through the streets of London with twenty mules laden to show his pomp but as the triumph passed through Cheapside the beasts stumbled brake their collars cast their coffers and then the lids flying open discovered his riches to be nothing but old shooes and boots torn stockings old iron and totter'd rags I tell thee Reader though now thou mayst be wonder'd at for thy spiritual wealth yet as soon as thou stumblest into the other world 't will be tried 't will be known whether they be real or imaginary riches Paul told his Corinthians 1 Cor. 4.19 I will come to you shortly and will know not the speech of them that are puffed up but the power for the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power What will ye shall I come to you with a rod or in love O Friend not Paul but Jesus Christ himself will come to thee by death shortly and will know not thy speech in being puffed up with a shadow of profession but the power and try whether thou hast the substance of Religion Now man what wilt thou shall he come to thee with a rod or in love shall he send good Angels to guard thee to Heaven or evil Angels to drag thee to Hell When David was going to encounter with Goliah he told Saul that he could not go with the armor which Saul had put on him because he had not proved it 1 Sam. 17.39 And darest thou enter the list against a far greater enemy even death with that armor which was never proved be confident if thou fightest without armor of proof death will foil thee The day of Judgement will try thee then naked breasts will be in fashion and God will rip thee open before the world nay if thou wilt not now examine thy self to thy conversion he will examine thee then to thy confusion When the Judge shall be a consuming fire and the whole world be in a flame and thou be tried by a fiery Law Hebr. 12.28 2 Peter 3.10 Deut. 33.2 'T was a sharp kind of examination by which Paul was examined Acts 22.14 The chief Captain commanded that he should be examined by scourging 'T is a sad kinde of examination by which many Countreys examine Malefactors upon the wrack putting them to exquisite pains Reader Remember that if thou dost not examine thy self at this day God will examine thee at the last day and 't will be an examination upon the wrack an examination with scourging it will be a word and a wound every blow will fetch blood every interrogation will be a stabbing stinging killing question When Christ shall say to thee Sinner how didst thou dare thus to cozen and undo thy soul what madness possessed thee thus to dally about matters of infinite and endless moment Hadst thou examined thy self according to my word and found thy self lost there had then been some hopes of life but I tell thee now 't is too late Well I le rip thee open before Angels and men and cause thy conscience with its gnawing worm and stinging gripes to examine thee eternally The fire of hell shall try what mettal thou art that will prove thee to purpose O friend think of this seriously and speedily for that day of Christ will declare thee and Alas alas who shall abide the day of his trial or who shall stand when he appeareth for he is like refiners fire and as fullers sope All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom thou shalt then have to do If thou art afraid to venture a trial in the low Court of Conscience where his Word shall be thy Judge with what fear and trembling wilt thou appear at his bar when he that searcheth thine heart trieth thy reins and will reward thee according to thy works shall sit upon the Bench Therefore cast up thy accounts before God and thy soul whilst there is hope of making all even lest thou do as some Tradesmen who neglect so long to cast up their books till at last their books cast them up Thirdly consider it is possible to know whether thou art new born or no. I do not set thee to beat the air or to work at the labour in vain A Christian may be assured of his regeneration and thereby of his salvation They which have the law of God written in their hearts may be able to read it David when his deeds and evidences were not blotted with his foul offences could discern them clearly Thy law is within my heart Psalm 40.8 When the Sun ariseth he bringeth his naturall light with him whereby he is discovered to the world A diamond set in a gold-ring bringeth such an orient sparkling with it that it causeth men to discern it truly so the Sun of righteousness when he ariseth in the soul bringeth a spiritual light along with him which helpeth the new creature to behold him and the Diamond of Grace casteth such a sparkling lustre in the heart of a Christian that it thereby becomes visible Regeneration makes a wonderful change and alteration now great alterations of State are not without observation Doth a Kingdom change its Governor a cruel arbitrary Tyrant that fleeced them and slew them at pleasure for a mild merciful peaceable Prince that ruleth them with a righteous scepter and not take notice of it Can a creature change his master sin and flesh for Christ and his Spirit his work of serving divers lusts and pleasures Tit. 3.3 for serving the Lord with singleness of heart and not observe it When the man is new made Christ cometh into his heart with his Spirit Graces Gospel great Guests when they come into an house have many eyes upon them the King of Glory doth not come with such a train and retinue in secret the gradual change from grace to grace is not so visible but a specifical change from nature to grace is undoubtedly sensible when the ground that before brought forth nothing but weeds and thistles comes to bring forth wheat an ordinary person may perceive the difference though how this wheat groweth is not so perceptible Every new creature doth not know the time nor manner nor means of his conversion but every one may know that he is converted The mother doth not know how she comes to be quick but she knoweth that she is quick for the feeleth the childe to stir in her womb how the shadow moveth on the dial we cannot see but that it moveth we see plainly in that its opposite at night to the place where it was at noon Though conversion be not ever sensible in the act yet it is sensible enough by its effects and the reason why it is not in all alike visible is because it is not in all alike violent God converteth some by Boanerges sons of thunder others by a Barnabas a son of consolation to some he comes as on Mount Sinai Exod. 19. with thundrings lightnings and a great noise to others as to
him and the Son of man that thou dost thus visit him Psa 8. Surely thou when thou considerest the work of grace and holiness which God hath wrought within thee and the place of glory and happiness which he hath prepared for thee mayst wel fal down on thy knees and looking up to heaven say What is man that thou art so mindful of him and what am I a poor son of man that thou dost thus visit me thou hast made me but a little lower then the angels and hast crowned me with glory and honour with grace and holiness Who am I O Lord and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto And this was yet a smal thing in thy sight O Lord God but thou hast spoken of thy servants house for a great while to come And is this the manner of men O Lord God 2 Sam. 7.18 19. Friend let free grace have the honour and glory of all the good bestowed on thee or expected by thee Alas who made thee to differ from others wa st not thou in the same lump of clay with them that perish now that the potter should make thee a vessel of honour to be set upon the high shelf of heaven as the martyrs phrase is when others are vessels of dishonour and firebrands of hell hast not thou unspeakable cause to wonder at his mercy and good-will towards thee That thy person should be justified when others are under the guilt of all their transgressions is meerly from mercy Rom. 3.24 Rom. 5.18 19. The free gift came upon all to justification of life That thy nature should be sanctified when others are left in their filth and pollution is altogether from his grace and favour Among whom we all had our conversation in time past in the lusts of our flesh fullfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others But God who is RICH IN MERCY for his GREAT LOVE wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ That in the ages to come he might shew the EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus Eph 2.1 to 10. That thou shalt be saved with a great and glorious salvation when others shall be damned with a greivous and endless destruction that thou shall enjoy Rivers of pleasures when others must be tormented day and night with intolerable pain is onely from Gods good pleasure Titus 3.3 4. The jewel which inricheth thee is a guift Joh. 4.10 * Faith justifieth not as manus laborantis which earns a peony but as manus mendicantis that receiveth an alms or jeâ—el by which the soul is justified and enriched The hand which receiveth it is a guift Phil. 1.29 It is worthy thy observation how full the Spirit of God is in excluding thee and every thing in thee from having any hand in meriting thine acceptance here or inheritance hereafter Not by works Rom 9.11 Not of works Rom. 11.6 Not according to works 2 Tim. 1.9 without works Rom. 4.6 Now if mercy doth all for thee should not mercy have the honour of all from thee What did God see in thee more then in others that he chose thee to glory What did he foresee in thee more then in others that he called thee by his grace thou wast not onely empty of but contrary to all saving good many a motion of the Spirit didst thou neglect many an invitation from Christ didst thou reject how long did he strive with thine untoward heart before he conquered it how many a time did he call when thou wouldst not hear and knock when thou wast so far from opening that thou didst bolt and bar the door against him How justly might he have sent thee as well as thousands of others to hell what mercies didst thou abuse what means of grace didst thou misimprove Yet who did he wait upon thee by his unwearyed patience woo thee by many a good providence and at last win thee to himself notwithstanding all thy resistance I tell thee It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 O therefore admire mercy say in thine heart I was a blasphemer I was a persecuter and injurious but I obtained mercy I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord. 1 Tim. 1.12 13.17 Now to the King immortal invisible eternal be honour and glory blessed be God who hath begotten me again to a lively hope of an inheritance that fades not away 1 Pet. 1.3 Wonder at Gods distinguishing mercy Lord how is it that thou revealest thy self to us and not to the world said the disciple John 14.22 Shouldst not thou think Lord how is it that I unworthy I should be chosen when others are rejected that I should be called when others are neglected that I who came into the world with the same rage against God and godliness and did many a day run with others to the same excess of riot should turn about be in love with holiness and run the wayes of thy commandments when many many others still wallow in their wickedness and are every hour hastning unto hell Lord how is it that thou hast revealed thy self to me and not to the world Plutarch wonders how the fig-tree having that extream bitterness in its leaves branches and stock should yet bring forth sweet fruit Hast thou not more cause to wonder how thou so extreamly polluted being in the very gall of bitterness by nature and having a fountain of poyson in thee shouldst ever come to bear good fruit and send forth pleasant streams truly thou mayst have the same Motto with the Olive which groweth in the craggy clifts without moisture or rooting A Coelo From Heaven Thou couldst never do it unless it were given thee from above therefore as thy piety came down from Heaven so let thy praise go up to Heaven Elizabeth wondred that the mother of the Lord should come unto her house O do thou stand amazed that the Lord of that mother should come into thine heart Give thanks night and day to the Father who hath made thee meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in light 1 Col. 12.13 Secondly Give thanks to God in thy life by an holy conversation As thou shouldst see thy dignity and take comfort in it so also consider thy duty and take care about it God hath done singular things for thee what singular thing wilt thou do for him The life of thankfulness consisteth in the thankfulness of thy life O the bonds the infinite obligations by which thou art tied to thy Saviour great things are bestowed on thee and great things are expected from thee thy life should be answerable to thy birth and breeding Thou art born of God hast blood-royal running in thy veins art brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord do not therefore stain
The DOOR of SALVATION OPENED By the Key of REGENERATION OR A TREATISE CONTAINING The Nature Necessity Marks and Means of Regeneration As also the Duty of the Regenerate By GEORGE SWINNOCKE M.A. and Pastor of Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire Matth. 18.3 Verily I say unto you Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven Non est via ad regnum sine primitiis regm nec sperare porest coeleste regnum cui neque super propriam regnare concupiscentian adhuc datur Bernard LONDON Printed by John Best for THO. PARKHURST at the Three Crowns in the lower end of Cheapside over against the great Conduit 1660. To the right worshipful Sir Charles Herboard Knight To the Worshipful Richard Franklin Esq John Beresford Esq Edward Ironside Esq Richard Beresford Esq And to the Gentlemen Yeomen and the rest of the inhabitants of the parish of Rickmersworth IT is the custom of our Country and if I mistake not a Statute Law of the Nation that children should be kept and maintained by those places in which they were born This book which treateth of the Babe of grace was conceived in your Parish brought forth in your Pulpit and now presenteth it self to you not for your protection and patronage but for your perusall and practice I confess that I am bound to many of you in courtesie to all in duty and I know not better how to express my thankfulness to some and my faithfulness to all then by dealing uprightly with you in the concernments of your souls Rom. 1.9 God is my witness whom I desire to serve with my spirit in the Gospel of his Son that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers And can through the strength of Christ much more rejoyce in one of your conversions then in all your possessions Ye know what a large Epistle I have already written to you I beseech you to read it often To the Reader in Hell and Heaven epitomized and O that the Lord would write it within you We live in days that are full of division but all that have any face of religion or form of godliness will acknowledge the things which I have written to you to be the commandments of God My cheif work is and hath been to preach unto you Repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ which are of such infinite weight in order to your unchangeable welfares And could I prevaile with you heartily to embrace those essentials of Gods word I should have confidence of your joyful appearance in the other world T is a sign of a very foul stomach to loath such solid food as those vitals of Christianity are and to pick at Kickshaws or Sallads I mean either the new-fangled opinions of some upstart way or the vaine flourishes of humane wit O how gladly would I stand forth to your comfort at the judgment feat of Christ which that I may I earnestly request you again and again in obedience to your blessed Saviour and for the sake of your precious souls to ponder and practice these three particulars Consider that they are not onely commended to you by your weak and dying Minister but commanded you by your Maker who will within a short time reckon with you for the performance of them First Make conscience of be diligent about the means of grace neglect not secret private or publick ordinances Your bodies may as probably live without diet as your souls without duties This is Gods way by which he infuseth grace where it is wanting and increaseth grace where it is As the head by the nerves and sinews as organs conveyeth animal spirits to the whole body So doth the Churches head Christ Jesus by ordinances convey his Spirit and grace to his members Doth not experience teach you that your hearts are like water though heated a little while over the fire of the means of grace yet are no sooner taken off but they are returning to their former coldness Mariners that swim against wind and tide must row hard and continue at it if they intermit but a little while how far and how forcibly are they carried backwards It is not unknown to you if ye have any knowledge in spiritual affaires how busily and unweariedly the Devil world and flesh are drawing you to hell it highly concerneth you to be always by duties fetching in supplies from above if ever ye would arrive at heaven I do not wonder that many in our perillous times who live above duties are given up to sensuality or blasphemies The Papists say that if they can get the Protestants out of their strong holds of Scripture into the open fields of Councils and Fathers they should quickly be able to foil them If Satan can prevaile with men but to throw away the Word of God which is the sword of the Spirit and the prayer of faith which engageth Christ himself in the combat he will never doubt the conquest While men wall in the Kings high way between Sun and Sun they have the protection of the Law if otherwise it is at their own peril If you keep the way of God he will be your guard but if you wander and leave him no wonder if he leave you And certainly wo will be to you when God departeth from you A dreadful night of darkness must needs be expected when this Sun is departed The ministry of the word is called the salt of the earth Mat. 5. Saints are called Doves Who are those that fly as doves to their windows Now the property of Doves is to be exceedingly in love with a salt-stone Kites and Rooks care little for it but Doves are mightily incited to it Graceless persons neglect and despise the means of grace but they that ever enjoyed God in them cannot but set a due price upon them The beggar the poor in spirit will know that door again at which he hath received a good dole I will never forget thy precepts for by them thou hast quickned me Secondly Mind the religious education of your children Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It was the wish of Crates that he were upon the top of the highest hill in the world that from thence he might cry out against monstrous parents that toile to leave their children great estates but take no care what maner of persons they should be which should enjoy those estates I doubt not but ye are careful to breed your Sons Gentlemen or to bring them up to trades that they may know how to live a few days in this world but alas how few of you are solicitous to breed them new creatures and to bring them up to Christianity that they may know how to live for ever in the other world I remember that Augustine speaks mournfully Some praise my father for being at such cost even beyond his estate in my nurture but alas his care
was to make me an oratour not to make me a Christian I am confident many a child bemoans that now he is damned in hell which the Father did when he was converted on earth I cannot condemn the education of children according to the quality of their parents nor their bringing up to particular callings this latter I am sure is a duty but that which is first should be last and that which is last should be first Your greatest care and that in the first place should be to seek the Kingdom of God for your selves and children and then other things shall be added to you Caleb gave his daughter the upper and the neather springs O labour that yours may with Jacob have the dews of heaven as well as the fatness of the earth Elisha wept when he saw Hazael 2 Kings 3.12 13. and foresaw that he would slay young men and dash the children against the wall do nor some of you give far far greater occasion of weeping if possible teares of blood in slaying and murdering the souls of your dear children teaching them by your patterns to live like Heathens and Atheists Believe it God committeth the charge of and will account with you for all the souls in your families Gen. 4.3 10 11. When Cain had flain his brother Abel God called to him Where is thy Brother Abel And Cain said I know not am I my Brothers keeper And the Lord said What hast thou done the voice of thy brothers blood cryeth unto me from the ground And now thou art cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother blood at thine hand So suppose God should whisper one of you in the eare Cruel Father Careless Master Where is thy child or servant that dyed so many months or years ago You may possibly think what Cain spake Lord I know not whether in heaven or hell Holy Greenham saith that many mens children shall follow them up and down in hell cursing them and crying out of them for neglecting to instruct them Was I their keeper O think of it with speed and reform May not God reply very truly Cursed sinner vile wretch What hast thou done The voice of thy child of thy servants soul-blood cryeth to me from hell And now thou art cursed from hell which hath opened her mouth to receive thy sons thy servants soul at thine hand Friends Friends what will you do when God shall thus deal with you for your neglect of relative duties Possibly ye may think I deal too sharply but truly the reason is because I know that sin will not deal mildly either with you or yours And should I not give you warning the blood of your own and childrens souls would be required at my hands Good Lord that ye did but believe what it is to be guilty of others blood Heathens and Infidels provide for the body and temporall well-being of their children and what do many of you more Bears that bring forth mishapen whelps will by licking them bring them to a better form Your Children are brought forth enemies to God and are by nature children of wrath and heirs of eternal death doth it not behove you to strive that by religious nurture they may become children of the promise and heirs of eternal life Thirdly Make sure of Regeneration be never satisfyed till ye can upon Scripture grounds affirme that your natures are regenerated This this is the one thing necessary Your All hangs upon this hinge If this be not done ye are undone undone eternally All your profession civility priviledges guifts duties are cyphers and signify nothing unless Regeneration be the figure put before them It is Regeneration that will make you the sons of God the members of Christ the temples of the Spirit that will give you an holy improvement of all providences a right to all the promises and at last the purchased possession It is Regeneration that will teach you to live like men like Christians like Angels in the love and fruition of the infinitely blessed God O the price of this pearl is not known in this beggerly world A grave and wise Counsellour of France being desirous in his old age to retire himself was intreated by the King to write down some directions and leave with him for the more prosperous government of his Realm The Counsellour took some paper and wrote on the top Moderation in the middle Moderation at the bottom Moderation Demosthenes being asked what was the chief thing in an Oratour answered Elocution and being demanded the same question three times what made an Oratour he still gave the same answer Aug. â—pist 56. ad Di osc Augustine being demanded what was the greatest requisite of a Christian What was the first second and third still answered Humility Humility Humility Truly what the Counsellour said of Moderation the Grecian of Elocution and the Father of Humility I shall say of Regeneration If you ask me what is the chiefest thing in the world for a man to mind What is that which is worthy of all his time and strength and thoughts and words and actions I answer Regeneration If you demand What is that which is of greatest necessity and excellency that bringeth in the greatest profit delight and happiness I answer Regeneration He that hath this hath all that is worth having the having of this is heaven He that wanteth this hath nothing the whole world cannot make up the want of this the want of this is hell O Sirs your everlasting making or marring dependeth upon your sincerity or hypocrisie in this Of what infinite consequence is it therefore to you in whatsoever ye come short to make sure here Alas when ye come to throw your last cast for eternity how will the stoutest of you do to look death in the face without Regeneration in your hearts God hath in an hundred texts of Scripture devoted all unregenerate ones to the unquenchable fire and can any of you think to make him a lyer Believe it as soon as death landeth you at the other world you will have other thoughts of God and his Truths then now ye have For your help in this work which is of such absolute indispensable necessity unto your never dying souls I commend to you this Treatise beseeching the blessed God to make it serviceable unto your salvations Ignatius when he heard a clock strike would say I have one hour more to answer for I must tell you that ye have eighteen hours eighteen Sermons more to answer for When they were preached they had from some of you a favourable attention now they are printed it is not unknown what providence brought them to the press I wish they may have within you all an effectual operation that both the Author and his labors may appear to your joy at that great and terrible day These things being signified Act. 20.32 I commend you to God and to the word of
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
profession the lie The Pope professeth himself the servant of servants and yet even then exalteth himself above all that is called God 2 Thess 2.4 And he that professeth himself so humble as to do service to the meanest Christian is yet so proud as to take merit from Christ himself Every one that 's cloathed in black is not a Scholar nor every one that wears a sword a Soldier neither is every Professor a true and upright believer Pharnaces sent a crown to Cesar when at the same time he rebelled against him but Cesar sent back the crown with this message Let him return to his obedience first and then I will accept the Crown Thus God will not be graced with our crowns of profession unless that be crowned with a gracious conversation He is not a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that in the heart whose praise is not of men but of God Rom. 2.28 29. Thirdly Spiritual Priviledges are no sure sign that thine eternal estate is safe we read of them that were Israelites to whom pertained the adoption the glory the covenants the giving of the Law and the service of God and the Promises whose were the Fathers of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.4 5. and yet many of them perished notwithstanding all these great Priviledges Paul had glorious priviledges when he was a graceless person Phil. 3.5 6. Thou mayst enjoy Sermons Sacraments Sabbaths seasons of grace the society of Saints and yet miss at last of salvation All that are in a family are not children though they possibly feed at the same table and lodge in the same chamber All that enjoy Church-ministry are not Church-members Doeg may set his foot within the house of God as far as David Iudas may partake of the same privileges with the Apostles and yet be a devil the outward Court was larger thent he inner and so Gods visible Church takes more in then his invisible Tares may be in the same field with wheat enjoying the same benefit of the Sun rain and earth and yet are tares still The Jews boasted much that they were Abrahams children Matth 3. and yet Truth it self tells them that they were of their father the devil Joh. 8.44 Circumcision is nothing nor uncircumcision but a new creature Gal 6.15 Where the new creation is wanting spiritual priviledges are but as seals to a blank and signifie little Regeneration is the figure which if missing they as cyphers stand for nothing The voyce of many among us now is like to the voyce of the Jews heretofore 1 Sam. 4.3 in time of their distress Bring us the Ark say they that that may save us when alas they were destroyed by the Philistines for all their Ark So thou Reader when conscience frighteth thee or death comes nigh thee probably speakest in thy heart come bring me the Ark that that may save me bring me the Sacrament that shall save me thou runnest to thy Baptism to thy Sabbath to priviledges and thence concludest that thou canst not be condemned when alas thou mayst go to hell fire for all thy Font water and to eternal torments though thou hast often been at the Lords Table Matth. 7.22 Baptismal water is not ever the laver of regeneration many sit at the Lords Table which do not taste of his Supper All in the Church may hear the word of Christ but few hear Christ in his word It is ordinary to enjoy the Sabbath of the Lord but not so to enjoy the Lord of Sabbaths Outward priviledges are of great value in themselves but like a jewel which some speak of they lose their vertue if put into a dead mans mouth they are of no efficacy or benefit to thy soul whilst thou continuest dead in trespasses and sin Unregenerate Israel was to God as Ethiopia Amos 9.7 for all their priviledges Gentiles regenerated are called Jews Gal. 6.16 and Jews unregenerated are called Gentiles Amorites Hittites Sodomites Ezek. 16.3 Hos 12.7 Isa 1.10 Spiritual priviledges always commend God to us but not us to God Their abuse will be a dreadful encrease of thy damnation but their bare use will be a pittiful plea for salvation How many live all their days under the means of Grace that never get one dram of grace in the use of the means Corazin Bethsada and Capernaum who had the priviledge to hear Christ's oracles and to see his miracles were sad seals to these truths Matth. 11. for they were lighted to the chambers of utter darkness with the torches of Ordinances Rest not in this Reader for thou mayst be lifted up to heaven in the enjoyment of Priviledges and cast down to hell for mis-improvement of them Thou mayst like the Decii leap into the gaping gulf at noon day or like the Egyptians follow the pillar of fire into the deep and perish nay which is saddest of all as a ship which is sinking the more it is laden though it be with silver and gold the deeper it sinketh so the higher thy priviledges if thou perishest the deeper thy perdition Thou mayst flye like Joab to the Altar of priviledges but if thou art unregenerate he that is greater then Solomon will pluck thee thence or slay thee there The unsuitableness of thy life to the discoveries of his love doth but tell him to his face that thou art not careful to answer him in his matters that thou wilt not serve his Son nor worship the Mediator whom he hath set up and hereby thou dost but notwithstanding thy preferment provoke him the more and cause him as Nebuchadnezzar the oven to heat hell seven times hotter Thy priviledges like oyl and pitch will make that fire to scald and scorch the more terribly Weeds in the garden are sooner pluckt up then weeds in the high-way No trees are more surely for the fire then those which are planted in Gods own vineyard and bear not fruit Fourthly Great Gifts and Parts will not speak thy right to glory Edifying Gifts and sanctifying Grace do abundantly differ Thou mayst have a clear head and yet an unclean heart We read of them that were famous for gifts and parts and infamous for prophaness who might preach profitably and yet were workers of iniquity who had the gift of casting out devils and for all that were cast to devils Matth. 7.22 23. Ministers may like Noah's Carpenters build an Ark to save others and be drowned be damned themselves They may carry a lanthorn which may enlighten others while they go in the dark themselves Thou mayst as a land-mark direct others in the right way and never set a foot thy self in it How holily did Balaam prophesie and yet how hellishly did he practise surely like a burning-glass he hath fired many others by his heavenly language yet he himself never fired Many have
works of nature a tree which hath been many years growing may be cut down in an hour but in works of sin it s otherwise mans weakness can easily build them up but Gods power can onely throw them down Pompey when the Romans said That if Caesar came to Rome they saw not how they could resist his power told them That if he did but stamp with his foot on any ground in Italy he would bring men enough both footmen and horsemen to do it but when Caesar was coming with his Army Phaonius bid Pompey stamp with his feet and fetch the Souldiers which he had promised but all was in vain Pompey found it more difficult then he thought for Caesar made him first flee and then in a fight totally routed him The devil perswades men that they may defer their regeneration till their dissolution and then 't will be an easie matter to foil their spiritual foes but alas they finde it not so easie to mortifie earthly members and destroy the body of death when their souls adversaries with united strength encounter them fiercely and conquer them eternally Further all thy earthly comforts whether friends relations name estate limbs life must be laid at the feet of Christ hated for his sake and parted with at his call and command and that for the hope of such things as thou never sawest nor art ever like to see while thou livest Is not this Reader an hard chapter to forgo an estate in hand for something onely in hope to throw away present possessions and follow Christ thou knowest not whither to receive an inheritance thou knowest not when And as thy sins and thy soul must be parted asunder so thy Saviour and thy soul must be joyned together faith must follow repentance thy own righteousness must be esteemed as dross and dung the weight of thy soul and burthen of thy sins must be laid on the naked cross of Jesus Christ Now for thee who art by nature so extreamly in love with thy self to loath thy self and for thee notwithstanding thy discouragements from the number and nature of thy sins the threatnings and curses of the Law the wrath and righteousness of God to cling about and hang upon the Lord Jesus and resolve though he kill thee yet thou wilt trust in him surely this is not easie the work of God in infusing justifying faith is as great as in faith miraculous This is the work of God saith Christ that ye believe in the name of him whom he hath sent John 6.29 The work of God not onely in regard of its excellency because no work in man is more pleasing to God then believing on his Son but also in regard of its difficulty because none but a God can enable a man to believe the bird can as soon fly in the egg as thy soul mount up by faith towards heaven till the Almighty God assist thee Further all the commands of God must be heartily embraced some whereof are as contrary to flesh and blood as fire to water Self which is thy great idol must be denied the world with all its pomp and pride in comparison of Christ refused principalities and powers rencountred and foiled thine enemies loved and if killed it must be with kindness godliness owned though much disgraced by others truth followed close though it threaten to dash out thy teeth with its heels a buffeted Christ with his naked Cross preferred before weighty Crowns things which reason cannot comprehend believed and which none ever obtained labored for Friend are these easie things what thinkest thou add to all this the consideration not onely of thy weakness and inability to do these things but also thy wickedness and contrariety to them thou art not onely deprived of good but all over depraved with evil The imaginations and thoughts of thy heart are evil onely evil and that continually Gen. 6.5 Thou dost resolvedly and obstinately refuse good and choose evil Eccles 8.11 Jer. 44.16 The hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil Eccles 8.11 observe how full that text is man is resolved to have his minion his lust though he have wrath and death and hell into the bargain as the mother of Nero being told that her son would be her death if ever he were Emperor answered Let him kill me so he may reign so they say Let sin reign though it kill us though it damn us The heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil If thou wert onely empty of God and grace the work were more easie but thou art an enemy to grace and godliness thy carnal minde which is Lady Reason her self thy highest natural excellency is not an enemy for such an one may be reconciled but in the abstract emnity against God Thou hatest God Rom. 1.30 His people 1 John 3.12 His precepts Prov. 1.25 29. His Son John 15.25 and all for his sake thou fightest against him daily sinnest in defiance of him continually entailest thy quarrel upon thy posterity carriest it with thee into the other world if thou diest unregenerate and there art throwing thine invenom'd darts of blasphemy and spitting thy poison against the Most High to eternity Now be thy own judge is it easie to cure that Patient who thus desperately hates both Physician and Physick John 3.5 Water indeed saith one may somwhat easily be dammed up but no art nor labour can make it run back in its own channel It was by a miracle that the river of Jordan was driven back and it is no less then a miracle that the tide of sin which ran so strong should be turned that the sinner who before was sailing towards Hell and wanted neither winde nor tide to carry him forward should now alter his course and tack about for Heaven This is hard it is not more strange to see the earth flye upward and fire move downward then to see a sinner walk contrary to his nature in the wayes of grace and holiness Now Reader is not that man worse then mad that either delayeth or dallieth about his conversion upon supposition that he can do it easily enough hereafter when all this which I have written must be wrought in regeneration and when he is not onely empty of an enemy to but even emnity against it all Though the work of conversion and therefore the way to salvation be thus difficult to all yet to some 't is more difficult then to others In respect of God indeed quoad Deum one is as easily converted as another for infinite power and mercy know no difference but quoad nos in respect of us it is more hard to bring some towards holiness and heaven then others where the matter is most rugged and untoward it s harder to bring it to a good and comely form Some pieces of timber are more knotty then others and therefore not so easily squared and fitted for the spiritual Temple and heavenly Jerusalem as
how soon it may overcast nay it may be followed with flakes of fire before night Sure I am that God hath given thee no lease of thy life and that others have died of the same age and likeliness tolive and why thou shouldst promise thy self a priviledge beyond others that thou shalt live longer I know no reason unless this That the Devil and thine own heart have conspired together to murther thy soul by getting thee to future and put off thy conversion till thou comest to Hell-fire and then thy ruine will be past remedy Suppose the same voice should come to thee which did to Hezekiah Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live meaning speedily What woulst thou do thy house is not in order thy soul Man is all out of order and therefore death would come to thee as Abijah to Jeroboams wife with heavy tidings with such news as Samuel brought to Eli which will make thy ears to tingle and thine heart to tremble Ah how will he do to die that never knew how to live The black Usher of death will go before and the flaming fire of Hell will follow after Didst thou but believe the word of God as much as the Devils do thou couldst never depart this life in thy wits who hast not led thy life according to Gods will One would think the noise of this murthering piece of this great Cannon Death though it should not be very near thee might awaken and affrighten thee when that deluge of wrath cometh that the fountain of fury from below is broken up and the flakes of fire from above are rained down thou hast no Ark no Promise no Christ to shelter thy self in For Regeneration is the plank cast out by God himself to save the sinking sinner by bringing him to the Lord Jesus and thou wantest it Dost thou not see that thy Sentence of death if thou continuest so is already passed in the High-Court of Heaven entred and engrost in the Book of Scripture and God knoweth how soon the word of command may be given to some disease for thy execution What comfort therefore canst thou take in all the creatures while thou wantest this new creation It is reported of Xerxes Plutarch in vit Themist the the greatest of the Persian Monarchs that when the Grecians had taken from him Sardis a famous City in Asia the less he commanded one every day at dinner to cry before him with a loud voice Sardis is lost Sardis is lost It seems to me that thou hast far more cause to have a Friend without or Conscience within to be thy Monitor every day and every meal to sound in thine ears Friend Thy Soul is lost Thy Soul is lost Certainly such a voice might mar thy greatest mirth sauce every dish with sorrow make thy most delicate meat a medicine and thy sweetest drink distastful to thee O didst thou but know what it is to lose thy soul thy God thy Christ thine Heaven and all for ever thou wouldst in the night be scared with dreams and visions and in the day be frighted with fears and terrors When Vriah was bid by David to go down to his house and refresh himself he answered The Ark and Israel and Judah abide in Tents and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields shall I then go into mine house to eat and drink and lie with my wife As thou livest and as thy soul liveth I will not do this thing 2 Sam. 11.11 Mark The good man could take no pleasure in relations or possessions because the natural lives of others were in danger nay he forswears the use of those comforts for that very cause How then canst thou solace thy self with lying vanities when thine Eternal life is not in jeopardy but lost really and thou canst not assure thy self one day for its recovery Shouldst thou see a condemned prisoner which knoweth not whether he shall be hanged on the morrow or the day after hawking or hunting sprucing himself or sporting with his jovial companions what thoughts wouldst thou have of such a man wouldst thou not think surely this man is mad or desperate were he not beside himself he would minde somewhat else since he is so near his end But Friend turn thine eyes inward and see whether there is not infinitely more reason why thou shouldst wonder at thine own folly and madness who art by the word of the dreadful God condemned not to be hanged but to be damned not to the gallows but to the unquenchable fire and canst not tell whether this night or to morrow morning justice shall be done upon thee and yet thou art buying and selling eating and drinking pampering the perishing body never minding or thinking what shall become of thy poor precious soul to eternity The wise mans advice is that if thou art indebted to men and liable to their arrest and imprisonment thou shouldst not give sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to thine eye-lids before thou hast made thy peace Prov. 6.1 2 3 4. What speed shouldst thou then use when thou art infinitely indebted to the Almighty God at his mercy every moment liable continually to be arrested by that surly Serjeant Death and by him to be hurried into the dark prison of Hell to agree with thine Adversary while thou art in the way and to get the black lines of thy sins crost with the red lines of Christs blood and so for ever blotted out of the Book of Gods remembrance As the Chamberlain of one of the Persian Princes used to say to him every morning Arise my Lord and have regard to the weighty affairs for which the great God would have you to provide So say I to thee Awake O man out of thy carnal security and have regard to the great end for which thou wast born and the great errand for which the great God hath sent thee into the world Reader that thou mightest avoid the endless wo of the damned and attain the matchless weale of the saved I shall do two things in the prosecution of this exhortation I shall both give thee some helps towards regeneration and remove some hindrances First I shall offer thee three helps unto holiness and thereby unto Heaven Secondly I shall answer three objections which probably may arise in thine heart If thou hast any real desire after thine eternal welfare ponder them seriously and practice them faithfully And the good Lord make them successful O how happy might it be for thee if the getting of a regenerated nature were the main taske of thy whole time Believe it thou wilt have no cause to repent of it For the helps towards Regeneration and thereby towards Salvation The first help to Regeneration Serious Consideration 1. THe first help which I shall offer thee is serious consideration He that goeth in a wrong path and never thinketh of it will not return back or turn about though
shall inherit the earth Matth. 5.5 If heaven can make thee blessed thou shouldst be blessed Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 5.3 If all things could make thee blessed thou shouldst be blessed Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods 1 Cor. 3. two last verses Reader I shall do my utmost so to set forth the felicity of the regenerate which no pen can fully that thou mayst admire it How goodly are thy tents O. Jacob and thy tabernacles O Israel Numb 24.5 and not only as Balaam desire their deaths Let me die the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his Numb 23 10. but also endeavour to live their lives and to have thy conversation like theirs While thou continuest in this world thou shouldst be a blessed soul and when thou entrest into the other world thou shouldst be a glorions Saint In this world thou shouldst be a blessed soul in every condition into which thou couldst come in every relation in which thou dost stand at all times and in all places whatsoever All the Providences of God should be profitable to thee If Gods hand were enlarged in mercy thy heart should be enlarged in duty If God should prosper thee in temporals the streams of his bounty should lead thee as the water course either upward to the spring or downward to the ocean to the source and fountain of all thy happiness Thy heart would still be in heaven where thy best things were even then when thy body were busied among earthly good things 1 Cor. 7 29 30 Phil. 3.19 Some observe of the seed called Henbane that it killeth all birds save sparrows and to them it is nourishing food and they give this reason because their veines are so narrow that the fumes of the seed cannot passe through them to their hearts truly thus t would be with thee though thou sands of others are poisond with their worldly portions because the fumes thereof penetrate into their vitals but if riches increase thou shouldst not set thine heart upon them nay thou shouldst get nourishment from them As Jehosaphat the more honour and wealth thou hadst the more thy heart would be lifted up in the ways of God 2 Chro. 17.5 6. If thine estate were but little yet t would be perfumed with love and that lump of sugar in thy cup would make the liquor sweet be it never so small As the waters which flow from the hils of some of the Islands of Molacca taste of the Cinamon and Cloves which grow there so should thy guift though it were but water taste of the good will and special grace of the giver Thy little with the fear of the Lord would be better then the riches of many wicked men Psal 37 15. As a little ring with a very costly Diamond in it is far more worth then many great ones without it so thy estate though it were but a penny should be joyned with the pretious jewel of that love which is better then life and enjoyed by special promise and thereby be infinitely more worth then the thousands and millions of others bestowed meerly from common bounty and enjoyed onely by a generall providence If the black frost of adversity overtake thee thou shouldst as Conies thrive the better thy soul being hail thou wouldst become thereby the more healthy By affliction thou shouldst be partaker of Gods holiness Heb. 12.10 The waters of affliction should wash out the diri of thy corruption and the more they increased they would raise thee as the flood the Arke higher above the earth and mount thee nearer to heaven Torches burn the better for beating Spices smell the sweeter for pounding Vines bear the more for bleeding and the more thy soul were kept down by those weights like the Palm-tree the more thou shouldst grow That scouring and rubbing which fretteth others should make thee shine the brighter Psal 94.12 Divine corrections should make thee learn thy sacred lessons It is said of the Lacedemonians that when all other people were undone by war they onely grew rich Truly thus when ungodly ones are the worse for outward miseryes and wants like Ahaz in their distress they sin more against the Lord thou shouldst thrive the better grow the richer in grace and good works The diminution of thy temporal should be an addition to thy spiritual estate Job 36.9 10. As spring-water smoaketh when other waters are dried up because that is living and these are dead nay t is observed waters arising from deep springs are hotter in winter then in summer the outward cold keeping in and doul â—â—g the inward heat So the waters of thy graces should not onely continue having a living principle when the Sun of calamity scorcheth and drieth up the dead ponds of unregenerate professors Mat. 13.21 but also increase in spiritual heat Job 17.8 9. Philip. 1.14 If the Devil assaulted thee with temptations they should never be for thy perdition but probation Rev. 2.10 The Captain of thy Salvation would so strengthen thy soul with the Shield of Faith and Sword of the Spirit that thou shouldst not onely defend thy soul from all deadly wounds but offend thine Enemy and be more then a Conqueror over Principalities and Powers through him that loveth thee It would possibly be grievous and terrible to thee to be tempted but if God did not see it needful he would not suffer it nay if he could not make it useful he would not send it by those thorns of the flesh he would prick the vein and let out the ranck blood of thy spirit It is said of Telephus that he had his impostume opened by the dart of an Enemy which intended his hurt Truly so God would make to thee the fiery darts of the Devil though they were intentionally mortal to be eventually medicinal 1 John 5.18 The evil one should not touch thee that is with a mortal or deadly touch As a sound tree shaken with the winde thou shouldest not fall but root thy self the â—â—â—ter thou shouldest like Sampson fetch meat out of the Eater and out of the Strong sweetness thou shouldst get honey even out of this roaring Lion thy Regeneration like Pollium would be a special preservative against the poyson of that croocked Serpent Nay when thou shouldest fall into the evil of sin even that should turn to thy good God no thanks to thee like the skilful Apothecary would make wholsom treacle of such poisonus drugs If thy corruption should at any time get the mastery and break out in thy life thou shouldst be so well purged by the Physician of souls with the bitter Aloes of Repentance that as those who have had ill humors of their bodies getting head and breaking out in the small-pox and do well thou shouldst be the healthier in thy soul
individual promise hath its vertue and value It is the saying of one Mallemus carere sale coeâ—o c Selveccer in Paedag. Christian We had better want meat drink air light all the elements then that one sweet sentence of our Saviour Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11.28 Mr. Burroughs saith that there is more of God in that one verse John 3.16 then in heaven and earth beside God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life And Mr. Baxter I remember In his Everlasting â—est hath an expression to this purpose That he would not for all the world that that verse John 17.24 had been left out of the bible Father I will also that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory One promise hath revived the saints when they have been almost dead with sorrow and held their heads up that they have not sunk in deep waters Melib. Adamus in vit Beza was refreshed by that John 10.27 28 29. Mr. Bilney that blessed Martyr by that 1 Tim. 1.15 Father Latimer at the stake by that 1 Cor. 10.13 Mr. Robert Bolten that famous preacher and eminent saint was comforted under a sad affliction by that Isa 26.3 Now if one promise be so pretious how happy shouldst thou be wert thou but regenerated to have an interest in all the promises That whole book should be thine wherein every leafe drops myrrhe and mercy love and life Thou mightst walk in the garden where those choice flowers pleasant fruits and sweet spices grow and abundantly delight thy soul with their fragrant smell and luscious taste The promise is to you and to your children and to then that are a far off and to as many as the Lord our God shall call Acts 2.39 Observe the silver thread upon which all the jewels of the promises hang To as many as the Lord our God shall call When thou art called and born of him all the promises would be thy portion As all the rivers meet in the Ocean so all the promises meet in regeneration I will name two or three promises that thou mayst see how well t would be with thee wert thou once in Christ All thy sins should be pardoned though they were never so great and greivous yet the blood of Jesus Christ would cleanse thee from them Didst thou but know what a great price was laid down to procure a pardon Heb. 9.22 14. what dreadful punishments sinners undergo in hel for want of pardon Jude 7. what sorrows and sighs broken bones and waterd couches the Saints suffer when they are but doubtful of their pardon Psa 38.1 2 3 4. thou wouldst say O blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven and whose sin is covered blessed is he to whom the Lord imputeth not sin Psal 32.1 2. Now thou shouldst obtain this blessedness God would esteem thee perfectly righteous Solinus reports of a river in Boetia which maketh black sheep if washed therein white truly wert thou never so black a sinner yet thou shouldst be made white by the blood of the lamb Rev. 7.14 As all thy sins should be remitted so thy person should be adopted Thou shouldst of a child of wrath become the child of God Joh. 1.12 David reckoned it a great honour to be the Son in Law of King Saul Seemeth it saith he to Sauls servant A light thing to you to be a Kings son in Law seeing that I am vile and lightly esteemed 1 Sam. 18.23 O what is it then to be the Son of God of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Behold what manner of love hath the father loved us with that we should be called his children 1 John 3.1 The greatest admiration is too little for such infinite condescention yet this priviledge should be thine The boundless God who hath millions of glorious Angels for his servants would own feed cloath protect maintain and portion thee as his son Thou shouldst be sure to persevere in grace Being once in Christ thou shouldst be ever in Christ though the wind should blow and the waves beat against thee yet thou shouldst not fall being built upon the true rock The very gates of Hell should not prevail against thee Though thou mighst fall foully yet thou shouldst never fall finally because the seed of God would remain within thee 1 John 3.9 Phil. 1.6 1 Thes 5.23 24. Thy life would be hid in Christ as the sap in the root and therefore though thou mightst have thine Autumne yet thou shouldst spring again Thy stock of grace would not be in thine own but in Christs hands and for this cause thou couldst not possibly prove as Adam a bankrupt Though the flame of a zealous profession might be abated yet there would be fire on the hearth under the ashes true grace in thine heart the love of God to thy soul would be everlasting love Jer. 33.3 The kindness of thy Redeemer to thee everlasting kindness Isa 54.8 The Spirit of Grace would abide in thee for ever Joh. 14.16 The Covenant into which thou shouldst enter with God would be an everlasting Covenant Hebr. 13.20 And in that very Covenant thy Saviour would undertake for thee that thou shouldst never depart away from him but abide in him for ever Jer 31.33.34 and 32.40 Christ himself would be ever in thee and Christ saith one may as soon die in Heaven at his Fathers right hand as in the heart of a Believer To sum up all the promises in one God would be thy God And how much wealth is in this golden mine would nonplus the tongues of all the men in the world to express and the understandings of all the Angels in Heaven to conceive This is the great new-Covenant Promise Hebr. 8.8 9 10. I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people The Author of all Promises is the matter of this Promise Surely t is the Main the Ocean a large Promise indeed when it contains him whom the heavens and Heaven of heavens can never contain The Book of Promises is as a glorious Crown but this is the most sparkling Diamond in it Friend dost thou consider what it is to have God for thy God All that God is would be thine the Father thine to adopt thee for his own Son the Son thine to purisie and present thee acceptable to the Father the Spirit thine to dwell in thee as a witness seal and earnest of thine everlasting inheritance All that is in God should be thine all his attributes and perfections should be laid out for thy profit His wisdom would be thine to direct thee his power thine to protect thee his grace thine to pardon thee his mercy thine to pitty thee his goodness thine to comfort thee and his glory thine to crown thee Thou canst not
glorious body of his Son and our souls like unto his blessed Majesty in holiness beauty and delight O what are we and what our fathers houses that God should do any thing for us As Perillus when Alexander promised his daughter fifty talents for her portion cryeth 't was too much ten were sufficient And when David sent to take Abigal to wife she wondred at it she counted it an honour to wash the feet of his servants 'T was too much to be his wife So we cannot but count it a favour to wait upon his servants to be his door keepers and stand without 't is too much we think to be marryed to Christ the eternal Son of God and to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever We can hardly be perswaded that God will thus dignifie such worthless worms but then seeing and enjoying will be believing then we shall say It was a true report which I heard in the lower world what God would do for poor creatures in heaven howbeit I believed not till I came and mine eyes have seen it and behold the half was not told me my glory and joy exceedeth the fame which I heard Sixthly Thou shouldst enjoy all the forementioned good things and more then I can speak or thou think without intermission interruption and for ever The good things of this life are intermitted partly by contrary and evil things as our health lost by sickness our wealth by want partly by necessary diversions the body must have sleep and then we lose the comfort of the creatures but there thy day of comfort should never be overcast for all tears will be wiped from thine eyes and thy fruition of God should be without intermission thou shouldst ever stand in his presence and behold his face thou shouldst ever be with the Lord 1 Thes 4.16 Hadst thou here a confluence of all comforts yet because thy life is short thy joy could not be long but there thy life will be an everlasting life and thy joy therefore everlasting joy I wil see you again and your hearts shall rejoyce and your joy shall no man take from you saith Christ Joh. 16. Eternity will perfect thy felicity indeed It is a boundless duration without intermission and end Suppose that all the vast space between heaven and earth were filled with sand and once every ten thousand years a bird came and carried away a crum in her bill what a long while would it be before this vast heap would be carried quite away but suppose after the bird had done that it was to come every ten thousand years and take one drop of water out of the sea what a while would it be before it could empty the Ocean but after all this thou shouldst have as long to continue in thy joy and delights as at thy first entring into heaven If thou shouldst have but one glimpse of God as he was passing by thee as Moses had it were an happiness beyond all that this world can give thee but thou shalt there not have a transient view but a permanent vision of God thy God would not passe by but stand still that thou shouldst never lose the sight of him When the object would be so lovely and the act so lasting would not thy spirit be chearful and lively As the damned shall be without all hope ever to be released of their pains so thou shouldst be without all fear ever to be deprived of thy pleasures O who would not serve such a Master that giveth after poor imperfect works done for him such infinite eternal rewards 'T is bottomless love indeed which giveth such a boundles life Thus Reader I have given thee a taste of that of which thou if regenerated shouldst have a full draught Whilst thou continuest in this world thou shouldst be a blessed soul blessed in thy body in thy soul in thy calling estate relations children and name All the providences of God should be profitable to thee in all thy performances thou shouldst be acceptable to God all the ordinances of God should further thy good The precious promises one of which excels the whole world should all be thy portion When thou enterest into the other world thou shouldst be a glorious Saint Thou shouldst be perfectly holy and infinitely happy in the knowledg of the blessed God in finding the incomparable fruits of Christs blood and in experiencing the extent and certainty of Gods promises and thou shouldst enjoy all this not for a year or an age or for a million of ages but for ever ever ever Now what saist thou to this subject of consideration hast thou not unspeakable cause by an hearty marriage to close with the Son of God and accept him for thy Lord and husband when he offereth such matchless priviledges here and such an heavenly joynture hereafter Good Lord is it possible for man to be such an enemy to his soul as to neglect such great Salvation What an hard stone is the heart of man that neither misery nor mercy can move it Ah Friend thou art bewitched indeed if neither the wonderful woe of the unregenerate nor the unheard of weal of the regenerate can prevail with thee But before thou readest farther make a pause and consider what is included in these two subjects of consideration The Heathen tell us that such as cannot be perswaded by profit or disprofit are unperswadable Think of it here is the greatest advantage imaginable if thou wilt turn to Christ Here is the greatest damage conceivable if thou continuest in thine ungodly course surely thou art resolved upon thine eternal ruine or such reasons as these are will reforme thee Ponder this seriously if thou refusest the Lord Jesus as thy Saviour and Sovereign thou art a cursed damned sinner if thou acceptest him thou art a blessed saved creature in the one scale there is hell in the other scale there is heaven upon the turning of either is the turning of thy precious soul its making or marring for ever if thou wilt not embrace Christ upon his own conditions thy soul is lost O the loss of a soul thy God thy Heaven is lost O the loss of a God! no eye ever saw greater losses all other losses are nothing to these If thou dost thy soul is saved how sweet is that word Saved Thy God thy Heaven is gained O the gain of a God! how savoury is that sentence read it again If thou takeâ— Christ thy God is gained Dost thou know what is included in the gain of a God no nor all the men on earth nor all the Saints and Angels in heaven there never was such a gain before it nor ever shall be after it Ah who would not wade through thick and thin for such a gain What sayst thou shall not things of such concernment as these are stir thee It is reported of Adrianus an Officer under Maximinianus the Tyrant Laurent Sur. in vit that beholding the constancy of the
that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my fathers house in peace then shall the Lord be my God Gen. 28.20 21. Truly do thou say as he did Since the Lord is the God that keepeth me in all my wayes that gives me bread to eat and raiment to put on he shall be my God O do not give him ever cause to complain Hear O heaven and give ear O earth I have nourished and brought up a child and he hath rebelled against me Deut. 32.15 Thirdly Is there not all the reason in the world that wares or houses or any other thing should be for the use and service of him that paid a dear price for them If thou shouldst buy a beast at an high rate thou wouldst think thou couldst never have service enough of him Friend Thou didst cost the blood of the Son God Jesus Christ bought thy service at a dear rate Thou art not thine own thou art bought with a price therefore glorifie God in thy body and spirit for they are his 1 Cor. 6.20 Thou needst not grudge the Lord Jesus thy time and talents thy thoughts and words and estate and the utmost which thou art able to do Alas he paid dearly for it He died that he might be Lord of dead and living that whether we live we should live unto the Lord or die we should die unto him Rom. 14â— 8. O how little is thy service worth that Christ should purchase it with such an infinite sum We say of some children they had need to be dutiful children they cost their mothers dear many sharp throws and great danger of death O how dutiful hadst thou need to be who didst cost Christ such hard labour such throws from God and men death and divels thou art never able to conceive what a price thy Redeemer paid what pain he suffered to procure thy service and wilt thou deny the Lord that bought thee Plinie saith that blood will quench fire should not the blood of Jesus Christ quench the fire of thy lusts In all countries the ransomer of a bondman is to be his Lord no slavery so great as thine was no price ever paid so great for liberty therefore no service so great as that which thou owest If thou hadst done all that he commandeth thee thou hadst done but thy duty and mightst say thou wert an unprofitable servant what art thou then that never didst any thing O think of it seriously Redemption by the blood of the Saviour is a bloody obligation to service and if thou continuest a rebel t will be a bloody aggravation of thy sin What evil hath Christ done to thee that thou walkest contrary to him Ah friend to render good for evil is divine but to render evil for good is divelish Fourthly Is there not all the reason in the world that he who hath bound himself Apprentice to a Master promised solemnly to be his faithful servant sealed Indentures before witness engaged himself by vows covenants protestations and oaths should perform his promises and walk in every thing answerable to his bonds and obligations Wast not thou in Baptism solemnly dedicated to the service of God Did not thy parents seal the Indenture on thy part before the Lord Angels and Men that thou shouldst live according to the Laws and for the glory of the Father Son and Holy-Ghost Hast not thou listed thy self under the colours of Christ the Captain of thy Salvation and sacredly tied thy self to obey his commands and to fight under his banner against the devil world and flesh and wilt thou run from thy colours and turn to thine enemies and conspire and fight against Jesus Christ It was a custom in the Primitive times that such as were baptized did wear a white Stole a ceremony signifying the purity of life which the baptized were to lead Now there was one Elpidophorus Fulgentes animas vestâ—s quoque candida signat who after his baptism turned a persecutor Muritta the Minister who baptized him brought forth in publick the white Stole which Elpidophorus had worn at his baptism and cried unto him O Elpidophorus This Stole do I keep against thy comming to Judgement to testifie thy apostacy from Christ So be thou assured the water with which the Minister by whom the people before whom thou wast baptized will rise up against thee in Judgement if thou dost not walk in newness of life Luther speak of one that when tempted by the devil to sin answered that she was baptized and could not yield to him Remember that thou hast received thy Saviours press-money and therefore mayst not fight Satans battels Wast thou never partaker of the Lords Supper Didst thou not then with John stand by the cross of Jesus Christ and behold his blessed body bleeding under the knife of his Fathers wrath how 't was wounded for thy transgressions bruised for thine iniquities when thou didst take a sacred oath to be the death of those sins which were the death of thy Saviour and to live to him that died for thee when thou didst espouse Christ and his quarrel to thy self and engage to live and die with him and canst thou like a dishonest wife run a whoring after thy heart-idols and forget the Covenant of thy God Was there not a time when thou didst lie upon a sick bed and in thine own apprehension wast nigh the gate of death when thy sinful fleshly life began to flie in thy face and O the thoughts which thou hadst concerning thine appearance before God in the other world and thine endless estate there when thou didst pray hard O spare me a little Lord spare me a little that I may get some grace some spiritual strength before I go hence and be no more seen when thou didst promise O if God would then hear thee and try thee a little longer in this world thou wouldst turn over a new leafe lead a new life forbear thy former corruptions evil companions mind the service and glory of the infinite God and thine own eternal good And is all this nothing now God hath heard thee and delivered thee shouldst not thou now hear him and obey him Did thy sik-bed promises die when thou didst recover Psal 66 13 14. 116. 3 4 9. O follow Davids practice I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings I will pay thee my vows which my lips have uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in distress Theodoricus Archbishop of Colen Aenâ—â—d Sylv lib 2. com de reb Alphon. when the Emperor Sigismund demanded of him the most compendious way to happiness made answer in brief thus Perform when thou art well what thou didst promise when thou wast sick Friend look back upon the time when the guilt of thy sins perplexed thee the fear of death surprised thee and the horror of Hell began to lay hold on thee and remember the promises
in hope of glory In the middle there stands the fairest of ten thousands adorned as a bridegroom with his richest attire glistering with the jewels of those graces with which his humanity is adorned in a greater degree then the heavens could though every star in it were a glorious sun but O how the diamond of his deity sparkleth in the souls account that millions of worlds would be but a muck-heap to it Ah how lovely is he in the sinners eye How infinitely ravishing to his heart How blessed are those souls thinks this sinner that are interested in such a Saviour Vncâ—nceiveably happy is that spouse which hath so beautiful so accomplish'd so lovely so loving an husband God is hers earth is hers heaven is hers all is hers holiness is her nature and happiness is her joynture O that I O that I might be so blessed as to be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb Who can expresse the vehement violent longings of this man after Christ as the loadstone of his affections as the onely center of his soul the proper remedy for all his maladies had he the beauty of Absolom the renown of Solomon the wealth the worth of the whole world like the wise Merchant he would sell all to buy this pearle of price and think it the best bargain that ever he made nothing is so dear to him but he will give it nothing is so difficult but he will do or suffer for Christ he is of the same mind with the Martyr None but Christ none but Christ It is reported of a woman that was in these throws that she should say I have brought nine children into the world with as much pain as most women yet I would bear them all over again and bear them all my days for Christ There is mention made of a bird in Egypt near Nilus called the bird of Paradise which they say if it be once ensnared is unquiet and mournful till she be delivered so is this convinced sinner now he feels himself entangled in the bonds of iniquity and snares of the Devil he is unquiet till he be delivered Talk to this man of his respect and friends and riches in the world they are as the white of an egg or a dry chip without any savour relish or nourishment to him but tell him of Jesus Christ an able Surety to discharge all his debts O that is the savory meat which his soul loveth As a man that is sick and extreamly pained when you talk to him of his calling or estate he heareth not he regardeth not but tell him of one that can cure him of his disease and ease him of his paine then he will hearken to you thus t is with this sinner all his delight is in hearing of Christ all his longing is to hear from Christ The poor prisoner that is condemned to be hanged and hath sent a messenger to sue for a pardon never longed so much for his return with joyful news as this poor creature for an interest in the Mediatour Thus the Spirit having convinced the soul of its beggery and nakedness bondage and misery causeth it to breathe and long after the riches liberty and righteousness which is in Christ The fourth step is lamentation the soul that breatheth after a Saviour is truly broken for his sins his groans after liberty are accompanied with grief for his slavery Now the clouds gather and thicken over the soul and fall down in tears his sorrow under the conviction of his misery was legal but now t is for his abuse of mercy and so Evangelical His heart before was as a cloud broken by a thunderbolt being torn in pieces violently and making a mighty noise but now like the cloud melted by the shining of the Sun upon it it dissolves down sweetly into a fruitful showre Vemo possit poenitentiâ—m agerâ— nisi qui speraverâ—t indu geâ—tiam Amb He looked on sin before as t was damning as that which would cast his soul and body into hell but now he looks on sin as t is defiling as that which makes him unlike to God and as that by which he hath abused love and mercy and the consideration of this warmeth his heart and kindly thaweth it The man hath now some small hope of mercy and that like the nearer approach of the Sun softneth that earth which was hardned under the frost of legal terrors The pump of the sinners heart was dry till the water of gospel grace apprehended and hoped for was poured in and then it sendeth forth abundantly He returneth now to God with supplication weeping and mourning As Joseph so this sinner seeketh for a place to weep in He goeth into his chamber falleth down before God and poureth out his heart at his eyes and tongue He accuseth shameth condemneth abhorreth himself because of his sins He doth not dissemble his birth but acknowledgeth the pollution of his conception Behold I was shapen in iniquity Psal 51.5 and in sin did my mother conceive me He confesseth the transgressions of his life Psa 58.3 that he hath gone astray from the womb that ever since he was able to go he went astray He acknowledgeth his transgressions and is sorry for his sins with Ephraim he smites upon his thigh saying What have I done with the Publican he beats on his breast crying out God be merciful to me a sinner With the Prodigal he is ashamed to look up to God yet sighs out Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am unworthy to be called thy child He throweth himself down at Gods feet bemoaning himself thus Lord I am the greatest of sinners less then the least of all thy mercies I have defaced thine image broken thy Laws sinned against thy majesty against thee thee I have sinned and done evil in thy sight I have done the work of Satan thine enemy and my wages is nothing but death how thou pleasest to deal with thy worthless creature I know not but however thou deal with me thou art righteous and I will lay my hand on my mouth If thou say that thou hast no pleasure in me â—o here I am do with me what seemeth good in thy sight yet O save my soul ten thousand Hells are my portion but if out of thy bottomless mercy thou shalt pluck my feet out of this bottomless misery my soul shall admire thy free Grace my tongue shall sing aloud of thy rich mercy and O the obligations which this vile wretch shall have to be faithfully and uprightly serviceable to thy majesty His contrition runneth all along parallel with his confession his heart worketh more then his lips and hands his affections are much more self-abasing and humbling then his expressions he seeth him whom he hath pierced and mourneth Calvary is a Bochim a place of weeping to him his eyes are so full that though Christ be nigh him yet like Mary he cannot see him for tears
thy dying soul What more weighty busines hast thou to do then to set upon those things whereby thou mayst avoid unquenchable burnings and arive at fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore Is thy ploughing or sowing thy buying or selling nay thine eating and drinking half so necessary as the Regeneration of thy soul without which the everliving God hath told thee over and over that thou shalt not be saved O that thou didst but believe what it is to be in heaven or hell for ever ever ever I have read of a woman that when her house was on fire she was very busie and wrought hard in carrying out her goods but at last bethought her self of her onely child which she never minded before for eagerness about her goods but had left it burning in the flames and then when it was too late she cryeth and roareth out sadly O my child Ah my poor child Truly thou art in danger thine everlasting estate is every moment in jeopardy if thou now busiest thy self wholly in scraping and carking and caring for thy body forgetting thy poor soul leaving that to the fire that shall never go out consider there is a time I would say an eternity coming when thou wilt think of it though then t will be too late and then O then how sadly how sorrowfully wilt thou sigh and sob howl and roare and screech out O my soul Ah my poor soul how wretchedly have I forgot my precious soul It is an unconceivable mercy that yet thou hast a day of grace wherein thou mayst think of and indeavour the good of thy soul For thy souls sake for the Lords sake O dear friend mind it speedily hear God now he calleth or then though thou callest loud and long he will never never hear thee When the mother of Thales urged him to marry Diog. Laert. he told her that t was too soon she continuing still importuning him he told her afterwards that t was too late Regeneration is thine espousal unto Jesus Christ the father of eternity calleth upon thee wooeth beseecheth commandeth thee now while it is called to day to accept of his own Son for thy Lord and husband do not O do not say T is too soon I will do it hereafter I assure thee before to morrow night God may say T is too late and then thou art lost for ever Hear counsel and receive instruction that thou mayst be wise in thy latter end lest thou mourn at last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed when thy soul is in hell tormented and say How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor inclined mine care to them that instructed me Pro. 19 20. Pro. 5.11 12 13. An Exhortation to the Regenerate First to give God the glory of that good work which is wrought in them Secondly to do what good they can to the souls of others especially of their relations I Come in the last place to a word of exhortation to the regenerate If without Regeneration none can attain salvation then O new born creature it highly concerneth thee to be thankeful to God and to be faithful to men First be thou thankful to God What wilt thou render to the Lord for this great inestimable benefit Is not thine heart ravished in the consideration of that good wil which took such notice of thee a poor worm Praise saith the Psalmist waiteth for thee in Sion Psal 65.1 and well it may for of Sion it may be said This and that man was born in her Psa 87.5 6. An heathen had three reasons for which he blessed God One of them was that he had made him a man a rationall creature I am sure thou hast more cause to blesse God that he hath made thee not onely a man but a Christian not onely a rational but a new creature They that are new born in Sion have infinite reason to honour God with the songs of Sion If David praised God Psa 139.14 15. because he was wonderfully made in regard of the frame of his body what cause hast thou to praise him for the curious workmanship of grace in thy soul Thou canst never give too great thanks for whom God hath wrought such great things Do thou say The Lord hath done great things for me whereof I am glad Ps 125.3 What joy is there at the birth of a great heir or a prince What ringing of bels and discharging of guns and making of bon-fires when those infants are born to many crosses as well as to crowns nay and their Scepters wither and crowns moulder away O the joy which thou mayst have in God who art born a child of God an heir of heaven of a kingdom which can never be shaken Do wicked men keep the day of their natural births with so much pleasure and delight when they were therein born in sin and brought forth in iniquity when by reason of those births they are obnoxious to eternal death and wilt thou not keep the day of thy spiritual birth with joy whereby thou art purified from thy natural pollution and assured of entrance into the purchased possession where thou shalt be perfectly purified It was the speech of Jonadab to Ammon Why art thou lean from day to day being the Kings son so say I to thee Why art thou sad who art Gods son Rejoyce O Christian thy name is written in the book of life thy soul hath the infalliable token of special and eternal love It was matter of great joy that Christ was born at Bethlehem Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy For to you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord Luk. 2.10 11. but I tell thee it may be matter of greater joy to thee that Christ is born in thine heart For notwithstanding the birth of Christ in Bethlehem thousands and millions go to hell but Christ was never formed in any ones heart but that man went to heaven It is reported of Annello who lately made an insurrection at Naples that considering how mean he was before and to what greatness he was raised he was so transported that he could not sleep O how shouldst thou be transported with the thoughts of that infinite happiness of which thou art an heir Serve the Lord with gladness come before his presence with singing for it is he that hath new made us and not we our selves enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankeful unto him and bless his name Psalm 100. per tot Give thanks to God in thine heart by an humble admiration and in thy life by an holy conversation First Give thanks to God in thine heart by an humble admiration of his bottomless mercy If David when he considered the glorious heavens which God had made for man cryeth out so affectionately What is man that thou art mindful of