the House of which thou descendest nor disgrace the Family of Faith to which thou belongest Should such a man as I flie said Nehemiah Think with thy self Should such a man as I that am inrollâ—d in the Book of life regenerated by the Spirit of God redeemed from my vain conversation with the precious blood of Christ should such a man as I dishonor my Father grieve my Comforter by frothy language unseemly carriage or being guilty of any thing in my practices that is unsutable to my great and honorable priviledge The Father hath chosen me to be a vessel of honor shall I defile my self with the filth of sin The Son hath bought me with a vast sum shall not I yield my self up wholy to his service The Spirit hath made my heart its habitation and shall I suffer in it the least unholiness I can never pay God for his boundless love but I will endeavor to praise him by a spotless life O Friend walk worthy of the calling wherewith thou art called Ephes 4.1 There is a comliness peculiar to thine effectual calling If a Scholler hath another manner of carriage then a Scullion and a Courtier then a Carter surely a Christian must lead a different life from them that are dead in sins and trespasses Thy calling is high Phil. 3.14 and therefore thou shouldst walk above the men of the world Men that are called to high Offices will carry themselves answerable to their places Princes do not live like Peasants Thou art called to be a Son of God a coheir with Christ a Citizen of Sion The Son of a King must like Absolom be without blemish from top to toe That ye may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke Phil. 2.15 Adoption is a translation out of one Family into another and doth disoblige thee from the Laws of Satan and his Family and oblige thee to the rules and orders of Christ and his House into which thou art taken Thou art called to be a King Rev. 1.5 It is not for Kings to drink wine nor Princes strong drink Pro. 31. that is immoderately such a sin is very bad in a Subject but much worse in a Soveraign as a spot in scarlet is worse then in sackcloth The transgressions of others have much rebellion and obstinacy in them but thy sins have more of unkindness and treachery as being against the Covenant Thou art called to reign with Christ in Heaven O walk worthy of him that hath called thee unto his Kingdom and glory 1 Thes 2.12 Thou that hast hopes to be like Christ in glory shouldst labour as for life to be like him in grace 1 John 3.3 Plutarch in vit Iul. Caes Caesar when he heard that Brutus conspired against him would not believe it but said He looks for this skin meaning he expecteth to be my heir to succeed me in the Empire and therefore he will not be so unworthy as to plot against me Reader hath not Christ more cause to expect that thy present deportment should be answerable to thy future preferment Thy calling is holy 2 Tim. 1.9 and therefore thy carriage should be holy other callings may put glory upon a man but cannot infuse grace into a man other callings may change thy condition but this hath changed thy disposition Thou art called to be a Saint shouldst thou not then live as a Saint 1 Cor. 1.2 Alexander would often bid a Captain of his name Recordare nominis Alexander Remember that thou art called Alexander that the Captain remembring his name might do nothing unworthy of it Truly so say I to thee Remember that thou art called to be a Saint to be a Christian and do not by the unexemplariness of thy life cause that worthy name by which thou art called to be blasphemed Thy calling is heavenly Hebr. 3.1 and therefore thy conversation should be in Heaven it is from God and therefore must lead thee to God O how stately is the deportment of wordlings when they are called to high employments how little should all the things on earth be in thine eyes who art fixed in heaven Themistocles walking with one by the Sea-side and seeing a precious treasure on the earth said to his fellow-traveller Do thou take it up fer thou art not Themistocles If the men of the world whose portions are in this life have their affections set on things below and their conversations on earth remember that thy treasure is in heaven and thine heart must be there also live as one that belongs to another Country In a word study strive labour endeavour watch pray hear read meditate that thou mayst in private in publick upon all occasions in all companies in all manner of conversation shew forth the praises of him who hath called thee out of darkness into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2.9 10. Secondly As thou shouldst be thankful to God so also faithful to men Thou art converted thy self do thine utmost to convert others The Lepers coming into the Syrian Camp and finding food enough to relieve themselves and many others ready to perish with hunger they first feasted themselves and afterwards say one to another We do not well this day is a day of good tydings and we hold our peace if we tarry till the morning light some mischief will befall us now therefore come that we may go and tell the Kings houshold 2. Kings 7.9 The time was when thou like the Lepers wast famishing thy soul with the huskes of the world now God hath fed thee with the fat things of his house dost thou well to hold thy peace Consider them that are pinched with hunger and call them to Gods Courts tell them what large provision he maketh how the table is spread his oxen his fatlings are killed all things ready he wanteth onely comers and company thou dost well to take hold for thy self but thou dost ill if thou with-holdst from others Israel was commanded to pity strangers because they were once strangers in the Land of Egypt Shouldst not thou compassionate them that are strangers from the Covenant of Promise aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel carried captive by the Devil at his will considering that thou wast in that house of bondage in as great slavery to Satan and subjection to sin as others and it was nothing but Grace and Mercy that redeemed thee Put them in minde saith the Apostle to be gentle shewing all meekness unto all men Why upon what consideration For we ourselves also were sometimes foollish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures but after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost 3 Tit. 1. to 8. Wicked men are like those that are drowning they catch hold on others and if it be possible make them sink with
he kindleth others All good is diffusive of it self and the more of goodness in any the more of diffusiveness If Peter be converted he will strengthen his brethren if David be reduced he will teach sinners Gods ways None are more desirous of children then they who have God for their Father The true Christian that hath tasted God to be gracious and found good entertainment at his table cannot but commend his hous-keeping to others and advise them to accept of the same chear As the sun refresheth many with his warm rays especially them that are near it so doth the Saint benefit many by his fervent prayers for them occasional counsels and constant pattern to them but especially those that are of his own family There indeed are his most cherishing beams and enlivening influences O how diligent is he that the King of Saints may have his throne in every heart within his house Like the Bee he goeth to the flower of this duty and to the flower of that Ordinance sucking some honey some soul-sweetness and then carrieth all home to his hive to his family He will study and strive that his cottage may become a Church his house Gods lesser heaven 'T is a mercy to be his Wife he will labor that Christ may be her Husband 'T is an happiness to be his children he will endeavour that God may be their Father 'T is a priviledge to be his servant he will do his utmost that such may be heirs of salvation His house is an healthful air for the souls of others to breathe in Grace like fire cannot be hid you may as soon conceal musk in your hand as grace in your heart The turning of a sinner from evil to good is like the turning of a bell from one side to another which reporteth its own motion The Convert is resolved as Elijah to shew himself and in this among the rest in bringing more customers to that shop where he had such cheap and kind usage The Devil was no sooner fallen but he laboured to draw man to the same wickedness and wretchedness with himself the dead in sin are no sooner raised to spiritual life but they endeavour to draw others to the same holiness and happiness with themselves These things I write unto you that ye may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship which is the only good fellowship is with the Father and Jesus Christ his Son 1 Joh. 1.3 The childe of God cateth not his morsel alone but loveth company he is very covetous to make Proselites unto Christ We have a saying That he was unworthy to be born by whom another is not born Sure I am he may question whether he were ever born again that doth not labour that others may be so also Reader Try thy self by this touchstone art thou an heavenly Merchant to ingross spiritual commodities to thy self or art thou desirous that others should share with thee Is the voyce of thy heart like Cains Am I my brothers keeper or like Moses Would God that all the Lords people were Prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them Canst thou stand â—y and see others lose their God and Christ and souls for ever and not be at all troubled so thy stakes are saved Dan. 6.14 or dost thou with Darius labour hard to keep poor creatures from the roaring lion and with Abraham pray heartily that poor Sodomites may be preserved from fire and brimstone Is it all one to thee whether thy neighbors and relations sink or swim be sinners or Saints be saved or damned truly then its a sign thou art not born of God for wert thou his son thou wouldst endeavour by thy prayers pattern and precepts to raise up seed to thine elder brother Jesus Christ Reader Credo Domine vera fide etsi languida fide Oecolampad It is far from my thoughts to disown or discourage the least degree of grace I know that the Embryo in the womb is reckoned towards a childe the break of day a part of the day A palsie shaking hand is a true hand and may receive a jewel as surely though not so steadily as another hand A weak hand of Faith is a true faith and may receive the pearl of price as certainly though not so chearfully as a strong Faith If thy desires after these particulars be sincere and accompanied with suitable endeavours it will speak much for thee I am not bringing thy graces to the ballance to weigh them that I may know their quantity and degrees and how rich thou art but to the touchstone to try them that thou mightest know their quality and truth whether thou art poor in spirituals or poor in spirit whether thou art worth any thing or nothing for thine endless estate in the other world To sum up this Use I would request thee to be so great a friend to thy precious soul as to be impartial and faithful in its search and trial Look much at the constant bent and inclination of thy heart One act will not speak an habit nor a few good or bad motions an holy or evil heart Thou mayst have some cogitations of heaven when thy conversation is not in heaven The air is light yet not a lightsom body because it 's lighted by the presence of another when that is removed its dark as in the night So if thy light of holiness in any of the forementioned particulars be only like a flash of lightning for a fit it is a sign the root of the matter is not in thee On the other side thou mayst have flesh in thee and yet thou not be in the flesh Thou mayst be in the right way to heaven though thou art sometimes stopt and hindered in thy journey A stream or vent of a river may be to go downward yet the River may be dammed up for a while but 't will rise higher and higher and at length beat down and overcome that which hindereth it so if the tendency of thine inward man its ordinary frame and temper be but towards God and the Divine nature be not discouraged though there may be the mud of corruption to stop the stream for this living water of grace will be so beating upon it that t will over-power it and ride triumphantly over it But be sure that thou bring the matter in debate to an issue by no means desist till thou bringest it to some result If Satan can but perswade thee either to daub about it for his his speech will be like that of Peter to Christ Master pity thy self or to leave the question still in doubt he knoweth that he shall spoil the working of all this Physick be it never so good I know that thine heart will be as hard to be kept to it as an eel in thine hands therefore serve thine heart as the Judge serveth the Jurors at an Assize First they are sworn to be true and faithful in deciding and determining
prophaning it either by idleness or worldly labours or omission of duties and ordinances against the fifth in not carrying himself according to his duty towards them that are above him equal to him or below him Against the sixth seventh eighth ninth and tenth in wronging his neighbours either in regard of life chastity goods name relations either in thoughts words or actions It sheweth him the darkness of his understanding the stubbornness of his will the disorderedness of his affections the hardness of his heaâ—t the searedness of his conscience the mis-improvement of his outward parts how his eyes have beheld vanity his ears been open to iniquity all his senses been through-fares to sin all the members of his body instruments of unrighteousness how from the crown of the head to the soals of his feet there is no sound part in him nothing but wounds bruises and putrified sores It is not one or two sins that trouble this sinner but innumerable evils compass him about whole swarms of these Bees flie in his face and sting his conscience it may be one sin did first set upon him some sin against the light which God had given him and now that creditor hath cast him into prison all the rest come and clap their actions upon him to keep him there his sins in his dealings with men in his duties to God his sins against seasonable corrections against merciful dispensations his sins against the motions of Gods Spirit against the conviction of his own spirit against light love purposes promises they all compass the sinner round that he cannot escape now he sees the ugly loathsomness of all his lusts how they are against an infinite God against a righteous Law against a precious soul how by reason of them he is wholly unlike God and become the very picture of the Devil and truly now he is far from having those flattering thoughts of himself and favourable thoughts of his sins which formerly he had for sins part t is abounding polluting poisonous sinful sin He seeth the wrinckles of this Jezabels face under her paint and O how ugly is she in his eyes and for himself he is more out of love then ever he was in love with himself Some say after they have had the Small-pox that they come to see themselves in a glass they look so ugly by reason of their spots that they cannot endure to see themselves Truly this poor sinner beholding himself in the glass of the Law and viewing those hellish spots of sin all over his soul and body he abhorreth himself in dust and ashes This is the first thing the Spirit convinceth the soul of and that is sin When he is come he shall convince the world of sin Joh. 16.8 God never cured a spiritual Leper but he caused him to fall down first and cry out unclean unclean Secondly The Spirit convinceth him of his miserable and dreadful condition Now the commandments of God come to the soul sin reviveth and the sinner dieth He thought before that he was whole a sound man to have little need of a Physician but now he both seeth his sores and feeleth his wounds Ministers before had frequently told him of his dangerous damnable estate but he had a shield to keep off all their darts He was not so bad as they took him to be somewhat they must say for their money and besides though he were as bad as such precise censorious Preachers would make him to be yet God was a merciful God and Jesus Christ died for sinners and he hoped to be saved as well as the best of them but now God comes to him as he did to Adam after his fall Adam where art thou Hast thou eaten of the tree of which I said unto thee thou shalt not eat Sinner where art thou Dost thou know what thou art doing and whether thou art going how darest thou prophane my day blaspheme my name scoff at my people neglect my worship cast my Laws behinde thy back and hate to be reformed Darest thou provoke the Lord to anger art thou stronger then he how will thine heart endure or thine hands be strong in the day that I shall deal with thee Dost not know poor dry stubble that 't is a fearful thing to fall into my hands for I am a consuming fire Now the sinner heareth the voice of God and is afraid Alas alas thinks he I am a dead a damned man the Almighty God is angry the weight of my sins at present is heavy but the sufferings which I am every moment liable to are infinite and eternal O that I should ever be born to do as I have done Now the lightnings of divine fury flash in his eyes and the canons of the Laws curses thunder in his ears he seeth a sharp sword of pure wrath hanging by a slender thread of life over his head he feeleth the stingings of his sins those fiery serpents at his heart There is no rest in his flesh because of Gods anger nor quietness in his bones because of his sins the arrows of the Almighty are within him and the poison thereof drinks up his spirit the waves and billows of God go over his soul and he sinketh in deep waters God writeth bitter things against him and makes him to possess the sins of his youth Now the man is calmed he will hear what God speaketh before though God himself had told him out of his word what a wicked wretched man he was he would not minde it but storm and rage at it he was like a wilde Ass snuffing up the wind and as an untam'd heifer impatient of the yoke he would kick and fling like a mad man What he give credit to the doctrine and submit to the severe discipline of a few whimsical Puritans that must be wiser then all their neighbors no not he though they shewed him the very hand of God in Scripture to those warrants which they desired him to obey But now he is of another mind for the Law hath shut him up under sin and guilt Gal. 3.22 The Law hath pent him in and shut him up that he cannot possibly get out As Lions Bears and wilde beasts are tamed by being shut up and kept in so the Law causeth wrath Rom. 4.15 shuts the sinner up under it and keeps him in that his former starting holes cannot help him and thereby tames him While he was unconvinced of his sins and misery his conscience was seared not troubled at all the threatnings which were denounced against him but now his conscience is sore touch it which way you will you put him to pain tell him under this conviction of his drunkenness or swearing or atheism or eagerness after this world heartlesness about the things of the other world his neglecting God in secret of not instructing and praying with his family tell him how cold and customary he was in his devotion saying to others that they took more pains for heaven
the soul that this New creature is conceived and brought forth godliness is not natural but adventitious to man not by propagation but by donation Man cannot generate himself naturally much less regenerate himself spiritually they which are born of the flesh contribute nothing to their own beings neither do they which are born of the Spirit bring any thing to their new beings unless it be a passive receptiveness as they are reasonable creatures Some read the Text and not unfitly for the original will fully bear it Except a man be born 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from above or from heaven and therefore in the fifth verse of this third Chapter of John Christ telleth us Except a man be born of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God and in Tit. 3.5 it is called a renewing of the holy Ghost so 1 Joh. 12.13 Jer. 31.18 19.2 Cor. 3.5 1 Pet 1.1 2 3. Ephes 2.10 1 Pet. 2.9 10. This work is somtimes called a transplanting out of the natural wilde olive-tree and ingraffing it contrary to nature into a true good Olive-tree Rom. 11.24 out of the first into the second Adam now the Cions cannot transplant or ingraff it self It is termed a new creation 2 Cor. 5.17 To create or bring something out of nothing is beyond the power of the strongest creature it is above the strength of all men and Angels to create the least pile of grass God challengeth this as his prerogative royal Isa 40 26. As the old heaven and earth were the work of his hands Gen. 1.1 so are the new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness Isa 65.17 Austin said truly To convert the little world Man is more then to create the great world It is further stiled a Resurrection from the dead Ephes 5.14 and 2.5 It is a great work to recover a dying body a far greater to restore one that is dead to life but the greatest of all to enliven a dead soul in the former there is no opposition in this there is much In spight of man and devils to pull down the ugly rotten frame of sin and set up the lovely lasting Fabrick of sanctity requireth no less strength then Omnipotency The Almighty God putteth forth the exceeding greatness of his power in forming the New creature Ephes 1.19 20. nay the same power which he did in raising up Iesus Christ from the dead who had beside the watch of Romans and the malice of hell such an heavy weight as the sins of the world to keep him down Repentance and Faith are the two chief ingredients in this rare composition and neither of them are such drugs as grow in Natures Garden no they are fetched from far It is God that giveth to the Gentiles repentance unto life Acts 11.18 2 Tim 2.25 The stones will as soon weep as mans heart of stone unless he that smote the rock force water out of it by turning it into a heart of flesh for Faith also it is the gift of God Ephes 2.8 Phil. 1.29 None come to the Son but such as are drawn by the Father Joh. 6.44 He alone that caused iron to swim 2 King 6.6 can keep the humbled sinner that is pressed down with the burden of innumerable iniquities from sinking in the gulf of desperation To part a man from his dearest carnal self and to make him diligently seek the destruction of what before he sought the preservation to make him cut off his right hand and pluck out his right eye hate father mother wife childe name house land u◠do all he had done go backward every step he had gone see things with a new light understand things with another heart and in the whole course of his life to swim against the stream and tide of nature and winds of example to bring a soul to this I say which is all done and much more in conversion requireth the infinite God's operation Flesh and blood can neither reveal these things to a man nor work these things in a man but the Father which is in heaven The Minister like the Prophets servant Instrumentum non movet nisi moveatur may lay his staff on the dead childe but he cannot raise it to life till the Master cometh Paul may plant and Apollo water but God only can give the increase Cor. 3.6 Without him we can do nothing John 15.3 We may preach out our hearts unless God affords his help our people will never be holy As Protogenes when he saw a picture in a shop curiously drawn cryed out None but Apelles could do this So when thou seest the beautiful image of the blessed God lively portrayed on the soul thou mayst say This is the finger of God None but a God could do this Secondly I say Whereby God out of his meer good pleasure here is the impulsive or moving cause of Regeneration Of his own will begat he us again by the word of truth Jam. 1.18 Gods good will is the highest moving cause of this gracious work 't was not any fore-sight of Faith or good works not any thing without him that turned the scale of his thoughts for thy purity and peace but only his own good pleasure and pity Ezek. 36.21 22. therefore he is said to give a new heart verse 26 27. because he bestoweth it freely not for mans merit but from his own mercy The gift of grace is meerly of grace For we our selves saith the Apostle were sometimes disobedient foolish serving divers lusts and pleasures But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy Ghost Titus 3.3 4 5. so Ephes 2.1 to 6. verse If you would know the grand reason why some are taken by the net of the Word let down in the sea of the world when others are left why some like wax are melted before this fire of Scripture when others like clay are hardned why some have the light side of this glorious pillar towards them when others have the dark side of it why the same path of the red sea is salvation to some when it is destruction to others why the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to babes when they are hid from the wise and prudent I must give you the same reason which Christ himself doth Even so Father because it seemeth good in thy sight Matth. 11.27 his will and mercy are the cause of all our felicity Rom 9.18 1 Pet 1.3 Deut 7.7 8. Grace chuseth thee Rom 11.5 There is a remnant according to the election of Grace so Ephes 1.5 Grace calleth 2 Tim 1.9 Who hath called us according to his purpose and grace which was given us in Christ before the world began so Gal 1.15 Grace distinguisheth and differenceth thee from others By the grace of God I am what I am 1
but are filled only with wind but Saints only can praise him properly after his manner in such a way as he accepteth praise is the highest the most excellent part of Divine Worship Now excellent speech becometh not a fool Pro. 17.7 as every sinner is But praise is comely for the upright Ps 33.1 The water of Saints praises is drawn out of a deep spring the heart and so it is sweet and pleasant This is God's great end in sowing the precious seed of grace that he might reap a crop of glory Acts 15.14 God did at first visit the Gentiles and take out of thim mark a people for his name He makes them partakers of his Nature that they might be a people for his name So Isa 43.21 This people have I formed for my self they shall shew forth my praise God formed all the people in the world for himself for his own praise Even a Pharoah is created and advanced that God might be exalted Rom. 9.17 But this regenerated people is the people which God principally designeth for his own praise This people I have formed for my self other people I have passed by like old pieces of mettal leaving them in their dust and rust but this people I have thrown into the fire of my Word have cast them anew and made them vessels of gold meet for my own service and glory They shall shew forth my praise They Alas others may praise him ignorantly as the arrow hiteth the mark but knoweth not its own motion or forcedly as he squeezeth confessions from them of his Justice and strength when they are under the rod or upon the wrack Exod. 9.27 And this is no thank to the Will of man but to the power of God who like the Huntsman useth the rage of the dogs to his own end and maketh the wrath of man to praise him Psal 7â— 10 or at best they praise him but notionally and by hear-say as one born blind may commend the Sun or a stranger the Countrey he never saw How far short must these come when no creature can do God right or limb out his vast perfections in their several dimensions surely these must do him wrong and blot his name with the most curious pensil of their most studied praises but this people shall shew forth my praise Alexander would have none draw his picture but Apelles or cut his statue but â— ysippus because none else had art enough to do it well Certain it is none have skil and wisdom to shew forth God's praise but that people which he formed for that purpose This people which have felt the weight of their sins and smarted with wounds in their souls this people which have sometime been terrified under the apprehension of my unspeakable fury and the expectation of the unquenchable fire this people that have seen their corruptions in their colours suffered divine terrors given themselves over for dead damned creatures and then were by bottomless mercy drawn out of the depth of misery translated out of death and darkness into the Kingdom of light and life this people which I have purchased with the blood of my Son beautified with the graces of my Spirit interessed in rich promises entitled to the heavenly possession this people which have been carried like the Ambassadors of the King of Babylon into the temple 2 King 20.12 and seen all the richness and glory thereof the pleasures and comforts therein tasting me to be gracious sitting under my shadow with great delight solacing their souls with the means of grace and rejoycing in hope of eternal glory this people shall praise the greatness of my power the manifoldness of my Wisdom the sweetness of my Love the sureness of my Word the riches of my Mercy the freeness of my Grace the beauty of my Image the preciousness of my Christ and all this upon their own knowledge and experience O the Hosannah's and Halelujahs the praise and glory and honor and thanks which this people shall give to the Lord and to the Lamb for ever The harps of Saints are tuned to these songs on earth but who can conceive what ravishing musick they will make in running division on these several notes in heaven Surely surely the greatest revenues of praises which come into Gods Exchequer are from the hearty acclamations of his sanctified and saved ones as they receive the choycest mercies the love of God the blood of Christ pardon peace grace glory so they return the highest praises The building of mans body is so stately a structure the rooms in it so curious the hangings and furniture so rich and costly embroidered as with needlework that the owner of the house hath a considerable rent of honor paid for it I will praise thee saith David for I am fearfully and wonderfully made my substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth Psa 139.14 15. The setting up of the new creation as it is more glorious the image of God's own perfections though it be imperfect in this life the heart of a Saint being bespangled like the heavens with those glistering stars of graces and his life being a legible comment on the divine Law so it brings the author a larger income of honor This is the Lords doings and it is marvellous in the godly mans eye 1 Tim. 1.13 14 17. 1 Pet. 1.3 but when the good work now begun shall be finished then Gods praises shall be perfected when the foundation of this spiritual Temple is laid in this world they cry grace graces but when the top-stone shall be laid in the other world then they shall cry Glory Glory Blessed are they that dwell in that house they ever praise him in that Temple doth every one speak of his glory Therefore the Psalmist observeth that when the Lord shall build up Sion then he shall appear in his glory Psal 10â— 6 While his Church is building he is glorious but as the Sun under a cloud not appearing so to the beholders we can see but little of his infinite beauty because of our weak eyes and receive but little of his infinite bounty because of our narrow hearts but when Sion shall be built up in heaven our eyes shall be strengthned to see the King in his glory to see him as he is and the water-pots of our souls enlarged and filled up to the brim with those streams which make glad the City of God then the Lord shall appear in his glory then he shall have the honor of all his Attributes the praise of all his Providences and the glory of all his Perfections for then he shall appear in all his royalty embroidery magnificence and glory When the Saints shall have sailed in the vessel of their Saviour through the boisterous waters of Mens wrath Devils rage and the Laws curse and be safely landed in Heaven then God shall have his full price of honor and glory for
gifts from God who never have the gift of God John 4.10 The Raven was an unclean creature yet she was serviceable to zealous Elijah Gifts may be in their eminency where sin is in its predominancy the Toad hath a pearl say some in its head when the whole body is poisonous The Devil can speak excellently We know thee O thou art the holy one of God and these are the servants of the most high God for natural parts and gifts questionless he surpasseth all the men on earth and yet he is a devil still The Panthar hath a sweet-sented breath but a rotten heart It is possible to pray like a Saint to preach like an Angel and yet to practice like a Devil The course of thy life will speak much more for thee then the discourse of thy lips Though thy gifts be never so great and thy parts never so glorious though thou speakest with the tongue of men and Angels and hast not grace this new birth thou art like sounding brass and a tinckling cymbal Thy parts may flow from Nature not from Saving-grace men indeed as blades are all made of the same mettal yet differ much by means of temper some are more soft and smooth more keen and sharp others more dull and blunt more stiff and stuborn for though it be confest the soul of Solomon as created and infused differeth nothing from the soul of Nabal yet being to work by bodily organs her actions resemble her instruments a man cannot make such good letters with a blotting scragged as with a good pen the better the tool is the better the work is done with it Some children take more after their parents then others Though Nature hath little to give yet she deals more bountifully with some then with others Now what a gross mistake is this for thee to take the crabs which grow in the common hedge-rows of Nature to be fruits of the Spirit as if they grew in Gods own nursery Knowest thou not that the false Prophets were admired by men for their parts and abhorred by God for their impiety Friend thou mayst like the ten Spies go over the promised land in thy contemplations view the Country taste the fruit and commend it highly to others tell them that the land is good it floweth with milk and honey and for all this never enjoy one foot of it Parts and piety differ specifically gifts like the moon have some glimmering borrowed light but no enlivening heat when Grace like the Sun hath a clearer native light and a quickening refreshing heat Men indeed like the true mother may have the dead child of gifts put into their arms whilst they are asleep in the night of this life and think that they have the living child of grace but when they awake in the morning of death they will find the contrary For though thy gifts glister like gloworms in the dark night of this world yet if separated from grace in the day of the other world they will all vanish and disappear oh then 't will be known that one dram of grace is more worth then a world of gifts Fifthly Thy sacred performances are not a sufficient evidence for heaven Observe Reader I shall not condemne nay I do highly commend thy external obedience to the divine precepts though thou shouldest be unregenerate because few come so far Athanasius wished That all were hypocrites and that there were none but such as at least resembled Saints It is good to wait at the Pool Christ may come as he did to the Cripple and heal thy diseased soul It may be as much worth as thine eternal weal to ly as the blind man did in Christs way he may speak and begin such aspiritual sight in thee as may end in seeing God as he is But I am now telling thee that 't is ill trusting to bare duties as signes of thy salvation for thou mayst mind personall relative secret family publike duties and yet be unregenerate and perish He that doth not these things is certainly not good but he that doth them cannot thence conclude his estate to be gracious Thou must do all as to the outside which a Saint can do or thou canst not be an hypocrite for an hypocrite is the perfect picture of a godly person now because an hypocrite which is unregenerate may go so far therefore these things are not sure signs of saving grace The Pharisees gave alms made long prayers fasted and some of them twice in a week and yet you know what Christ saith That except our righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we should not inherit the Kingdome of God Matth 5.20 They were some especially so frequent at their duties towards God so righteous in their dealings with men to the eyes of others that the Jews had a common saying That if but two in the world were saved the one should be a Scribe the other a Pharisee and yet if thou wilt believe the Lord Jesus he that goes not beyond them both shall come short of heaven And the reason is plain because they were not regenerated Their practices were seemingly good but their principles really bad The tree was corrupt and therefore could not bring forth good fruit Mat. 7.17 The Israelites did seek God daily saith the Prophet they delighted to know his wayes they asked of him the Ordinances of Justice and they delighted in approaching to him Isa 58.2 they there heard and prayed and both with seeming delight nay they joyned fasting to prayer verse 3. farther they adde mourning to fasting Zac. 7.4 5. and yet all this was but the face the shell the appearance of Religion and thereby of no acceptance with God If any beast were sacrificed by heathens without an heart 't was accounted ominous to the person for whom it was offered as in the case of Julian now all the sacrifices of hypocrites are without an heart Isa 29.30 It is recorded that in a certain Island to the Southward of Celebes night by night among the trees do shew themselves swarms of fiery worms which make a shew and give such light as if all the twigs of the trees were lighted candles and the place the starry sphere and yet all this is but an appearance truly thus formal persons may seem by their duties both lightsome and fiery and yet be but a semblance and flourish Low moorish grounds bring forth some course grass but 't is from springs from below when the high meadows bring forth fine grass being fed with the clouds from above The hypocrite may bring forth some course fruit as Egypt from the overflowing of Nilus from the earthly springs and the overflowing of a natural conscience which will be by no means pacified when duties are omitted but the Regenerate man bringeth forth better fruits like Canaan he floweth with milk and honey being fed with the showrs of heaven and watered with the dews of Divine grace Thou mayest imitate the actions of
unconverted may sometime be full of fear and horror Caligula used all the art he could to blow out this light and fortified himself with all the arguments he could get against a Deity but could not accomplish his ends for as often as it thundred he was miserably affrighted and would run under a bed So we read that Felix an Heathen trembled when Paul reasoned of judgement to come Act. 24.25 Sin in its dooms-day dress as 't is cloathed with fire and fury may be terrible even to the ungodly And the consideration of this may make them leave many sins that do not loath any sin The Mariner throweth over-board those goods in a storm which he wisheth for and it may be gathereth up in a calm As a man in a feaver loveth drink yea longeth much for it yet dares not meddle with it because 't will make him worse The sinners in Sion saith the Prophet are afraid fearfulness hath taken hold on hypocrites Why what 's the matter Who can dwell in everlasting burnings who can abide devouring flames Isa 33.14 Mark it is not Who ever abused such an ocean of love who ever despised such a matchless life who ever provoked such a gracious Lord but who can dwell in everlasting burnings The sting of sin to the unregenerate is punishment and the sting of punishment to the regenerate is sin Exod. 9.28 Hos 14.1 to fear sin as it bringeth an heavy rod usually proceeds from nature but to fear sin as it is a wandring from an holy rule can proceed only from grace Truly as Phaltiel parted with his wife Michal whom Saul had injuriously taken from David and given unto him so unregenerate men part with their sins when David came to the crown he sendeth for Michal Phaltiel dares not disobey the King but he brings her on her way weeping and bemoaning his loss he looks after her as far as Bohurim many a sad thought he had for her when she was by force divorced from him Thus unregenerate men may leave their lusts when they are afraid to keep them but many a longing heart they have after them and are not by choice but constraint separated from them As parents they go to the funeral of those children of their corrupt hearts with no small sorrow Sickly persons forbear some meats which they love dearly because those meats do not love them they either feed their diseases or are hardly digested Some sinners dare not feed in their actions on some sins which are as sweet to their affections as the honey and the honey comb because they fear that they will rise in their stomacks and the reckoning will be too heavy for them to pay Or possibly thou art entring upon some solemn act of devotion and upon that account at present forbearest thy corruptions as some write of Serpents they lay by their poison when they go to drink and afterwards take it up again Thou mayst like Abraham to his servant bid thy sin stay below while thou goest up to the mount to worship Gen. 22. and when the duty is done return to it again Reader do not relie upon these affections which thou seest may be in them which are not regenerated for as the Sorcerers seemed to do as much as Moses but did nothing in reality so thou mayst seem to do as much as a Christian when all is but counterfeit Thy fear of sin may be forced not flow freely from thee Fearfulness hath taken hold on the hypocrites Isa 33.14 as a Serjeant takes hold on a bad debtor or an armed man on a coward being more bold then welcome Thou mayst fear sin as the Medes and Persians the Jews when the fear of the Jews fell upon them Esther 8.17 when the presence of this fear is as Christs presence is to the Devils a torment to thee Mat. 8.29 Nay thy fear may be only for a fit like a mushrom which groweth up in a night and perisheth the next day The people when they saw Amasa weltring in his blood in the way stood still but he being quickly removed they went on When thou thinkest of others weltring in their soul-blood in hell or seest the judgements of God upon others thou mayst be afraid and stand still a little at present but these thoughts being soon removed thou mayst go on in the way of thine own heart It is reported of Cassander that he trembled at the sight of Alexanders Statue when Alexander was dead and Cassander had gotten possession of Macedonia The regenerate man when he seeth with the eye of faith the curse of the Law the wrath of God the torments of hell his flesh trembleth for fear of them and he is afraid of Gods righteous judgements though they are all dead to him he being not under the Law but under grace but it may be t is the life in them and their power to hurt thee which makes thee afraid of them Friend in all these passions thou mayst but like a Stage-player in the robes of a Prince act the part of a Christian and therfore canst not thence conclude thy right to the revenues of his place The whole life of a man unregenerate is but an interlude Regeneration alone can make a man live in good earnest Reader if thou art a civil person a great Professor enjoyest the outward Priviledges of the Gospel aboundest in Duties and Performances if God hath given thee gifts and parts if godly men commend thee and thou art sometimes confident of thy own good condition If thou walkest according to thy natural light and joynest with them that fear the Lord If some good affections like a flash of lightning on a sudden surprise thee though most of these are good yet do not hence conclude thy undoubted right to salvation for all these may consist with unregeneracy and Christ telleth thee That except thou art born again thou canst not see the Kingdom of God As the Alchymists gold appeareth as good as the true gold but it will not endure the seventh fire nor comfort the heart as a cordial both which the true gold will so if all these should meet in thee they would make thee look like a Saint but beleive it they will never endure the fire of Scripture which must shortly trie thee whether thou art true gold or counterfeit nor comfort thy soul as a cordial when Physitians shall give over thy body THirdly If without Regeneration none can attain salvation it informeth us of the difficulty of salvation that it is an hard thing to get to heaven it is no easie matter to be regenerated and made holy and therefore 't is no easie matter to be glorified and made happy Where the gate is straight 't is hard to get in If the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the sinner and ungodly appear 1 Pet. 4.18 The Apostle there intendeth not the uncertainty but the difficulty of the salvation of the godly If it be so hard for them to be saved
that have passed the Pikes shot the Gulf gone through the pangs of the new birth and travelled a considerable part of their way heavenward how hard wil it be for them who are not yet set out that have not taken one step in the way to life The sleepy world indeed dream that men may go to heaven without so much adoe they look upon civility to be sanctity wordly sighs to be godly sorrow not doubting their estates to be faith in Christ and if they can but spare a little time and now then from the world the flesh to mumble over a few night Petitions they hope with the help of these bladders to swim through the Ocean of Divine fury to heaven Or if they come short of these fig-leaves wherewith many of Adams children endeavour though in vain to cover their nakedness yet if they have the warning-piece of sickness before the murdering piece of death be shot off that they can but cry Lord have mercy upon us or tell their neighbours that they are sorry for their sins or get a Minister to pray with them then all must be well and they must as sure go when they die to God and Christ as they lived to the flesh and the Devil But stay friends a little there are more words then one to this spiritual bargain between God and your souls there is a work of Regeneration to be done or else ye are undone eternally ye must be throughly and universally new made or else ye are mar'd for ever Christ would never have commanded men to strive as to an agony to enter in at the straight gate Matth. 7.13 to work out their salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 To labour for the food which endureth to everlasting life John 6.27 If it had been such an easie thing to have reached heaven Things of such excellency are not obtained with such facility Pebbles lie common but pearls are hardly come by They must trravel far dig deep work hard that will get the golden mines The way to hell lyeth down hill a weak body may run down hill but 't is hard to go up hill to Mount Sion Friend I write not these things to discourage alas I need not there is not a straw in the way to heaven but thou if unconverted stumblest at it when thou canst leap over blocks in the way to hell but to awaken thee out of thy carnal security and to quicken thee to seriousness and industry about that which is of such unspeakable concernment to thy soul Our first births are many times accompanied with hard labours usher'd in by sharp throws and bitter pangs Our second births are alwayes harder O the terrors and horrors the convictions and convulsions the tremblings of soul and lancings of Conscience the thundrings from the Law the lightnings from hell-fire with which often this new creature is born It is hard labour indeed which bringeth this babe of grace into the world I have read of Melancthon that when he was first converted he thought it almost impossible for any man to withstand the evidence and authority of the word of God whereupon he told one of his friends that when he came to preach he would make work among souls but after some years spent in that calling being demanded what successe of his labours he answered that Old Adam was too strong for young Melancthon Alas friend possibly thou mayst think that thou wilt turn to God hereafter and thereby prevent thy burning in hell for ever Believe it 't is not so easie to turn from sin to God as thou imaginest Conversion is another manner of thing and more hard then most men think thou couldst sooner create a world then make thy self a new creature The resurrection of thy body if it were dead in the grave were an easier work then the resurrection of thy soul to newness of life As the birth of the natural so the birth of the spiritual man requireth infinite strength It is God not the midwife that taketh the child out of the mothers womb Psal 22.9 The hand of God alone can open that door and let the lettle infant into the world Gen. 29.31 otherwise the womb would be its tomb So the birth of the new man is wholly from God and the power wherewith he effects it is both miraculous and Almighty Reader if thou dost take a brief view what things are wrought when any one is new made and how little he doth contribute to them nay how opposite he is against them thou mayst perceive that neither Regeneration nor salvation are easie Thy mind must be enlightened to see both sin and the Saviour now is it easie to open the eye of the blind who can do it but he whom Augustine calleth totus oculus all eye When Jesus gave sight to one that was born blind the Jews themselves could not but acknowledge him a worker of miracles John 9.6.16 What then will the scattering the mists of ignorance and dispersing the clouds of darkness which gather and thicken about our understandings by nature speak the sun of righteousness to be Eph. 5.8 Thy heart also must be throughly humbled stone must be turned into flesh And O 't is not easie to melt such hard mettal when thy heart naturally is like clay hardened both by the Sun-shine of mercies and fire of judgement that no change of weather can make that stone to weep Ezek 36.26 Besides the strong holds of sin must be cast down thy old friends must be deserted and prosecuted with implacable hatred as irreconcileable enemies those beloved lusts which are at thy right hand and have such a large room in thy heart must be cut off and parted from thee Thy dilectum delictum the Isaac of thy corruption which is the child of thy warmest affection in which thou hast taken such great delight and from which thou hast promised thy self such large returns of profit pleasure or preferment must be laid on the altar and have the sacrificing knife of mortification thrust into the heart of it and its blood poured out before the Lord. Man is not this an hard saying as they spake in another case who can hear it an hard Lesson who can learn it thy lust will not like a lamb go silently to the slaughter but it will roar and rage fight stoutly for its life with many many carnal arguments and even rend thy heart with its hideous outcryes Who can tell the struggling of this beast before 't will be brought to the block Dives and his dishes Balaam and his wages Achan and his wedges Herod and his Herodias the young man and his great means are not easily separated O how difficult is it to wean the child of disobedience from those breasts which he hath sucked so often and with so much complacency and to divorce them which like man and wife have been ravished with each others love in works of Art its hard to build easie to destroy in
the difference between party and party next they hear the evidence and proofs on both sides After that they are shut up together and have neither fire nor candle nor bread nor drink allowed them till they are agreed on their verdict which when they have done they bring it into the Court and there 't is entred and recorded Go thou and do likewise when thou art got into thy chamber first make thine heart to engage and promise before the Judge of the whole earth that it will through the strength of Christ be true and faithful in determining this weighty controversie between God and thy soul Whether the land of promise belong to thee or not next let conscience be called which is as ten thousand witnesses and speak what it knoweth of thy right and title to that estate according to the known Laws of the Lord and if thou lovest the life of thy soul do not wink upon that witness or fee him underhand to make him to mince the matter and be partial in his testimony Foolish pity here is soul-damning cruelty but tell him he is upon his oath and in the presence of the infinite God and charge him to speak the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth O do but give conscience leave to be faithful at this time and t will be thy friend to eternity When the evidence is thus examined let nothing hinder a verdict call upon thy heart again and again whether it be resolved for thee or against thee till this be done give thy self no rest if one day will not serve take two never give over till it come to an issue one way or other Of what infinite concernment is this to thee when all that thou art worth for the other world dependeth on it When thou art agreed of a verdict let it be entred and ingrossed in the Court of Conscience namely that such a day thy title to the inheritance of the Saints in light was tried before the Judge of quick and dead and upon a full hearing of evidence on both sides such or such a verdict was brought in If thy heart find for thee how may this fill thee with joy that thy name is written in the book of life it may keep thee steddy in the greatest storm that thou art an undoubted heir to the eternal weight of glory When the waters of affliction overtake thee and the Devil throws his stones into them to trouble them and make them muddy that thou mayst doubt and distrust thine eternal felicity how quickly may the remembrance of such a verdict upon full evidence settle them again and how clearly mayst thousee thy sincerity like a true diamond sparkling gloriously at the bottom of those waters thou mightest gather Once in Christ and ever in Christ and I was once in him therefore I can never be out of him O Friend thy priviledges are high and unspeakable and therefore thy practices should be holy and answerable But I cannot stay to speak farther to thee here my work groweth in my hands already much beyond my thoughts yet I shall speak to thy dignity and happiness in the second subject of consideration under the first Use of Exhortation and to thy duty and holiness in the second Use of Exhortation if the book swell not too big But Reader if thine heart find against thee that thou art not born again what canst thou say for thy self why sentence of eternal death should not be awarded and executed upon thee according to Law yea according to the Gospel Hast thou read the reasons of the Doctrine and the first use of Information and dost thou not see the absolute indisponsable necessity of Regeneration in all that would be saved Hath not the God of truth as it were confirmed it with an oath Verily verily I say unto thee that except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God Canst thou think to make the author of this Text a liar by getting to heaven in an unregenerate condition Dost thou believe that the thoughts of his heart stand for ever and the counsels of his majesty be established to all generations Suppose thou shouldst dye this day Alas how many diseases attend thee the feet of those that carried others to their long homes are ready to carry thee also Good Lord what will become of thee for ever ever ever Art thou able to dwell in everlasting burnings canst thou endure unquenchable flames For the sake of thy precious soul hasten out of this Sodom this natural estate which will undoubtedly be punished with fire and brimstone For thine help herein I have written the next Vse which I earnestly beseech thee as thou wouldest leave this world with comfort and look into the other world with courage that thou give it the reading thou knowest not what an hour may bring forth and the Lord give it his blessing THirdly This doctrine may be useful by way of exhortation and that to two sorts of persons 1. To the unregenerate If without regeneration men and women can never obtain salvation then it exhorteth thee Reader if in a state of nature to minde and labor for this second birth as ever thou wouldst escape the second death Dost thou not perceive by the word the living God That except thou art converted thou canst in no wise enter into the Kingdom of God! Matth. 18.3 Alas what then is like to be thy case shouldst thou die in this condition Assure thy self that all thy Friends and Lands honors and pleasures yea all the help which this whole world can afford thee cannot keep thee one quarter of an hour out of Hell This Law this standing Law of Heaven That except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God is like the Law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered By their Law That which was written in the Kings Name and sealed with the Kings seal might no man reverse Esth 8.8 Friend is not this written not onely in the name but with the very hand of the King of Kings I say unto thee and sealed with his own seal Verily verily and doest thou think poor worm to reverse it to turn the truth of the Eternal God into a lie I tell thee and I would speak it with reverence to the highest Majesty that God himself cannot do it 'T is his perfection that it is impossible for him to lye Tit. 1.2 His hand cannot but make good what his mouth hath spoken His will and word have joyned regegeration and salvation together and his faithfulness and truth will not suffer them to be parted asunder Therefore think of it timely and turn to God truly otherwise there is a necessity of thy perishing everlastingly Thou doest not know as strong and lusty as thou art how soon death may come behinde thee and throw thee and O 't will be thine eternal overthrow though as on Sodom thy morning be Sunshiny yet thou canst not tell
sunshine of the Gospel the table of the Lord is to thee the table of devils the leaven of thy unregeneracy turneth that passover into pollution Christ himself is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence 1 Peter 2.8 This Sun of Righteousness which the sound eye of the regenerate beholds with much pleasure is not beheld by thy sore eyes without much pain The Red-sea of his blood through which the true Israelites pass safely into the celestial Canaan is destruction to thee being an uncircumcised Egyptian The very Grace of God is turned by thee into wantonness Jude vers 4. Thou makest sowre vinegar of that sweet wine and makest use of those gales to help thee to Hell which were sent to help thee to Heaven Vnto thee who art unbelieving and defiled is nothing pure Tit. 1.15 As the Earth hath the greatest cold in the bottom of it when the Sun shineth on it with the greatest heat to qualifie it So is thine heart dead and cold under all the warm influences of ordinances What a dreadful condition art thou in that those priviledges which are choice blessings to others should be cursed to thee and greaten both thy sin and suffering The fruit of those trees which stand in the Sun groweth greater then of those which grow in the shade so do thy sins under the Gospel of Christ wax greater then of those which want it Matth. 11.21 22 23. Hebr. 10.28 29. And as these sacred advantages increase thy corruption so also thy destruction When the physick which should remove the distemper cooperates with it it brings death with the more speed and pain No creature more terrible then fire and no fire so terrible as that which is taken from the Altar Take fire from the Altar and scatter it over the City Ezek. 10.2 they thought the fire of the Altar had been onely for the expiation of sin Calv. in loc but God makes them know that t was for the desolation of their City But thou art not onely cursed in what thou hast but also in what thou doest All thine actions whether inward or outward whether worldly or religious are all sinful and cursed Like the Leper under the Law thou taintest what ever thou touchest and makest it unclean Thy thoughts the first-born of thy soul and thy purest off-spring are all vain thine heart is a sink of sin an ocean of corruption and therefore is ever sending forth and bubbling up mire and dirt The imaginations and thoughts of thy heart are evil only evil and that continually Gen. 6.9 Thy words are wicked the inward wheels of thy spirit being disordered the clock of thy tongue cannot strike true The inward dunghil reaketh and sendeth forth its stench much this way Rom. 3.13 14. Thy mouth is full of cursing and bitterness The poison of Asps is under thy lips thy throat is an open Sepulcre like a grave when opened sending forth noisom and stinking exhalations Thy calling is not without its corruption The ploughing of the wicked is sin Prov. 21.4 Thy very eating drinking sleeping buying selling what ever thou dost is evil though such actions are indifferent in themselves for all indifferency lieth in generals yet as done by thee from wicked principles and for wicked ends they are stark naught Nay thy very religious actions are sinful and unacceptable to God The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord Prov. 15.8 Thine incense stinks of the hand that offereth it therefore the heart of God cannot away with it Isa 1.13 14 15. 66.3 The vessel of thine heart is not clean and God will not taste of the liquor which cometh out of it because thy person is not accepted thy performances are all rejected Thou art in the flesh and therefore canst not please God Rom. 8.8 Thy duties are done without heart or heat and being dead carcases without spiritual life must needs be unsavory Thus man art thou miserable who art in a state of nature thine unregenerate heart being like some filthy fen or as some write of the Lake of Sodom which continually sendeth up poysonous vapors O into what dangerous Dilemmas doth thine unregeneracy bring thee If thou enjoyest the means of Grace by abusing them thou increasest thy misery Hebr. 10.28 If thou neglectest them thou leavest thy self without remedy and perishest unavoidably Prov. 29.18 Rom. 10.15 If thou art in prosperity the sunshine thereof doth but ripen thee for ruine as the Sun the grape for the wine-press of the Lords wrath Prov. 1.31 Psal 69.22 If thou art in adversity the fire thereof doth but harden thine heart of clay 2 Chron 28.22 Thy misery as Plutarch writes of drums to Tygers maketh thee mad Plutarch lib. de uper sat thou frettest like one in a frenzy 2 Kings 6.33 against the Lord If thou rejoycest thy laughter is from the teeth outward Is not thine heart many a time heavy when thy looks are lively Prov. 14.13 Doth not conscience when thou like Belshazar art carousing in thy cups spread forth an hand-writing before thee a black List of thy sins and Gods wrath which turneth all thy mirth into mourning at best thy laughter is but like the crackling of thorns under a pot which maketh a short blaze and busling noise and then vanisheth into smoak and ashes Dan. 5.5 6. Isa 57.21 If thou weepest thy tears are puddle-water and so thy worldly sorrow here but a pledge and earnest of thy sufferings hereafter If thou livest long thou heatest Hell the hotter every day treasuring up wrath upon thine head against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 If thou diest soon thou makest the more haste to Hell taking a short cut to thy long and doleful home If thou lookest upward thou maist see God frowning and his wrath revealed from Heaven against thee Rom. 1.18 thou mayst behold as it were the Heavens and their Host ready every moment to discharge Gods curse like a thunderbolt upon thee if thou lookest downward thou mayst see hell gaping as the earth did to Corah and opening its mouth wide to swallow thee up quick if thou lookest within thee thou mayst see conscience which thou hast abused as the Philistines did Samson by putting out its eyes causing it to grind at the divels mill and making sport with it resolving when it shall recover its strength to be avenged on thee and to make thee perish though it perish with thee If thou lookest without thee there is no sight but what may call thee to sighs and sobs If thou lookest upon the creatures are not they armed with stings and murdering Instruments on the behalf of their Creatour and alwayes ready to let fly at thee who art a Rebel against his Majesty If thou lookest into Scriptures there is a table richly spread which they that are born of God sit at with Adoption remission peace love the purchase of Christ the comforts of the Spirit which thou as the unbelieving Lord mayst see but
Martyrs he was earnest to know what it was which carried them through with so much courage One of them there being two and twenty at that time under the tormentors hands answered Eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. 2.9 Upon the hearing of which words Adrian was converted and sealed the truth with his blood Thou hast heard much more concerning the happiness of the Saints in the other world then one verse of Scripture how art thou taken with it Doth the joy there nothing affect thine heart nor enlarge it in salleys out after it O that that joy that glory that house that eternal heaven were mine Doth it nothing resolve thee against sin and for Christ answer God in thy conscience Some write that forty one of Alexanders friends drunk themselves dead for a crown of gold of One hundred and eighty pound weight which the King had provided for them which drank most God offereth thee a crown of glory not corruptible as silver and gold are but eternal art not thou ashamed that those swaggerers should cursedly lose their lives and souls for a fading crown when thou wilt not leave thy lusts thy sins for an ever-flourishing crown of glory O man bethink thy self whilst thou hast time and do not as prophane Esau prefer thy mess of pottage before these spiritual priviledges and the eternal purchase Cleopatra the Egyptian Princess told Marcus Antonius when she saw him-spending his time vainly and meanly much below the quality of a Prince It is not for you to fish for Gudgeons or Trouts but for Towns and Cities and Castles and Kingdoms So say I to thee It is not for the to lie spending thy time and strength and beating thine head and heart for an hoard of dust or an heap of earth which shall shortly take its eternal leave of thee but for spiritual riches for durable riches and righteousness it 's not for thee to busie thy self about toyes and trifles but about the image of God the blood of Christ the Covenant of Grace the Kingdom 〈◊〉 Heaven the eternal weight of Glory O these are worthy of all thy thoughts and words and actions of all thy time and strength and health of all thy name and estate and interest whatsoever If thou att a rational creature Swinham Court of Wards and Liv. let reason prevail with thee and shew thy self a man of understanding It was the custom formerly in England to try one that was beg'd for a fool in this manner an apple or a counter with a piece of gold was set before him if he take the apple or the counter he is cast for a fool in the judgement of the Court as one that knoweth not the true value of things or how to make choyce of what was best for him Truly thus it is with thee God setteth before thee the counters and carnal comforts of this world the true gold and unutterable happiness of the other world nay he layeth before thee the eternal pains of hell and the eternal pleasures of Heaven to try which thou wilt take now if thou wilt take a poor portion below and leave the purchased possession above if thou wilt to abide in thy sensual lusts chuse the torments of hell and refuse by not submitting to the rule of Christ the joys of heaven art thou not a fool in grain surely the Devil will beg thee for a fool for ever therefore shew thy self wise by chusing that which is of greatest worth I call heaven and earth to record this day against thee that I have set before thee life and death blessing and cursing therefore chuse life that both thou and thy seed may live Deut. 30.19 The third Subject of Consideration The Excellency of Regeneration THirdly Consider the excellency of that which the Lord requireth of thee for the avoiding of that easeless endless misery of the damned and the attaining the unspeakable and unchangeable felicity of the saved Reader I pray thee speak to God in thine heart and tell him what is the reason thou art so willing to go to Hell and so unwilling to go to Heaven Sure I am as thou art a living creature much more as a rational man thou hast a natural inclination and propensity towards thine own good and felicity and therefore thou canst not love Hell directly as it is torturing and wracking of thy soul and body though thou dost love it eventually as 't is the end of thy fleshly ungodly life Well I le undertake for once to dive into thine heart and tell thee the reason of thy backwardness towards heaven and thy forwardness for hell The reason is this thou lookest on the power of godliness as distasteful to thy flesh or disgraceful to thy name the yoke of Christ is too strict t is not the end that displeaseth thee thou couldst contentedly be happy but t is the narrowness of the way and the straitness of the gate with which thou art dis-satisfied 't will not afford thee room enough for thy beloved lusts is it not so let conscience speak Well I hope by the help of God to make thee of another minde when thou hast throughly read this Head which I am now writing of It is the saying of Plato That if moral Philosphy could be seen with moral eyes it would draw all mens hearts after it Sure sure I am that if Regeneration or the Divine nature were seen with divine eyes 't would draw mens hearts and heads and hands and all after it All that ever struck at it did it in the dark They spake evil of things which they knew not Reader what is that which God requireth of thee Is it not to leave thy slavery to Satan thy bondage to sin and to accept and enjoy the glorious liberty of the Sons of God Is it not that thou shouldst be divorced from sin that mishapen monster and spawn of the Devil whose person is deformed whose company is defiling and whose portion is damnation and that thou shouldst be married to Jesus Christ the fairest of ten thousands the heir of all things who would adorn thee with the jewels of his graces beautifie thee with the Imbroydery of his Spirit wash thee with his own blood array thee with his own righteousness and present thee to his father without spot to be blessed in his full immediate enjoyment for ever Is it not that thou shouldst cease thy drudgery to Hells-Jaylor live above the perishing profits bruitish pleasures empty honors of the world and flesh and that thou shouldst walk after the Spirit walk with God warm thine heart at the flame of his love bathe thy soul in angelical delights have thy conversation in Heaven here and thy habitation there hereafter Is not this Man the sum and substance of what the Lord requireth of thee and art thou not shroudly hurt would not these
never fountain sent forth water more freely then this sinner doth godly sorrow when he considereth what he hath done how he hath sinned what a God he hath greived sorrow and grief overwhelm his spirit The fifth step is implantation into Christ the Spirit now leadeth the childe by the band unto Christ nay grafteth him into Christ The soul being convinced of the necessity it stands in of Christ of the endless misery which it must undergo without Christ of the al-sufficiency that is in Christ how willing how able he is to binde up the broken heart and to save the sinful soul doth by the help of the Holy Ghost venture its self and its everlasting estate up-Jesus Christ resolving to stand or fall live or die at his feet The sinner is now between hope and fear not knowing how he shall fare As the four Lepers that were shut out of the City in the famine of Samaria considered with themselves If we enter into the City the famine is in the City and we die there Kings 7.3 and if we sit still here we die also Now therefore come and let us fall into the Host of the Syrians if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but die and accordingly they went to the Syrians camp found food there and lived So the sinner pondereth in his heart If I go to the world and the lying vanities thereof I perish vanity of vanities is written upon all its enjoyments the famine is there there is nothing that is bread its whole shop cannot afford a plaister which can heal my wounded conscience if I sit still in this condition under the weight of mine iniquities I perish they will unquestionable sink me into Hell now therefore I will fall into the hands of the Lord Jesus If he save my soul I shall live if he deny to receive such an unworthy wretch as I am I shall but die I can but perish I will therefore venture and accordingly the soul goeth to him and findeth life in him I have sometime thought that when the sinner is come thus far he carrieth himself much like Esther When the King had made an irrevocable decree for the destruction of her self and people what doth she do she fasteth and prayeth and sendeth word to Mordecai I will go in unto the King which is not according to the Law and if I perish I perish Esth 4. ult Thus the poor broken-hearted sinner perceiving that the King of Kings hath made a Decree That the soul that sinneth shall die eternally and he is a grievous sinner he fasteth he mourneth he prayeth and at last resolveth Well I will go in unto the King though it be not according to the Law which shutteth me up under guilt and wrath If I perish I perish possibly he may hold out the golden Scepter of Grace and I may live in his sight thus the poor creature goeth maketh supplication believingly and prevaileth The Devil now layeth all the blocks he can possibly in the souls way to hinder its journey to Christ As when the woman talked to her husband of going to the Prophet for the enlivening of her dead childe he presently endeavoureth to disswade her that 't would be to no purpose Why wilt thou go 't is neither new moon nor Sabbath but yet she went and had her childe restored to life Thus To what purpose shouldst thou go to Christ saith the Devil to the penitent sinner Canst thou think that so holy and righteous a God will have the least respect for such a wicked notorious hell-hound as thou art I tell thee he hath sent thousands that never sinned as thou hast done into Hell and canst thou have any thoughts of Heaven Thou hast done my work all thy dayes and now lookest for a reward from God No no I le pay thee thy wages in blackness of darkness for ever if thou hadst intended for life thou shouldst have minded it sooner thou hast dayes without number broken the Law and many a time rejected the Gospel and now 't is too late God called and thou wouldst not hear now thou mayst call long enough for he will not hear thee he tells thee as much with his own mouth Prov. 1.25 to 32. Therefore thou mayst spare thy pains and prayers for all will be to no purpose Surely thou hast a impudent face and a brazen forehead to expect such choice blessings as pardon and life from that Christ whom thou hast persecuted in his people rejected in his Laws preferring the world and thy flesh before him and daring him to his very face Thus he that was the sinners tempter to those sins turns his tormentor for them and he that when the soul was posting to Hell bid it not doubt of Heaven doth now the creature is creeping towards eternal life perswade him that 't is impossible to escape eternal death But notwithstanding these discouragements the sinner will go to the great Prophet of the Church for the life of his dead soul He thinks 'T is true I am a grievous sinner but I know that he is a gracious Saviour I see nothing but misery and hell in me but I see mercy and heaven in him for my warrant Mat. 11.28 I have â—his precept Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy-laden for my encouragement I have his promise I will give you rest Ioh 6.33 him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out I will therefore go what ever come of it and lay my self at his feet if he condemn me and spurn me into Hell I le justifie him peradventure he may lend me his hand and raise me up with hope of Heaven others have gone to him and he hath bid them welcom O the rings and robes the kisses and embraces which many returning Prodigals have had of him who knoweth but he may be gracious to me if he had not been willing that poor sinners should live he would not have dyed if he had been unwilling that I should come why doth he call me Well what ever come of it I will go it may be I may be hid in the day of the Lords wrath Thus Faith at first standeth but on one weak foot I suppose that when the sinner is in this condition the very command of God enjoyning him to believe in the name of his Son is a special instrument in the hand of the Spirit to draw him unto Christ like Abraham he being called of God obeyed not knowing whither he went he being called of God to cast himself on Jesus Christ obeyeth not knowing how he shall speed The Disciples when they hear Christ speaking to them in the morning Cast on the other side of the ship and ye shall finde answer him We have fished all night and caught nothing nevertheless at thy command we will let down the net So the penitent man having tried this and that means and found no water no meat