and not live Prevent in time of Health the distractions the unsetledness of thy worldly Affairs may and will give thee in the last Stage of thy life leave nothing which may hinder thy following Christ readily without once looking back when he is about to lead thee out of this world Remember Lots Wife Luke xvii 32. Readiness to go into another world Supposes Readiness to go out of this Lastly Call in the assistance and help of others 'T is the Character of a wiseman that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inquisitive When John Baptist came Preaching Repentance and shewing them their danger that the Ax was laid to the root of the tree And that every tree that brought not forth good fruit should be hewed down and cast into the fire Luke iii. 9. They all fall to asking verse 10. The people asked of him what shall we do then verse 10. The Publicans Master what shall we do ver 12. And the Souldiers likewise demanded of him saying What shall we do verse 14. Also Christs Hearers John vi 28. said unto him What shall we do that we may work the works of God And the afrighted Jayler cryed out Sirs what must I do to be saved Act. xvi 30. But where 's the man that moves such questions now adays Or asks the way to Zion If you feel the least grudging of a Distemper in your Bodies the Physitian is sent for presently Or fear a flaw in your Estates you run to the Lawyer but every man thinks himself Physitian skilful enough for his Souls Distempers and Lawyer good enough for his Title to Heaven And tho The Priests lips should preserve knowledg and the people should enquire the Law at his mouth because he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts Mal. ii 7. Yet tho he be A Messenger one of a thousand an Interpreter to shew to man his uprightness Job xxxiii 23. To declare to him whether his Spiritual condition be good and safe and such as makes him ready for Christ yet may he sit in his study till he dye before any come to interrupt him with such business It 's true indeed it may be you will send for him when you are Sick I blame not this better then than not at all provided it be not too late as too oft it is When the Physitian leaves you and gives you over as hopeless and you are drawing on and have scarce any use of Sence or Reason left As the Foolish Virgins beg for Oyl when sickness and the approaching pangs of death gave them that smart Alarum Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye forth to meet him And then you would be getting when you should be using it what your whole life was lent you for And then you would be taught in one quarter of an hour and when the indispositions both of Body and Mind have made you past learning or at least very unfit to learn what is a Lesson hard enough for many years even the calmest and least disturbed of them and when thou didst injoy a sound Mind in a sound Body I beseech you friends resolve me nay rather resolve your selves if it be good to consult your Spiritual Guides then is it not better to do it sooner whilst you are capable to take their Counsel and have time to follow it and if they may do you good then may they not do you more good in a fitter season Why then will you chuse the less before the more and the worse before the better I therefore with repeated importunity again intreat you call in all the help you can both from experienced humble Christians who make it their business in good earnest to be ready for Christ themselves And also from your faithful Pastors Who watch for your souls Soloman tells us twice that in the multitude of Counsellors there is safety Prov. xi 14. xxiv 6. and hath a vaeâ—soli woe to him that is alone Eccl. iv 10. He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool Prov. xxviii 26. And he that trusteth to it is little better For besides its deceitfulness and our Natural Partiality to our selves Our ignorance and inadvertency needs much help from the prudence and fidelity of others Chuse therefore some ferious Soul-friend to whom thou mayest with modesty and freedom lay open thy Spiritual state And as I told you before that nothing is worse than a Bosome-sin So nothing is better than such a Bosome-friend to help thee into Abrahams Bosome and the Arms of Christ And this for the first Use of Direction which I have enlarged much beyond my first intentions and therefore will be very brief in the two that follow next Second Use Reprehension I shall name three sorts only to be reproved for sinning against the Truth we are handling First Those profane ungodly sinners who are so far from endeavouring to be ready against Christs coming that they rather live without any sence of Death and Judgment and Christs coming at all saying at least in their hearts and in their lives with those Scoffers walking after their own lusts 2 Pet. iii. 4. Where is the promise of his coming As if they had made A Covenant with death and were at an agreement with hell As the Prophet describes them Isay xxviii 15. Who rather work out their own damnation with security presumption and provocation than their Salvation with fear and trembling But such monsters of men under the disguise and shape of Christians are fitter to be abhorred of all than reproved of any These Leviathans esteeming our Scripture Artillery as he in Job lxi 27.28 Doth Iron Brass and sling-stones as stubble straw or rotten wood Tho God can make these feeble weapons mighty in his time to pull down the strongest holds of Satan Secondly Those who tho they believe these things in general and approve them and commend others for making ready for Christ yet neglect the practice and performance of them resting in some common hopes some faint desires some outward observances some ineffectual half endeavours and rather wish they were ready for Christ than take care to be so and will rather put it to the venture than be at the pains of any Spiritual Industry to be ready in good earnest which is the very case of multitudes of common Christians Thirdly Those who tho they are convinc'd they ought and also resolve they will get ready and stick at nothing which may make them so yet put off and delay from day to day and year to year Semper victuri as Seneca calls them all way about to do it but never do it always learning but never coming to the knowledg of the truth Stick in the birth and therefore are unwise Hos xiii 13. And indeed nothing makes a man a greater fool or more proves him to be such than this to know what should be done and to resolve to do it and yet never set about it And therefore God brands them with this reproachful Character
heavy curses and dreadful threatnings according to what he speaks Deut. xxxii 23. I will heap mischiefs upon them And so Levit. xxvi he threatens them with most severe Judgments and tells them he will punish them seven and seven and seven times more for their sins unless they repent and amend Till he pluckt them up by the very roots out of the good land wherein he had planted them And in the same method do all the Prophets proceed as were easie to give instances in Samuel Davids Psalms most frequently Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah Ezechiel Daniel and the rest and the same instruments do they all use to the same end but I leave a thing so very obvious to your own observation in reading of the Scriptures of the Old Testament And the New Testament in this is like the Old You cannot but take notice how John the Baptist begins his Ministry Matth. iii. Bring forth fruits meet for repentance and how doth he urge them so to do First by digging away that bad Earth from about their Roots their flattering themselves with a false confidence in their outward priviledges Thinks not to say we have Abraham to our Father and then by threatning them with cutting down The Ax is laid to the root of the tree and every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit shall nay is hewen down and cast into the fire He speaks of it as done already to convince them of the certainty of it And again One is coming after him mightier than he and his fan is in his hand and he will throughly purge his floor and burn up the chaff with fire unquenchable And nothing is more frequent in the Sermons and Parables of our Lord himself than such useful and faithful severity to awaken secure sinners by such wholsome comminations of their danger as every attentive reader may observe To touch a few of very many Matth. xi 20. Then began he to upbraid the Cities in which most of his mighty works were done because they repented not Wo to thee Chorazin wo to thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes And I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of Judgment than for you And thou Capernaum which art exalted unto heaven by the injoyment of such means shall be brought down to hell for the abuse of them For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom it would have remained to this day But I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of Judgment than for thee What stinging words are these how should they awaken us to speedy Repentance This is also the scope of many of the Parables in Matth. xiii of the Sower and the Seed of the Drag Net of the Tares to instance in the last The Tares in the Field seem to run parallel with the barren figtree in the Vineyard verse 40. the Tares are burnt in the fire The son of man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity and cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth His Kingdom that is his Church and you see 't is not enough to be in his Kingdom but to be a Loyal Subject in his Kingdom and to yield him willing and faithful Obedience and such is the case with him who wanted the Wedding Garment Matth. xxii and with the foolish Virgins that provided no Oyl and the slothful servant that traded not with his Talent Matth. xxv So Mark xvi 16. He that believeth and is Baptised shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned tho he were Baptised yea the more because he was Baptised and did not what he was thereby obliged to But no where more fully than in the beginning of this Chapter Vnless you repent you shall all perish and besides my Text verse 24. Strive to enter in at the strait gate and that quickly before the Master of the house be risen for it will afterwards be in vain to plead we have Eat and Drunk in thy presence come to thy Table heard thee Preach If you have been workers of iniquity hee 'l say depart from me And the Holy Apostles the most skilful and most faithful Labourers in Gods Vineyard use the same method warning the unfruitful by the terrors of the Lord. By this Goad St. Peter prickt and by this Sword St. Stephen cut their several hearers to the heart with these Weapons St. Paul managed his warfare To pull down the strong holds of sin and Satan Rom. i. 18. He tells them The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men Rom. ii tells them that they treasure up wrath against the day of wrath who are not led to repentance by Gods long-suffering and goodness and threatens indignation and wrath tribulation and anger upon every soul of man that doth evil and lets them know their outward Circumcision will avail them nothing unless their hearts be Circumcised And Chap. xi He warns them by the Example of the Jewish Branches being cut off from their Olive-Tree and bids them take heed lest God also spare not them and expresly tells them that if they continue not in Gods goodness answer not his goodness towards them they also shall be cut off 'T is hard to forbear offering more but I confess it rather needs an Apology for saying so much in so manifest a case than an Excuse for saying no more yet they that consider for how plain a people these things were first prepared and now written may pass by the error if I have exceeded And now to dig the deeper about you even to the bottom of your Roots to the very Root of your Hearts let me usher in what I have to offer to you with these considerations First You stand not on an Heath or Forrest on a Wilderness or Common in a Wood or Hedg-row where you might stand long and none look after you neither God nor Man expect fruit from you The times the places of Ignorance when and where men have not the light of the Gospel to shew them their Duty or their Danger in neglecting it God winketh at Acts 17.30 takes less notice of But when and where his Gospel is vouchsafed He calls all men to repent Because by that he lets them know He hath appointed a man by whom he will judge the World in Righteousness and hath given full assurance of it by raising him from the Dead But you are planted in a rich Soil as God's Vineyard of old Isa 5.1 in a very fruitful hill cultivated dressed tilled with no small cost and care it was digged and fenced and the Stones picked out You live in a Church where you
chiefly to this Great Work And this will be yet more evident if we consider it in the several Parts All the Scripture may be reduced to these Seven Heads The Doctrines the Precepts the Exhortations the Promises the Threatnings the Examples and the Prayers therein Recorded And I shall give an Instance or two how every one of these is chiefly designed to be Subservient to this End This is the Total Sum plac't at the Foot of the Account when the Wisest of Men had Cast it up exactly Let us hear the Conclusion of the whole Matter Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the Whole of Man For God shall bring every Work to Judgment with every Secret Thing whether it be Good or whether it be Evil Eccles 12.13 14. As if he had said When we have said all that can all that may be said this is in one word the Sum and Substance of the Whole All the several Lines from how different Points soever they are drawn terminate and end in this as their Centre Be Diligent in God's Work What doth the Doctrine teach us but To deny Vngodlyness and Worldly Lusts and to live Righteously Soberly and Godly in this present World Looking for that Blessed Hope and the Glorious Appearing of the Great God and our Saâ—iour Jesus Christ That there is a God Infinitely Glorious in all Perfections who hath made all Things for His Glory and Man especially to pay Him that Tribute of Glory which is due to Him from all His Works That Man hath an Immortal Soul more worth than all the World And that there is an Eternal Estate after this Life an Heaven and an Hell And that Man 's great Business is to attain the One and escape the Other That there shall be a Resurrection both of the Just and Vnjust That God will bring every Work to Judgment and render to every Man according to their Works That They who have done Good shall go into Eternal Life and They who have done Evil into Everlasting Punishment That the Good and Faithful Servant who was Diligent in God's Works shall receive his Master's Euge and be Advanced But the Wicked and Sloathful Sâ—rvant shall be bound Hand and Foot and cast into Vtter Darkness for his Neglecting it What do the Precepts enjoyn us but To Love the Lord with all our Heart and Soul with all our Strength and all our Might To Serve Him with a Perfect Heart and with a Willing Mind To Glorify Him in our Spirits and our Bodies To Work out our own Salvation with Fear and Trembling To Seek for Immortality and Eternal Life by patient Continuance in Well-doing To Strive to Enter the Streight-Gate To Give all Diligence to be admitted into Christ's Kingdom In a word The Sum of them is to Command us to Honour God and be Wise to Salvation And Thou hast Commanded us to keep these Precepts diligently Psal 119.3 As to the Hortatory Swasory Argumentative Part of the Scriptures 't is chiefly imploy'd to allure us to this Work To draw us by the Cords of a Man or to fright us out of our Negligence and drive us as with Whip-Cords To Convince us by the Clearest Light To Advise us by the Wisest Reasons To Beseech us by the Sweetest Mercies To Warn us by the Sorest Dangers To Perswade us by most Cogent Arguments To Oblige us by most Indispensible Engagements In a word To Prevail upon us by what-ever the Frame and Constitution of our Nature is capable of being moved by to mind our Work in Earnest or to leave us for ever inexcusable if we slight it or trifle at it As to the Promises 'T is said in general That Godliness hath the Promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come And these Promises are for Number many Some who have reckoned them up affirm them no fewer than Six Hundred For Naâ—ure Great and Precious For Certainâ—y Immutable being bottom'd on the Truth of Him who cannot Lye He is Faithful that hath Promised And the Sum of them all is to give the strongest Assurance that God will Reward them that Diligently seek Him and that with exceeding great Rewards A Crown of Glory an Eternal Kingdom an Incorruptible Inheritance Fulness of Joy and Everlasting Life And the Threatnings which are as Terrible as the Promises are Comfortable the severest Wrath of God being Reveal'd from Heaven in them are all Levell'd against those who prefer the Devil's Work before God's or are Remiss and Careless in it How shall we Escape Great Damnation if we neglect so Great Salvation Vpon the Wicked He shall rain Snares Fire and Brimstone and an Horrible Tempest this shall be the Portion of their Cup. A Cup of Trembling indeed a Cup of Bitter and Poysonous Mixture and yet the very Dregs of it shall be wrung out to them and they must suck them up What hot and burning Thunder-bolts are such Sentences as these charg'd with Cursed be the Man that doth the Work of God deceitfully He that Believeth not shall be Damned Vnless ye Repent ye shall all Perish The Ax is laid to the Root of the Tree every Tree therefore which bringeth not forth Good Fruit shall be Cut down and cast into the Fire unquenchable If any Man love not our Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha The Lord Jesus shall be Revealed from Heaven with His Mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vengeance on those who know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be destroyed with Everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and the Glory of His Power And Hundreds more which sound and signify as dreadfully as these Thou canst not hear such Sentences pronounc't without Affrightment unless thy Heart be like Leviathans hard as the Nether-Mill-stone And How wilt thou bear the Execution when thou comest to feel it The Histories and Examples to which I Reduce the Parables which are seigned Histories the Scope of all these is to shew God's Care of good Men and the Pleasure He takes in those who delight and love to do His Work with Diligence Such as Abel Enoch and the Holy Patriarchs Noah Abraham Isaac Jacob Joseph Moses Joshua Caleb and after David Jehosophat Hezechias Josiah c. with the Holy Apostles and Saints Recorded in the New-Testament Or His Wrath against Wicked Men and the Vengeance He inflicts upon Ungodly and Unfaithful Ones such as Cain and Cham and the Ten Spyes who brought up an Evil Report on the Good Land and discouraged their Brethrens Hearts from seeking it such as Nadab an Abihu who offered Strange Fire and were paid in their kind with as Strange a Fire which devoured them Such as Hophni and Phineas those Sons of Belial who polluted their Priesthood and caused Men to Abhor Oh horrible Wickedness the Lord's Service Such as Judas Ananias and Saphira Demas the Foolish Virgins Dives and the Slothful Servant and abundance more all