greatest concernment will not do the Soul any good unless by thinking it apply them and extract their vertue nor will the Spirit heal its lamentable Diseases if his influences be not answer'd with suitable endeavours Work then as he works in and with thee take into most serious consideration whatever is apt to promote thy recovery lay those things closest to heart which are likeliest to cure the hardness thereof inculcate and urge them and withal cry mightily unto him who is able and no less willing to help thee till thou feelest his gentle force and comest to a conquering resolution that thou must and wilt do as thou art advis'd till thou dost not only assent to the course propos'd as fit to be taken but art steadily determin'd that it is best for thee that it is absolutely necessary and must effectually be prosecuted that by the grace of God thou wilt thoroughly change thy heart and life and so escape from the greatest evil and make sure of the chiefest good 3. When thou hast seriously consider'd and resolv'd proceed presently to practise with all thy might and without the least delay 'T is commonly a work of some time to alter the temper of the Soul and change the course of the life and according to God's usual methods the longer thou hast been accustom'd to do evil the more time and pains will be requisite to break the force of stubborn lusts to weaken and subdue vitious habits and to gain those of grace and goodness to travel back the way thou hast gone wrong and to get out of it into the path of life 'T is well then if there be days enough before thee to do the one thing needful to be sure thou art not certain of an hour to spare the loss of so small a part may prove the loss of all Besides if thou putt'st off thy reformation though but for a little while 't is a sign thou dost not really intend it at all for thou purposest against conviction to add sin to sin at present and how can that consist with an hearty design of growing good afterward Delude not therefore thy self with such a desperate cheat but imitate the Royal Psâ—lmist When thou hast thought on thy ways turn thy feet unto Gods testimonies Make haste and delay not to keep his Commandments 4. Remember that conversion unto God is but the beginning of thy duty that thou must afterward obey him all the days of thy life and that there is no other way to preserve an interest in his favour and a right to the great expressions thereof They are the largest and the last discoveries of Divine Grace that teach thee to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world and so doing to look for the blessed Object of thy hope they plainly enough warn thee against drawing back unto perdition they threaten a final rejection if thou deniest thy Saviour in words or works and they oft direct and command thee to seek for glory and honour and immortality by patient continuance in well-doing to be faith ful unto death whatever it cost thee that thy Lord may give thee a crown of life These may seem hard sayings but they contain nothing like a reasonable discouragement There 's misery more than enough in Hell to necessitate a prevention by any temporary labours wants and suffâ—rings and an abundantly sufficient happiness in Heaven to encourage a stedfast perseverance in the work of the Lord though it were more harsh and grievous than sinners imagine And even at present Religion is not without a reward yea thou wilt find it if thou triest as thou shouldst a reward to it self when the main difficulties at first are over thy duty will grow daily easier it will have many pleasures mixed with it and become at length it self the greatest It will not abridge thy appetites of any desirable gratifications but give them a new delicious relish of the Fountain from which they flow Instead of the girds and twinges of a bad Conscience and dread of an after-reckoning 't will settle peace within and fill thee with comfortable reflections and joyful hopes and a loving thankful praising obedience will by degrees become thy sweetest employment Therein thou may'st draw still nearer to God delight thy self in and receive from him the desires of thine heart thou may'st walk always in the light of his countenance and feed on his loving kindness which is better than life In short before thou ascendest to Heaven thou may'st be in an Heaven on Earth and find by happy experience that the way to have all thou canst wish hereafter is to be and do what is best for thy self here Useful Questions whereby a Christian may every day examine himself Psal. 4. 4. Commune with your heart upon your beds EVery Evening before you sleep unless you find some other time of the day more for your advantage in this work sequester your self from the World and having set your heart in the presence of the Lord charge it before God to answer to these Interrogatories For your Duties Q. 1. Did not God find me on my Bed when he looked for me on my knees Job 1. 5. Psal. 5. 3. Q. 2. Have not I prayed to no purpose or suffered wandring thoughts to eat out my duties Mat. 15. 8 9. Jer. 12. 2. Q. 3. Have not I neglected or been very overly in the reading Gods holy word Deut. 17. 19. Josh. 1. 7 8. Q. 4. Have I digested the Sermon I heard last Have I repeated it over and prayed it over Luke 2. 19 51. Psal. 1. 2. and 119. 5 11 97. Q. 5. Was there not more of custom and fashion in my family-duties than of Conscience Psal. 101. 2. Jer 30. 21. Q. 6. Where in have I denied my self this day for God Luke 9. 23. Q. 7. Have I redeemed my time from too long or needless visits idle imaginations fruitless discourse unnecessary sleep more than needs of the World Eph. 5. 16. Col. 4. 5. Q. 8. Have I done any thing more than ordinary for the Church of God in this time extraordinary 2 Cor. 11. 28. Isa. 62. 6. Q. 9. Have I look care of my company Prov. 13. 20. Psal. 119. 63. Q. 10. Have not Ineglected or done something against the duties of my Relations as a Master Servant Husband Wife Parent Child c. Eph. 5. 22. to chap. 6. V. 10. Col. 3. 18. to the 4. V. 2. For your Sins Q. 1. Doth not sin sit light Psal. 38. 4. Rom. 7. 24. Q. 2. Am I a mourner for the sins of the Land Ezek. 9. 4. Jer. 9. 1 2 3. Q. 3. Do I live in nothing that I know or fear to be a sin Psal. 119. 101 104. For your Heart Q. 1. Have I been much in holy Ejaculations Neh. 2. 4 5. Q. 2. Hath not God been out of mind Heaven out of sight Psal. 16. 8 Jer. 2. 32. Col. 3. 1 2. Q. 3. Have
sound Conversion the wrath of God abideth on thee and he proclaims himself to be against thee as in the Prophet Ezek. 5. 8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God Behold I even I am against thee I. His face is against thee Psal. 34. 16. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them Wo unto them whom God shall set his face against When he did but look upon the host of the Egyptians how terrible was the consequence Ezek. 14. 8. I will set my face against that man and will make him a sign and proverb and will cut him off from the midst of my people and you shall know that I am the Lord. 2. His heart is against thee He hateth all the workers of iniquity Man doth not thine heart tremble to think of thy being an object of God's hatred Ier. 15. 1. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me yet my mind could not be towards this people cast them out of my sight Zech. 7. 8. My soul loathed them and their souls also abhorred me 3. His hand is against thee 1 Sam. 12. 14 15. All his Attributes are against thee First His Justice is like a flaming Sword unsheathed against thee If I whet my glittering Sword and my Hand take hold on Judgment I will render vengeance to mine adversaries and will reward them that hate me I will make mine arrows drunk with blood c. Deut. 32. 40 41. So exact is Justice that 't will by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34. 7. God will not discharge thee he will not hold thee guiltless Exod. 20. 7. but will require the whole debt in person of thee unless thou canst make a Scripture claim to Christ and his satisfaction When the enlightned Sinner looks on justice and sees the ballance in which he must be weighed and the sword by which he must be executed he feels an earth-quake in his Breast But Satan keeps this out of sight and perswades the Soul while he can that the Lord is all made up of mercy and so lulls it asleep in sin Divine justice is very strict it must have satisfaction to the utmost farthing it denounceth indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish to every soul that doth evil Rom. 2. 8 9. It curseth every one that continueth not in every thing that is written in the Law to do it Gal. 3. 10. The justice of God to the unpardoned sinner that hath a sense of his misery is more terrible than the sight of the Bayliff or Creditor to the bankrupt debtor or than the sight of the Judge and Bench to the Robber or of the Irons and Gibbet to the guilty Murderer When Justice sits upon life and death Oh what dreâ—dful work doth it make with the wretched sinner Bind him hand and foot cast him into utter darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Mat. 22. 13. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire Mat. 25. 41. This is the terrible sentence that Justice pronounceth Why sinner by this severe Justice must thou be tryed and as God liveth this killing sentence shalt thou hear unless thou repent and be converted Secondly The holiness of God is full of antipathy against thee Psal. 5. 4 5. He is not only angry with thee so he may be with his own Children but he hath a fixed rooted habitual displeasure against thee he loaths thee Zech. 11. 8. and what is done by thee though for substance commanded by him Isa. 1. 14. Mal. 1. 10. As if a man should give his servant never so good meat to dress yet if he should mingle filth or poyson with it he would not touch it Gods Nature is infinitely contrary to sin and so he cannot but hate a sinner out of Christ. O what a misery is this to be out of the favour yea under the hatred of God! Eccles. 5. 4. Hos. 9. 15. that God can as easily lay aside his Nature and cease to be God as not be contrary to thee and detest thee except thou be changed and renewed by grace O sinner how darest thou to think of the bright and radiant Sun of purity upon the beauties the glory of holiness that is in God! The Stars are not pure in his sight Job 25. 5. He humbleth himself to behold things that are done in Heaven Psal. 11. 3. 6. O those light and sparkling eyes of his what do they espy in thee and thou hast no interest in Christ neither that he should plead for thee Methinks I should hear thee crying out astonished with the Bethshemites Who shall stand before this holy Lord God 1 Sam. 6. 20. Thirdly The power of God is mounted like a mighty Cannon against thee The glory of Gods power is to be displayed in the wonderful confusion and destruction of them that obey not the Gospel 2 Thes. 1. 8 9. He will make his power known in them Rom. 9. 22. How mightily he can torment them For this end he raiseth them up that he might make his power known Rom. 9. 17. O man art thou able to make thy party good with thy Maker No more than a silly Reed against the Cedars of God or a little Cock-boat against the tumbling Ocean or the Childrens Bubbles against the blustring Winds Sinner the power of Gods anger is against thee Psal. 90. 11. and power and anger together make fearful work 'T were better thou hadst all the world in arms against thee than to have the power of God against thee There is no escaping his hands no breaking his prison The thunder of his power who can understand Iob 26. 14. Unhappy man that shall understand it by feeling it If he will contend with him he cannot answer him one of a thousand He is wise in heart and mighty in strength who hath hardned himself against him and prospered Which removeth the Mountains and they know it not which overturneth them in his anger Which shaketh the earth out of her place and the pillars thereof tremble Which commandeth the Sun and it riseth not and sealeth up the Stars Behold he taketh away who can hinder him who will say unto him What dost thou If God will not withdraw his anger the proud helpers do stoop under him Iob 9. 3 4 5 6 c. And art thou a fit match for such an antagonist O consider this you that forget God lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Psal. 50. 22. Submit to mercy Let not dust and stubble stand it out against the Almighty Set not Briars and Thorns against him in Battle lest he go through them and consume them together but tay hold on his strength that you may make peace with him Isa. 27. 4 5. Wo to him that striveth with his Maker Isa. 45. 9. Fourthly The wisdom of God is set to ruin thee He hath ordained his arrows and prepared the instruments of death and made all things ready Psal. 7. 12 13. His
mayst have disgorged a troublesome fin that will not sit in thy stomach and have escaped those gross pollutions of the world and yet not have changed thy swinish nature all the while 2 Pet. 2 20. 22. You may cast the lead out of the rude mass into the more comely proportion of a plant and then into the shape of a beast and thence into the form and features of a man but all the while it is but lead still So a man may pass thro' divers transmutations from ignorance to knowledge from profaneness to civility thence to a form of Religion and all this while he is but carnal and unregenerate while his nature remains unchanged Application Hear then O sinners hear as you would live so come and â—ear Isa. 55. 3. Why would you so wilfully deceive your selves or build your hopes upon the sand I know he shall find hard work of it that goes to pluck away your hopes It cannot but be ungrateful to you and truly it is not pleasing to me I set about it as a Surgeon when to cut off a putrified Member from his well Beloved friend which of force he must do but with an aking heart a pitiful eye a trembling hand But understand me Brethren I am only taking down the ruinous house which will otherwise speedily fall of it self and bury you in the rubbish that I may build fair and strong and firm for ever The hope of the wicked shall perish if God be true of his word Prov. 11. 7. And wert not thou better O sinner to let the word convince thee now in time and let go thy false and self-deluding hopes than to have death too late to open thine eyes and find thy self in hell before thou art aware I should be a false and faithless Shepherd if I should not tell you that you who have built your hopes upon no better grounds than these forementioned are yet in your sins Let your conscience speak what is it that you have to plead for your selves Is it that you wear Christ's livery that you bear his name that you are of the visible Church that you have knowledge in the Points of Religion are civilized perform religious duties are just in your dealings have been troubled in conscience for your sins I tell you from the Lord these pleas will never be accepted at God's Bar. All this though good in it self will not prove you converted and so will not suffice to your salvation Oh look about you and bethink your selves of turning speedily and soundly Set to praying and to reading and studying your own hearts rest not till God hath made thorough work with you for you must be other men or else you are lost men But if these be short of Conversion what shall I say of the profane sinner It may be he will scarce cast his Eyes or lend his Fars to this discourse But if there be any such reading or within hearing he must know from the Lord that made him that he is far from the Kingdom of God. May a man be civilized and not converted where then shall the Drunkard and Glutton appear May a man keep company with the wise Virgins and yet be shut out Shall not a companion of fools much more be destroyed Prov. 13. 20. May a man be true and just in his dealing and yet not be justified of God What then will become of thee O wretched man whose conscience tells thee thou art false in thy trade and false of thy word and makest thy advantage by a lying tongue If men may be enlightned and brought to the performance of holy duties and yet go down to perdition for resting in them and sitting down on this side of conversion what will become of you O miserable families that live as without God in the world and of you O wretched sinners with whom God is scarce in all your thoughts that are so ignorant that you cannot or so careless that you will not pray O repent and be converted break off your sins by righteousness away to Christ for pardoning and renewing grace give up your selves to him to walk with him in holiness or else you shall never see God. Oh that you would take the warnings of God! In his name I once more admonish you Turn you at my reproof Prov. 1. 23. Forsake the foolish and live Prov. 9. 6. Be sober righteous godly Tit. 2. 12. Wash your hands you sinners purifie your hearts ye double minded Iames 4. 8. Cease to do evil learn to do well Isa. 1. 16 17. But if you will on you must die Ezek. 33. 11. Chap. II. Shewing positively what Conversion is I May not leave you with your eyes half open as he that saw men as trees walking Mark 8. 24. The word is profitable for Doctrine as well as reproof 2 Tim. 3. 16. And therefore having thus far conducted you by the shelves and rocks of so many dangerous mistakes I would guide you at length into the Harbour of truth Conversion then in short lies in the thorow change both of the heart and life I shall briefly describe it in its nature and causes 1. The Author it is the spirit of God and therefore it is called the sanctification of the spirit 2. Thes. 2. 13. and the renewing of the holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. Yet not excluding the other Persons in the Trinity For the Apostle â—eacheth us to bless the father of our Lord Jesus Christ for that he hath begotten us again 1 Pet. 1. 3. and Christ is said to give repentance to Israel Acts 5. 31. and is called the everlasting Father Isa. 9. 6. and we his seed and the Children which God hath given him Heb 2. 13. Isa. 53. 10. O blessed Birth Seven Cities contended for the Birth of Homer but the whole Trinity fathers the new creature Yet is this work principally ascribed to the Holy Ghost and so we are said to be born of the Spirit Iob. 3. 8. So then it is a work above man's power We are born not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Iohn 1. 13. Never think thou canst convert thy self If ever thou wouldst be saveingly converted thou must despair of doing it in thine own strength Ier. 13. 18. It is a Resurrection from the dead Rev. 20. 5. Eph. 2. 1. a new creation Gal. 6. 15. Eph. 2. 10. a work of absolute omnipotency Eph. 1. 19. Are these out of the reach of humane power If thou hast no more than thou hadst by thy first birth a good nature a meek and chast temper c. thou art a very stranger to true Conversion This is a supernatural work 2. The moving Cause is Internal or External The Internal mover is only free grace Not by works of righteousness which we have done But of his own mercy he saved us by the renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. Of his own will begat he us Iam. 1. We are chosen and called
God that all this miserâ— lies upon thee what a case art thou in Is it for one that hath his senses to live in such a condition and not to make all possible expedition for preventing his utter ruin O man who hath bewitched thee Gal. 3. 1. that in the matters of the present life thou shouldst be wise enough to forecast thy business foresee thy danger and prevent thy mischief but in matters of everlasting consequence shouldst be slight and careless as if they little concerned thee Why is it nothing to thee to have all the Attributes of God engaged against thee Canst thou do well without his favour Canst thou escape his hands or endure his vengeance Dost thou hear the creation groaning under thee and hell groaning for thee and yet think thy case good enough Art thou in the paw of the Lion under the power of corruption in the dark and noisome prison fetter'd with thy lusts working out thine own damnation and is not this worth the considering Wilt thou make light of all the terrours of the Law of all its curses and thunderbolts as if they were but the report of the Childrens potâ— guns or thou went to war with their paper pellets dost thou laugh at hell and destruction or canst thou drink the envenomed Cup of the Almighty's fury as if it were but a common portion Gird up now thy lovns like a man for I will demand of thee and answer thou me Iob 40. 7. Art thou such a Leviathan as that the scales of thy pride should keep thee from thy Makers coming at thee Wilt thou esteem his Arrows as straw and the instruments of death as rotten wood Art thou chief of all the Children of pride even that thou shouldst count his darts as stubble and laugh at the shaking of his spear Art thou made without fear and contemnest his barbed Irons Iob 41. Art thou like the horse that paweth in the valley and rejoâ—ceth in his strength who 〈◊〉 out to meet the armed men Dost thou mock at fear and art not affrighted neither turnest back from Gods sword when his quiver ratleth against thee the glittering spear and the shield Iob 39. 21 22 23. Well if the threats and calls of the word will not fear thee nor awaken thee I am sure death and judgment will. Oh what wilt thou do when the Lord cometh forth against thee and in his fury falleth upon thee and thou shalt feel what thou readest If when Daniel's enemies were cast into the Den of Lions both they and their wives and their children the Lions had the mastery of them and brake all their bones in pieces ere ever they came at the bottom of the Den Dan. 6. 24. what shall be done with thee when thou fallest into the hands of the living God When he shall gripe thee in his Iron arms and grind and crush thee to a thousand pieces in his wrath Oh do not then contend with God. Repent and be converted so none of this shall come upon thee Isa. 55. 6 7. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Chap. VI. Containing DIRECTIONS for Conversion Mark 10. 17. And there came one and kneeled to him and asked him Good Master what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life BEfore thou readest these Directions I advise thee yea I charge thee before God and his holy Angels to resolve to follow them as far as Conscience shall be convinâ—â—d of their agreeableness to Gods word and thy estate and call in his assistance and blessing that they may succeed And as I have sought the Lord and consulted his Oracles what advice to give thee so must thou entertain it with that awe reverence and purpose of obedience that the word of the living God doth require Now then attend Set thine heart unto all that I shall testifie unto thee in this day for it is not a vain thing it is your life Deut. 32. 46. This is the end of all that hath been spoken hitherto to bring you to set upon turning and making use of Gods means for your conversion I would not trouble you nor torment you before the time with the forethoughts of your eternal misery but in order to your making your escape Were you shut up under your present misery without remedy it were but mercy as one speaks to let you alone that you might take in that little poor comfort that you are capable of here in this world But you may yet be happy If you do not wilfully refuse the means of your recovery Behold I hold open the door unto you arise take your flight I set the way of life before you walk in it and you shall live and not die Deut 30. 19. Ier. 9. 16. It pities me to think you should be your own Murderers and throw your selves headlong when God and men cry out to you as Peter in another Case to his Master Spare thy self A noble Virgin that attended the Court of Spain was wickedly ravished by the King and hereupon exciting the Duke her Father to revenge he called in the Moors to his help who when they had executed his design miserably wasted and spoiled the Country which this Virgin laying so exceedingly to heart shut her self up in a Tower belonging to her Father's house and desired her Father and Mother might be called forth and bewailing to them her own wretchedness that she should have occasioned so much misery and desolation to her Country for the satisfying of her revenge she told them she was resolved to be avenged upon her self Her Father and Mother besought her to pity her self and them but nothing could prevail but she took her leave of them and threw her self off the battlements and so perished before their faces Just thus is the wilful destruction of ungodly men The God that made them beseecheth them and cryeth out to them as Paul to the distracted Jaylor when about to murder himself Do thy self no harm The Ministers of Christ forewarn them and follow them and â—ain would have them back But alas No expoâ—tulations nor obtestations will prevail but men will hurl themselves into perdition while pity it self looketh on What shall I say would it not grieve a person of any humanity if in the time of a reigning plague he should have a receipt as one said well that would infallibly cure all the Country and recover the most hopeless patients and yet his friends and neighbours should die by the hundreds about him because they would not use it Men and Brethren though you carry the certain Symptoms of death in your faces yet I have a receipt that will cure you all that will cure infallibly Follow but these few Directions and if you do not then win Heaven
is thy case such is thy work Every stroke is a thrust at thine heart 1 Tim. 6. 10. Conscience indeed is now asleep but when death and judgment shall bring thee to thy senses then wilt thou feel the raging smart and anguish of every wound The convinced sinner is a sensible instance of the miserable bondage of sin Conscience flies upon him and tells him what the end of these things will be and yet such a slave is he to his lusts that on he must though he see it will be his endless perdition and when the temptation comes lust gets the bit in his mouth breaks all the cords of his vows and promises and carries him headlong to his own destruction VI. The furnace of eternal vengeance is heated ready for thee Isa. 30. 33. Hell and destruction open their mouths upon thee they gape for thee they groan for thee Isa. 5. 14. waiting as it were with a greedy eye as thou standest upon the brink when thou wilt drop in If the wrath of a man be as the roaring of a Lion Prov. 20. 2. more heavy than the sand Prov. 27. 3. what is the wrath of the infinite God If the burning furnace heated in Nebuchadâ—â—zzar's fiery rage when he commanded it to be made yet seven times hotter were so fierce as to burn up even those that drew near it to throw the three children in Dan. 3. 19 22. How hot is that burning Oven of the Almighty's fury Mal. 4. 1. Surely this is seventy times seven more fierce What thinkest thou O man of being a saggoâ—in Hell to all eternity Can thine heart endure or can thine hands be strong in the day that I shall deal with thee saith the Lord of Hosts Ezek. 22. 14. Canst thou dwell with everlasting burnings Canst thou abide the consuming fire Isa 33. 4. When thou shalt be as a glowing Iron in Hell and thy whole body and soul shall be as perfectly possessed by Gods burning vengeance as the fiery sparkling Iron when heated in the â—iercest forge Thou canst not bear God's whip how then wilt thou endure his scorpions Thou art even crushed and ready to with thy self dead under the weight of his finger how then wilt thou bear the weight of his loyns The most patient man that ever was did curse the day that ever he was born Iob 3. 1. and even wish death to come and end his misery Iob 7. 15 16. when God did but let out one little drop of his wrath How then wilt thou endure when God shall pour out all his Vials and set himself against thee to torment thee when he shall make thy conscience the tunnel by which he will be pouring his burning wrath into thy soul for ever and when he shall fill all thy powers as full of torment as they be now full of sin When immortality shall be thy misery and to die the death of a brute and be swallowed into the gulf of annihilation shall be such a felicity as the whole eternity of wishes an Ocean of tears shall never purchase Now thou canst put off the evil day and canst laugh and be merry and forget the terror of the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 11. but how wilt thou hold out or hold up when God will cast thee into a bed of torments Rev. 2. 21 and make thee to 〈◊〉 down in sorrows Isa. 50. 11. When roarings and blasphemy shall be thine only musick and the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the Cup of his indignation shall be thine only drink Rev. 14. 10. When thou shalt draw in flames for thy breath and the horrid stench of sulphur shall be thy only perfume In a word when the smoak of thy torment shall ascend for ever and ever and thou shalt have no rest night nor day no rest in thy conscience no ease in thy bones but thou shalt be an execration and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach for evermore Ier. 42. 〈◊〉 O sinner stop here and consider If thou art a man and not a senseless block consider Bethink thy self where thou standest why upon the very brink of his â—urnace As the Lord liveth and thy soul liveth there is but a step between thee and this 1 Sam. 20. 3. Thou knowest not when thou lyest down but thou mayest be in before the Morning thou knowest not when thou risest but thou may 〈◊〉 drop in before the Night Darest thou make light of this Wilt thou go on in such a dreadful conditionâ— as if nothing ailed thee If thou puttest it off and sayest this doth not belong to thee look again over the foregoing Chapter and tell me the truth are none of these black marks found upon thee Do not blind thine eyes do not deceive thy self see thy misery while thou mayst prevent it Think what 't is to be a vile cast-out a damned reprobate a vessel of wrath into which the Lord will be pouring out his tormenting fury while he hath a Being Rom. 9. 22. Divine wrath is a fierce Deut. 32. 22. devouring Isa. 33. 14. everlasting Mat. 25. 41. unquenchable fire Mat. 3. 12. and thy soul and body must be the fuel upon which it will be feeding for ever unless thou consider thy ways and speedily turn to the Lord by a sound conversion They that have been only singed by this fire and had no more but the smell thereof passing upon them Oh what amazing spectacles have they been Whose heart would not have melted to have heard Spira's out-cries to have seen Chaloner that monument of Justice worn to Skin and Bones Blaspheming the God of Heaven cursing himself and continually crying out O Torture Torture Torture O Torture Torture as if the flames of wrath had already took hold on him To have heard Rogers crying out I have had a little pleasure but now I must to Hell for evermore wishing but for this mitigation that God would but let him lie burning for ever behind the back of that fire on the earth and bringing in this sad conclusion still at the end of whatever was spoken to him to afford him some hope I must to Hell I must to the furnace of Hell for millions of millions of Ages O if the fears and forethoughts of the wrath to come be so terrible so intolerable what is the feeling of it Sinner 't is but in vain to flatter you this would be but to toll you into the unquenchable fire know ye from the living God that here you must lie with these burnings must you dwell till immortality die and immutability change till Eternity run out and Omnipotency is not longer able to torment except you be in good earnest renewed throughout by sanctifying grace VII The Law dischargeth all its threats and curses at thee Gal. 3. 10. Rom. 7. Oh how dreadfully doth it thunder It spits fire and brimstone in thy face Its words are as drawn swords and as the sharp arrows of the mighty it demands
satisfaction to the utmost and cries Justice Justice It speaks Blood and War and Wounds and Death against thee Oh the Execrations and Plagues and Deaths that this murdering piece is loaded with read Deut. 28. 15 16 c. and thou art the mark at which this snoâ— is levelled O man away to the strong hold Zech. 9. 12. away from thy sins haste to the sanctuary the City of refuge Heb. 13. 13. even the Lord Jesus Christ hide thee in him or else thou art lost without any hope of recovery VIII The Gospel it self bin deth the sentence of eternal damnation upon thee Mark 16. 16. If thou continuest in thine impenitent and unconverted estate know that the Gospel denounceth a much forer condemnation than ever would have been for the transgression only of the first Covenant Is it not a dreadful case to have the Gospel it self fill its mouth with threats and thunder and damnation To have the Lord to roar from Mount Sion against thee Ioel 3. 16. Hear the terror of the Lord. He that believeth not shall be damned except ye repent ye shall all perish Luke 13. 3. This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light Iohn 3. 19. He that believeth not the wrath of God abideth on him Ioh. 3. 36. If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation Heb. 2. 2 3. He that despised Moses's Law died without mercy Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy that hath trampled under foot the Son of God Heb. 10. 28 29. Application And is this true indeed Is this thy misery Yea 't is as true as God is Better open thine eyes and see it now while thou mayst remedy it than blind and harden thy self till to thine eternal sorrow thou shalt feel what thou wouldst not believe and if it be true what dost thou mean to loyter and linger in such a case as this Alas for thee poor man how effectually hath sin undone thee and deprived and despoiled thee even of thy reason to look after thine own everlasting good O miserable Caitiff what stupidity and senselesness hath surprized thee Oh! let me knock up and awake this sleeper Who dwells within the walls of this flesh Is there ever a soul here a rational understanding soul Or art thou only a walking Ghost a senseless lump Art thou a reasonable soul and yet so far brutified as to forget thy self immortal and to think thy self to be as the beasts that perish Art thou turned into flesh that thou savourest nothing but gratifying the sense and making provision for the flesh Or else having reason to understand the eternity of thy future estate dost thou yet make light of being everlastingly miserable which is to be so much below a brute as it is worse to act against reason than to act without it O unhappy soul that wast the glory of man the mate of Angels and the image of God! that wast God's representative in the world and hadst the supremacy amongst the creatures and the dominion over thy Maker's works Art thou now become a slave to sense a servant to so base an Idol as thy Belly for no higher felicity than to fill thee with the wind of mans applause or heaping together a little refined earth no more suitable to thy spiritual immortal nature than the dirt and sticks Oh why dost thou not bethink thee where thou shalt be for ever Death is at hand The Iudge is even at the door Jam. 5. 9. Yet a little while and time shall be no longer Rev. 10. 5 6. And wilt thou run the hazard of continuing in such a state in which if thou be overtaken thou art irrecoverably miserable Come then arise and attend thy nearest concernments Tell me whither art thou going What wilt thou live in such a course wherein every act is a step to perdition And thou dost not know but the next night thou mayst make thy Bed in Hell Oh! if thou hast a spark of reason consider and turn and hearken to thy very friend who would therefore shew thee thy present misery that thou mightest in time make thine escape and be eternally happy Hear what the Lord saith Fear ye not me saith the Lord Will ye not tremble at my presence Jer. 5. 22. O sinners do ye make light of the wrath to come Mat 3. 7. I am sure there is a time coming when you will not make light of it Why the very Devils do believe and tremble James 2. 19. What! you more hardned than they Will you run upon the Edge of the Rock will you play at the hole of the Asp will you put your hand upon the Cockatâ—ice's den Will you dance about the fire till you are burnt or dally with devouring wrath as if you were at a point of indifferency whether you did escape it or endure it O madness of folly Solomon's mad-man that casteth fire-brands and arrows and death and saith Am I not in jest Prov. 26. 18. is nothing so distracted as the wilful sinner Luke 15. 17. that goeth on in his unconverted estate without sense as if nothing ailed him The man that runs on the Cannons mouth that sports with his blood or le ts out his life in a frollick is sensible sober and serious to him that goeth on still in his trespasses Psalm 68. 21. For he stretcheth out his hand against God and strengthneth himself against the Almighty He runneth upon him even upon his neck upon the thick Bosses of his Buckler Job 15. 25 26. Is it wisdom to dally with the second death or to venture into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21. 8. as if thou wert but going to wash thee or swim for thy recreation Wilt thou as it were fetch thy vieze and jump into eternal flames as the children through the bon-fire What shall I say I can find out no expression no comparison whereby to set forth the dreadful distraction of that soul that shall go on in sin Awake awake Eph. 5. 14. Oh sinner arise and take thy flight There is but one door that thou mayst fly by and that is the strait door of conversion and the new birth Unless thou turn unfeignedly from all thy sins and come in to Jesus Christ and take him for the Lord thy righteousness and walk in him in holiness and newness of life as the Lord liveth it is not more certain that thou art now out of Hell than that thou shalt without fail be in it but a few days and nights from hence O set thine heart to think of thy case Is not thine everlasting misery or welfare that which doth deserve a little consideration Loâ—â— again over the miseries of the unconverted If the Lord hath not spoken by me regard me not But if it be the very word of
awe and veneration Welcome Lord to thee will I pay my homage Thy word and thy rod shall command my motions Thee will I reverence and adore before thee will I fall down and worship Grief likewise puts in Lord thy displeasure and thy dishonour thy peoples calamities and mine own iniquities shall be that that shall set me abroach I will mourn when thou art offended I will weep when thy cause is wounded Anger likewise comes in for Christ Lord nothing so enrages me as my folly against thee that I should be so befooled and bewitched as to hearken to the flatteries of sin and temptations of Satan against thee Hatred too wâ—â—â— side with Christ. I protest mortal enmity with thine enemies that I will never be friends with thy foes I vow an immortal quarrel with every sin I will give no quarter I will make no peace Thus let all thy powers give up to Jesus Christ. Again thou must give up thy whole interest to him If there be any thing that thou keepest back from Christ it will be thine undoing Luke 14. 33. Unless thou wilt forsake all in preparation and resolution of thy heart thou canst not be his Disciple Thou must hate Father and Mother yea and thine own life also in comparison of him and as far as it stands in competition with him Mat. 10. 37. Luke 14. 26 27 c. In a word thou must give him thy self and all that thou hast without reservation or else thou canst have no part in him Direct IX Make châ—ice of the Laws of Christ as the rule of thy words thoughts and actions Psal. 119. 30. This is the true Converts choice But here remember these three rules 1. You must chuse them all There 's no coming to Heaven by a partial obedience Read Psal. 119. 6 128 160. Ezek. 18. 21. None may think it enough to take up with the cheap and easie part of Religion and let alone the duties that are costly and self-denying and grate upon the interest of the flesh You must take all or none A sincere Convert though he makes most conscience of the greatest sins and weightiest duties yet he makes true conscience of little sins and of all duties Psal. 119. 6 113. Mat. 23. 23. 2. For all times for prosperity and for adversity whether it rain or shine A true Convert is resolved in his way he will stand to his choice and will not set his back to the wind and be of the religion of the times I have stuck to thy testimonies I have enclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway even to the end Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever Psal. 119. 31 111 117 44 93. I will have respect unto thy statutes continually 3. This must not be done hand over head but deliberately and understandingly That disobedient Son said I go â—ir but he went not Mat. 24. 30. How fairly did they promise All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee we will do it and it 's like they spake as they meant but when it came to tryal it was found that there was not such a heart in them as to do what they had promised Deut. 5. 27 29. If you would be sincere in closing with the laws and ways of Christ First Study the meaning and latitude and compass of them Remember that they are very spiritual they reach the very thoughts and inclinations of the heart so that if you will walk by this rule your very thoughts and inward motions must be under government Again that they are very strict and self-denying quite contrary to the grain of your natural ineâ—inations Mat. 16. 24. You must take the strait gate the narrow way and be content to have the flesh curbed from the liberty it desires Mat. 7. 14. In a word that they are very large For thy Commandment is exceeding broad Psal. 119. 96. Secondly rest not in generals for there 's much deceit in that but bring down thy heart to the particular commands of Christ. Those Jews in the Prophet seemed as well resolved as any in the world and call'd God to witness that they meant as they said But they stuck in generals When Gods command crosses their inclination they will not obey Ier. 42. 1 2 3 4 5 6. compared with Chap. 43. v. 2. Take the Assemblies larger Catechism and see their excellent and most compendious exposition of the Commandments and put thy heart to it Art thou resolved in the strength of Christ to set upon the conscientious practice of every duty that thou findest to be there required of thee and to set against every sin that thou findest there forbidden This is the way to be found in Gods statutes that thou maist never be ashamed Psal. 119. 80. Thirdly Observe the special duties that thy heart is most against and the special sins that 't is most inclin'd unto and see whether it be truly resolved to perform the one and forgo the other What sayest thou to thy bosom sin thy gainful sin What sayest thou to costly and hazardous and flesh displeasing duties If thou halâ— est here and dost not resolve by the grace of God to cross thy flesh and put to it thou art unsound Psal. 18. 23. Psal. 119. 6. Direct X Let all this be compleated in a solemn Covenant between God and thy soul Psalm 119. 106. Neh 10. 29. For thy better help therein take these few Directions First Set apart some time more than once to be spent in secret before the Lord. 1. In seeking earnestly his special assistance and gracious acceptance of thee 2. In considering distinctly all the terms or conditions of the Covenant expressed in the form hereafter proposed 3. In searching thine heart whether thou art sincerely willing to for sake all thy sins and to resign up thy self body and soul unto God and his service to serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of thy life Secondly Compose thy Spirit into the most serious frame possible suitable to a transaction of so high importance Thirdly Lay hold on the Covenant of God and rely upon his promise of giving grace and strength whereby thou may'st be enabled to perform thy promise Trust not to thine own strength to the strength of thine own resolutions but take hold on his strength Fourthly Resolve to be faithful having engaged thine heart opened thy mouth and subscribed with thy hand unto the Lord resolve in his strength never to go back Lastly Being thus prepared on some convenient time set apart for the purpose set upon the work and in the most solemn manner possible as if the Lord were visibly present before thine eyes fall down on thy knees and spreading forth thine hands toward Heaven open thine heart to the Lord in these or the like words O Most dreadful God for the Passion of thy Son I beseech thee accept of thy poor Prodidigal now prostrating himself at thy Door I have fallen from thee by
mine iniquity and am by Nature a Son of Death and a thousand-fold more the Child of Hell by my wicked practice But of thine infinite Grace thou hast promised Mercy to me in Christ if I will but turn to Thee with all my Heart Therefore upon the Call of thy Gospel I am now come in and throwing down my weapons submit my self to thy Mercy And because thou requirest as the Condition of my Peace with Thee that I should put away mine Idols and be at defiance with all thine Enemies which I acknowledge I have wickedly sided with against Thee I here from the bottom of my heart renounce them all firmly Covenanting with thee not to allow my self in any known sin but conscientiously to use all the means that I know thou hast prescribed for the death and utter destruction of all my corruptions And whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the World I do here resign up my heart to Thee that madest it humbly protesting before thy Glorious Majesty that it is the firm resolution of my heart and that I do unfeignedly desire Grace from Thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practise this my resolution through thy assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this world rather than to turn from thee to the ways of sin and that I will watch against all its temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity lest they should withdraw my heart from thee beseeching thee also to help me against the temptations of Satan to whose wicked Suggestions I resolve by thy grace never to yield my self a Servant And because my own righteousness is but menstruous rags◠I renounce all confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone creature without righteousness or strength And forasmuch as thou hast of thy bottomless Mercy offered most graciously to me wretched sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of thee I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that I do here solemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God and with all possible veneration bowing the neck of my Soul under the feet of thy most Sacred Majesty I do here take thee Lord Iehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my Portion and chief good and to give up my self Body and Soul for thy Servant promising and vowing to serve thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my life And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the only means of coming unto thee I do here upon the bended knees of my Soul accept of him as the only new and living way by which sinners may have access to thee and do here solemnly joyn my self in Marriage Covenant to him O Blessed Jesus I come to thee hungry and hardly bested poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked a most loathsom polluted wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory but sith such is thine unparallel'd love I do here with all my power accept thee and do take thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poorer for all times and conditions to love honour and obey thee before all others and this to the death I embrace thee in all thine offices I renounce mine own worthiness and do here avow thee to be the Lord my Righteousness I renounce mine own wisdom and do here take thee for mine only guide I renounce mine own Will and take thy◠Will for my Law. And since thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign I do here Covenant with thee to take my Lot as it falls with thee and by thy grace assisting to run all hazards with thee verily supposing that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me And because thou hast been pleased to give me thy holy laws as the rule of my life and the way in which I should walk to thy Kingdom I do here willingly put my Neck under thy Yoak and set my shoulder to thy burden and subscribing to all thy Laws as holy iust and good I solemnly take them as the rule of my words thoughts and actions promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life according to thy direction and will not allow my self in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my duty Only because through the frailty of my flesh I am subject to many failings I am bold humbly to protest That unallowed miscarriages contrary to the setled bent and resolution of my heart shall not make void this Covenant for so thou hast said Now Almighty God searcher of hearts thou knowest that I make this Covenant with thee this day without any known guile or reservation beseeching thee that if thou espiest any flaw or falshood therein thou wouldst discover it to me and help me to do it aright And now glory be to thee O God the Father whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father that ever thou shouldst find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners Glory be to thee O God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own Blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer Glory be to thee O God the Holy Ghost who by the finger of thine Almighty Power hast turned about my Heart from Sin to God. O dreadful Iehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Ghost thou art now become my Covenant friend and I through thine infinite Grace am become thy Covenant Servant Amen So be it And the Covenant which I have made on Earth let it be ratified in Heaven The AUTHORS Advice THis Covenant I advise you to make not only in Heart but in Word not only in Word but in Writing and that you would with all possible reverence spread the Writing before the Lord as if you would present it to him as your Act and Deed. And when you have done this set your hand to it Keep it 〈◊〉 a Memorial of the Solemn Transactions that have passed between God and you that you may have recourse to it in Doubts and Temptations Direct XI Take heed of delaying thy Conversion and set upon a speedy and present turning I made haste and delayed not Psal. 119. 60. Remember and tremble at the sad instance of the foolish Virgins that came not till the door of mercy was shut Mat. 25. and of a convinced Felix that put off Paul to another season and we never find that he had such a season more Acts 24. 25. O come in while it is called to day lest thou shouldst be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin lest thy day of grace should be over and the things that