temptation Be always employed that when Satan comes he may not find thee at leisure Many have been kept from great temptations by being diligent in their Callings and many by idle diversions have fallen into great temptations and snares Dinah wanders abroad and is deflowred before she comes home Tertullian tells of a Christian Woman who going to see a Play was there possessed by the Devil and when he was asked by some who came to her and set themselves to pray him out how he durst possess one that was a Christian He answered I found her in my own Ground Oh how should this warn young ones to take heed of the Play-houses These are the Devils Ground and what he finds upon his own Ground he will possess as his own He is the Lord of that Mannor and being so the Waifs and Estrays are all his Let young ones therefore take up the Yoke of some lawful Calling betimes But this Civil Yoke is not the Yoke in the Text. Secondly The Yoke as Metaphorically taken is used in a Moral or Religious sense and so there is a threefold Yoke which it is not good to bear and a threefold Yoke which it is good to bear There is a threefold Yoke which is not good to bear The Yoke of Mosaical Ceremonies The Yoke of Antichristian Impositions The Yoke of sin and lust First The Yoke of Mosaical Ceremonies This in its day was a strict Yoke a heavy Yoke a Yoke as the Apostle Peter says which neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear Acts 15.10 But this Yoke the Lord Christ hath freed us from the Ceremonial Law was abolished by him and had no use after his death but by accident as he who builds a Vault lets the Centrels stand till he puts in the Key-stone and then pulls them away So that now the Rule is Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not intangled again in the Yoke of bondage Gal. 5.1 Secondly There is the Yoke of Antichrist which is made up of humane inventions and impositions in the Worship of God on which foundation all the Will-worship Superstition and Idolatry which at this day obtain in the World do stand This is a heavier Yoke than the former for that had once the sanction of God and there the authority made the subjection reasonable though burthensom but this never had and therefore more grievous because herein we are made Slaves to the lusts of men whereas in that we were Subjects to the will of God And therefore to be imposed upon by Ceremonies of mens devising when we are actually freed by Christ from the Ceremonies that were once of Gods appointing Bagshaw's Great Question about things indifferent is a very heavy Yoke a Yoke which one says is in the Imposer tyranny and in the Persons imposed upon burden and bondage And therefore a Yoke which without sin in transgressing the Precept of our Lord Christ Mat. 23.8 and his Apostle we may not submit to 1 Cor. 7.23 Because hereby we owne a power in the Imposers over conscience which God never gave to any and so abet them in their sinful usurpations upon the Prerogative of the Lord Jesus Christ Psal 2.6 Isai 9.6 Matth. 28.18 who alone is King and Head of the Church and hath the Government upon his shoulders And also because we make our selves to be what in things appertaining to the worship of God we are commanded not to be viz. the Servants of men Ye are bought with a price be not ye the servants of men 1 Cor. 7.23 This then is another Yoke which we ought not to bear When once humane inventions become Impositions and lay a necessity upon that which God hath left free then may we lawfully reject them as Plants of mans setting and not of Gods owning and which he will therefore in his time assuredly root up Matth. 15.13 Thirdly There is the Yoke of sin and lust For though Sinners are said to be Children of Belial that is without Yoke * So the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 absque 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jugum quasi absque jugo scilicet Legis Divinae Clarius Tralatio à bubus jugum subire nolentibus Drusius And accordingly the Septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet none under such a Yoke as they for as the service of Christ is perfect freedom so to be free from righteousness is the basest thraldom Rom. 6.20 If sin breaks one Yoke off it ever puts another on They have broken the Yoke and burst the Bonds Jer. 5.5 there is one Yoke cast off and then it follows in the next Verse Their transgressions are many their backslidings are encreased there is another Yoke put on As in conversion Christ breaks off the Yoke of sin and Satan and puts his own upon a man so the Sinner breaks off the Yoke of God Psal 2.3 Luke 19.14 27. and subjects himself to Satans Yoke and therefore some say wicked men are called Children of Belial making Belial the name of the Devil Quidam Belial nomen esse Daemonis contendunt ductum à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ascendet quia nos ascendere sursum non permittet What concord hath Christ with Belial i. e. with Satan says the Syriac Version And hence Sinners are said to be taken captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 And he is said to work that is with power and success in the children of disobedience Ephes 2.2 And this is the Reign of Satan in the soul of a Sinner for as the Lord Christ reigns in the hearts of his people by the power of Grace and righteousness so Satan reigns in the hearts of wicked men by the power of sin and lust Now it cannot be good in any sense to bear this Yoke because it every way tends to the hurt and mischief of the soul 1. As it breaks off the Yoke of God which is everyway suited to the good and advantage of man For the commandment is holy just and good Rom. 7.12 holy as it is the expression of the will of the holy God iust in that it commands nothing but what is equal and fit to be obeyed good as it promotes the advantage and happiness of the soul that obeys it 2. As it inslaves the Creature to the basest bondage and most unreasonable vassalage in the World O what a noble Creature was man while he did bear the Image of God lived in his will and enjoyed a constant fellowship with him But alas How is the Gold become dim and the fine Gold changed Lam. 4.1 How hath sin debased his Excellency defaced the Image of God shut him out of favour and out of fellowship So that now he is become a Slave to Satan and all manner of lusts And can it be good to bear this Yoke What! to oppose God to be
and word of Christ no Decree of God shall ever hurt him 2. Though the Decree of God be as determinate in other matters as in that of Salvation and Damnation yet no man rests upon that God hath fixed the period of every mans life His days are determined Job 14.5 the number of his months is with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass Now will any man neglect his meals because God hath determined his days Will he say If I eat and drink I shall live never the longer if I never eat more I shall not dye a day the sooner There is no man so bereft of sense as to leave his life upon the decree of God without using means to preserve it for 3. The Decree is not only of the end but also of the means Faith and obedience are as much decreed by God as eternal life Hence ye read of being chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth 2 Thess 2.13 And the Apostle to the Ephesians says God hath chosen us in him viz. Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy Ephes 1.4 Holiness is as much decreed as happiness There is no such thing in all the Scripture as Election to Salvation separate from faith and holiness The means and the end go together the Scripture is not made up only of promises for the incouragement of hope but of directions for the furtherance of holiness And therefore 4. Though the Kingdom of Heaven be prepared by the Decree Matt. 29.34 yet it must be sought by an early diligence in duty Though it is Gods good pleasure to give it Luk. 12.32 Matt. 6.33 yet it must be our work to seek it though it be designed for us yet it must suffer violence by us and we must take it by force Matt. 11.12 or we shall never injoy it notwithstanding Gods choice and Christs purchase The land of Canaan a type of Heaven was a land of Promise but yet they cannot possess upon the promise without fighting their way to the inheritance 5. In the day of Judgment God will not proceed with men upon Election and Reprobation but upon their obedience or disobedience to his Law He will render to every man according to his deeds To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour Rom. 2.7 8.9 and immortality eternal life But to them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath It is said God will judge the world in righteousness Acts 17.31 Now righteousness in judgment is to distribute to every one according to his works God will vindicate the justice of his proceedings in that day by making the Word the rule of his Judgment to all that are under it John 12.48 And every mans Conscience a witness in the case Rom. 2.15 Let no man therefore deceive himself by groundless conclusions about the secret Decrees of God and so indulge himself in a sinful neglect of duty to the eternal ruine of his Soul Object 2. Another stumbling-block that lies in the way of young ones to hinder their taking up the Yoke of Christ is this That early Religion seldom comes to any thing They that mind Religion young seldom hold out long A young Saint and an old Devil * Angelicus juvenis senibus satanizat in annis Answ The design of the Devil and wicked men in this Objection is to decry early holiness as if it were time enough to seek after God and grace when we are dropping into the grave Now to such I would say three things Answ 1. This Objection is founded upon a notorious falshood for it supposes that true grace is utterly loosable that a Child of God may perish for ever which the Scripture doth expresly consute Where the seed of God is once sowed in the heart it never dies it is never lost nor plucked up it remains in him 1 John 3.9 Solomon says Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Prov. 22.6 So that this Proverb of a young Saint and an old Devil is none of Solomon's 2. It is true that where a profession of Religion is taken up in Hypocrisie it commonly ends in Apostasie So that it may be said A young Hypocrite and an old Apostate But where do you find that any that truly feared God did ever depart from him Obadiah feared the Lord from his youth 1 Kings 18.12 2 Kings 22.2 and as he began with God so he ended Josiah was good betimes at eight years old and he held it to the last He turned not aside to the right hand or to the left David was a young Convert and he died an old Saint Psal 71.5 Thou art my hope O Lord God thou art my trust from my youth there is his beginning My flesh and my heart faileth Psal 73.26 but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever there is his ending I might instance in Samuel Jeremy John Timothy c. these began with God in their youth took up the Yoke betimes and so they continued all their days He that chuses God for his chief good and highest Lord at first finds so much happiness in him that he will never leave him at last Besides the Covenant of God is sure and one branch of it is I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Jer. 32.40 3. Should not the great uncertainty of life silence this Objection We have no security for another day much less that we shall live till the keepers of the house tremble and the grinders cease and they that look out of the windows be darkened c. As Solomon elegantly describes old age Eccles 12.3 Our candle may blow out as well as burn out One dies in full strength being wholly at ease and quiet his breasts are full of milk and his bones moistned with marrow Job 21.23 24. And shall we be afraid of taking up the Yoke of Christ too soon Or suppose you should live to old age yet such as turn their backs upon Christ while they are young it is rare if ever they come to take up the Yoke of Christ when they are old as a young Saint will never leave Christ so an old Sinner will hardly ever embrace him Or if he would it may be too late his season of grace may be past It is storied of Hannibal Plutarch that when he could have taken Rome he would not and when he would have taken it he could not And is it not the case of many When they may find Christ they will not seek him and when they would seek Christ they cannot find him when they may have mercy they don't prize it and when they would have mercy they can't obtain it He that in his youth reckons it too early
the case is not the same for we are bound to answer Gods precepts but he is not bound to answer our requests and yet we make him tarry our sinful leisure in the business of duty though we think much to tarry his holy leisure in the case of mercy Secondly It is down-right disobedience he that delays a duty transgresses the precept and slights the divine Authority The season is as much a part of the command as the thing commanded If God says return ye now every one from his evil way Jer. 18.11 the now is as much a duty as the returning If the Father says to his Son go work to day in my vineyard Matt. 21.28 it is flat disobedience to defer it till to morrow for the time of working is as much a duty as the work it self Thirdly It is the highest ingratitude for Christ did not adjourn his love to us one day his heart was to us from everlasting I was set up from everlasting rejoycing in the habitable parts of the earth and my delights were with the sons of men Prov. 8.23.31 He gave himself in the Covenant of Redemption to dye for sin and redeem sinners from the first day that sin entred And therefore he is said to be a lamh slain from the foundadation of the world Revel 13.8 Though he came not to dye actually till the fullness of time Galat. 4.4 yet in the decree of God the Father and in the consent of God the Son he was a Saviour from the beginning and his Blood was as efficacious to Salvation before ever it was shed as after he was a Saviour and Redeemer from the first entrance of sin Adam Noah Abraham and all the Saints that lived before his Incarnation were saved by his Blood as well as we His love bears date from everlasting and it breaks forth very early in the overt acts of it to particular persons Christ begins with sinners betimes who knows how soon puts upon many of them a federal holiness betimes seals them for his betimes puts his spirits into them betimes and calls them to an actual close with him betimes it is hard to say how soon but it appears to be very early in that many have been converted from their very childhood as Samuel and Timothy and others O the earliness of the love of Christ and shall we adjourn our obedience as if we were afraid of closing with him too soon he took up our burden betimes and shall we delay the taking up his Yoke for the last work of our lives This is great ingratitude Fourthly It is manifest injustice and a fraudulent detaining of Christs right For whose you are his your strength and service is and are ye not the Lords hath he not redeemed you and that both by price at the hands of God and by power out of the hands of Satan ye are the redeemed of the Lord and therefore you are his your time is his your gifts and parts are his your affections are his your estates are his your strength is his your youth is his your body and soul are his your all is his and therefore not to give up your selves body and soul to him not to love and fear and serve him is a crying injustice Nay to delay it one day one moment is to deny him his right Many boast of their honesty they are just to all and wrong none yes you wrong your redeemer you are unjust to Jesus Christ and that is the highest injustice in the world To delay any man in that which is his right is a great sin the wages of the hireling must be paid at the day and it must be done before the sun be set Deut. 24.14 15. It is a maxim in the Law minus solvit qui minus tempore solvit not to pay at the time is to pay the less because there is so much advantage for improvement lost Is it such a sin to detain a servants right what is it then to detain our Lords right must we not withhold wages for a servants work till the sun be set and yet dare we withhold doing our Lords work till the sun of our lives is setting O what base injustice is this Fifthly It is altogether unreasonable there is no man living can give a reason to excuse him from this duty You cannot say it is the wrong way to Heaven for it is the way the Lord Christ hath directed and chalked out You cannot say it is a needless Yoke for there is no Salvation without taking it upon you You cannot say it is a dangerous Yoke for it hath salvation certainly intailed upon it You cannot say it is a fruitless Yoke Matt. 11.28 for it yields perfect peace and lasting joy to all that come under it You cannot say it is an impossible Yoke for as you have the command of Christ to undertake it so you have the promise of Christ to help and inable you to bear it So that you cannot give one reason why you should neglect it and therefore he that refuses to take it up is without excuse Whoever remains graceless in a day of Grace will be found speechless in the Day of Judgement Matt. 22.12 Sixthly It is downright madness for you refuse Heaven because you will not be holy You will rather lose the eternal injoyment of God than be made like God You will rather chuse to perish under the wrath of Christ than you will consent to come under the Yoke of Christ You will be contented to be damned so you may go a pleasant way to Hell And is not this madness to the height to chuse rather to perish eternally than be tied to love and serve your maker and redeemer O what a base and low opinion have you of God and Heaven how can ye degrade and dishonour him more If a man should publish it as his opinion that darkness is better than light that Hell is rather to be chosen than Heaven that he had rather be in an everlasting society with Devils and damned Spirits than with God and Christ in the glory above what would you say of such a one but that he talked like a mad man why then reflect upon your selves a little for mutato nomine do teâ— Fabula narratur you that prefer the pleasures of sin to the service of Christ that will renounce your part in God and Christ and eternal happiness to satisfie a base lust that will stake your Souls for a few minutes of sinful delights can any man be guilty of greater madness do ye know what ye do or what ye speak when ye say in your hearts this lust shall reign but Christ shall not reign let us break his bonds Psal 2.3 and cast his cords far away from us this is treason against the Crown of Heaven your Blood Luk. 19.27 your Life your Soul must go for this Those mine enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring them out and
that is your season His killing and breaking time is your weeping and mourning time but when his healing time comes then is your time to laugh and dance Be willing therefore to be slain by the coming of the Commandment Rom. 7.9 and to lye dead under the Spirits wounds till the healing and reviving time comes Is there not a promise that the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings Mal. 4.2 and that he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoycing Psal 126.6 bringing his sheavs with him And therefore do not dare to use any indirect means in hopes of relief he that would see a good issue of this work must stay the time Lam. 3.26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. 4. While you are under the Yoke of the Spirit give diligence to make a right use of it by improving your convictions while you are under them lest the Spirit cease his work and leave you and so your convictions die and wither and come to nothing This is a very common case for whence is it that convictions do so seldom end in conversion Many are convinced and yet few converted they have many and strong convictions yet perish under them they are made to see their lost estate and yet never come to Jesus Christ Now whence is this but from the slighting and not improving their convictions Of all duties therefore be sure make Conscience of this when the Spirit strives then do you strive when he works then is your time to work I pray consider four things First Prov. 17.16 What a price to get wisdom this work of the Spirit puts into our hands and shall it be a price in the hand of fools that have no heart to it no desire to obtain it The strivings of the Spirit time your seasons of grace For though every day is a time to repent and believe in yet a man hath not his special seasons and opportunities for this every day Opportunity is more than time it is the nick and season of time it is time fitted for action a conjunction of time and means together to bring a thing about When God shews a man his undone condition by reason of sin and makes a tender of Christ to him and the Spirit strives with him to bring him to accept the tender then is his season As the Lord said to David 2 Sam. 5.24 When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry-trees then thou shalt bestir thy self for then shall the Lord go out before thee Secondly Consider how easie the conversion is of those sinners that comply with and duly improve the seasons of the Spirit All things are easie in the Spirits seasons Great births are brought forth with easie travail How came Sarah barren Sarah to have a Son at ninety years old Gen. 18.10 why God came according to the time of life and Isaac is born So when the Spirit comes according to the time of life when his season is to bring life to a dead Soul then it lives you must know that Isaac was not so much the Son of Abrahams loyns as of Gods promise begotten by the Power of God making good the promise and therefore called a child of promise Gal 4.28 So is every Believer born not of the will of the flesh Joh. 1.13 but of God By the power of God put forth through the promise And hence all things in conversion become easie How difficult soever they are to the Creature yet in the Spirits season they are easie because of a Divine power How hard a work is it to repent and turn from sin a very difficult duty therefore compared to cutting off a limb But yet in the Spirits season how easie is it Zacheus says Christ make haste and come down Luk. 19. â— here is the season of Christ upon his Soul and how easily is his repentance brought about vers 8. Behold Lord the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have taken ought fiom any man by false accusation I restore him fourfold How hard a work is the work of believing no duty more difficult It is easier to keep all the commands of the Law than that one command of believing And yet when the season of the Spirit comes how easie is it For now all things concur to bring it about the Commandment comes the eyes are opened sin is made burdensom the need of Christ is felt and by these means the Spirit draws and then the sinner runs Ah how easie are all things in conversion made by the Spirits seasons to the Soul that complies with them and improves them Thirdly Consider this is the highest and last of means for conversion 1 It is the highest it is that which puts efficacy into all other means which without it can operate nothing It is that which can make the weakest means as successful against the proudest lusts as the Rams horns were against Jericho though her walls reached to Heaven 2 It is the last means that God ever uses to convert sinners he hath appointed no other means to succeed this and therefore if you sin against your convictions you quench the Spirit and he may be so quenched as never to be kindled again and then your conversion becomes a thing impossible And therefore Fourthly Consider what a mischief it brings upon you not to improve the convictions of the Spirit Is it not a mischief when all the Ordinances and means of Grace are rendred fruitless and unsuccessful This is an effect of not improving the Spirits convictions Nay is it not a mischief to turn the edge of that Word against your Souls that was designed against your sins This is a fruit of not improving the Spirits convictions Is it not a mischief when the heart grows harder and harder under softning means This is a fruit of not improving the Spirits convictions Is it not a mischief to be delivered up to a cannot in believing Why he that improves not the convictions of the Spirit provokes him finally to depart and then the sinner is delivered up to a cannot in believing Therefore they could not believe Joh. 12.39 Is it not a mischief when the Oath of God seals up a persons or a peoples destruction Why thus it is when the convictions of the Spirit are not improved I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest Psal 95.11 And who were these They were a people that had long resisted the strivings of the Spirit O therefore be diligent to improve your convictions while you are under them And if you ask me how they must be improved I shall give only this one answer and that is By hastening to Jesus Christ for pardoning and converting Grace You never improve your convictions aright till you are brought by them to a saving
It is true that a hearty resignation to God and a serious imbracing Religion by an unfeigned subjection to Christ always finds acceptance with the Lord Joh. 6.37 Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out There is a double Negative in the Greek which serves to make the promise strong and to incourage faith against all doubts and fears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will not not cast him out The promise doth not only import the safety of the estate of such as are in Christ but the welcome reception of all that come to Christ As he will not cast them out that are once united to him so nor will he keep them out who desire truly to close with him whenever it be sooner or later when ever the heart is willing God is ready A sincere obedience shall find acceptance at any time but the earlier we come the kinder shall be our reception and the greater our welcome and it must needs be so First Because we resist the fewer calls and invitations of God which are the expressions of his love and good will to sinners and as nothing provokes God more than when his love is slighted so there is nothing he is more pleased with than when the Soul is won by it to a readiness of obedience and that which pleases God heightens our acceptation Secondly We save God the labour to speak after the manner of men of using other means in which he less delights there are methods which God doth not love to be found in the use of which yet he is constrained to use for our benefit he hath his thorn hedges to stop our course reduce our wandrings and bring us to himself hence we read of his strange works and his strange acts Hos 2.6 7. Isa 28.21 Things which God delights not in but is forced to by the stubbornness of the Creature that he that will not hear the word and who hath ordained it may be made to hear the rod and who hath appointed it Mic. 6.9 Now by early imbracing the ways of Christ we happily prevent God in that work which is so contrary to his disposition as being more inclined to mercy than wrath Thirdly We gratifie him in the thing he loves and that is an early obedience Under the Law all Sacrifices were required to be young Deut. 15.19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctifie unto the Lord thy God And Exod. 22.29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors Mark It must be the firstling of the herd and the firstling of the flock and the first ripe fruits and the first liquors And why but to teach us by these Types how pleasing to God a timely conversion is and that if we would present our selves an acceptable Sacrifice to him it must be by an early subjection to the Yoke of Christ He loves a young Abijah a young Josiah a young Timothy a young Saint for a Sacrifice Joh. 20.2 Chap. 21.20 John is called the Disciple whom Jesus loved Joh. 13.23 And why did Jesus love none other of the Disciples but him Yes he loved them all and that both living and dying Joh. 13.1 Having loved his own which were in the world he loved them to the end But yet he loved John above all the rest and the reason that is given of it by some is because John was brought to Christ betimes of all the Disciples he was youngest when he took up the Yoke of Christ he loved Christ first and therefore Christ loved him best and as he had the highest affection for him so he made the greatest revelations to him All which shews the gracious acceptance of his early obedience It addeth greatly to the value of a gift when it is given readily and at first asking So when we give up our selves to the Call of God without shifting and hucking without demurrs and delays it puts a great value upon our obedience and makes it the more accepted with God Long standing off greatly provokes God and grieves the Spirit though we yield at last Many do by their lusts as Pharaoh did by the Israelites Exod. 5.2 he refuses to let them go Though God commands him till Judgment terrifies him into some kind of compliance and then he will let them go Exod. 8.28 but not far away that he may fetch them back again and when another Plague comes then he will let some go but not all Exod. 10.11 some must stay behind to be Hostages for the rest He never consents they shall all go till he is forced to it so that it was not thank-worthy when he did consent Many love their lusts more than Christ and will not part with them though at the Call of God till by judgment upon judgment he makes them weary of their communion and plagues them out of them the smart of Gods rod the coming of the evil day the wastes of nature the decay of strength the growth of diseases the prospect of another world the sense of a polluted nature a corrupt heart and a mispent life the fore-tastes of the wrath of God these set home by the Spirit may create such terrors in the conscience as may weary a sinner out of his lusts and bring him to Christ at last but he shall not have that welcome as the early Convert hath He shall be received and entertained but not made so much of as if he had come sooner He shall not have those comforts that an earlier Convert feels who took up the Yoke of Christ betimes and so hath walked in the fear of the Lord all his days His own conscience shall upbraid him and fill him with shame for the sollies of a mispent life if his bones are full of the sins of his youth Job 20.11 though they are pardoned in Heaven yet he may carry the pain of them to the grave with him and then he must needs lye down in sorrow Or if he meets with comfort in this life it may be long first and cost him many prayers and many tears much wooing and much waiting Though Christ when he stands at the door and knocks promises that if any man opens he shall sup with him Revel 3.20 Yet if Christ wait long for entrance the Soul may be made to wait long for its entertainment If his own Spouse deny him entrance he 'l deny her his presence if she suffers him to knock and call without admittance he will suffer her to seek and sue for a time without success Cant. 5.2 3 6. Delay God and God will delay you the longer you make him wait in the tenders of his Grace the longer he will make you wait in the expectation of peace and comfort Reas 5. It is the greatest business we have to attend to in the world and therefore is to be most minded and first entred upon It is the
which the Gospel brings upon impenitent sinners Their Judge will be severer Their Hell will be hotter Their Season of Grace and time of the Spirits striving will be shorter For he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth Rom. 9.28 Secondly The more profligate and desperate in sinning men grow under the Gospel the sooner will the Spirit cease striving For a man may and many a man doth by his own sin shorten his day of grace and provoke God to strive by his Spirit no more Eliphaz speaking of the sinners of the old World says They were cut down out of time and their foundation overflowed with a flood Job 22.16 And therefore what shall we think of England's Priviledges Will they last long I am afraid they will not considering the desperate wickedness of the Nation that reigns in all sorts this may justly cause God to cut them down out of time and cause a flood of judgments to overflow their foundations The abominable pride gluttony drunkenness uncleanness swearing lying Covenant breaking oppression injustice perjuries together with the Errours Heresies Schisms Blasphemies Idolatries and Atheism of the day and I will add the unrighteous persecution of the Ministers and Members of Christ for nothing but their adhering to the word and Kingly Office of Christ these things I fear have brought the Nations day and mercies to a near period And though I speak it with trembling yet I must say it That without a speedy repentance the Lord will shortly do one of these two things either he will remove this generation from the Gospel or else he will remove the Gospel from this generation Thus you see where the force of this reason lies delay of so great a Duty is greatly dangerous whether you look to the indisposition it works or to the uncertainty of life or to the uncertain duration of the day of grace which may be sinned away and then if you would come to Christ you cannot Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer Prov. 1.28 29 30. they shall seek me early but they shall not find me for that they hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord They would none of my counsel they despised all my reproof Salvation is not a thing to be had at your time but at Gods time and Gods time is now in your youth Most agree that it is a reasonable thing that sin should be forsaken that the Yoke of Christ should be taken up but not so soon it is too early and this is it upon which most men perish they slight Gods time When I would have healed Israel then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered Hos 7.1 A man never discovers more iniquity and more love to sin than in setting light by Gods time of healing The foolish Virgins would fain have entred in with the Bridegroom but when they should have entred their oyl was to get and when they would have entred the door was shut Mat. 25.10 Ye read in Revel 10.1 2 6. of an Angel that hath in his hand a little book open and he swears by him that lives for ever and ever that time should be no longer This Angel is interpreted of Christ and the little book in his hand is the Gospel and it is said to be open because he makes known the whole counsel of God for our Salvation it is Christ that gives out the Gospel and means of grace and it is he that limits the time of mans injoying it beyond which he cannot injoy it for he sweareth that time shall be no longer CHAP. VII Containing the last Reason viz. from the good of Obedience It is a necessary good a profitable good an honourable good a comfortable good Reas 8 THE last but not the least reason is what is hinted here in the Text viz. the goodness of the undertaking there can be no greater reason of obedience than the goodness of it All true obedience springs from love and the object of love is good and when a man loves and obeys God because of the goodness of his Precepts this is excellent Thy word is very pure therefore thy servant loves it Psal 119.140 There is nothing proves our regeneration and being made partakers of the divine nature like this 1 Pet. 1.4 for then we have the same object of love as God hath Purity and goodness is the object of Gods love and it cannot but be so because of its suitableness to his nature and therefore to have the same object of love with God argues the Soul changed into the likeness of God Carnal minds have no relish of heavenly things They that are after the flesh savour the things of the flesh Rom. 5.8 That man is undoubtedly born of God that loves the word because it is good and obeys it because it is pure The great argument by which Duty and Obedience is inforced upon the Creature is the good of obedience Deut. 5.29 The Lord commanded us to do all these Statutes to fear the Lord our God Deut. 6.24 Hear it and know it for thy good Job 5.27 And Deut. 10.12 13. What doth the Lord require of thee but to fear him and to walk in his ways and to love him and serve him with all thy heart and with all thy soul To keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes which I command thee this day for thy good And here in the Text It is good for a man that he bear the Yoke in his youth And the great motive upon which good men labour to confirm themselves in heart and life to the precepts of God is the goodness of them The commandment is holy just and good Rom. 7.12 The mandatory part of the word hath an inviting loveliness Manton on Psal 119. p. 456. As the promises of pardon and eternal life suit with the hunger and thirst of the Soul and the natural desires of happiness so the holiness and righteousness of the precept suit with the notions of good and evil that are in mans heart and this draws forth compliance and consent I consent to the Law that it is good Rom. 7.16 It is good for me to draw near to God Psal 73.28 There is no likelier means to prevail upon considering minds to come under the Yoke of Christ betimes than to let them see how much duty is their real interest and that obedience is not burden so much as blessedness for that there is an universal good in Religion It is a necessary good a profitable good an honourable good a pleasant good First It is a necessary good Nothing in the world is of equal necessity with this there are many things useful but this is that one thing needful So our Lord Christ says One thing is needful Luke 10.42 and that is subjection to Christ Martha was careful about his entertainment but Mary sate at his feet one
glad for great is your reward in heaven Matt. 5.11 12. 8. You that are ashamed to owne Jesus Christ and his ways and to put on his Yoke because of the scoffs and jeers of an ungodly World I pray think seriously on that word of Christ Mark 8.38 Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him shall the Son be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels CHAP. IX More Objections against early Obedience answered Object 6. ANother stumbling block that hinders young Ones from taking up the Yoke of Christ is the diversity of opinions and the many differences which are found among the professors of Religion I would take up the Yoke of Christ if I knew which was the right way But how shall I that am young be able to judge one is for this way another is for that one says lo here is Christ another says lo he is there Matt. 24.23 and Christ says believe them not One pleads for this Doctrine another for that a third denys both One is for this way of Worship another for that another is neither for this nor that but above all So that I see whom to avoid but I see not whom to follow Therefore till Professors are agreed it is better to be of no side Answ I confess it is a great advantage which Satan takes to prejudice young ones against Religion by the differences that are among the professors of Religion But I would have such consider five things 1. A man may with as much reason disclaim the light of the Sun because the Dials differ about the time of the Day as disclaim Religion because of mens differing opinions about it What is it in this World that men differ not about all men differ in their reasonings shall I therefore abandon my reason and become a brute all mens faces differ shall I therefore renounce humanity because all are not of one complexion all mens appetites and palates differ shall I therefore refuse my meat till all palates relish one thing because men differ in their fashions shall I therefore cast off the use of rayment till all come to the same garb how foolish and absurd is this and is it not the same because some men differ in some things of Religion therefore to cast off all Religion 2. Is this any new thing hath it not been so in all ages of the Church if therefore Religion had been disclaimed till the minds of all men had been united in the profession of it it had long ere this been shut out of the World The Scripture tells you there must be heresies 1 Cor. 11.19 it doth not say only there will be heresies importing the certainty of them but there must be heresies importing the necessity of them And we have a double reason render'd for this in the Word First That they which are approved may be made manifest 1 Cor. 11.19 they are the touchstone of sincerity God loves to try the sincerity of his Peoples Graces this being the glory of every Christian and a disposition highly pleasing to God Were there but one opinion in matters of Faith one way of Worship among all Christians to owne this would be no great matter but to owne and cleave to the truths of God against all the errours that oppose them to stick to the pure Worship of God against all the humane Devisings and Antichristian Impositions of men this shews the power of faith the zeal of love the greatness of self-denial and the uprightness of the heart in all As the Stars shine brightest in the darkest night so do the Graces of the Saints who are the lights of the world appear in their greatest lustre under the darkness of false Worship and errour That is one reason why there must be heresies Secondly Another is this for the detecting and insnaring of false hearted hypocrites Hereby unsound Professors are discovered errour and heresie have a great hand in detecting hypocrisie This is a time of temptation in which they fall away Matt. 13. So did they 1 John 2.19 They went out from us there 's the discovery but they were not of us there 's their hypocrisie for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us And as errours and heresies serve to discover unsound professors so also to insnare and destroy them for there are damning opinions as well as damning practices When men of bad lives and worse hearts grow weary of the power of truth God suffers corrupt Doctrines to spring up that may gratifie their lusts and suit their vicious inclinations and in a fond compliance herewith truth suffers lust thrives and the soul perishes This is the very reason rendered why God at the first appearing of Antichrist in the World gave men up to his damning delusions Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lye that they all may be damned who have not believed the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thess 2. 10 11 12. Thirdly Consider from whence these differences do arise not from Religion it self which is in all matters of faith and practice direct and certain the rule which is the word of God is the same to all and gives perfect directions to guide us to life and blessedness The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple the statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart Psal 19.7 8. And therefore the differences that are found among the professors of Religion are either from the different measures of knowledge to which Christians have attained or from their different capacities or else which is worse from the Pride and Lusts of some of its professors that will dare to be wise above what is written setting their posts by Gods posts and teaching for Doctrine the Commandments of men would men but allow Christ to be head of the Church and sole Lord of Conscience and receive the word at his mouth and stoop to his Authority and not set up their wills and inventions for a rule of Worship the most of our differences would be at an end Fourthly All differences in Religion are not inconsistent with Salvation indeed errours in the fundamental Principles of Godliness are damning and therefore all sincere Christians shall be kept from falling into such errour they have received the spirit of truth to guide them into all truth necessary to salvation John 16.13 but it is possible that good men may fall into many errours you read of some that hold the foundation who yet build wood and hay and stubble upon it yet these shall be saved as holding the foundation though their works shall
Christ You must be divorced from all sin or you cannot be Marryed to Christ therefore remove all hinderances to the duty Direct 3 Labour to be convinced of the absolute necessity of conversion A true sight of the dreadful condition you are in by nature will discover this And what is that you are by nature children of wrath under the curse from the very womb the guilt of all the sins that ever you committed lies upon you you are the devils bondslaves dead in sin Eph. 2.1 Eph. 4.18 under the power of lust alienated from the life of God Hasting to destruction there is but one step between you and Hell you stand upon the brink of the bottomless pit for whoever dies in an unconverted state shall assuredly perish the holy God hath said it and will make it good And is this a state to be rested in where is the sinner that dares dye and appear before the Righteous God in this condition therefore let this shew you the necessity of conversion Direct 4 Heartily accept of Jesus Christ as the Gospel tenders him Here is the turning point of thy Salvation Christ in bowels of pity to thy undone case tenders himself to thee as a universal remedy to pardon to purge to renew to sanctifie to save Young ones have any of you a heart thus to accept of Christ if so you are happy for ever and all your sins and lusts nay all the devils in hell can't hinder it Let an intire resignation follow this acceptation Direct 5 Having thus received Christ give thy self wholly up to Christ resolving that Body Soul and Spirit shall be the Lords so it is said of them 2 Cor. 8.5 They gave themselves up to the Lord. A hearty subjection must follow this resignation Direct 6 No man can be fully resigned that is not intirely subject Be sure therefore let Christ bear rule let the government be upon his shoulders let him give law to thy heart and life thy affections and actions do not part with some sins and retain others this is to hold fast deceit Jer. 8.5 and to refuse to return Do not obey Christ in this or that command but in all you must take all or none An imperfect obedience may be right and sincere but a partial obedience cannot I pray remember this the yoke of Christ is made up of every Commandment not this or that but every Commandment goes to the making up his yoke and when you become willingly subject to all the commands of Christ then have you taken up the yoke of Christ Lastly this must be done without delay Direct 7 The Text prompts to this It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth What sayes David I made hast and delay'd not to keep thy Commandments Psal 119.60 As Christ said to Judas in another case What thou doest do quickly Consider 1. It is a business of life and death and what a foolish thing it is for a man to deliberate whether he shall be saved or damned go to Heaven or Hell 2. By continuance in the ways of disobedience the heart is made more obstinate as a path becomes the harder by frequent treading Sin is of a hardening nature Heb. 3.13 So that if conversion to Christ be hard to day it will be harder to morrow and so every day adds to its difficulty because the heart grows harder and harder 3. You suffer great loss by delays What grace might you have gotten e're this had you begun betimes what victories over sin what experiences what communion with God what evidences for heaven 4. There are special seasons of grace which are but for a limited time and in complying with or slighting these the happiness or misery of man is fixed Because to every purpose there is time and judgment therefore the misery of man is great upon him Eccles 8.6 If your seasons of grace are lost they are never to be redeem'd Now I pray consider in what part of life is it most probable that in the wisdom of God these are placed in youth or in old age Can you think that God would chose the infirmities and dotages of life for his service rather then the strength and vigour of your days and affections 5. The slighting of your special seasons is the way to lose them Luk. 19.42 Gen. 6.3 These three years I come looking for fruit and find none And what follows cut it down why cumbers it the ground Luk. 13.7 Three years they had injoy'd Christs ministry and yet brought forth no fruit and therefore Christ casts them off O sirs how many years hath Christ been calling of you and waiting for fruit why stand ye all the day idle Remember the foolish Virgins and tremble and get Oyl while the Market is open 6. Thou dost not know how near thy day of account may be It is many times nearest when we think it is farthest off We are many times most secure when we are least safe 1 Thes 3.5 When they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction c. My Lord delays his coming said the wicked servant Mat. 24.48 And what follows The Lord of that servant shall come in a day that he looks not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of Little did the old world think of a flood so nigh when they gave themselves to sensuality Or Sodom of fire from Heaven when they burn'd in their lusts So shall it be when the son of man comes Luk. 17.30 Lastly Consider this If any of you that have heard these Sermons of taking up Christs yoke betimes shall dare yet to live in the neglect of this duty This word that I have spoken to you in the name of the Lord and this call that God hath made to you by me will be a dreadful witness against such refusers in the last day and that which I have intended for your conversion will turn to your destruction and damnation But God forbid what shall I run in vain and labour in vain nay shall the Lord Christ call in vain and his Blessed Spirit strive with you in vain Therefore I beseech you lay things to heart and let me know what you intend Will you at last be prevail'd with to submit to Christ and take up his yoke forthwith without any more delay if not let me tell you God will look upon you from this day as wilful refusers of his grace and love and it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah then for you But if you have a heart now to accept of Christ to be resigned to him and to take up his yoke without any more delay you have done your work you have saved your souls Now God is yours Christ is yours Peace Life Salvation all the good of the Covenant all the glory of Heaven is yours and therefore you are blessed and happy for ever For as your present choice is such shall your Eternal Condition be The Lord perswade sinners to know the things of their peace before they are hid from their eyes FINIS