themselves godly men must be like candles which being lighted kindle others Grace is compared to oil which is of a diffusive spreading nature Matth. 25.4 and it doth like the oil in the widows barrel increase by pouring out the oil never ceased running till she ceased pouring The more thou improvest thy little stock of Grace the more thy master will trust thee with Peter Martyr speaketh of some mountains of salt in Cumana which whilst they lay common for the good of many never wasted though Merchants carried away in abundance but when they were once ingrossed to one mans use they consumed away He that hath greatest layings out for God shall have greatest comings in from God The loaves increased not whilst they were whole in the basket but whilst they were breaking and distributing to others Womens milk increaseth by drawing if the brest be not drawn it will dry up Prov. 11.14 15. He that soweth liberally shall reap liberally Believe it Friend the onely way to make thy one pound ten pounds is by trading with it I speak not of thy intruding into the Ministers calling but of dealing faithfully with the souls of thy friends and relations in thy place and station Truly one would think that every time thou considerest the dreadful danger of poor sinners thine heart should almost bleed within thee Jesus Christ groaned and wept for dead Lazarus How did David mourn for dead Absolom At a funeral though there be much cost yet there is no chear because one is dead What bowels of pity shouldst thou have towards them that are dead spiritually nay dying eternally Dost thou not remember there was a time when no eye pitied thee when God passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood yea when thou wast in thy blood he said unto thee Live behold that time was the time of love to thy soul canst thou now behold others wallowing in their pollutions weltring in their soul blood and thine eyes not affect thine heart with pity to them Especially we that are parents should use all means for the Regeneration of our children and relations We have a little sister that hath no breasts what shall we do for her said the Jews Cant. 8.8 Have not we little Children that have no Christ no hope no grace O what shall we do for them in the day that they shall be spoken for When Samson had found honey in the carcass of the lyon he did not onely eat himself but carryed some to his father and mother thou hast found hony and sweetness in the carcass of the Lyon of the tribe of Judah in a crucified Christ wilt thou not endeavour that thy relations and friends may share with thee Friend canst thou think without trembling on the unnaturalness of most fathers and mothers towards their children All their care is to get earth enough for them but never mind the instating them in heaven the Ostrich leaves her eggs in the earth Iob 39.14 15 and warmeth them in the dust where the foot crusheth them and the wild beast breaks them thus worldly men warm the fruit of their bodies in the earth are diligent to leave them dust enough but consider not that the foot of Gods fury will crush them and the roaring Lion devoure them if they be not Regenerated O the many soul murders which worldly parents commitâ— but if thou art born again I am perswaded nay I am confident of better things of thee thou darest not but teach thy sons Gods ways and labour that thy servants may be converted to him Christianity doth not diminish but rectify thy natural affection it causeth thee to love thy relations not less but better then thou didst before grace makes thy love to run out towards their souls and their spiritual and eternal good O what an honour and priviledge is it that thou mayst be instrumental for the saving of souls Jam. 5.2 ult which that thou mayst be take these three words for thine help First Be sure that thou set them a good pattern let thy life be so exact that others may write after thy copy with credit Look on thy self as new born for this end that thou mightest adorn the Doctrine of God thy Saviour Parents and Masters are often authentick patterns to all their inferiours their zeal will provoke many and if they fall as tall cedars they beat down many shrubs O therefore do nothing of which thou mayst not say to thy family and neighbours as Gideon to his souldiers Iudg 7.17 Look on me and do likewise It is reported of the Hares of Scythia that they teach their young ones to leap from bank to bank from rock to rock by leaping before them which otherwise they would never learn and by this means when they are hunted no beasts can overtake them Do thou set others a pattern in the performance of duties and in the exercise of graces that others learning by thine example may thereby be secured from Satan the great destroyer The morall is good of the fable The old crab bid the young one got forward Shew me the way saith the young crab the mother goeth backward and sideling the daughter followeth her saying Lo I go just as you do Truly thus thy little ones will quickly imitate thy doings Be careful therefore how thou livest walk circumspectly consider of every expression and action not onely whether it be lawful but also whether it be expedient and exemplary Thy religious pattern may do more good then the Ministers preaching they preach with their lips one day in a weak but thou by thy life preachest all the week long 1 Pet. 2.12 Have thy conservation honest among others that they may glorifie God in the day of their visitation 1 Pet. 2.12 Secondly Let thy prayers be constant and instant for their Regeneration How can I see the death of my childe said Hagar Alas how canst thou see the eternal death of thy dear children When thou kneelest to prayer with thy wife children and servants and considerest that death will shortly break up thy house and then heaven and hell will claim their due The Regenerate shall go to heaven the unregenerate to hell Thou and they who live together are likely to be parted asunder for ever Good Lord How shouldst thou pray for them with what fervency with what importunity Thou art new born and knowest that hell and heaven are no jesting matters Iohn 4.23 doth not thine heart ake to think that any of thine should dwell in everlasting burnings O go to Christ as the Centurion for his sick child Sir come down ere my child die Lord come down ere my poor children die for ever And as the woman of Canaan Have mercy on me O Lord thou Son of David my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil Lord help me If thou canst do any thing help them Lord pitie poor children and form thy dear Son in them thus carry thy little children
Cor. 15.10 Grace justifieth Rom 3.24 being justified freâ—ly by his Grace Grace glorifieth Ephes 2.8 For by grace are ye saved Grace doth lay both the foundation and the top-stone of glory that deserveth the thanks and praise of our beginning progress and perfection in holiness Every step in our ascent to mount Sion is free-stone Every link as one observeth well in the golden chain of mans salvation is richly enameled with Free-grace O how lively doth this lovely Attribute play its part from first to last in the recovery of lost man Thirdly Here is the instrumental cause I say by the Ministry of the Word Of his own will begat he us again by the word of truth Jam 1.18 Scripture is the ordinary means of conversion The Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation Rom. 1.16 God indeed is a free agent working when in what manner and by what means he pleaseth though he tieth us to means he doth not tie himself to means he doth sometimes make relations the instruments of Regeneration some by being matched to Christians have been married to Christ some matches which have begun in the flesh have ended in the spirit therefore the Apostle telleth the beleiving Wife she knoweth not but she may save her Husband and the beleiving Husband he knoweth not but he may save his wife 1 Cor. 7.16 1 Pet. 3.1 God hath made pious education effectual for childrens conversion The mornings draught of wholesom instruction hath preserved many young ones from infection by and perdition with others 2 Tim 3.15 Prov. 22.6 Some Masters have also been spiritual fathers to their servants there are those that by being of the family of the faithful have come to be of the family of Faith Acts 10.1 Iosh 24. God sometimes converteth by sufferings Affliction like the Shepherds dog hath brought those home into the fold of Christ which went astray like lost sheep God hath cast some Manasses and Prodigals that were hard mettal into some hot fire and thereby melted them and fitted them to receive his own impression and image Luke 15. 2 Chron 33.11 12 13. But usually the Minstry of the word is the pen in the hand of the Holy Ghost with which he writeth the Law of God in the heart The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul Psal 19.7 'T is the incorruptible seed of the word which by those spirituall husbandmen is thrown into the soil of mens hearts that through the influence of the Son of righteousnesse and dews of heaven springeth up in grace and holinesse 1 Pet. 1.23 Ordinarily there is no other way to beget grace then the word of grace and it tendeth not the least to Gods dishonour nay rather the weakness and meanness of the instrument in such cases commendeth the workman because he hath manifested this to be his pleasure it pleased him through the foolishnesse of preaching to save them that believe 1 Cor. 1.21 He will give light to the world onely by the Sun though he could do otherwise therefore as some observe though light were made the first day yet the Sun was not made till the fourth day to shew that God could give light to the world without a Sun Thus God could convey the Spiritual light of holiness without the Sun of scripture but it is his will to make that his ordinary means It is the word which makes clean the filthy John 15.3 which sanctifieth the unholy John 17.17 which begetteth grace in those that were graceless Acts 2.37 For this cause it is called the ingrafted word James 1.21 for as the Cions of a good apple grafted into a crab-tree stock doth change the harsh sowr nature of it and maketh it sweet and pleasant so the word preached for of that he speaketh verse 19.20 can change the stony cannal earthly heart of man and make it soft spiritual and heavenly Some have indeed been converted by reading as Luther Augustine Junius and others confess they were but most commonly it is by hearing that mens souls come to live Rom. 10.14 There is a blessing for Readers and there may be a fish or two caught in the net that is let down in an heap but that is rare it is not the net lapped up together but haled out at length and spread all abroad that bringeth in the draught So it is the spreading out the word the dilating on the matter in hand which usually catcheth souls The Law like John Baptist prepareth the way of the Lord by opening and searching the festred wounds of the finner by making him sensible of his sores his sins and misery and heartily desire a Physician a Redeemer Rom. 7.9 then the Gospel perfecteth the cure by pouring oil into the wounds and binding them up by acquainting the soul with and interesting him in the free and rich mercy of God in Christ 2 Thes 2.14 The Law like Moses bringeth to the borders but the Gospel like Joshua leadeth into Canaan Thus the Scriptures as is wittily expressed by one are the bells which ring all in which call people into the Church of God The Poets speak of musick which hath made stones leap into walls this word of God hath turned stones into flesh of stones it hath raised children unto Abraham Fourthly Here is the formal cause of regeneration whereby God doth at first renew the whole man after his own image now because this is the cause which doth specifically difference a thing and this being opened its nature will best appear I shall speak the more to it and observe in it these four particulars 1 The act renew 2 The Subject the whole man 3 The pattern after his own image 4 The season or time at first 1 For the act I call it a renewing and so doth the Apostle Titus 3.5 Eph. 4.23 24 upon a double account partly because in Regeneration nature is not ruined but rectified The Convert is the same man but new made The Faculties of his soul are not destroyed but they are refined the same Viol but new tuned Christ gave not the blind man new eyes but a new sight to the old ones Christ did not give Lazarus a new body but enlivened his old body So God in Conversion doth not bestow a new understanding but a new light to the old nor a new Soul but a new life to the old one The powers of the man are like streams not dryed up but turned into another Channel The truth is that man by his fall from God is so exceedingly degenerated and polluted that repairing and mending will not serve he must be wholly and throughly new made as the house infected with the leptosie scraping would not do it must be pull'd down and new set up but as when an house pul'd down is new set up we use possibly the same timber and stones and materials which were in it before onely they are new squared and polished what is rotten or amiss in them is pared off and what
imagine what a full good this one God is in himself and would be to thee He would be to thee health in sickness strength in weakness light in darkness joy in sadness riches in povery honor in ignominy freedom in slavery ease in pain safety in dangers and life in death This one God would supply all thy need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus Phil. 4.19 God would subdue thy corruptions enable thee to overcome temptations to be a gainer by afflictions to hold out under desertions to improve providences to be the better for ordinances to be filled with holiness and fitted for happiness He would do more for thee then thou couldst ask or think Ephes 3.20 Well might the Psalmist wonder at the riches of his portion who had a propriety in God Psal 144. ult Happy is the people that is in such a case YEA HAPPY IS THE PEOPLE WHOSE GOD IS THE LORD Ainsworth reads those words by way of admiration O happy is the people whose God is the Lord As if the Psalmist Beatus ergo populus cujus Iehova est Deus Tremel considering what he had said before that it was an happiness to enjoy children cattel and outward comforts did from those streams ascend to the fountain and gathered by rational arguing If they are happy that have their sons growing as plants and their daughters as polished stones their barns swelling and their flocks thriving O how happy are they whose God is the Lord If they are so blessed who have the Stars how happy are they that have the Sun For in the presence of this Sun all those Stars must vanish and disappear a Praedicâ— populum beatum oâ— haec bonaâ— Deo conti gâ—rint sed addâ—t mox correctiâ—nem ne qâ—iâ— in hâ—s rebus terrenis fubsistat summan beatitudi nâ—â— ponâ—â— Mollerus in loc Mollerus takes the words by way of correction Yea rather Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord. As if David had recalled himself and with his pen given a dash to all that he had said Did I say that they were happy which abounded with relations possessions and outward comforts I recal my self Alas they are not happy in comparison of their happiness who have the Lord for their God yea rather hapyy is the people whose God is the Lord. By this latter he cuts off the neck of his former expression Some take the words conjunctively as if David had proclaimed them happy indeed for whom the Lord as their God doth so liberally provide The children must needs be happy that have a Father that takes such care of them and bestoweth so many outward good things on them Austin takes the words dis-junctively as if the former part of the verse Happy is the people that is in such a case were the voice of the world and the latter part of it Yea happy is the people whose God is the Lord were the choice of the Saints And that Father explains himself to this purpose O vain and foolish speakers O strange children They have called the people happy that are in such a case But what sayest thou David What sayest thou O Body of Christ What say ye O Members of Christ What say ye O Children of God Because those vain Speakers and strange Children have called them happy that are in such a case What say ye And then he answereth for them as the voice of all O vaniloquâ— O silii alieni Beatum dixerunt populum eui haec sunt Quid tu David Quid tu corâ—us Christi Quâ— vos membra Christi Quid vos non filii alieni sed Dei Quoniam vaniloqui fili alieni Beatum dixerunt populuâ—â— Cui haec sunt Vos â—â—id dicitis Beatus populus cujus Dominus deus ipsius Aug. in Psal 143. Tom. 8. Happy is the people whose God is the Lord. Thus happy Reader shouldst thou be if thou wert once regenerated That God in comparison of whom the whole Creation is as nothing would be thy God O how eminently how infinitely wouldst thou be blessed in having so rich so vast so boundless a good for thy God Thou shouldst be blessed in thy body that should be the temple of the Holy Ghost and part of the mystical body of the Son of God and so nearly and closely united to him that neither death grave nor dust should ever be able to separate it from him 1 Cor. 6.19 1 Thes 4.14 16. Thou shouldst be blessed in thy soul that should be ever fat and flourishing Psal 92.13 14. like a watered Garden abounding in fruit the smell of thy soul would be as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed Thou shouldest be blessed in thy estate that blessing which can turn a Prison into a Palace a Cottage into a Court poverty into plenty would be thy portion thou shouldst be sure of necessaries of enough to bear thy charges till thou comest to thy Fathers house Psal 37.25 26. and 34.11 Having faith thou should not fear a famine but wouldst be assured that he who feeds the birds of the air fodders the beasts of the fields filleth the bellies of his Enemies with hidden treasures would never forget his friends or starve his children The Lord would be thy Shepherd and therefore thou couldst not want Psal 23.1 As they that are well lined within and have much good blood and spirits can endure to go in cold weather with less clothes then others So thou being inwardly strengthened with the grace and love of God shouldst be able to walk in the world comfortably with a less estate then others If thou shouldst be thine own carver thou wouldst cut thy fingers If thy means were small thy stomach should not be great As the sheep can live upon bare Commons and thrive there where the fat Ox would be starved so in the midst of thy straights thy contentedness would give thee a sufficiency when others who are strangers to grace in the midst of their sufficiency are in straights Job 20.22 True piety hath true plenty and is never without a well-contenting sufficiency for t will give him who hath nothing the possession of all things 1 Tim. 6.6 Hab. 3.16.17 2 Cor. 6.11 Thy dinner of herbs with the love and favour of God would be better then a stalled Ox with his anger and frowns Prov. 15.15.16 Thou shouldst be blessed in thy children The just man walketh in his integrity and his children are blessed after him Prov. 20.7 John's Children fared the better for their fathers godlyness thoug it were but counterfeit 2 Kings 10.30 Surely then The generation of the upright shall be blessed Psal 112.2 When thou didst leave them God would find them and require thy children for thy love to him much more faithfully then David did Mephibosheth for Jonathans good will Gen. 17.8 Act. 2.39 Thy whole house would be the happier for thee God blesseth the habitation of the righteous Prov 3.33 Nothing can possibly be
sin who would open his mouth for such a monster when there is no evil like it Doth God offer thee any thing to thy hurt when he would make a separation between thy soul and thy sins doth he desire any thing to thy disadvantage when he desireth thee to give a bill of divorce to sin which is the sourse of all sorrows the onely enemy of thy best friend the ever-blessed God and to be given up to which is the greatest plague and punishment on this side hell Tell me is not regeneration excellent which killeth such venemous serpents which executeth such traytours which mortifyeth these earthly members and dasheth these brats of Babylon against the wall Thirdly the price paid for this pearle doth loudly speak its excellency Reader little dost thou think what regeneration cost I tell thee and thou mayst well wonder at it The son of God came from heaven suffered the boundless rage of Divels and infinite wrath of God in mans nature upon this very errand to purchase regeneration and sanctification for poor sinners Read and admire Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot 1 Pet. 1.18 19. See the worth of this ware by that which it cost The precious blood of Christ surely it was a jewel of inestimable value which the Son of God thought worth his precious blood As lightly as thou thinkest of the death of sin and the life of righteousness the Lord Jesus underwent more then any one in hell feels to buy them of his father for the sons of men Ah none knoweth but God and Christ what it cost to buy off mans debts and guilt and to procure a new stock of holiness for his poor bankrupt creature to set up with again Who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree that we being dead to sin might live unto righteousness 1 Pet. 2.24 Had man kept his original purity the Lord Jesus might have spared all his pains T it 2.14 Ioh 10.10 The second Adam came to restore that jewel to man of which the first Adam robd him This rare jewel this choice mercy was regeneration and holiness and this Christ looks upon as the full reward of his sufferings He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied Isa 53.11 The truth is Christ had exceeding hard labour the Greek Fathers call it unknown sufferings he had many a bitter pang many a sharp throw but for joy that children are born of God that those throws bring forth a numerous issue of new creatures he forgets his sorrows He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied Consider friend did Christ esteem regeneration worthâ— his blood to merit it and is it not worth thy prayers and teares and utmost indeavours to obtain it Did Christ come to destroy the works of the Divel which is sin 1 John 3.8 and wilt thou build them up did the Lord Jesus come to build up the temple of holiness and wilt thou pull it down did Christ think it worth the while to be reproached condemned crucified and all to make thee holy and wilt thou be such an enemy to the cross of Christ as by continuing in sin to deprive him of that which he earnd so dearly Why wilt thou bind thy self to be a slave to Satan when he redeemed thee with such a vast sum Did the mercifull God send his son into the world to bless thee in turning thee from thine iniquity and canst thou look upon that great blessing as thy bondage Acts 3. ult Believe it God had servants enough even Angels that are ever ready to do his will to send ordinary gifts by surely then t was some extrordinary present that he thought none worthy to carry and would trust none with but his onely Son God sent him to blesse you in turning every one of you from your iniquities I hope reader thou wilt have higher thoughts of holiness and worse thoughts of sin all thy dayes surely the son of God was not so prodigal of his most precious blood as to poure it out for any thing that was not superlatively excellent Fourthly Regeneration and the renewing of man will appear to be excellent in that it is the great end of God in his works The more noble any being is the more excellent ends it propounds to it self in its working thence it is that a man hath higher ends then a beast the ends of a beast are onely to please sence but the ends of a man are to satisfie his understanding Hence also the ends of a Christian are more excellent then the ends of other men his being is more noble and so are his ends To please glorifie and enjoy God How excellent then is that which the infinitely perfect God makes his end Surely the Most High cannot propound any low ends in his operations he that is the onely wise God must have eminent designs and ends Now unclasp the secret book of Gods decree and look into it as far as the word will warrant thee and thou shalt finde that in that internal work of Election God had the renewing of man after his image in his eye and to be his end According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love Ephes 1.4 As an Artificer or Statuary that hath many pieces of stone all alike hewn out of the same Quarry in his yard sets some apart from the rest in his own thoughts intending to make some choice Statue some special piece of them So when all mankinde was before God he did in his eternal thoughts set some apart to be choice pieces to be holy and without blame Go from Gods decree to its execution from his inward to his outward actions and thou shalt finde thy renewing after his image to be still in his eye In thy creation he thought of thy regenerationâ— Prov. 16.4 Psal 100.4 5. Rev. 4. ult he made thee that he might new make thâ—â— Thou art a man that thou mightst become a Christian God made thee a rational creature that thou mightst be made a new creature He gave thee the matter in giving thee a body and a rational soul that thereby thou mightst be capable of the form which is the impression of his image on both There must be a tree before it can be hewed and squared for some curious building God did not make thee to eat and drink and sleep and toil in thy calling but to honor him and to live to him which are the actions of the new creature Trace God further from creation to providence and therein also thou mayst observe this to be his end Why doth he send the warm Summer of prosperity and refresh thee with his clearing beams and influences but to
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
which then thou didst make and as ever thou wouldst have God trust thee again be true to thy word be not as the marble watry and moist in such stormy weather and yet still retain thine hardness These are I suppose rational questions and surely thou canst not but be satisfied of the equity in them Well art thou resolved to the obey the counsel of God and to live like a rational creature Surely here is a threefold nay a fourfold cord which is not easily broken Canst thou slip those oaths as easily as Monkies do their collars and break these bands in sunder as Sampson did his cords O consider that man was possessed with a devil whom no cords could hold and without question thou art also if such bonds oaths obligations as these are cannot hold thee do not draw thee to the Lord and binde thee to his commandments To end this first help to holiness which is serious consideration I must request thee to read it again and weigh the particulars which I have offered to thee If thou wilt ever be taken I should think that one of these baits should catch thee either that the necessity of Regeneration should drive thee or the felicity of the regenerate draw thee or the misery of the unregenerate affright thee or the equity of regeneration perswade thee unto holiness Here are all sorts of arguments imaginable if thou art ingenuous here is love and mercy to melt thee if thou art stubborn here is endless and easeless misery to move thee if thou art for the best things here is excellency for to allure thee if thou art rational here is equity to prevail with thee Friend what shall I say to thee or wherewith shall I overcome thee Hath not the world conquered thee with arguments which had not the thousandth part of that weight which the least of these hath and shall not thy Maker Preserver Redeemer prevail with thee by setting before thee the horror of hell the happiness of heaven the beauty of his image the reasonableness of his service and the indispensable necessity of thy being his servant Is it possible that thy soul so closely besieged round about with fear and fury and fire on the one side with favour and love and life on the other side should not surrender unto Christ What objection canst thou have which here is not answered What good canst thou desire which here is not offered and why wilt thou not yield It is thy priviledge that thou art a subject capable of Gods image It was mans primitive purity Gen. 1.26 oh 3.6 Gen 6.9 Col. 3.10 Psa 17. ult that he was adorned with the image of his Maker Ah what a glorious shining piece was he when he came newly out of Gods Mint it is mans unspeakable misery that he hath lost Gods image his recovery here consisteth in having Gods image imprinted on him in part and his felicity and pefection hereafter in having this image stamped on him fully and compleatly And canst thou then be unwilling to be made like unto the blessed God Surely sin hath bound thee strongly and Satan possessed thee strangely if none of these things overcome thee Friend Art thou not desirous to fare well in the other world then ponder these Subjects of consideration seriously and frequently when thou liest down and when thou risest up when thou goest out and when thou comest in thou little thinkest what such serious frequent thoughts may produce Whilst David was musing a fire was kindled within in him Psal 39. Consider what I have said and the Lord give thee understanding in all things The second help to Regeneration An observation or knowledge of those several steps whereby the Spirit of God reneweth others souls and a pliable carriage and submissions to its workings and motions in thine own soul I Come now to the second help which I promised towards Holiness and Regeneration and that will branch it self forth into these two particulars First An observation or knowledge of those several steps whereby the Spirit bringeth home wandering sheep into the fold of Christ Secondly A pliable submission to the workings and motions of the holy Ghost as at any time he maketh his addresses unto thee For the first of these thou art to understand that conversion is not wrought all together and at once but by decrees as in the generation of a childe first the brain heart and liver is framed next the bones sinews nerves and arteries then the flesh is added so in regeneration first the sinner hath the seed of repentance and faith in the sense of his sins and misery and the sight of the mercy of God in Christ then some desires after Christ next some affiance on Christ and after these an hearty acceptance of Christ as Lord and Saviour The match between Christ and the soul is not hudled up in haste Christ first goeth a woing The Father offereth a large portion with his Son the creature considereth his terms how lovely his person is what his precepts will be what advantage he shall have by the marriage and by a deep and powerful energy of the Spirit consenteth to take him for his Lord and husband First the first step is Illumination The spirit of God doth in the first place open the eyes of the blind Vide more of this p. 24 5. and turn men from darkness to lght here is illumination and then from the power of Satan to God here is regeneration Act. 26.18 Before the Sun of righteousness ariseth on the soul there is a day-break of light in the understanding John Baptist who was the forerunner of Christ and sent to prepare his way before him did it by giving knowledge of salvation Luke 1.76 77. It is observable that in the covenant of grace the mind is still spoken of to be renewed before the heart Heb. 10.8 9. Jer. 31.33 For t is by the understanding that grace slips down into the affections Satan indeed that cruell Jaylor secures his captives in the dark dungeon of ignorance They are strangers to the life of God through the ignorance that is in them Eph. 4.18 When that uncircumcised Philistine hath taken any Sampson prisoner the first thing he doth is to put out his eyes when this is done he can make sport enough with him The evil spirit strikes men blind as the Syrians were and then leads them whither he pleases But the good spirit opens their eyes and sheweth them that they are in their enemies hands liable every moment to be murdered and then sets bread and water before them Conversion is called a translation out of darkness into marvellous light 1 Pet. 2.3 The sinner travelleth in the dark night of his natural estate and mistaketh his way he loseth himself in the mist of ignorance but when the morning commeth the man seeth that he hath gone in a wrong path then he befools and is displeased with himself and turneth about All the while the
never fountain sent forth water more freely then this sinner doth godly sorrow when he considereth what he hath done how he hath sinned what a God he hath greived sorrow and grief overwhelm his spirit The fifth step is implantation into Christ the Spirit now leadeth the childe by the band unto Christ nay grafteth him into Christ The soul being convinced of the necessity it stands in of Christ of the endless misery which it must undergo without Christ of the al-sufficiency that is in Christ how willing how able he is to binde up the broken heart and to save the sinful soul doth by the help of the Holy Ghost venture its self and its everlasting estate up-Jesus Christ resolving to stand or fall live or die at his feet The sinner is now between hope and fear not knowing how he shall fare As the four Lepers that were shut out of the City in the famine of Samaria considered with themselves If we enter into the City the famine is in the City and we die there Kings 7.3 and if we sit still here we die also Now therefore come and let us fall into the Host of the Syrians if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but die and accordingly they went to the Syrians camp found food there and lived So the sinner pondereth in his heart If I go to the world and the lying vanities thereof I perish vanity of vanities is written upon all its enjoyments the famine is there there is nothing that is bread its whole shop cannot afford a plaister which can heal my wounded conscience if I sit still in this condition under the weight of mine iniquities I perish they will unquestionable sink me into Hell now therefore I will fall into the hands of the Lord Jesus If he save my soul I shall live if he deny to receive such an unworthy wretch as I am I shall but die I can but perish I will therefore venture and accordingly the soul goeth to him and findeth life in him I have sometime thought that when the sinner is come thus far he carrieth himself much like Esther When the King had made an irrevocable decree for the destruction of her self and people what doth she do she fasteth and prayeth and sendeth word to Mordecai I will go in unto the King which is not according to the Law and if I perish I perish Esth 4. ult Thus the poor broken-hearted sinner perceiving that the King of Kings hath made a Decree That the soul that sinneth shall die eternally and he is a grievous sinner he fasteth he mourneth he prayeth and at last resolveth Well I will go in unto the King though it be not according to the Law which shutteth me up under guilt and wrath If I perish I perish possibly he may hold out the golden Scepter of Grace and I may live in his sight thus the poor creature goeth maketh supplication believingly and prevaileth The Devil now layeth all the blocks he can possibly in the souls way to hinder its journey to Christ As when the woman talked to her husband of going to the Prophet for the enlivening of her dead childe he presently endeavoureth to disswade her that 't would be to no purpose Why wilt thou go 't is neither new moon nor Sabbath but yet she went and had her childe restored to life Thus To what purpose shouldst thou go to Christ saith the Devil to the penitent sinner Canst thou think that so holy and righteous a God will have the least respect for such a wicked notorious hell-hound as thou art I tell thee he hath sent thousands that never sinned as thou hast done into Hell and canst thou have any thoughts of Heaven Thou hast done my work all thy dayes and now lookest for a reward from God No no I le pay thee thy wages in blackness of darkness for ever if thou hadst intended for life thou shouldst have minded it sooner thou hast dayes without number broken the Law and many a time rejected the Gospel and now 't is too late God called and thou wouldst not hear now thou mayst call long enough for he will not hear thee he tells thee as much with his own mouth Prov. 1.25 to 32. Therefore thou mayst spare thy pains and prayers for all will be to no purpose Surely thou hast a impudent face and a brazen forehead to expect such choice blessings as pardon and life from that Christ whom thou hast persecuted in his people rejected in his Laws preferring the world and thy flesh before him and daring him to his very face Thus he that was the sinners tempter to those sins turns his tormentor for them and he that when the soul was posting to Hell bid it not doubt of Heaven doth now the creature is creeping towards eternal life perswade him that 't is impossible to escape eternal death But notwithstanding these discouragements the sinner will go to the great Prophet of the Church for the life of his dead soul He thinks 'T is true I am a grievous sinner but I know that he is a gracious Saviour I see nothing but misery and hell in me but I see mercy and heaven in him for my warrant Mat. 11.28 I have â—his precept Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy-laden for my encouragement I have his promise I will give you rest Ioh 6.33 him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out I will therefore go what ever come of it and lay my self at his feet if he condemn me and spurn me into Hell I le justifie him peradventure he may lend me his hand and raise me up with hope of Heaven others have gone to him and he hath bid them welcom O the rings and robes the kisses and embraces which many returning Prodigals have had of him who knoweth but he may be gracious to me if he had not been willing that poor sinners should live he would not have dyed if he had been unwilling that I should come why doth he call me Well what ever come of it I will go it may be I may be hid in the day of the Lords wrath Thus Faith at first standeth but on one weak foot I suppose that when the sinner is in this condition the very command of God enjoyning him to believe in the name of his Son is a special instrument in the hand of the Spirit to draw him unto Christ like Abraham he being called of God obeyed not knowing whither he went he being called of God to cast himself on Jesus Christ obeyeth not knowing how he shall speed The Disciples when they hear Christ speaking to them in the morning Cast on the other side of the ship and ye shall finde answer him We have fished all night and caught nothing nevertheless at thy command we will let down the net So the penitent man having tried this and that means and found no water no meat
Objection answered namely Mans weakness and inability to turn unto God THou mayst probably object against this Exhortation to minde Regeneration That thou hast no power to leave and loath sin to believe in and submit to Jesus Christ Therefore why do I call upon thee so earnestly to what purpose do I bid thee make thee a new heart and a new spirit turn unto God and embrace his onely Son as thy Lord To this and the other subsequent objections concerning Election and thy sinfulness in performing duties I might answer onely with the Apostle Who art thou that replyest against God Rom. 9.20 or with Eliphaz Shall mortal man be more just then God shall a man be more pure then his Maker Job 4.17 But I will answer with Elihu Suffer me a little and I will shew thee what I have to speak on Gods behalf I will fetch my knowledg from a far and will ascribe righteousness to my maker For truly my words shall not be false He that is perfect in knowledge is with me Job 36.2 3 4. First I confesse See more of mans Impotency p. 111. to 117. that thou art unable either to loath sin or love God by thine own strength The precepts of the word speak mans duty but Gods power They teach us not what we can do but what we should do because a man ought to pay his debts therefore it doth not follow that he is able to pay them Divine commands are to convince men of their weakness not to shew their strength I acknowledg that by nature thou art dead in trespasses and sins and canst neither see nor hear nor savour spiritual things Eph. 2.1 Thou art without strength Rom. 5.6 not able to think a good thought 2 Cor. 3.5 nor to speak a good word Mat. 12.34 nay thou canst do nothing that is acceptable to God Joh. 15.3 or profitable to thy self None can be aforehand with God We cannot seek him till we have found him he will be sought that he may be found and found that he may be sought saith Bernard Secondly I answer that the cause of mans weakness is from himself the fault is not in God God made man upright but he hath found out many inventions Eccles 7.29 What was there wanting on Gods part He created man after his own image in knowledg righteousness and true holiness he gives him a law to direct him a threatning to warn him a promise to encourage him ability and power to carry himself uprightly Man hearkeneth to Satan distrusteth God despiseth the Law tryeth new inventions whereby he undoeth himself Is God to be blamed Surely no. The foolishness of man perverteth his way and then his heart fretteth against the Lord. Pro. 19.3 If thou urgest the objection farther That one man sinned and the whole generation of men suffer that thy weakness proceedeth not from thy fall but Adams I answer That a child may as well complain that his Prince is unjust because he is born the Son of a Beggar or a Traytour indeed it is an unhappiness to thee that thou art so descended but not unrighteousness in God If God gave thy father an earthly estate of a thousand pound per annum and he prove a prodigal and leave thee not a thousand farthings wilt thou blame God Is he to be charged for thy fathers riotousness truly thus it is in spirituals God gave Adam a sufficient stock he wasted it by wilful disobeying the command given him and thereby leaves all his children poor and beggarly is God now in the least fault Because thou hast lost thy power of obeying should God therefore lose his right of commanding a servant that makes himself drunk and thereby unable to do his Masters work is not therefore disobliged from his service A prodigal debter though he hath spent his estate in drinking and dicing may justly be called upon and sued for his debts But thou mayst sayst say thou didst not consent to trust thy stock in Adams hands I reply Hath not a father power to oblige and bind his son Adam was the father of all and did bear without question an extraordinary natural affection to his children His own interest was involved with theirs he and they lived and died stood and fell together he had full power over his own will Satan could not force him to sin his obedience for all was no less easie then for himself There was nothing commanded him but what was equal and just and what he was throughly enabled to do If Adam had stood thou hadst shared in his gains which had been unspeakably great therefore it is but righteous that thou shouldst share in his losses Besides Shepherds since oâ— convert edit 5. p. 44. though thou didst not make any particular choice of Adam to stand or fall for thee yet God made choice of him for thee who being goodness it self bears more good will to thee then thou to thy self and being wisdom it self made the wisest choice and took the wisest course for the good of man This way made most for mans safety and quiet For if he had stood all fear of losing our happiness had quite vanished whereas if ever man had been lest to stand or fall for himself a man would ever have been in fear of falling And again this was the surest way to have all our estates preserved for Adam having the charge of the estates of all the men that ever should be in the world he was the more pressed to look about him left he should be robbed and undo so many thousands Adam was the head of mankind and all mankind are members of that head now if the head plot and act treason against the King the whole body is found guilty and the whose body must suffer If these things satisfie not God hath a day coming wherein he will declare his own righteous proceedings before Angels and men Rom. 2.4 Reader take heed of darkening counsell by words or thoughts without knowledg for we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth Job 38.2 Rom. 2.2 3. I answer That thine impotency lyeth in thine obstinacy Thou pretendest that thou canst not but the truth is thou wilt not Luke 19.41 John 5.40 Thou art resolvedly evil and then fliest out against God himself that thou canst not do good Eccles 8.11 Jer. 44.16 Thy disease is deadly and dangerous the Physitian of souls offereth thee his help and he is both willing and able to cure thee now thou wilfully throwest away his Physick feedest on such things which thou canst for bear and knowest will increase thy disease and then tellest the world that thou art not able to cure thy self Is this honest or rational dealing If a naked man be offered cloathing oâ— a man ready to starve food and they throw it away from them and flatly deny to accept of them who is to blame if these perish with nakedness and hunger Thou hadst a poisonous egg from thy father but