy kindnesses are deadly kindnesses What means that Dagger in thine Hand whilst thou thus kissest me with the kisses of thy Mouth 'T is my Death thou art designing I must die if I will any longer love thee and what Death must I die Is it a short and easie Death that thou art betraying me to No no 't is a bitter Death and 't is a lingring Death an eternal Death that thou art preparing for me This Heart hath been under-ground in the dark Cavern of Pitch and Brimstone I have been in the Deep and viewed those Chambers of Death where thou lodgest thy Lovers I have sent down my Spies my thoughts have been below in the Belly of Hell I have beheld how they lie in that Pit roaring and yelling and blaspheming raving mad with the anguish of their burning Souls I have seen the very Smoke and Fire that devours them the burning Teeth of that everlasting Worm that gnaws their Hearts and the fury and rage of that Serpent that deceived them in O my Soul quakes my Bones tremble terror and astonishment have taken hold of me at the Description my thoughts have brought me up of that place of torment And thou O my beloved Sin even thou art it that art most like to carry me down and bury me there If I die that Death 't will be by thy hand if I run my self into that Fire 't will be for thy sake Away from me thou proud Heart get thee gone Covetousness or Sensuality or Slothfulness or whatever the Name of my Beloved be I dare not have any more to do with thee I fear thee more than ever I loved thee I fear where thou mayest lay me before tomorrow if I should suffer thee to lodg but one night more with me Such dread of thy beloved Sin would a fear of the Curse work in thee Friends consider Are there yet any Sins that have such power over your Hearts are your Spirits so chained by them that you cannot get loose O look to those Chains of Fire into which by this Chain of Love your Sins are dragging you Are you afraid of the Curse of God Are you afraid to burn Are you afraid to be rack'd and torn and gnawn and groun'd under the Milstones of eternal Vengeance then be afraid of Sin Let Hell be your Fear and Sin will be your Fear let Sin be your Fear and it will be no longer your Love If you will not fear this Fear if you will laugh at Hell you will sport at Sin If you fear not to be Cursed you will less fear to be Wicked if you fear not Hell you will hardly fear to be Devils on Earth O Sinners steep all your pleasant Morsels in that Vinegar and Gall spice all your stollen Waters with that Pitch and Brimstone strow all your pleasant wayes with those Serpents and Adders which will bite and sting your Souls for ever Mingle all your Carnal Delights with some such deep thoughts of what they are betraying you to and then go on after them without fear if you can And as this fear of Wrath will work a fear of Sin so will it also work the same fear of temptations to Sin Sin and Temptation lead the same way though Temptation be one remove farther back Temptation leads to Sin and Sin to Death He that fears the Fowler will fear the snare of the Fowler he that fears the Hunter will fear his Dogs and his Toyls Get a fear of the Land of Darkness and you will fear to be Companions of such as are travelling thitherward fear the Plague and thou wilt be no company for them whose dwelling is in the Pesthouse Afraid of Hell and yet never well but when thou art amongst those Decoys that are enticing thee thither What are the Allurements of Sinners to the Ear of him that hath Death and Wrath in his Eye Let them entice thee Come Let 's be merry let 's to the Alehouse or the Tavern or to a Play Let 's feed to the full let 's cloth our selves with the best let
mens misery and it may be said with respect to these Happy is the Man that never feareth But what is the Blessed Fear or what is there in it In short it is this It is such on aversation of the Heart from all manner of future Evils whether of Sin or of Misery which we apprehend our selves in danger of as puts the Soul upon making the best Provision it can for its security against them The Matter or Object of this Fear is Sin together with all the Fruits of it The Form or proper Nature of it is an aversion or starting back or shrinking in from it The Effect of it is to put the Soul to its shifts for its own security against it There are implyed or included in it these following Particulars 1. There is Vnderstanding in it Psal 111.10 The fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom a good Vnderstanding have they that do it They are wise and understanding Men that Fear As we Love not so neither do we Fear but whom or what we have some apprehension of our Affections follow our Apprehensions as our Love we cannot love but what we apprehend to be good so our Fear we cannot fear but what we apprehend to be evil Our mistakes are the ground of the inordinate workings of our Affections when we apprehend that to be good which is not good we love what we should not love when we apprehend that to be evil which is not evil we fear what we should not fear when we apprehend that to be good which is evil we love what we should fear and when we apprehend that to be evil which is good we fear what we should love The reason of our sinful Fear is our Ignorance Ignorance both causes us to fear when we should not and leaves us without fear of what we should fear 1. Ignorance is the reason why we fear what we should not How is it that there is so much Fear of Men in the World Why it is because we understand them not what a vain thing what a weak thing they are how short their power is and how little 't is that Man can do Did we know more how great the Power of God is how terrible the Wrath of God is sure there would be more fear of God in the World And did we know how little there is in the Power of Man and in the Wrath of Man we should ease our selves of much of that Carnal Fear which now torments our Spirits Isa 2.22 Cease ye from Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of Cease ye from Man as from trusting in him so from fearing him for wherein is he to be accounted of How little is it that he can do for or against you There 's little help in him and there 's little hurt that he can do Men pretend to be great and make great boasts of their Power So did Pilate to Christ John 19.10 Knowest thou not that I have power to Crucifie thee and I have power to Release thee What art thou so sullen and so stubborn that thou wilt not speak to me Consider Man the Power of Liberty and Bonds the Power of Life and Death are in my hands Dost thou not know me Yes I know thee well enough sayes Christ Thou hast no Power but what is given thee and therefore limited thee from Above It 's for those that know thee not to fear thee I know thee well enough 2. Mens Ignorance is the reason why they fear not what they should fear Why is it that the ungodly fear not S n O it 's because they know it not Psal 14.4 Have the workers of Iniquity no knowledg Sure enough they have none for they eat up my People as they eat Bread such Morsels would scald their Mouths they would not dare to be such Persecutors and Destroyers of the People of God they would be afraid to touch them if they did but know what they did How bold are Sinners upon Sin How venturously do they run on They Lie they Swear they commit Adultery they Covet they Defraud they Oppress they Persecute But how is it that they are not afraid to do thus O! they know not what they do They are the Men of Understanding that Fear to transgress Christians those whose Minds are enlightned dare not do as others do they see what Sin is they see it to be an unclean thing odious and abominable in the sight of God they see it to be a dangerous and deadly thing They know God and thereby understand Sin which is contrary to him They know the kindness of God and the terrors of the Lord and see that Sin is an unworthiness and abusing of kindness and disobliging of goodness that makes a forfeit of the Divine Love and exposes to his Wrath and Indignation They know the worth of a Soul they have learn'd from their Lord Matth. 16.26 that the whole World is not a price for it neither sufficient to be its Ransom nor to recompence its loss They live in the Invisible World and have taken a view both of that life which is the reward of the Righteous and of that Death which is the recompence of the Sinners They see that Sin is the loss and the death of the Soul the only poison that can kill that immortal part by this alone Immortality is swallowed up of Death They understand that sin as it is the Worm that gnaweth at the root of all their hopes for hereafter so it is the Wormwood which imbitters all their Comforts here this is the Rust that cats out all their Treasures the Moth that frets out all their Garments the Stain that marrs all their Beauty In fine this is it that hath fill'd the World with vanity and vexation of Spirit and Hell with torment And hence it is that they fear it and fly from it Dost thou not fear Sin Sure thou dost not know it O what a light thing doth the World make of it to sin against God! how open do our hearts lie to it how easily doth it beset us we are surpriz'd by it every day and hour Sin lies at the door lies in wait for us in our Fields in our Houses at our Tables in our Closets and how often doth it take us and carry us away for Captives and still we make nothing of it neither feeling the mischief it has done us nor fearing those ruines which it is further bringing upon us We can talk of the evil of Sin of the folly of it of the filthiness of it but we cannot tremble at it sure we do not know it whatever we talk The World would be all up in Arms against this Enemy or else betake themselves to their heels running away from it were it throughly understood 2. There is Faith in this Fear It is but little that we can see of the evil of Sin our understandings at the best have much dimness upon them the
weakness of our sight is helped out by Faith Faith helps us to see with God's Eyes it looks on all things as God looks on them The Lord hath told us what he sees in Sin what a Snare it is what a Serpent it is what a Plague it is and what a Womb it is big with all manner of Miseries and Mischiefs which it's bringing forth upon us God's Mouth is Eyes to Faith by Faith we understand that it is even as it hath been told us of the Lord. Faith helps us to a present view of Sin and to a foresight of all that is behind of all those Floods that this Serpent is casting out of his Mouth to devour the Soul that Woe and that Wrath it's bringing upon Sinners both here and hereafter Future Evils that depend not necessarily on certain Causes are no otherwise clearly to be discerned but by the Eye of Faith And from this Faith this Fear arises as the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.13 We have believed and therefore have we spoken so may it also be said We have believed and therefore fear Heb. 11.7 By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet was moved with Fear Sinner art thou yet secure is the Evil of Sin yet unseen by thee and thereupon is it but a light thing to thee Canst thou make a mock of Sin Canst thou make a sport of Sin canst thou take thy rest in Sin and make a Tush at that Wrath that Sin is bringing upon thee Believe God What is it that the Lord hath spoken of it God sayes It is an evil and bitter thing Jer. 2.19 A Root bearing Gall and Wormwood Deut. 29.18 Like that Star which fell from Heaven Rev. 8.11 whose Name was Wormwood and which turned the Waters into Wormwood of which Men died because they were so bitter God says It is an heavy thing which hath brought the whole Creation into Bondage under which it groaneth and travelleth in pain Rom. 8.22 God sayes The Soul that sinneth shall die Ezek. 18.20 Though the Devil sayes He shall not die though Mens hearts say It is a matter of nothing and because it is a common thing count it but a very small thing and can flout at others Fears Yet God sayes They are Fools that make a mock of Sin Prov. 14 19. And God sayes thus not only concerning some particular Sins the most notorious and those of the deepest die Murthers Adulteries Blasphemies the World will say the same of these He that doth such things is worthy of death But God speaks it of Sin in Specie the whole kind of it little or great the least sinful words even vain words the least sinful thoughts yea even of Sin in semine the inward brood and spawn of Sin that lies in the heart the evil dispositions and inclinations of the Soul which have not broken forth into Act the word is general Rom. 6.23 The wages of Sin is Death Believe God believe and tremble 3. There is Love in it This Fear hath love lying in the bottom of it from whence it arises both the love of God and goodness and that natural and innocent self-love which God hath planted in us and it is not our Sin but our Duty to maintain There is a Fear concerning which the Apostle saith 1 John 4.18 Perfect Love casteth out Fear but of this it may be said sincere Love worketh Fear Fear is Love's Servant whose Office it is to preserve what and whom we love from being offended hurt or lost He that loves will fear to lose or grieve what and whom he loves Dost thou love God thou wilt fear how thou displease or offend God Dost thou love thy Soul thou wilt fear to lose it As in good things temporal Dost thou love thy Friend thou wilt fear to disoblige him Dost thou love thine Estate or thy Name or thy Health thou wilt fear what-ever may prejudice thee in them So in good things Spiritual our Love will set our Fear to be a guard about them It cannot be but where there 's Love and an hazard of losing what we love there will be Fear Sinners are without Fear about the Matters of God and of their Souls Tell them of losing God they fear it not Why so Why if they do they love not God so well but they can spare him well enough Tell them of the danger of displeasing and offending God It moves them not they bear him no such good will as to fear to grieve him An upright and honest Heart and a good Conscience they have no such regard to it as thence to be withdrawn from any course that may hinder or deprive them of it 'T is to little purpose to reason thus with them Take heed of Sin 't will rob thee of thy God 't will defile thy Conscience 't will disgrace thy Profession 't will break thy Peace This hath little weight with them nor ever will till they have more love for Spiritual Things 'T will hardly move them to tell them your Souls will be lost farewel to all your hopes of everlasting Life if you take not heed of Sin they love their Lusts better than their Souls They love this World they love their Money and their Ease and their Carnal Liberty and hereby it appears they do they are afraid of whatever may prejudice them in these things In times of Persecution for Righteousness-sake they Fear Religion as the Devil they Fear Holiness more than Hell they dare not be Godly for fear their Righteousness should be their ruine Our Love sets all our Affections on work What we love if it be absent we desire it if it be possible to be had we hope for it if we have it we joy if we lose it we grieve if we be in danger of losing it we Fear Friend Thou sayest thou lovest God thy Soul a good Conscience what and in such daily danger of losing all and yet art not afraid Thou sayest thou lovest not the World thou hast an Estate in the World and art eagerly hunting after more and wilt make any shift thou canst to secure and increase it but yet thou hopest thou dost not set thy heart upon it But why then art thou so often in Fears Thou art afraid of Christ afraid of Conscience thou dar'st not be an open Disciple a bold Professor because thou knowest not what it may cost thee and dost thou yet say thou lovest not the World Thy fear Man of what thou thinkest will prejudice thy worldly Interest this Fear is a sign thou lovest The Saints Fear Sin yea and all temptations to it Why so O 't is because they love their God and their Souls 4. There is in it an aversation from evil both from Sin and all the Fruits of Sin The three former Particulars are the causes of this Fear but this is in the Nature of it The Understanding discovers sin 1. To be an Evil a corruptive Evil that will defile and pollute
fruits may sprout forth and grow up again the root was not touched whatever was done upon the boughs The heart-Adulteries and heart drunkenness the swearing and lying and oppressing heart the root of all these wickednesses remained untouch'd Let that inward corruption of Nature which is the root of Actual sin be first and most effectually laid at The root of sin is to be destroyed By the Word of Christ By the Blood of Christ 1. By the Word of Christ Heb. 4.12 The Word of God is quick and powerfull sharper than any two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit of the joynts and marrow It reaches to the inwards and pierces the Entrails Like the Lightning it will melt the sword in the scabbard 't will break the bones 't will slay the babe in the womb When they heard this they were pricked in their hearts Act. 2.37 Friends do not open the Ear only but open the Breast to the Word set the point of this Sword to the very heart of your sins and count not that it hath done its work whatever slaughter it hath made of your sins without till the Soul of them the inward pravity of your Natures and the inward lusts immediately issuing thence have received their mortal wound 2. By the Blood or Death of Christ Rom. 6.6 Our old man is crucified with him Ay that 's it that must do it 't is Christ crucified that must crucifie sin We read Mark 5.29 of a Woman that had been many years afflicted with an issue of Blood who by the influence of Christ through the touch of his hemme had the fountain of her blood dried up and so her bloody issue cured The irruptions and breakings forth of lust into action are as so many Issues of blood running upon us the workings of pride the workings of Covetousness sensuality and the like are a filthy fluxe so many unclean issues or running sores upon us Those that sport themselves with their sins are as men that make a sport of their filthy ulcers and unclean diseases Now the way of cure of these unclean issues may be illustrated from that Scripture There are three things to be noted in the cure of that woman 1. The bloody Issue was cured by the drying up the Fountain of her blood These filthy fluxes of lust and wickedness will never be cured till their Fountain be dryed up till the Body of sin be destroyed 2. The fountain of her blood was dried up by vertue issuing from Christ There went out vertue from him 't is said upon which the woman was cured Sin can never be slain but by vertue and influence from Christ Therefore he is said to be a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness Zech. 13.1 Here 's a Fountain prepared against a Fountain and a fountain of blood against a fountain of blood the blood of Christ is a fountain opened to drayn out and dry up our fountain of iniquity 1 Joh. 1.7 The Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin 3. The vertue of Christ was received and the cure wrought by a touch of the hemme of his garment that is by the faith of the woman who said that is who believed If I may touch the hemme of his garment I shall be whole Her faith was it which got out the vertue as Christ himself afterwards testifies vers 34. Thy faith hath made thee whole Friends would you be healed of your plagues Go to Christ for a cure Put forth the hand of faith and touch touch not the hemme of his garment but his side and his heart his hands and his feet touch this Jesus as a crucified Jesus Christ can heal you with a touch but he will not touch your diseased Souls unless your faith first touch him We read Numb 21. that a look of a stung Israelite which was the same thing with this womans touch on the brazen Serpent got out such vertue from him who was signified by that Serpent as cured him of his sting Christ look'd on by faith will not only heal thee of the sting but will kill the Serpent that it shall never smite thee with such a deadly sting again Go to Christ sinner say within thy self If I can but touch him I shall be made whole look to the brazen Serpent and both thou shalt be healed and the fiery Serpent slain Believe that there is such vertue in Christ as will do the cure and lay hold and relye upon him for it Bring thy unclean fountain to that fountain which is opened for sin and for uncleanness and thou shalt certainly find that this blood of Christ shall cleanse thee from all sin Thou that art a Saint mayst set thy Probatum est to this remedy thou hast been with Jesus and thy Faith hath made thee whole thine Old man is crucified with him and the body of sin is destroyed onely because the cure is but begun and must be perfected by degrees by the same remedy as long as thou livest in this imperfect state by renewed acts of faith upon the blood of Christ expect thy total cure From the continual issuing forth of the same vertue by which sin hath received its deaths wound let it die daily till it cease to be for ever 2. Put a knife to the throat of sin My meaning is cut it short of that Provision that would feed and nourish it The old man is given to Appetite and you know what the counsel is in that case Prov. 23.2 Put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite Look how many lusts there are so many sorts of feedings there are to keep them in heart Pride must have ornaments or honour applause respect and observance and for want of other feeding 't will feed upon thoughts upon our self-reflections and dotages any vain conceit of some worth or excellency we find in us Covetousness must have money houses and lands the hopes of getting and the content of possessing them Sensuality must have carnal pleasure and mirth wine and strong drink and dainties and varieties c. and whilest the flesh may have its lust it growes head-strong and imperious there 's no way to keep it tame but by keeping it short of what it craves Make no provision for the flesh saith the Apostle Rom. 13.14 to fulfill the lusts thereof And you may observe it that he prescribes this as a remedy to cure those intemperances riot and drunkenness chambering and wantonness strife and envying mentioned ver 13. It may be thou complainest sometimes of thy corruptions of the impetuousness of lust of the unruliness of thy spirit and confessest it and prayest against it but whilest thou prayest thou canst not find in thine heart to make thy lust to fast it must have its provision still allowed it It may be even when thou art praying against thy pride thou letst it feed upon thy very Prayer thy eloquence or affectionate Enlargement or
any thing thou apprehendest to be praise-worthy this must be meat for thy pride It may be thou prayest against thy covetousness or sensuality but as soon as thou art off thy knees away thou goest to work for the one or to thy play to please the other When some of thy last words are lead us not into temptation it may be thy very next steps may be running into temptation this is but mocking of God and deluding thy self If thou would'st prosper against this enemy whil'st thou stormest it by seeking to God starve it by denying thy self 3. Put a bridle on its Jaws My meaning is restrain it from its actings if thou canst not prevent its conception strangle it in the birth if the fire be kindled within yet give it no vent allow not the lust of thine heart the priviledge of thy mouth or the command of thine hand if thou canst not restrain thy covetous desires yet hold in from covetous practices if thou lovest the wine and the strong drink yet withhold the cup from the lip if thou canst not so easily rule thy spirit yet bridle thy tongue the fire of passion doth not waste by spending but rather increases the ordinary preventing and restraining the acts of sin will weaken its habits I have heard some persons vainly speaking at this rate when I have anger in mine heart out it must and then I am friends and so take it for their vertue rather than their sin that they cast out all their mire and dirt in a storm because then a calm follows Thou fool hast thou conquered thine unruly spirit by suffering thy self to be thus conquered by it what do'st thou think of him that conquers his lust by going to an Harlot when thou hast eas'd thy stomach by thy Bedlam-language then there is a calm but thou neither considerest the sin of letting fly thine angry words nor yet wilt mind that the fire will kindle the sooner for that it finds so easie a vent Damme up the furnace and that 's the best way to quench the coals 4. Set thy foot on the neck of Sin Have any of thy lusts fallen before thee make them sure tread them under thee that they rise not up again do not slight them as conquered enemies which now thou needest no more to fear those which are now under thy foot if thou look not well to them may be Lords over thee again Hath the Lord humbled thy proud heart broken thy unruly spirit and seem'd to turn a Lyon into a Lamb whilest thou sayest I hope I shall never be proud again never be so froward or peevish again whil'st thus thou hopest thou shalt not yet still fear lest thou should'st whil'st sin hath any life in it thou art still in danger as we use to say of dying men whil'st there is life there is hope so may it be said of these dying beasts while there is life there is fear Let that fear be as the foot upon their necks to prevent their rising and return upon thee Well thus set upon sin let it be destroyed reward it as it would serve thee and because it will be long a dying let it be killed all the day long draw not back thine hand whil'st its life is left in it O what an advantage will the death of of sin be to the life of holiness when the body of sin is dead 't will stink dead bodies will do so and all the issues of it will be noisome and loathsome to thee Lust is never deadly but when it lives and is sweet and pleasant when it dies and stinks and is become an annoyance to thee it will be the less thine hindrance it hath now done its worst the more it offends the less it will hurt Do'st thou find sin sweet Is it still a pleasure to thee beware of it 't is a sign 't is still alive it would stink if it were dead thou would'st nauseate it thy stomach would rise against it O this stinking pride this stinking covetousness these stinking pleasures away with them my very soul is sick with the stench they make and when sin stinks then holiness will be pleasant and the work of holiness a delight the very severities of Religion will be sweet when the pleasure of sin ceases The death of sin is all our diseases cured the lean and consumptive Soul will now revive and recover and be strengthened for its work The crucifying of sin is the casting off our weights that hang on to hinder us in our way Heb. 12.1 2. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth easily be set us and run with patience the race that is set before us 't is ill running with weights upon our backs Lust is such a weight upon the Saints as Conscience is upon sinners some sinners Consciences make them drive heavily on in their way of sin when they can once knock off this weight when they can kill Conscience and get themselves rid of its checks and controuls then they rush on upon iniquity as the horse rusheth into the battel let the Saints serve their Lusts as Sinners do their Consciences and then they may run with patience the race which is set before them There is a sore evil that is seen under the Sun Sinners all upon the Tantivie riding post towards Hell O how sprightly O how hot are they upon their chace of sin and vanity and poor creeple-Christians but barely wagging on by a Snail-creeping motion heavenward O 't is a sign that the weights do yet hang on thou art yet heavy loaden thou carriest too many bundles of thorns upon thy back too many burthens of earth and flesh upon thine heart to make any hast heaven-ward lay aside these weights tread down these worldly lusts throw off these worldly cares and carnal desires and delights yea get this carnality which is the body of Sin and the very soul of that body to be slain and crucifyed with Christ and when thou art dead with Christ thou shalt live the better to him He that is dead is freed from sin Rom. 6.7 and vers 18.22 Being made free from sin ye then become the Servants of Righteousness and so shall have your fruit unto holiness and your end everlasting life O what a visible improvement should we quickly see on the professing world did we prosper more in our mortifying work then would the languid and pale-fac'd Saints have blood in their cheeks and more spirits in all their veins the young man within would be fresh and ruddy were the old man once well laid then would the Plants grow up into Trees and the Shrubs into Cedars then will the lame man leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb be loosed then would this vile image of earth and flesh vanish and disappear and the Spirit of Glory and of God would more visibly rest upon us and we should go forth as the Sun out of his Chamber and rejoyce as the
343. at the beginning of l. 26. add the Figure 2 But the chief faults are in the paging viz. After p. 224. instead of 225. is 257. and after p. 320. is p. 305. and after p. 320 again is 337. But in the Book it self there is not any thing out of its proper place but all comes in in its order the only error herein being in the Figures of the Pages Godly Fear OR The Nature and Necessity of Fear and its Usefulness c. PROV 28.14 Happy is the Man that feareth alway YOU will not expect that I spend time in enquiring after the connection of these words with the foregoing or the following parts of this Chapter if you consider the Book in which they are found The Book of Proverbs wherein many precious Truths are laid and pack'd together but not connected together this Book being rather a Golden Mine than a Golden Chain The words of the Text are an entire Proposition which may be logically resolved into 1. A Subject the Man that feareth together with the Circumstances of time alway 2. An Attribute or something affirmed concerning this Man happy he is an happy Man For the opening of these words briefly Happy or blessed or as it is in the Original O the blessedness O how blessed he is a very happy Man the Man that feareth that is say some The Man that feareth all the evil that is before him the misery that is before him the danger that he is in Say others The Man that feareth God according as it 's express'd Prov. 23.17 that is in the fear of God all the day long Others that walks cautelously and warily Qui prospicit ne quid temerè aggrediatur nec absque debitâ deliberatione consilio sollicitè cavens ne quid boni omittat nec in malum ruat He that walks with Counsel and Care that he neglects not his Duty nor fall into danger Put all these Interpretations into one and you have the full sense of the words He that walking under an awe and reverence of God and a sense of the danger he is in wisely and warily orders his steps that he be not surprized by Sin or by Wrath. Alway The Caldee renders it Omnia that feareth all things that feareth himself his Eyes his Ears his Tongue his Table his Estate his Business his Company his Friends and his Enemies that is as far forth as they may be Inlets or Instruments or Temptations to Sin and so may expose him to danger But the word is alway that feareth at all times that is never secure The Doctrine that I shall hence insist upon is this Doct. A Life of Holy Fear is a Blessed Life In the opening hereof I shall more particularly enquire 1. What that Fear is to which Blessedness is pronounced 2. What that Blessedness is which is pronounced to this Fear In the handling whereof I shall together give in the proof of the Doctrine 1. What that Fear is to which Blessedness is pronounced There is a Fear that is our weakness As 1. the Fear of the faint-hearted a natural pusillanimity or cowardize there are such weak Spirits in whom every little danger or but the shadow of a danger shakes their Hearts and puts them into anxieties and disquiets In what perpetual bondage do some timerous Spirits live how restless are their hearts like the troubled Sea that cannot be at rest every little gust raises a storm In what a daily and hourly succession of vexing disquiets do they live 2. The Fear of the Scrupulous about some supposed moral Evils which concern their practice who through weakness of Understanding or the abounding of Melancholy do often fancy that to be Sin which is no Sin and thereby fright themselves off from the use of their Liberty and sometimes from their very Duty Every Morsel that they eat every Garment that they wear they are afraid lest it be too much or too good or too fine c. and thereby scruple themselves out of their convenient Food and all comely Apparel Some poor Melancholick Christians dare not pray for fear of taking the Name of God in vain dare not come to the Table of the Lord at all for fear of coming unworthily In this Fear there is a mixture of Good and Evil there 's something Good an aversion from Sin and tenderness of running into it and there 's something evil a sinful mistake counting that evil which is not evil as we may not call Evil Good so neither may we call Good Evil this weakness as it is evil so it is mischievous too it leads us into Sin we may sometimes sin for fear of Sin and it brings us into Bondage we may say concerning this fear of Sin as the Apostle doth concerning the fear of Death Heb. 2.15 There are some who through fear of Sin are all their life time subject to Bondage Of the two it 's much a less evil than the other extream better a scrupulous Conscience than a dissolute Conscience better strain at a Gnat than swallow a Camel there 's less danger in being frighted at a Bug-bear than not afraid of a Bear whatever there be in Nicety it 's a vertue in comparison of Licentiousness yet this Fear this groundless mistaken Fear is an evil and to be suppressed There is a Fear which is Mens great wickedness a Fear of Religion and Righteousness a Fear of the Labours and Severities of Religion and of those Sufferings it may expose them to Sometimes Men Fear the Yoke of Christ they dare not be his Disciples his Yoke they doubt will be too heavy for their Necks To be tied up so short from every Sin from all their Carnal Liberties and Pleasures to be held so close to painful Duty and to such constant Duty the foresight of it scares them back from Christ they dare not be his Disciples I would be a Christian but I am afraid how I shall ever be able to bear his Yoke But mostly they Fear the Cross of Christ they have heard what Christ expects Matth. 16.24 If any will come after me let him take up his Cross and they see that it so falls out that no sooner is the Yoke taken upon the Neck but the Cross is presently laid on upon the Back He that will be a sincere Christian must be a suffering Christian All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 Must they so Then serve Christ who dare for me They dare not be Followers of the Lamb for fear of being a prey to the Wolves There is a Fear which is Mens Punishment the Fear of the Guilty a guilty Heart is a terror to it self a Magor-missabib Fear round about and makes almost every thing else a terror to it Prov. 28.1 The wicked flee when no Man pursues his guilt still dogs him at the heels the terrors of the Lord fall on him and horror and astonishment take hold of him All these Fears are
the Soul a destructive Evil that will undoe and destroy it 2. To be an evil hardly to be escaped It sees the Soul to be in danger of it every day and every hour Evil as Evil is not the Object of Fear but Evil that we are in danger of Evil as Evil is the Object of Hatred not so of Fear there 's no Fear of Sin in Heaven because there 's no danger of it To hear of the Plague or Sword or Famine or Earthquakes or Fire in the Indies or any other remote parts of the World this doth not move Fear it 's far enough off us we are in no danger of it But when the Plague is in the Town when the next House is on Fire then we are startled 3. To be an Evil not to be endured an intolerable Evil Hereupon the Heart shrinks back from it and is in pain till it can be secured against it 5. There is foresight in it Fear is of future Evil apprehended to be coming on Prov. 22.3 A prudent Man foreseeth the Evil. This prudent Man is the very same with this fearing Man as appears by the next words and hideth himself 't is Fear that makes Men hide A bold Sinner is blind and cannot see afar off 2 Pet. 1.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pur-blind that can see things very near but through the weakness of his Eyes cannot see at a distance he is but short-sighted Sinners are Men for the present and they look not to what comes after But sayes the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.18 We look on the things that are not seen as on the Good things so on the Evil not seen He that Fears God sees what 's out of sight to the blear-ey'd World He sees Evils in the beginning of them he sees Midnight in the Evening he sees the Winter in the Autumn He sees Evils in the causes of them he sees the Storms in the Cloud the Birth in the Conception James 1.15 Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth Sin and Sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death What is there in a Thought What is there in a Lust or an evil Motion Who would fright himself with Fancies saith the Pur-blind World I but what will this Thought or this Lust bring forth Who knows saith the Fearing Soul what a numerous Brood may spring forth out of this pregnant Womb Lust when it hath conceived brings forth Sin any Sin the worst that can be imagined multitudes of Sins all manner of Iniquities Lust will bring forth Sin and what will Sin bring forth Why Sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death A prudent Man foreseeth all this sees Sin 's last in its first its Fruits in its Root he sees the product and issues of things that do appear the burning down of the House in the first Spark that kindles in the Thatch in the entrance of the Thief in at the Door he sees all the rifling and bloodshed that afterwards follows Sinner how is it that thou art so secure Friend what seest thou Some it may be will answer as the Prophet's Servant when he first went up to Carmel 1 Kin. 18.43 I see nothing Others will answer as he did at his last going up I see a Cloud but it 's but a little one no bigger than a Man's hand But the Prophet saw a great Rain in that little Cloud Sinner thou that yet seest nothing nothing to trouble thee nothing to make thee afraid look again and again even unto seven times Dost thou yet see a Cloud rising do not say it is a little one take heed if thy foresight do not thy sense will quickly tell thee what a Storm there is in it Christian how is it that thou art so secure where be thine eyes art thou blind also Dost thou not see the Spark in the Thatch Dost thou not see the Thief at the Door Hast thou a Treasure within hast thou a God a Conscience a Soul hast thou Grace hast thou Peace hast thou Hope And dost thou not see the Thief breaking in and the Fire breaking out that Lust that is in thine Heart and the Temptations that are at the Door ready to steal away or burn up every good thing thou hast How is it that there is no Cry heard within thee Fire Fire Thieves Thieves Look to thy self save thy self O my Soul from the mischiefs and miseries that are coming upon thee We may give a Judgment of what Sin is bringing forth by observing what it hath brought forth Fear will conclude that what hath been may be It 's like to be my case which hath been the case of others What hath Sin done upon the World How hath it filled them with all Vnrighteousness Fornication Covetousness Wickedness Maliciousness Envy Murder Debate Deceit Malignity c. Rom. 1.29 What Fools and Bruits and Stocks hath it made them fit for nothing but to be Fuel for the Eternal Fire And what hath it done even upon Christians or the Professors of Christianity How low hath it held many of them so low that they can hardly tell whether they are alive or dead and those that have seem'd to be gotten up a little higher how often hath it pull'd them down again even to Death's Door Some Professors it hath slain out-right The Christianity they seem'd to have is dead and buried O Friends when you see what Sin and the Temptations thereof have done to others is it not to be feared what it may do to you May I not say to you as Peter did to Saphira if you look not the more carefully to it Acts 5.19 The Feet of those that have buried thy Husband are at the Door to carry thee out The same Sins the same Temptations that have slain your Friends and buried them behold their feet are at the Door waiting for your Souls also Open your eyes a little and look who there are round about you Behold the Pleasures of Sin waiting for you behold the Gains of Unrighteousness waiting behold your Carnal Friends and Sinful Companions behold the Persecutions and Scoffs and Scorns the Bonds and Imprisonments that are waiting at the Door and what wait they for but to carry out your Souls also dead to those that you have seen slain before you Hast thou seen what hath become of others and dost not therein foresee what may become of thee and canst thou yet be secure Christians you are Men of like Passions and subject to the same Temptations with other Men there 's the same Pride the same Lust after the World the same love of Carnal Pleasures the same fears of Fleshly Sufferings rooted in your Natures And do you not feel these Evil Roots sometimes budding these Fires kindling And have you not often suffered loss by them Yet you hope you have a little Faith some Love to Christ some Hope towards God some Conscience of Sin some Affection for Things Above let Lust alone a-while venture on upon Temptations a-while and O what leanness of
Soul yea what Sickness yea what Death may it bring upon you What Carcasses may these living Souls quickly become Lift up your eyes and look before you foresee the Evil before you be surprized and swallowed up by it 6. It hath forecast in it Fear will make to beware 't will put us to our shifts 't will set us a considering and contriving and casting about how we may best escape the danger we are in Fear hath care going along with it 2 Cor. 7.11 The Fearless ones are the careless and the heedless ones A fearing Christian will be a circumspect Christian he looks to his Steps and takes heed to his Wayes that he sin not Psal 39.1 He will keep his Enemy in his Eye that he fall not upon him at unawares He is tender of transgressing and therefore keeps his Watch and stands upon his Guard continually He sees he walks among Temptations and Snares and therefore looks diligently to his Foot that it be not taken in the Snare He sees how loose and heedless Christians do smart for their folly he sees that Prevention is better than Repentance and therefore though he will repent when he is fallen yet he would rather make as little Work as may be for Repentance Rejoycing that he hath been kept from Iniquity he prizes at a higher rate than repenting of Iniquity A Prudent Man is a Provident Man I see saith the Fearing Soul I see I am in danger my Soul is in danger my Life is in danger I stand in Jeopardy every hour Evil is before me and it may come upon me ere I am aware And what if it should come upon me Put the case I should be overtaken overtaken of Sin overtaken of Wrath how bitter will then my Folly be unto me Nay there 's no may be in the Matter Evil will come upon me and I shall not escape if I look not the better to it But is there no way to prevent it Is there no security from the Snare no refuge from the Storm no shadow from the Heat Must I fall must I sin and be miserable and perish and is there no remedy How may I escape What 's to be done to save my self from evil These are the fore-castings of the Fearing Soul And when they have found him out his Way they hold him to it when they have discovered a Refuge they hasten him in The Man-slayer needed no other Monitor the Avenger of Blood at his Back and the Fear in his Heart put him to his Heels to hasten to the City of Refuge Heb. 11.7 By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet of a Deluge or Flood of Waters moved with Fear prepared an Ark to the saving of his House Mark it his Faith moved his Fear and his Fear put him on providing an Ark against the Waters A Flood cometh to wash away wickedness from the Earth and to drown all the Sinners thereof This Faith foresaw an hundred and twenty years before it came and thereupon Fear cries out O for an Ark to save from the Waters It 's no time to lie still and sleep it 's no time to sit eating and drinking to be marrying and giving in marriage an Ark an Ark must be prepared to save from the Flood Let me here by the way put in a word or two to this Age and Nation Hath God said nothing Doth Faith see nothing of a Flood coming upon us Is there such a Deluge of Sin amongst us and doth not that prophesie to us of a Deluge of Wrath Lift up your Eyes Christians stand and look through the Land Eastward and Westward Northward and Southward and tell me what you see Behold a Flood cometh a Flood of Sin is already broken forth upon us the Fountains of the great Deeps are broken up and the Windows of Hell are opened and is there not a mighty Stream of Iniquity running down even from all Parties among us From one Party the openly profane Behold a Flood of Atheism and Infidelity amongst those that still bear the Name of Christ upon their Foreheads what multitudes are there that are Pagans in Heart and Life A Flood of Oaths and Curses and Blasphemies Are there not many Men become like that Beast that arose out of the Sea Rev. 13.1 having the Name of Blasphemy upon their Heads A Flood of filthy Lusts and stupendious Adulteries What a new Sodom is there sprung up out of the Ashes of the old and hath not the Younger out-done the Deeds of the Elder A Flood of Fury and Rage is broken forth such a Flood as the Serpent cast out of his Mouth after the Woman Rev. 12.15 Persecutions raised upon those that separate themselves from the filthiness of the Land And besides these Streams that come by the way of the Wilderness behold another Stream that rises even in the Garden of the Lord the Waters of the Sanctuary are become a muddy Stream and a troubled Sea that casts up Mire and Dirt. A mixed Stream comes forth Divisions Contentions Quarrellings Heresies Hypocrisies Unrighteousness Unmercifulness with but a very little Truth and Righteousness among The Waters of Grace and Peace the still Waters are but low Waters and run so softly as if the Fountain were quite dryed up and instead thereof Pride Haughtiness Headiness and Uncharitableness how do they swell amongst us and rise higher every day In this Flood of Sin how easie is it for him that hath eyes to see a Flood of Wrath even running in upon us to consume us from off the Earth But all this while where be the Noahs amongst us What preparations is there making for an Ark against the Flood How is it that we are so secure There be many amongst us that are crying A Flood a Flood cometh can our Land any longer bear the Iniquities of it Can the Soul of God but be avenged of such a People as this But how few of us are there heard crying An Ark an Ark to save us from the Flood And of those that cry an Ark how very few are there that are preparing an Ark How is it that we are not every one shifting for our selves and hiding our selves from the Evil to come I do not mean shifting to hide our selves by our Wits much less by our wickedness wo to such shifters who make shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience to save themselves from drowning who choak themselves in the Mud to save themselves from the Waters But how is it that there is no more care taken to hide our selves in God to imbarque with Christ and to lodg our selves in the Ark of the Covenant of God What hiding place have we but Christ What Ark can we have that will bear us up above the Waters but the Ark of the Covenant there we may be safe in Christ and out of danger in Covenant with God and out of fear of the Wrath of God How is it that there is no more enquiring Am I
doth Lust lead but to Sin and whither doth Sin lead but to Death and to Hell Be not mistaken that 's the Lake that this whole Herd of Swine being driven by the Devil are running headlong into Friends this is the very case that the World is brought into it lyeth in Wickedness and runneth upon Vengeance And yet behold all at quiet all secure no news nor noise nor fear of danger but all in peace Dost thou not find Sinner that none of these things move thee or put thee to any trouble or care And is this sleepy Evil the Disease only of the World Are there none to be found in the Churches of God sick of the same Disease Is there that watchfulness that jealousie that should be upon those that profess themselves Christians and to have escaped the pollutions of the World through the knowledg of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Do these Virgins alwayes stand with their Loins girded and their Lights burning Do not our Souls also lie open to the temptation is not our foot often taken in the snare What means the dimness of our Light the damp that is upon our Love the spots upon our Faces the clouds that we sometimes find upon all our Comforts What means our poverty and leanness our frequent decayes and backsliding How hath this World crowded in with so much of its Cares and Lusts and hath seated it self so near the Throne of God Are there no worldly Professors no covetous greedy Professors Is it a sign thou hast stood upon thy Guard that there are so many Thorns sprung up so many Thieves stollen in before thou wert aware Dost thou not see how thou art surprized daily and met with at every turn Dost thou not often confess this to the Lord and complain against thy self what an uneven unstable Soul thou art and how many and how great thy Falls and Corruptions are and hast thou not still abundant matter of the same Complaints to make Who would think 't were possible that such a soul should yet be secure and careless Hast thou catch'd so many a Fall for want of fear of falling how then canst thou but Fear And yet after all this after this sinning and falling and confessing and complaining how quickly is all forgotten and about the World again we go to our Businesses to our Recreations to this Company to that any whither whither our Hearts or Occasions lead us leaving our selves as open to every Temptation that meets us as if we had never suffered by it This Evil as 't is a common so it is a dreadful Evil there 's a Woe denounced against it Amos 6.1 Wo to them that are at ease in Zion To them that are at ease that is to th m that are secure as you have it in the Margin In Zion in the Church of God Woe to the secure Israelites to secure Professors there 's no Priviledg there 's no Profession that will secure the Secure from the Woe and Wrath of God 'T is a wretched thing to behold a secure Worldling secure Aliens and Strangers from God who know not the Judgments of God but to see a company of secure Israelites of secure Christians to whom it hath been said Awaken thou that sleepest stand up from the Dead save thy self from that misery that is coming upon the World this is indeed a woful and a wonderful thing Thou that hast been warned so often that hast been preached to and prayed over and hast been as a Brand pull'd out of the Burning and yet no more to dread the Fire thou that hast tasted of the bitterness of Sin and felt the smart of it and hast had thine Eyes opened to see what it is preparing for thee thou that canst talk sometimes of tenderness of watchfulness of care and heedfulness and of the constant necessity thereof art thou a secure careless Soul Wo be unto thee Vers 3. We have a particular Instance of one piece of this Security that put far away the evil day which because it hath an influence upon the maintaining of this whole Disease I shall enlarge a little upon it By the Evil Day understand the day of retribution or recompence whether it be the day of tribulation in this World or the day of Death and of Judgment There is a double putting this evil day afar off There is a putting it 1. Far from our Reins 2. Far from our Loyns 1. Far from our Reins That is from our Thoughts and Consideration as Jer. 12.2 Thou art near in their Mouth and far from their Reins Thou art much spoken of but little thought on Thus Men put the Evil Day far off when they do not think of such a day it 's out of sight and out of mind with them 't is the least of all their Thoughts that there is an evil day coming The thoughts of such a day would have the same effect as that cry that was made at the coming of the Bridegroom Matth. 25.6 At midnight there was a Cry made Behold the Bridegroom cometh and this cry turn'd Midnight into Morning all the Sleepers awakned and arose and trimmed their Lamps How is it Friends that there is not such a Cry made every Day and every Night How is it that your Hearts do not still cry in your Ears The Day of the Lord is near the Judg is at the Door the Avenger is at the Heels Behold the Bridegroom cometh O this seldom enters into our Hearts this Day of the Lord is far from our Reins If the Evil Day were kept nearer us 't would make Evil Works keep farther off If when Men are jolly and merry and mad after their Lusts and drunken into a dead sleep in their Sins If whilst others are idle and slothful are retchless and supine in their Spirits and Ways laying by all care and circumspection over themselves giving themselves up to the heedlesness of their sluggish hearts and hereby led out into those sins vanities which are the Fruits of such Security if such Thoughts should arise in their Minds and sit close upon their Hearts How shall I answer for this in the Day of the Lord Is not the Day of the Lord coming Is it not near May not the very next day be the Evil Day And if it should prove to be so indeed what a case am I in if my Judg should find me thus How would such Thoughts scatter away Iniquity and scare such drowsie Souls out of all their ease and slothfulness Friend consider thou knowest what a life 't is thou ordinarily livest Art not thou one of those that art at ease in Zion art not thou the Man that dwellest careless that art quiet and secure hast not thou left thy Soul like that City that hath neither Gates nor Bars is not that heart of thine left open Night and Day let the Tempter come when he will he may find easie entrance Is not thine heart open to Temptations yea and open
to Wrath and Vengeance Wouldst thou be content the Day of the Lord should find thee thus Art thou sure but that Day may find thee thus Would not such a Voice from Heaven Thy Day is come strike thee into horror and amazement and strike through thy easie lazie Soul as a Dart through thy Liver O why wilt thou not try what some thoughts of that Day might do whether it would not perswade thee to a wiser course and put thee into a better case against it comes indeed It is a strange thing that it should be possible for Sinners that believe the Scriptures not to think of a day of recompence Hast thou not heard dost thou not read that the Wages of Sin is Death dost thou not know that every working day must have its pay-day Canst thou be Sowing daily and never think of Reaping And hast thou not learned That as thy Sowing is such must thy Reaping be that an evil Seed-time will bring forth an evil Harvest Canst thou be Sowing Tares and either not think of Reaping at all or think of Reaping Wheat Is this all the wit thou hast Be not deceived as Men Sow so shall they also Reap he that Soweth to the Flesh shall Reap Corruption he that Soweth to the Spirit shall Reap Life Everlasting Gal. 6.7 8. Know it in time and throughout thy Sowing think of thy Reaping-Day 2. Men put the Evil Day far from their Loyns That is though they do think of the Judgments of God and as such as both may overtake them and if they fall will fall heavy upon them and grind them to Pouder yet they count 't will be a great while first there may be time enough to prevent them or at least the distance they apprehend of them from them makes them the less to be feared or regarded Eccles 1.8 Because Sentence against an evil work is not executed specdily therefore the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do evil Because Judgment is so long a-coming therefore they grow bold in their Sin as if 't would never come Not till after a long time is almost the same with them as never at all As if because the Bench and the Gibbet stand not both together because the Sin and its Sentence the Sentence and its Execution are not on the same day therefore there will be no Sentence no Execution as if because it's Sun-shine to day there were no fear of a Storm for many dayes after The Thoughts of Sinners are like those words of Rebellious Israel Ezek. 12.27 The Vision that he seeth is for many dayes to come and he Prophesieth of the Times that are far off Those Scoffers who walk after their own Lusts 2 Pet. 3.4 demand in derision Where is the Promise of his coming Where is the Promise that is where is the Threatning of his coming The same word that is a Promise to the Saints is often a Threatning to Sinners Where is the Threatning of his coming There hath been much Preaching and Talking of the Day of the Lord of a Black Day that 's coming to pay all our Scores this hath been foretold a long time agone even in the dayes of our Fore-fathers who are yet gone to their Graves in peace and behold to this day after the revolution of so many Ages we see no sign of it but all things are still as they were and Men may sin at as cheap rates now as they did then Those Rebel Jews Isa 5.19 That drew Iniquity with Cords of Vanity and Sin as it were with Cart-ropes are so bold as to say Let the Day of the Lord come let it hasten that we may see it let the Counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh that we may know it Such Infidels were these Rebels become that they made the Threatnings of the Lord a meer Mock or a Dream or a lying Vision that would never come to pass But even among those that do believe that there is such a day a-coming wherein the Lord will confirm the Word of his Servants and perform the Counsel of his Messengers even amongst them there are who say Yet the Lord may delay his coming I may have time enough to repent before it comes not considering that though to day it be said Time enough yet to morrow the word may be Too late too late though now the word be My Lord delayeth his coming the next word may be He is come the Day of the Lord is come and I must no longer escape O my foolish Soul thou thoughtest such a day might come but didst thou think it so near Wo wo unto me the Day of Vengeance is come in a day that I thought not of in an hour that I was not aware He is come he is come to cut me in sunder and to give me my Portion with Hypocrites It is fallen unto me as to some Women with Child my Time is come before my Reckoning was out Friends Is there nothing of this kind of Security also to be found even among those that take themselves to be wiser than this Bedlam-World How is it with many Professors of Religion Do we live in hourly expectation of the Day of Retribution Are we so vigilant and so circumspect in our daily course as Men that do believe that the Day of the Lord is at hand How didst thou live yesterday didst thou carry it so as if that should have been thy last day How dost thou behave thy self to day Dost thou now carry it so as if thou expectedst to hear This night shall thy Soul be taken away Dost thou hear daily as if thou wert hearing thy last Sermon Dost thou pray daily as if thou wert making thy last Prayer Dost thou not sleep daily and sin daily as a Man that presumeth on many dayes to come Dost thou never venture on a little sin or on remisness in thy Duty with this thought it will but be repenting of it after Wouldst thou dare to do what sometimes thou dost wouldst thou dare to neglect what sometimes thou dost neglect wert thou sure there would be no time for repentance Wouldst thou be so proud as thou art or so covetous as thou art or so vain or so slothful as thou art if thou didst not count upon more day before thee Darest thou never lie down one night in an unrepented Sin for fear of what may be before the morning O what Holy-Dayes what Sabbath-Dayes would every day be did we but daily think this may be my Judgment Day But dost thou use to think so Thou hast thy fleshly designs already laid for to morrow and next day and next year to morrow thou sayest thou wilt go to such a City to buy and to sell and to get gain next day to such a Fair next day to such a Feast to make merry with thy Friends and there thou goest and eatest and drinkest and tradest and so thou meanest to go on from Year to Year and
spared thou wilt not deliver them up God sayes sometimes to thee Not take thou thy Child but let me take him be content that I lay mine hand upon him and smite him with Sickness or Death No thou canst not bear it but takest on and murmurest and art impatient and wilt not be comforted or quieted Some Parents can better bear it that the Devil should take their Children than that God should take them If the Devil takes thy Child and makes a Prodigal Child of him makes a Drunkard of him or a Rioter if evil Company carry him away from thee into the Paths of the Destroyer thou canst bear it with more patience though possibly it be some trouble to thee At least if the Devil take him and only make him a greedy Worldling or Muck-worm though that make him a sure to Hell as Prodigality yet this thou canst bear with ease Though we may sometimes hear Parents say I had rather my Child had been dead it would not have been such an affliction to me to have followed him to his Grave as it is to see him buried alive in Lewdness and Debauchery yet to see him held by the Devil under a blind Mind under an hard and impenitent Heart so he be civil and sober and thirty for this World though he be but a civil Infidel a thrifty Unbeliever this is not so heavily taken But let God lay hands upon him and take him away out of the World and then no other noise is heard in the House but such as was heard in Ramah Matth. 2.18 Lamentation and weeping and great mourning Rachel weeping for her Children and would not be comforted because they were not 4. Fear the Cross or Afflictions You 'l say this is strange counsel the Scripture give the quiet contrary Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer Rev. 2.10 Fear not them that kill the Body Luk. 12.4 I shall therefore shew 1. How we are not to fear the Cross 2. How we are to fear the Cross 1. How we are not to fear the Cross Now the Cross must not be feared either 1. Out of tenderness to the Flesh or 2. Out of faintness of Spirit 1. The Cross is not to be feared out of tenderness to the Flesh By the Flesh understand both our Bodies of Flesh and out fleshly Lusts 1. Not out of tenderness to our Bodies 'T is this which makes us shrink from and shun the Cross that it is such a trouble to our outward Man that it puts it to so much pain and hardship The Soul suffers not immediately by any thing that Man can do unto us but as it partakes in the sufferings of the Body If our Bodies could bear with Ease their own Infirmities the Soul could not feel them what the Body cannot endure makes the Soul sick because of its tenderness towards it Upon this account 't is that we fear bodily Afflictions but thus it must not be A Christian is a Souldier and Souldier must not fear but endure hardness 2 Tim. 2.3 Endure hardness as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ It is not for tender Persons to be Souldiers hunger and thirst cold and weariness is their ordinary lot and their hardness must be their Armour against all It is not for tender Persons to be Souldiers and therefore it is not for Christians to be tender the most tender of Sin of any Persons in the World but not so of Sufferings There are several kinds of Sufferings we may be exposed to some fall at a greater distance when we are smitten only in our Goods or Estates others come nearer and touch our Flesh and our Bones and these are they that are hardest born The Devil in his tempting Job knew which was the tender part and therefore reserves that for his last trial Job 2.5 Put forth thine hand now and touch his Bone and his Flesh and he will curse thee to thy face And if this tender part once becomes hardy then thou art a Souldier fit to fight the Devil and his Armies Christian be not tender of thy Flesh and then thou wilt not thence fear Sufferings 2. Much less is the Cross to be feared out of tenderness to our fleshly Lusts Here let three things be considered 1. The Intention of the Cross is the Destruction of the Flesh 2. 'T is this corrupt Flesh that makes the Cross to pinch 3. This Flesh is no such Friend to us that for its sake the Cross should be feared 1. The Intention of the Cross is the Destruction of the Flesh Afflictions as ill-favouredly as they look come to us upon no ill intent 't is to save us from that which is worse God delivers his People up to the Cross to the same end for which the Church was to deliver up Offenders to the Devil for the destruction of the Flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus Sin must be put to death and it must be put to the same death which Christ was put to it must be Crucified Rom. 6.6 Our Old Man is Crucified with him Our old Man I that 's the Male-factor that must be executed on the Cross God would have the Souls of his People to live and thrive in warm weather the most hopeful Blades are even chok'd up with Weeds then come the Frosts to kill the Weeds and save the Corn. 2. 'T is this corrupt Flesh that makes the Cross to pinch 'T is the Flesh that 's struck at and 't is that that smarts Afflictions would fall more easie on mortified Hearts Dead Flesh cannot feel And therefore 't is that what-ever complaints and groanings are heard from mortified Christians 't is usually much more for their Sins than for their Sufferings Their Medicine is sharp and puts them hard to it at first to bear it but when it hath a little conquered their Disease much of its tartness is allayed 'T is their Sore or Disease that makes them so full of pain What 's the reason that losses in Mens Estates the spoiling of their Goods that Poverty so vexes their Hearts and puts them into such fits of Impatience O 't is their Covetousness and the Cares of this Life that are the Teeth of Poverty and Want Had we once mortified our earthly Members and learn'd in every Estate to be content how easie would losses be What 's the reason that contempt and disgrace raises such a storm in others 'T is their Pride that cannot be patient He whose Heart is humble can be content to be humbled and laid low The like may be said in all other afflictive cases 't is Lust that makes Affliction tedious 3. The Flesh is no such Friend to us that for its sake we should fear the Cross 'T is near us 't is true and cannot suffer but we our selves suffer and are pained in it But so 't is with an Ulcer in the Body 't is in thine own Flesh and whatever smart is felt 't is thou
befall us for the Gospel's sake are Temptations to Apostacy and back-sliding from Christ Fear lest the Cross should be the parting point betwixt Christ and your Souls lest it should be with you as with his Disciples of old who accompanied him to his Sufferings and there forsook him and fled I have else-where spoken of the danger and dreadfulness of Apostacy and shall therefore forbear to speak more of it now 5. Fear the Curse or the Wrath and Everlasting Vengeance of God Luke 12.5 Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell Fear not Man for he can kill but once when he hath killed the Body he hath done his worst but God can kill and kill again can smite the Body into Dust and the Soul into Hell I say unto you Fear him Consider here three things 1. To whom this warning was given thus to fear And that is not to the multitude of his Hearers only whereof there was so great a throng that they trod one upon another but especially to his Disciples He began to say to his Disciples first of all v. 1. and I say unto you my Friends v. 4. 2. What was the special reason he here uses to urge and press his Disciples to fear God and that is the Power of his Wrath because he can cast into Hell 3. What was the special matter of that fear he presses them to and that is lest he that can do it should do it should actually cast them into Hell And this must be so otherwise there had been no force in the consideration of his Power to work to this Fear for they might have replyed Though God can damn us yet why should we fear ever the more upon that account whilst we are sure he will not And so his Argument from God's Power to destroy had come to just nothing Who would fear Damnation ever the more for that God hath power to damn him if he were out of Fear that he would ever do it Therefore the sence must be Fear God lest he should cast you into Hell Heb. 10.13 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God There is an afflicting Hand of God and there is a revenging Hand of God and both are to be feared even the afflicting Hand of God is terrible Heb. 12.5 Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord. Make not light of that thou mayest find it heavy enough God is terrible in his Judgments that he executeth on the Earth He maketh the very Earth to tremble when his Hand is lifted up Those Hearts are harder than the Rocks that will not rent when God smites The afflicting Hand of God is to be feared but especially and that which is here meant It is a fearful thing to fall into the revenging Hands of the living God Heb. 12.29 Let us have Grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear for our God is a consuming Fire The Lord Christ is sometimes resembled to a Refining Fire Mal. 3.1 2. The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come into his Temple But who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth For he is like a Refiners Fire and he shall sit as a Refiner and Purifier of Silver He shall purifie he shall save his People from their Sins yet so as by Fire God hath his Purgatory as well as his Hell though not according to that Popish Dream a Purgatory after this Life Death will put an end to this purging Work in this Life He hath his Purgatory and his Purgatory hath its Fire 't is hot passing under the purging Work of God But who can stand before him when he appeareth as a Consuming Fire Who can dwell with the Devouring Fire with the Everlasting Burnings Isa 33.14 Let us have Grace that we may serve God with Fear 'T is not for Sinners only but for Saints also to fear the Wrath of God Those must and these will Grace will teach them to Fear Hell is not so terrible to any as to gracious Souls those that most prize the Love of God will most fear his Wrath. And the Lord looks it should be so God will not be a loser by his Grace he would not lose the awe of his Threatnings by making us the Children of Promise he would not have it forgotten that he is Righteous by those that have tasted that he is Gracious And the People of God have need enough whilst they are Children to be kept in Fear they are and must be while they are under Age under this severe Tutor They are too apt to be proud and wanton and froward Children and have need not only of the Cross on their Backs but of the Curse in their Eye to keep them in order How sad is it with us notwithstanding all those afrighting Arguments which God uses How foolish and peevish and unruly are we notwithstanding that double recompence of Reward the Glory to come and the Wrath to come that 's set before us O what should we be were there no such Arguments to be used with us Say not 't is Mercenary to look on the Crown as the encouragement of Holiness till it can be said 't is Mercenary to be governed or quickened by Love What is it to have respect to the recompence of Reward but so to eye the Love and Joy of the Lord as to feel the Power thereof oiling our Wheels and drawing our Souls on after it Say not 't is Servile and that which must not be allowed that those that are Sons should make use of the Curse as a bridle to Sin This Beast must be dealt with as a Beast Lust must be bridled and fetter'd with Fear which will never be charmed or constrained by Love Heb. 4.1 Let us therefore fear lest a Promise being left us of entring into his Rest any of you should seem to come short of it Whilst we take encouragement from the Promise the Promise of Entrance let us take heed by the fear of falling short Is there no fear of falling short Art thou already so established assured that there 's no doubt or hazard remaining of thy miscarriage Are all the Enemies of thy Salvation so secured that thou mayest now spare any piece of thine Armour Hast thou out-grown the use or the need of any of the Counsels and Caveats the Scriptures give Look inward see what a treacherous Heart thou hast lying there undermining thine hopes Is there never a Worm still gnawing at thy Root Are thy Lusts all dead and is there no doubt of their Resurrection Is there no guilt upon thine Head nor guile in thine Heart Hath neither Flesh nor World nor Devil any Power in thee Is the Army totally broken and is there no question of its rallying upon thee Art thou so fully resolved for Holiness does the stream of thy Soul and the bent of thy Life run so strongly and so evenly after
it God's Ill Will against Sinners God's Blessing is his Good Will and his Ill Will this is his Curse Joseph's Blessing The good Will of him that dwelt in the Bush Deut. 33.16 is the Portion of all the Saints and in God's good Will is every good Thing the precious Things of the Earth and the fulness thereof yea and the precious Things of the Heaven also Psal 30.5 In his favour is Life And in God's Ill Will is every evil Thing thou needest no more to make thee perfectly miserable than this that the Almighty bears thee ill Will. 'T is an Affliction to be under the ill Will of Men for a Child to have the ill Will of his Father for a Wife to have the ill Will of her Husband for a Man to have the ill Will of his Neighbours for a Subject to be under the ill Will of his Prince But what-ever there be in this God's good Will will make amends for all though all the Family where thou livest yea though all the Countrey bear thee ill Will if God bear thee good Will thou art a blessed Man If thou hast the good Will of all the World and only God bears thee ill Will thou art cursed with a Curse This Curse of God is 1. Revealed in his Word 2. Executed in part in this World 3. Pronounced in the last Judgment 4. Executed in full in the World to come 1. The Curse of God is revealed in the Word of God Rom. 1.18 The Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men. It is revealed from Heaven that is by the Law of God The Law of God binds Sinners under the Curse of God and declares to them what this Curse of God is 2. The Curse of God is in part executed in this World The Curse followed Sin close at the heels and is executed on Sinners here 1. In temporal Plagues There is a Curse upon the Creatures which were made for their use Gen. 3.17 Cursed is the ground for thy sake The whole Earth with all things therein hath something of the Curse cleaving to it whereupon though it still be useful yet there is something in it that is noxious to Man Vpon their labours which often become fruitless and ordinarily irksome and tiresome In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread Gen. 3.19 Vpon their Estates sometimes blasting and devouring them entring into their Houses and eating out the Timber thereof and the Stones thereof or else turning them into temptations and snares Vpon their Bodies Sin wounds and bruises in Sickness and Death 2. In Spiritual Evils inflicted upon the Souls of Sinners The Curse of God not only falls upon their outward Man but enters into their very Hearts upon which the Lord most signally executes this Curse by leaving Sinners and giving them up to blindness of Mind to a reprobate Mind Rom. 1.28 to hardness of Heart Isa 6.9 to the power of their Lusts Psal 81.12 whereby they are filled with all unrighteousness and reserved as in Chains under darkness to the Judgment of the great Day Sinner thy blindness thine hardness thy walking after thy Lusts in the Counsels of thy wicked Heart this is the Curse of God upon thee thy Sins are thy Curse And that Impenitence and that reprobate Mind which God gives some Sinners up unto is their sealing under the Curse God sometimes curses Sinners in this Life as Christ cursed the fruitless Fig-tree Mat. 21.19 Never Fruit grow on thee for ever Be thou never good for any thing never good Thought never good Motion come into thee never a drop of Dew or Rain fall upon thee never a Bud or Blossom spring up in thee nothing prosper in thee but be thou barren for ever of every good thing let that Soul wither and perish and die for ever This Curse is the most dreadful of all Curses above-ground and the very next to Hell 3. The Curse is pronounced in the last Judgment in that terrible Sentence Matth. 25.41 Depart from me ye Cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Now that if it be possible Sinners may be awakened out of sleep and be wrought to this Fear I shall a little open the Mouth of the Pit by opening this fearful Sentence Depart from me Depart whither why whithersoever it is 't is sad enough that 't is depart from me from Christ Christ is the Life it can be no less than Death to depart from Life Ye Cursed You that are bound under the Curse you that have been filling your selves with Curses clothing your selves with Curses treasuring up Curses to your selves all your time against this day Get you gone with your Curses upon you your Sins be upon you your Guilt be upon you your Blood be upon your own Heads for ever Ye are cursed with a Curse bear ye that burthen for ever and ever Into everlasting Fire And now you see whither 't is they are to depart I told you but now that 't is Misery enough that they must depart from Christ and from the presence of the Lord. If Sinners were to be sentenced down to this Earth again sent back to their Fields and Vineyards to their Ale-houses and Whore-houses to the best of their dirty pleasures here below yet this that they are sent into banishment from the Presence and Paradise of God when God shall so far open their Eyes as to let them see what they have lost this would be an unspeakable torment to them But this is not their place when they are taken hence they shall return hither no more they must bid an eternal farewel to all their carnal and bruitish ease and pleasures their Houses and their pleasant Places shall know them no more for ever God will not leave them so much as the least of the left-hand Blessings not a drop of Water to cool their Tongues 'T is into the Fire they must go The pain of Fire is the most tormenting of all the pains we know and therefore made use of to shadow out those inexpressible intolerable pains to which the ungodly shall be sentenced in that day Everlasting Fire What not yet at the bottom No this Gulf hath no bottom they shall be ever knowing and yet never know the worst of their Case what-ever they feel the worst is still behind because Eternity is still behind they shall never have ease nor rest again but shall be tormented night and day for ever and ever Prepared for the Devil and his Angels These are their Companions in their Tribulation Must we into the Fire But may we not have good Company in the Fire God may be in the Fire with me So he was in the case of the three Confessors and then the fire could not burn No t is the Devil that will be with you in the fire to torment and to be tormented with you for ever What is it to dwell in an Earthly House that 's
Mercy think how you can possibly escape the Wrath of the lamb Trust not to the secresie of dens to the mercy of mountains to the might of rocks these will all be as deaf to your cry as you are to the cry of the Lord. Now you have a rock before you which will then be a rerefuge put you into the clefts of this rock and the indignation shall pass over you stay out at your utmost peril Wretched souls how is it that t is so hard to perswade you in to Christ How is it that the clifts of this rock have so long opened to you yea that the rock hath followed you and cryed after you put in hither and you shall be safe and yet so few have been perswaded in Lord how few how many still stand without and it may be are mocking at the fears of them that are gotten in Sinner how canst thou think without a trembling heart of being found out of Christ in that great day of his wrath O fear fear and beware fear and hide hide thy self in Christ and then thy great fear will be over There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Rom. 8.1 But how may we hide our selves in Christ I answer 1. Cry unto him to take you in 2. Consent to him while he offers to take you in 1. Cry unto him to take you in to sprinkle you with his bloud which alone will save you from his wrath say but with a better heart and in a better sence than they did in the words of those Jews Math. 27.25 His blood be upon us and our children There 's a double sence in which these words may be spoken 1. The guilt of his blood be upon us 2. The attonement of his blood be upon us T was in the first sence that those wicked Jews imprecated his blood be upon us let the guilt of his blood be upon us let our own souls answer for the fact of putting him to death Beware sinners that that precious blood be not thus found upon you Impenitent sinners the guilt of Christs blood is upon them they are his betrayers and murtherers and by their impenitence in sin they allow the deeds of those wicked ones that crucifyed him What 's said of Apostates Heb. 6.6 is chargable upon all impenitent sinners They crucifie the Son of God afresh for 1. It was sin that did crucifie Christ both as the meritorious cause and as the instrumental cause t was the sin of the Jews that set them on work 2. There is such malignity in sin that if it were able would fetch Christ out of heaven again and put him to death again 3 Impenitent sinners stand with this weapon in their hand to do their worst towards the repeating this wicked fact 4. There is in the crucifying of Christ a putting him to death and a putting him to shame the former they would do and the latter they do once and once again What a shame was it that his crucifiers cast upon him in crying out not this man but Barrabbas Impenitent sinners do the like in turning from Christ to thy sin thou also sayest not Jesus but Barrabbas these murtherers for me not Christ but my lusts and wickedness and though there be not such a word in thy mouth yet this is the cry of thy fact the guilt of his blood be upon me Sinners your going on in your sins is a kind of doing that wicked act of crucifying Christ once and once again Every oath that you swear every lye that you tell every scoffe that you cast out against Christ and his ways is your crucifying him afresh This is the voice of your sins crucifie him crucifie him on with his mocking robes and crown again spit at him and buffet him again scourge him again up with him to the crosse and nail him and pierce him again Every sinner is bringing in more thornes and more nailes and more vinegar and gall and more spears to thrust him thorough Here take my thornes saith one take my nailes saith another take my spunge and my spear saith another and strike to the heart And the cry of this your fact is the guilt of his blood be upon us Tremble O impenitents did you ever think that there there had been so much in your impenitence as this But 2. There is the Attonement of Christs blood and in this sence t is I exhort you to cry his blood by upon me let that blood of sprinkling which speaks better things than the blood of Abel as it is peace and a propitiation for sinners so let it be upon me Beg of Christ to take you in and make you partakers of the merit of his blood of the vertue of his blood whereby your iniquities may be pardoned and purged away that when they are sought for they may not be found Go sinner go unto Jesus lift up thine eyes lift up thy voice stand crying at his door Lord open to me Lord take me in among thy pardoned ones let the blood of the lamb be sprinkled upon me 2. Consent to Christ whilest he offers to take you in you may know what 's to be done to get in to Christ by considering over that special mark which I have already given you to prove your being in Christ T is your consent that will prove you to be in Christ and the same which will be your evidence will give you entrance in him Sinners give your consent to Christ get your hearts to approve of him to be will satisfied that t is safe venturing upon him that he is a sure refuge that both can and will hide you from the wrath to come Accept of Christ If you be satisfied that t is safe venturing with him make your adventure embarque with this faithful Pilot and with him trust your selves Dedicate and give your selves to him as his right and property and be sure he will hide his own Speak unto him this hour here I am Lord no longer mine own I here pass away and make over my self unto thee for ever take me as thine own for thine I am resolv'd to be take me for thine own and take care of me as thine own I am thine save me Give him the right and give him the present possession of you rise up this day ye servants of the Lord and go and serve him What wilt thou have me to do Lord how wilt thou have me to live speak Lord I 'le henceforth know no other voice but thine this world shall be no longer heard against the voice of Christ this flesh shall be no longer heard against the voice of Christ depart usurpers I am neither mine own nor yours what have I any longer to do with you I am Christs and him only will I serve and through the help of the Lord I will go from this place bound in the spirit and resolved in mine heart to be governed guided and employed by him alone This is the
overcome Flee all sin but especially your beloved and accustomed sins remember what I have said of these already Be not the men you have been us'd to be do not the evils you have lov'd to do I do not yet mean that you should only change your sins forbear covetousness and turn prodigals give off your drudgery for this world and give your selves to idleness forbear prophaneness and turn hypocrites but put away all iniquity especially your accustomed and beloved sins Friends whenever you see your old sins that have gotten your hearts coming upon you and assaulting you as suppose pride suppose covetousness or sinful anger or the like which you have been us'd to be overcome by whenever you find your selves tempted to any of these again let your hearts startle at it Here comes my deadly enemy I know you of old what a snare you have been to me what a meer slave you have made of me I remember how it hath been with me all the time that I have been governed by this covetousness led by these companions commanded by these passions or this fleshly appetite these are they that kept me back from Christ that thrust out every good thought quench'd every good motion resisted every good word that was spoken to me When the Word of God the Ministers of Christ and mine own Conscience call'd upon me Go foolish Soul joyn thy self to Christ make thy peace with God accept of Grace submit to Mercy turn at his reproofs such was their power over me and I was so bewitched to them that I could not bring mine heart to hearken to the Lord. And are you come to me again tempting me and enticeing me again after you what shall I be a Drunkard again an Earth-worm an Epicure and flesh-pleaser again Away away I have done with all iniquity but especially I must have an eye to you I dare not touch with you for my life and therefore come my soul put on thine armour stand upon thy guard and resist them And in special call up fear to thine help and set that for thy Sentinel against them Fear will quickly espy and will give the alarm to the Soul Rise Sampson the Philistines are upon thee Rise Soul the Devil is at thy back sin lyes at the door Fear will espy and will not slight the danger we are in The flesh counts sin a friend that comes to do it a kindness or if it be apprehended as an enemy that 's like to do the Soul a mischief presumption will tell you the mischief may not be great if it make a breach upon thy peace 't is but repenting afterwards and that will make it up whatever wound it makes upon thy heart it may soon be healed the best that is may be drawn aside and yet do well enough Or if Conscience say it is not to be made light of it is a dangerous and deadly enemy yet security will tell you the enemy is yet afar off take thine ease and trouble not thy self before the time When the tempter is come 't will be time enough to look about thee But now fear will hold sin in constant suspition and it will ever suspect the worst look to thy self he is at hand that betrayes thee sin lyes at the door watching for entrance and if it get in once God knows what mischief it may do thee e're ever thou get clear of it Whatever mischief sin hath done to any person in the world thy fear will suspect it may do as bad by thee How many Souls has this pride made to fall into the condemnation of the Devil How many Souls hath this covetousness drown'd in perdition and destruction How many Souls has this evil company led down into the deep What did Nebuchadnezzar's pride do by him why it drove him from men amongst the beasts of the field How did lust and luxurie serve the prodigal It fetch'd him out from his fathers house and left him at the Pigs trough Whether did the rich man's gluttony carry him from the pleasures of his Table to the torments of Hell What kindness did Gehazi's bribes do for him they smote him a leper What advantage did Achan's Gold Judas his Silver Ananias his lye bring to them was not death all their wages yea it will put it to be consider'd what sin hath done not only to particular persons but to Kingdoms and Nations to Countreys and Cities what brought it on the whole world A flood of waters to destroy them What on Sodom It burnt it to ashes What on Shiloh Destruction and Devastation Look to thy self Soul this same enemy that hath made such woful work every where in the world this very enemy stands watching at thy door every little sin that comes thou knowest not who or what may be at its heels Dost thou not see Sword and Famine and Pestilence following after it behold the Devil leading on the Van and Death and Hell bringing up the Rear O what easie admission and entertainment notwithstanding all this mischief sin hath done do fearless Souls ordinarily give unto it It 's suffered to come upon them as it will to lodge with them and dwell with them and walk with them It meets them at every turn at their Tables their Beds in their Shops in their Fields and yet it is with them as if there were no enemy near If your houses were haunted with the Devil you would flee out of them if you saw Death in every cup of excess if you saw a toad in every gluttonous dish would you not be startled at it if you saw Robbers and Murtherers at your heels would you not run for it How is it that you are not running for your lives Fear and you will run How is it that you are no more carefully enquiring which way may I take to escape there 's such a sin or such a sin that is upon me every day how may I get rid of it Fear and that will both put you upon asking and help you to find out your way to escape But oh how is it that there should be yet any pleading for or excusing sin in the world such fools there are every where found who are only afraid of their friends who are watching and fighting against their Remedy who fall foul with a friendly admonisher with a faithfull reprover so far from taking heed of sin that they can hardly take it well to be bid to take heed of it Let any one come and say to them Friend dost thou well to be angry dost thou well to be idle and vain to be thus heady and wilfull in thy way And it may be instead of an I thank you for your friendly warning this shall be all What 's that to you look to your self and meddle not with me Shame upon this folly and madness Fear Sin as you ought and you will never fly in the face of a faithfull reprover To conclude this direction if you wil but hearken to
and in that fear follow on towards perfection Particularly 1. Follow on the work of Mortification in fear lest whatsoever wound sin hath received it should recover and get head again Hast thou gotten it a little under make it as sure as thou canst though thou hast gotten over Jordan and hast set thy foot on the banks of Canaan yet the Canaanite is still in the land and will be a briar and thorn unto thee Thou wilt never have peace thou wilt never prosper in the Grace of God but according as thou prosperest in thy warre against sin Dost thou ever design to come to any thing in Religion and to grow up in the Grace of God Let thine eye and thine hand be upon this adversary which will otherwise certainly keep thee down and it may be bring thee much lower than thou art this day 'T is with Grace in an unmortified heart as with poor Israel in Egypt 't is under Oppression The task-masters were upon Israels backs to keep them in bondage they were not their own men to do as they would they could not go and serve the Lord their tyrants would not suffer them and thus it 's like to be with thee Rom. 7. When I would do good evil is present with me O these Egyptians have me in hold I am so captivated to the Law of sin that I cannot do the thing that I would What an hard servitude am I under wretched man that I am who shall deliver me Onely betwixt oppressed Israel and this oppressed Israelite the new Creature there is this difference Israel by how much the more they were oppressed by so much the more they grew and multiplyed 't was more than all Egypt could do to keep them barren But Grace will never grow and fructifie under the oppression of Sin Grace oppressed by affliction will prosper and grow as Israel did Christians are seldom in such a thriving state as when under trouble and that may comfort us under all the oppressions of men we may be as holy under them all we may serve the Lord as well it may be better we may enjoy the Lord as much it may be more in our afflicted than in our prosperous state But under the tyranny and usurpation of sin Grace cannot thrive 't will hardly be kept alive whiles lust so lords it over it When the poor Soul under this oppression of lust groans and cryes as poor Israel did Let me goe let me go that I may serve the Lord the flesh possibly when in a fright as the Egyptians did when they were smitten with their plagues may say Go go and serve the Lord be as holy as thou wilt get thee up out of Egyt get thee on towards Heaven But then shortly after when the fright is over it falls on again and it may be doubles the bondage Go serve the Lord To your work says the flesh or it may be To your play you shall not go Or if the Soul hath gotten a little more liberty than ordinary these Egyptians will after it again Israel can never get free and be let alone to serve the Lord indeed till the Egyptians be dead 'T is in vain to hold a treaty with our flesh to make terms and to article with it for a larger allowance till this enemy be dead thy Soul will never prosper nor go comfortably on its way Get Egypt into the Red Sea let thy Sin be drown'd in that Sea of Blood the Blood of Christ that 's the only Ocean in which Sin will drown and die when thou hast it there then that oppressed thing within thee will grow and increase mightily when Sin is dead then Grace will thrive Grace in an unmortified heart is as a spark of fire in green wood it will not burn all the blowing it up will hardly keep it alive the sap and moysture of the wood will choak it when the sticks are dryed then 't will burn O what a flame of holy Affections what a flame of Love and holy Desires would break forth what burning and shining Lights should we be if these green Faggots our lusts were dried up and withered when you are dead to sin then you shall be alive unto God Rom. 6.11 Christian art thou nothing concern'd for that little Grace that 's in thee preserve it for it is thy Life and look upon thy lusts as its Oppressors and Murtherers that would strangle the babe in thy womb and never count thy self secure till they be dead which seek this child's life Say within thine heart I go in fear of my life of them there 's no binding them to the Peace or the good Behaviour they are thy mortal Enemies and thou canst have no security but in their death But how shall I doe to get my sins mortified Why first let me ask thee art thou so sensible of the evil of them and the mischiefs thou art like to suffer by them that thou darest not let them live Art thou so heartily afraid of them that nothing less than their death will give thee quiet Art thou more afraid of thy living lusts than of the labour and the smart that their death will cost thee who would bear the cutting off of a limb an arm or a legge that is not sensible that his life is concerned in it This mortifying work is one of the most painfull works of a Christian It is not so difficult to tell you how you should do it as to make you willing to doe it Physicians sometimes have an harder task to perswade to the taking of the Physick than to cure the Disease when once the Patient is willing and when no other Arguments will prevail 't is Fear at last that must do it Art thou in such a fear of thy Disease that this does swallow up thy fear of thy remedy Art thou for the death of sin how painfull soever it may be to thee Why if thou art in good earnest then take these following Directions 1. Lay the axe to the Root of sin 2. Put a Knife to the Throat of sin 3. Put a Bridle on its Jawes 4. Set thy Foot on the Neck of sin 1. Lay the Axe to the root of sin When Christ appeared in the World to cut off impenitent sinners it is expressed thus Matth. 3.10 Now also is the Axe laid to the root of the tree every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewen down Sure enough the tree must down when it is cut up at the root What was to be done by those sinners do thou by sin lay the Axe to the root There are sometimes some hopefull assaults made against sin which yet prosper not because the blow goes not to the root the branches may be lopp'd the Acts of sin may be cut off the Drunkard may cease from his Wine and the Adulterer from his Harlots swearing and lying and oppression may be all cut down as to what appears but soon after all these branches and evil