THE WAY TO TRUE HAPPINESSE Or the WAY TO HEAVEN Open'd In a SERMON before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the CITY of LONDON Jan. 28. 1654 5 By RALPH VENNING GAL. 6.15 16. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new Creature and as many as walk according to this rule peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God LONDON Printed by T. R. and E. M. for John Rothwel at the Fountain and Bear in Goldsmiths Row in Cheap-side 1655. PACKE Mayor Tuesday Jan. 30. 1654. ORdered that Master Venning be desired from this Court to print as fully as he can his SERMON at Pauls on the last Lords day SADLER To the Right Honourable CHRISTOPHER PACKE LORD MAYOR And the Right Worshipful the ALDERMEN of the CITY OF London Honourable and Honoured THat I print this Sermon and that I print it more largely then I preach't it is in obedience to your Order which having resolved a former scruple of mine will warrant me for so doing without making any further Apologie though I hope that the Readers advantage also will be the more That my preaching then was not and that my speech now is not with the enticing words of mans wisdom but I hope in the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit and Power The reason is that your faith should not stand in the wisdome of words but in the words of wisdome or as the Apostle phraseth it not in the wisdom of men but in the Power of God and that the heavenly treasure might not taste of the earthen vessel Certainly there was never more need then in our dayes of preaching and pressing that of our blessed Saviour Labour not or work not for the meat which perisheth but for that which endureth to everlasting life and if any say to me as they to him What shall we do that we may work the Work of God I refer them to the ensuing Discourse for their Answer Concerning which I only desire that the Scriptures may be search't which do abundantly witnesse thereunto To the Law and to the Testimony if it speak not according to that rule there is no light in it but if it appear as I beleeve it will to be the voice of God and not of man I hope none will quarrel with it lest they be found fighters against God and why should we provoke the Lord to jealousie unlesse we were stronger then he Solomon tells us that of making and reading many books there is no end and when we have read if at least we could read all that are made this will be the Conclusion of the whole matter Feare God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole we reade it duty the meaning is the whole content and Happinesse of man this is all that 's profitable to man it being opposed to all the rest under the Sun which is but vanity and vexation of spirit and verily we may as well finde ease in hell as finde Happinesse any other way and that we shall know however we judge now when as he saith God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil How much then doth it concern us to look about us and to work out our salvation with feare and trembling here lest then we feare and tremble because we had not done it Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we perswade men as they love their salvation and as they will answer it at the great and terrible day of the righteous judgement of God that they abstain from fleshly lusts which war against their soules that they leane not to their own understanding nor walk in the wayes of their heart and in the desire of their eyes but that they consider to know and do what is the good and acceptable Will of God that they may be found without blame and that when he shall appear ye may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming Watch therefore for you know not what houre your Lord doth come but if any servant say in his heart My Lord delayeth his coming and shall beat the servants and eat and drink with the drunken the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him and at an houre when he is not aware and will cut him in sunder he will cut him off and appoint him his portion with unbelievers and that servant which knew his Lords Will and prepared not neither did according to his Will shall be beaten with many stripes I hope none will say as he that had a book brought him which treated of Happinesse I am not at leisure What not at leisure to minde thy soule and thy Happinesse are the world and sin such excellent pieces are they so lovely that thou shouldest set thine heart upon them Oh why wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not 't is not what it seems to be 't is not that which thou lackest nay 't is not that which thou thinkest 't is 't will prove the greatest cheat that can be and though thou gain the whole world what will it profit if thou lose thy soul Well you see the world tottering and tumbling about your eares the fashion of it the lustre thereof doth And Oh that therefore the lust thereof did passe away We are also making haste to our grave if they be not taken from us yet we shall be taken from them and who knows only God knows hovv soon To day then let us hear and obey the voice of God that vvhen the Lord cometh he may finde us so doing as to say unto us Well done good and faithful servants enter ye into your Masters joy Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome That this may be your portion and the portion of them that heard it and of them that read it is the hearty Prayer of him who is 12th Moneth or Febr. 20. 1654. Honourable and Honoured Ingaged and willing as he is able to serve you RALPH VENNING THE WAY TO TRUE HAPPINESSE Discovered From the words of our Blessed SAVIOVR MAT. 7.21 Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdome of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven THough there is nothing more natural to man then to seek after happinesse yet there is nothing that the nature of man is lesse able to finde out then his happinesse Mans hungring desire to attain happinesse is not abated though his ability for the attainment thereof as of and by himselfe be quite lost Since he did eat the forbidden fruit that is since he sinned ever since he was banished from the well-watered Garden of God he poor man hath wandered up and down like a fugitiye and a vagabond in the land of Nod seeking rest in dry places but findeth none Alas how is poor silly man bewildred in
his Will is done Go to now then ye that say as James 4.13 c. To day or to motrow we will go into such a City whereas ye should say for ye ought to say If the Lord will we shall live and do this or that Wo to them that say as Psal 12. With our tongue we will prevail our lips are our own who is Lord over us Alas poor soules you are not your own your soules are not yours your bodies are not yours they are bought with a price and therefore 't is not self-will but Gods Will that you and they are to obey 1 Cor. 6.19 20. Man must not make his own will but Gods Will his Counsellour and his Rule Do nothing but by leave and approbation when therefore they stand in competition we should tell temptations and corruptions 'T is Gods will that I should not do mine own Will The great strife between God and man is about the Will and men are enemies to God because they cannot have their wills but alas we see that if our will be done Gods will not and then wo unto us for we reward evil to our own souls 7. If it be so that they and none but they which do the Will of God shall inher it the Kingdom of Heaven How sad then will it be then with them that die in their sin that go out of the world as having done nothing in it but wrought iniquity Oh the doleful dismal condition of sinners at the last day when they shall hear their doom Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his Angels Oh that the hearing of it now may prevent the hearing of it hereafter Will it not be sad to be turned into hell with loads of wrath and vengeance on your backs for what have you you workers of iniquity treasur'd up but wrath against the day of wrath you shall have your portion with hypocrites and be torne in pieces and none to deliver have your dwelling with everlasting burnings where there will be nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth Consider this ye workers of iniquity and kisse the Son lest his wrath be kindled and ye perish everlastingly Oh that sinners would but lend their eare and listen at the hole the mouth of the bottomlesse pit * They might hear sinners crying like Cardinal Woolsey Oh if we had but taken as much care to please God as we did to please our own and other mens lusts he would not have left us to this both shame and endlesse misery there they might hear Dives crying out I am tormented in this flame and have not so much as one little drop of water to cool my tongue there they may hear poor damned souls cursing themselves for their madnesse that for the pleasures of sin which are but for a moment they should lose the pleasures of Heaven and be under the torments of hell which are for evermore Alas 't is not for expressions to expresse the unspeakable the unconceivable miseries which the fearful and unbelieving which the workers of iniquity will be in when they shall be cast into and have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone where they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever This is the second death Rev. 20.10 with 21.8 Oh that men would heare and feare and do no more so wickedly 8. And lastly if it be so how happy shall they be who when their Lord cometh shall be found doing the Will of God Well doing wil meet with a Well-done good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Saints are called to Gods Kingdome and Glory here and called upon to walk worthy of answerable to or becoming that Kingdome and when they have thus walked with God they shall be called into the Kingdom and glory they shall hear the joyful sound saying Their Masters joy enters into them here and they into their Masters joy hereafter Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you they shall then sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob at the wedding dinner which is yet to be kept in Heaven when all the Saints come together Oh what a glorious and blessed time will that be when they that are now laugh't at and scorned for being so precise for doing the Will of God shall then be crowned with everlasting glory Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not now indeed too too many say in works and in their hearts if not in words 'T is in vain to serve God what profit is there that we keep his Ordinances the proud are happy c. But behold the day cometh that shall burn like an Oven and all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be as stubble but a book of remembrance is written before him for them that fear the Lord and think on his Name and to them shall the Sun of righteousnesse arise with healing in his wings and they shall be mine in that day when I make up my Jewels saith the Lord. Yea the beloved of their soules and he that loves their soules will speak and say Rise up my love my faire one and come away for lo the Winter is past and the raine is over and gone the flowers appear on the earth the time of singing is come and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land the fig-tree putteth forth her green figs and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell Arise my love my faire one and come away Oh my Dove that art in the clefts of the rock in the secret places of the stairs let me see thy countenance and hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance comely Though ye have lain among the pots yet shall ye be as the wings of a Dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold This and much more then this shall be their glory Indeed eye hath not seen nor eare heard nor can it enter into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath laid up for them that do love him The second word or head is for examination and self-trial and I could wish that this sort of catechizing were more in use hereby we may know whose we are and what will become of us to all eternity whose we are while we live and whose we shall be and whither we shall go when we die This methinks should take up mens thoughts and possesse their reines day and night till they were in some measure assured thereof And oh that men would often ask their soules whose work whose Will they do for hereby they may conclude what will be their eternal state Look as men sowe in the seed-time of their lives they shall reap in the harvest of eternity Can men expect to gather grapes of thornes or figs of
the pursuit of his chiefest good he walks in darknesse and knowes not whither he goes he stumbles and falls yea in seeking to save he loseth himself It is with him as it was with the blinde Sodomites who groping to finde the doore went further from it then they were at first Or like the Dove when it left the Ark alwayes upon the wing ever flying and fluttering up and down but never found where to fix the sole of her foot just thus 't is with man since he left God he knowes not where to rest the foot of his soule Nunc hîc nunc vertitur illîc he goet forward and then back again to the right hand and to the left as Job in another and Solomon in thi◠case to see if he can finde out what is that good for the soules of the sons of men which they should do under the Heaven all the dayes of their life that after this life of dayes is ended they may enjoy life eternal with God in Heaven But alas I must say it again Man is still at a losse Now man being in this pitifully sad and miserable condition it pleased God who is a lover of the souls and the Preserver of men in tender mercy to mankinde to speak * Heb. 1.1 at undry times or by peece-meal and in divers manners unto the Fathers by the Prophets but in the fulness of time to send and in these last dayes to speak to us by his Son he hath discovered his Will fully and wholly by him so that we may not look for another there being no name under heaven but him by which we can be saved whither then should we go for the discovery seeing he only hath the words of eternal life him I say hath God sent to guide our feet into the way of peace yea that he might be the way and the truth and the life unto us He sent Christ from Heaven to earth that Christ might send men from earth to Heaven Accordingly Christ hath acquitted himself like a faithful Steward he hath finished the work which his Father gave him to do He hath done and suffered all that was commanded him for the good of men so that he is pure from the blood of all men having declared unto them the whole counsel of God and chalked out the way wherein they are to walk that they may be happy The summe whereof he hath given us in the text and that is the doing of his Fathers Will. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Christ Jesus having in the thirteenth verse exhorted them to enter in that is as Luke expounds it chap. 13. verse 24. to strive to enter in at the strait gate with forcible arguments to provoke thereunto he doth in the fifteenth verse advise them to beware of false Prophets that they might not be misled and miscarry in a businesse of so great importance to them and therefore tells them verse 16. which is again repeated verse 20. how they may know them viz. by their fruits by their works not by their words happily they may speak as others so that they may not be known by their words but saith he by their fruits ye shall know them Having done this he layes down this position in the text as of greatest concernment not only to them but to all Not every one that saith Lord Lord c. I shall a little open the expressions and then draw the Point which I intend to handle Not every one that is not any one Non omnis est ne unus not every one is as much as if he had said no not one 't is a universal negative without exception Not any one that saith and doth not that saith I go Sir but goeth not that saith and but saith Lord Lord. Lord Lord admits of a threefold explication Not every one that saith Lord Lord 1. By way of Profession 2. By way of Prayer 3. By way of Appeal 1. Not every one that saith Lord Lord by way of Profession that professeth me to be his Lord as Joh. 13.13 Ye call me Lord and Master and ye do well that is so far ye do well for so I am but if I am your Lord and Master where is mine honour or as he saith Luke 6.46 Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say Why that is to what end and purpose viz. to none in vain do ye professe me to be your Lord unless you practise obedience to me your Lord. 'T is not Profession but practice at least not Profession without practice It will not do any man any good to be but a Pretender to Religion He that in words confesseth Christ and in works denieth him hath but a forme of Godlinesse without the power and such a man will not be justified by his good words but condemned by his bad works What will it avail to have the name to live and to be dead while we live to have the name of a Christian and not to be as our name is Many a ship hath had the name of Safeguard and Good speed that yet hath miscarried and been cast away Many a man hath had a good name and yet alas hath made a bad end a very bad end whose end hath been to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of him whom they have called Lord Lord for not every one that saith c. 2. Not every one that saith Lord Lord by way of prayer as they Matth. 25.11 Lord Lord open to us and they Luke 13.25 Lord Lord open to us Though it be and be truly said that every one that calleth on the Name of the Lord shall be saved yet you see that a man may call upon the Name of the Lord I and that again and again he may call Lord Lord and yet be damned His repetitions will be in vain because they are vain repetitions A man may adde prayers to his Profession and yet notwithstanding all his Professions and his Prayers may go to hell for Not every one that saith Lord Lord either by way of Profession or Prayer or both shall enter c. 3. Not every one that saith Lord Lord by way of Appeal as in verse 22. Many shall say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name have we not we make our appeal to thee we call thee to witnesse and make thee our Judge Thus the Name of the Lord is often called too too often called upon as by them in Jerem. 42.5 The Lord say they be witnesse between thee and us But Appeales made for Justification do not alwayes justifie nor are they justified For saith Jeremiah to them Ye did at that time at that very time when you appeal'd to God ye did dissemble in your hearts And saith Christ at this time though you say unto me
will become of us are these things to us but as a tale that is told how dare we say that we believe these Scriptures and yet walk in these sins If men did beleeve that sin were a soul-damning thing would men be so prodigal to sin away their souls to hell Do men love themselves no better then to damne themselves be not deceived the Scripture is true and will be found true in the day of judgement and what will poor sinners do in that day See yet again Eph. 5.5 For this ye know that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous what mark I beseech you what bouts the Scripture hath at the covetous man he is alwayes reckoned up among the worst of sinners even such as shall have no inheritance in the Kingdome of Christ or of God Let no man then deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience or unbelief But now to leave the rabble and common sort of sinners in the world and look a little into the more refined sort of men * Ye that say Lord Lord. the professing world and how little is that and among Professours separate them that have but a forme of Godlinesse and deny the power of it holding the truth of God in unrighteousnesse and them that do in words confesse him and in works deny him separate the formalists and the hypocrites and then judge if there be not few that shall be saved Methinks beloved it might make our hearts to ake within us and 't is strange that our countenances are not changed that our faces do not gather palenesse that our thoughts are not troubled like Belshazzars so that the joints of our loines were loosed and our knees smote one against another when we hear how few are like to go to Heaven None but they that do the Will of God And Lord good Lord how few are they But 2. If it be so then certainly 't is mens great concernment to do the Will of God to believe and live the Gospel-truthes unlesse men think it an indifferent thing whether they go to Heaven or hell whether their soules be saved or damned Let us up and be doing lest we be undone And if we have hitherto but complemented with God and said I go Sir but have not gone Let us undo what evil we have done and do what duty we have neglected by * We need such an after-wisdom as repentance is who have brought our selves so much behind-hand by former folly repenting of both for he that repents that he had not done is said to do his Fathers Will Matth. 21.31 that is when the repentance is such as is not only for but from dead works and brings forth fruit viz. amendment of life serving God out of choice and doing his Will with pleasure If Gods Will be not done we shall be undone Christ tells us plainly that unlesse our righteousnesse our practical righteousnesse exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees we shall in no case mark that in no case enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Matth. 5.20 And yet these men had beautiful out-sides they did outwardly appear righteous unto men yea so righteous that it was an ordinary saying among the Jewes that if but two men went to Heaven the one would be a Scribe the other a Pharisee Paul was a Pharisee and touching the Law blamelesse yet would not be found in that righteousnesse for all the world 't was but dung to him his whole soul went after this to be found in Christ Jesus and to have that righteousnesse which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God by faith Phil. 3. And mark what influence this had upon his practice such as that he could propose it to all men for an example for saith he Our conversation is in Heaven v. 20. He lived in this world as a man of another world and therefore when he was ready to be offered and the time of his departure was at hand he could triumph in this that he had fought a good fight finished his course kept the faith And saith he henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Judge will give me at that day Oh the joy and peace and hope that ariseth hence Of what concernment is it then to mens present and future peace and happinesse to do the Will of God But I may not enlarge too much I will proceed to A third Inference which is this that if it be so that they and none but they c. Then certainly 't is another guesse matter and businesse to be a Christian then men do usually think of 'T is not he that talks of God but he that walks with God that is the Christian Alas my Beloved 't is an easie a thing to take up a name and make a Profession to be of this or that opinion to unite â—nes selfe to this or that or th' other way of worship and discipline to be of this or that forme as ye call it this is easie but where is the Christian all this while Our blessed Saviour tells us plainly that it will cost a man something more then all this to be a Christian 't is not enough to say Lord Lord the whole frame and constitution of man must be altered there 's self to be denied world to be crucified flesh to be mortified sin to be subdued the Will of God to be obeyed And is all this a small matter Religion is no idle speculation nor a bare Profession a forme of Godlinesse a round of duties but the life of Religion lies in living it in bringing the whole inward and outward man to the obedience of God Godlinesse is God-likenesse And certainly there cannot be a greater derogation to God and the Gospel nothing can more reflect upon God then for men to take his Name in vain as they do when they take his Name into their mouth and depart not from iniquity The Christian is a new creature the putting off the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts the being renewed in the spirit of a mans minde and putting on the new man which according to God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse External Reformation without internal Renovation will never partake of salvation 4. If this be so what need then do we stand in of Jesus Christ 1. That we may do 2. After we have done as we can the Will of God 1. What need do we stand in of Jesus Christ that we may do the Will of God * In him is our strength and from him For without him we can do nothing as he himself tells us John 15.5 To be a sinner and to be without strength are phrases of one and the same signification as appears by comparing Rom. 5. v. 6. with v. 8. The same Apostle that told us he could by Christ
thistles Oh no Gal. 6.7 8. Be not deceiv'd mistake not your selves God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that he shall reap he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting And saith the Apostle Rom. 6.16 Know ye not that 's strange Know assuredly that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey his servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousnesse that is unto life He that is now thy Lord and Master he that is now thy Soveraign and King will then pay thy wages 'T is a short question Whose Will do you do if the will of men verily you have your reward if the will of sin you shall have sins wages which is you may heare it but how will you bear eternal death Surely men that like sins work will never like sins wages But if thou do the Will of God thy wages shall be his gift eternal life Well then try for Gods sake and your soules sake try your selves for you may know whose you are and shall be The third word or head is for exhortation let every one then that names and calls upon the Name of the Lord as he loves his soule depart from iniquity alas if you will not depart from iniquity for Gods sake you must there 's no remedy you must depart from God for iniquities sake and shall iniquity be dearer to you then God and your souls Why call you me Lord Lord Le ts either lay aside the Name of the Lord or our iniquity for what hast thou to do thou bold impudent daring sinner to take Gods Name into thy mouth and hatest to be reformed doest thou think that he will hold thee guiltlesse that takest his Name in vain Oh no he will require his Name and glory at thy hands Because God keepeth silence doest thou think he gives consent thinkest thou that he is such an one as thy self No no he will reprove thee and set thy sins in order before thy face and ask thee how thou durst say Lord Lord by way of Profession Prayer â—nd Appeal and yet wouldest not depart from iniquity what wilt thou answer when he riseth up thou wilt then stand speechlesse as being self-condemned Oh let me then beseech you to do the Will of God be not hearers of the Word but doers also lest you deceive your selves What is it to make a good Profession and not to make good the Profession what is it to be a Christian as farre as if it be no further then a few good words will go what is it to speak Christ fair to say Haile Master and kisse him if thou kick with the heel against him Trust not in lying words which cannot profit you will ye steal murther commit adultery sweare falsely burn incense to Baal and walk after other gods your belly and your covetousnesse and come and stand before me in this house and say The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these Is this house which is called by my Name become a den of robbers in your eyes Behold saith God even I have seen it and will require it Good words will never engage God to be a Patron to bad works Think ye to lean upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord among us behold thou art called a Jew and restest in the Law and makest thy boast of God and knowest his Will Behold all this what will it come to if thou through breaking the Law dishonourest God and causest his Name to be blasphemed what wilt thou do in that day when God shall judge thee according to this Gospel My beloved let me beg you for your precious and immortal soules sake not to dally with God not to trifle away these few moments of yours on which eternity depends but up and be doing the Will of God that it may go well with you for ever 'T is said of some 2 Kings 17.33 That they feared the Lord but served their own gods but saith the text v. 34. They feared not God for they do not after the Commandments which God commanded Jacob. Alas my beloved how often must I say it 't is not a forme of Godlinesse 't is not saying Lord Lord 't is not quaint civility nor specious morality much lesse painted hypocrisie that will bear you out opinions will not passe for Religion in the day of judgement nay do not think as I may say to make Christ a pack-horse to lay thy sins on his shoulders and thou in the mean time to keep them in thy bosome to say he hath done the Will of God and thou carest not to do his Will Alas the losse will be your own God will lose nothing as he that is wise is wise for himself so he that sinneth wrongeth his own soul Be exhorted then and suffer the word of exhortation which speaketh on this wise Do the Will of God surrender resign your selves to him as ever you expect to enter into the Kingdome of Heaven There are these two provoking Arguments from the text 1 It is for no lesse then a Kingdome yea for no lesse then the Kingdome of Heaven and is that worth nothing The Gospel is called the Gospel of the Kingdom Matth. 4.23 And the Word of the Kingdome Matth. 13.19 For by it we are called to his Kingdome and glory Shall not a Kingdome shall not of all Kingdomes this Kingdome be glorious in our eyes which is the Kingdome of glory The devil offered Christ as his greatest argument of hope to prevaile by the Kingdomes of this world and their glory but what 's that to this what 's time to eternity what 's earth to Heaven what are visibles to invisibles what the things of sense to things of saith what this glory to that which is to be revealed We all naturally love greatnesse and glory and can there be greater glory or more glorious greatnesse then this to be Kings to God here Kings with God hereafter and to reign with him more then a thousand years You see what a do there is in the world and I wish there be no evil done in the world for Crowns Scepters and Kingdomes do all the Kingdomes of the earth suffer violence and do the violent take them by force and shall not the Kingdome of Heaven suffer seeing 't is willing to suffer violence Oh that the violent would take it by force The nature of this Kingdome is to keepe thee from evil the Kingdomes of the earth are not I feare they are not had without much evil Well will you consider this to engage you to do the Will of God 'T is for a Kingdom 2. Consider this argument too if you neglect to day it may be too late to morrow Now or never now or never for what is your life but as a vapour that passeth away Do not you
die daily Know ye not that this night you may sleep the sleep of death And truly my beloved if you heare not God in this God will not hear you in that day Many shall say in that day Lord Lord but 't is too late See how Luke enlargeth this ch 13.24 c. Strive do your utmost to enter in at the strait gate for many will lasily with wouldings and wishings seek to enter but shall not be able which he enforceth by the argument now in hand When once the Master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door and ye standing without begin to knock saying Lord Lord open to us but he shall answer and say unto you I know you not whence you are 'T is too late saith he there was a door of hope open but now it is shut then you would not now you shall not enter in Though you cry and shout he will shut out your cries yea though you cry Lord Lord your answer will be I know you not And if you begin to plead and say How Lord not know us that 's strange not know us why who are you that I should know you as he saith in Matthew I never knew you No Lord we have eaten and drunk in thy presence we have heard thee preach in our streets we were the greatest frequenters of Sermons in all the town or countrey and doest thou not know us No I professe saith Christ I know you not Well in Matthew they have something more to say for themselves we have prophesied in thy Name yea we have fought thy battels and cast out devils and in thy Name have done many wonderful works Is not this enough to be known by surely thou canst not but have taken notice how forward we were in and for thy cause But alas the answer is I never knew you Depart depart I know you not Oh beloved we think that now it may be we are known eminently known but if we be found workers of iniquity 't will be in vain to say when we knock and God fayes Who is there why here are they that have sate at the upper end of the world here are famous Citizens Common-Councel men yea it may be Aldermen of the City of London Alas we shall never be known under these notions upon these termes 't is not riches nor titles of honour by which men are known in the world that will make a man known of God when he comes to stand before the barre of his Tribunal God will invalidate all the pleas that can be made If you say Whenever saw we him an hungred or a thirst or stranger or naked or in prison or sick and did not minister to him He will answer Depart ye cursed for in as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me If you say Open to us for we are Virgins we took our lamps and went out to meet the Bridegroom the rest slept as well as we we trimm'd our lamps and because we could not borrow we went to buy Lord Lord open to us No veriâ—y saith he I know you not The day of judgement will be a dreadful day upon this account that 't will be dies deceptionis a day of deceit not that it will deceive any but many will finde themselves deceiv'd Oh how will men be frustrated of their expectation 't will be to them as that day was to Esau wherein Jacob was blessed he came in merrily from his hunting and said without doubting of it blesse me my father but 't was too late he sought it yea carefully sought it and that with tears but found no place for repentance his father would not recal the blessing If men will not he are when God calls there is a time coming when men shall call and God will not hear How doth Christ mourn over Jerusalem who so long neglected her peace that at last it was hid from her eyes It s too late it s too late Jerusalem Oh therefore in this day in this your day in this the day of your visitation to day while 't is called to day before the night of death come and that may be this night I say in this day hear his voice or else in that day he will not hear your voice though you cry Lord Lord open unto us For a conclusion there are but three things which I would briefly commend to you in relation to this great work If they and none but they shall enter into heaven who do the Will of God on earth let me intreat you to study 1. The What 2. The How 3. The Why of Gods Will. 1. Study what the Will of God is for the matters to be believed and done Do not rest contented in general termes but study from the Scriptures what the Will of God is in particular There is notable advice given and as notable a promise made Prov. 2. My son if thou wilt receive my words and hide my Commandments with thee so that thou incline thine care unto wisdome and apply thine heart to understanding yea if thou criest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures what then why then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God and that not only in the general but as v. 9. then shalt thou understand righteousnesse and judgement and equity yea * Observe that every good path every good path Can there be a businesse of greater concernment to us then the saving of our soules can we take too much pains for that end is it not a shame that men should be more industrious to be wise for this world then to be wise for heaven Surely God requires diligence and delight in this work Every verse hath a double charge v. 1. receive and hide v. 2. incline thine eare and apply thine heart v. 3. cry and lift up the voice v. 4. seek her and search for her and that as for silver and gold Ah how do we look after silver and gold certainly if we did but look after the Will of God as we do after silver and gold how rich should we be in knowledge what treasures of wisdom would our soules be possessed of We need not doubt it for our Saviour hath said it John 7.17 If any man will do his Will he shall know the doctrine whether it be of God wherefore be not unwise Eph. 5.17 but understanding what the Will of the Lord is 2. Study the How of the Will of God not only what is to be done but how it is to be done 't is not enough that we do what is good but the good we do must be well done his Will according to his Will The Apostle in relation to walking worthy of God to all well-pleasing Col. 1.9 10. prayes that they might be filled with the knowledge of his