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
that have passed the Pikes shot the Gulf gone through the pangs of the new birth and travelled a considerable part of their way heavenward how hard wil it be for them who are not yet set out that have not taken one step in the way to life The sleepy world indeed dream that men may go to heaven without so much adoe they look upon civility to be sanctity wordly sighs to be godly sorrow not doubting their estates to be faith in Christ and if they can but spare a little time and now then from the world the flesh to mumble over a few night Petitions they hope with the help of these bladders to swim through the Ocean of Divine fury to heaven Or if they come short of these fig-leaves wherewith many of Adams children endeavour though in vain to cover their nakedness yet if they have the warning-piece of sickness before the murdering piece of death be shot off that they can but cry Lord have mercy upon us or tell their neighbours that they are sorry for their sins or get a Minister to pray with them then all must be well and they must as sure go when they die to God and Christ as they lived to the flesh and the Devil But stay friends a little there are more words then one to this spiritual bargain between God and your souls there is a work of Regeneration to be done or else ye are undone eternally ye must be throughly and universally new made or else ye are mar'd for ever Christ would never have commanded men to strive as to an agony to enter in at the straight gate Matth. 7.13 to work out their salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 To labour for the food which endureth to everlasting life John 6.27 If it had been such an easie thing to have reached heaven Things of such excellency are not obtained with such facility Pebbles lie common but pearls are hardly come by They must trravel far dig deep work hard that will get the golden mines The way to hell lyeth down hill a weak body may run down hill but 't is hard to go up hill to Mount Sion Friend I write not these things to discourage alas I need not there is not a straw in the way to heaven but thou if unconverted stumblest at it when thou canst leap over blocks in the way to hell but to awaken thee out of thy carnal security and to quicken thee to seriousness and industry about that which is of such unspeakable concernment to thy soul Our first births are many times accompanied with hard labours usher'd in by sharp throws and bitter pangs Our second births are alwayes harder O the terrors and horrors the convictions and convulsions the tremblings of soul and lancings of Conscience the thundrings from the Law the lightnings from hell-fire with which often this new creature is born It is hard labour indeed which bringeth this babe of grace into the world I have read of Melancthon that when he was first converted he thought it almost impossible for any man to withstand the evidence and authority of the word of God whereupon he told one of his friends that when he came to preach he would make work among souls but after some years spent in that calling being demanded what successe of his labours he answered that Old Adam was too strong for young Melancthon Alas friend possibly thou mayst think that thou wilt turn to God hereafter and thereby prevent thy burning in hell for ever Believe it 't is not so easie to turn from sin to God as thou imaginest Conversion is another manner of thing and more hard then most men think thou couldst sooner create a world then make thy self a new creature The resurrection of thy body if it were dead in the grave were an easier work then the resurrection of thy soul to newness of life As the birth of the natural so the birth of the spiritual man requireth infinite strength It is God not the midwife that taketh the child out of the mothers womb Psal 22.9 The hand of God alone can open that door and let the lettle infant into the world Gen. 29.31 otherwise the womb would be its tomb So the birth of the new man is wholly from God and the power wherewith he effects it is both miraculous and Almighty Reader if thou dost take a brief view what things are wrought when any one is new made and how little he doth contribute to them nay how opposite he is against them thou mayst perceive that neither Regeneration nor salvation are easie Thy mind must be enlightened to see both sin and the Saviour now is it easie to open the eye of the blind who can do it but he whom Augustine calleth totus oculus all eye When Jesus gave sight to one that was born blind the Jews themselves could not but acknowledge him a worker of miracles John 9.6.16 What then will the scattering the mists of ignorance and dispersing the clouds of darkness which gather and thicken about our understandings by nature speak the sun of righteousness to be Eph. 5.8 Thy heart also must be throughly humbled stone must be turned into flesh And O 't is not easie to melt such hard mettal when thy heart naturally is like clay hardened both by the Sun-shine of mercies and fire of judgement that no change of weather can make that stone to weep Ezek 36.26 Besides the strong holds of sin must be cast down thy old friends must be deserted and prosecuted with implacable hatred as irreconcileable enemies those beloved lusts which are at thy right hand and have such a large room in thy heart must be cut off and parted from thee Thy dilectum delictum the Isaac of thy corruption which is the child of thy warmest affection in which thou hast taken such great delight and from which thou hast promised thy self such large returns of profit pleasure or preferment must be laid on the altar and have the sacrificing knife of mortification thrust into the heart of it and its blood poured out before the Lord. Man is not this an hard saying as they spake in another case who can hear it an hard Lesson who can learn it thy lust will not like a lamb go silently to the slaughter but it will roar and rage fight stoutly for its life with many many carnal arguments and even rend thy heart with its hideous outcryes Who can tell the struggling of this beast before 't will be brought to the block Dives and his dishes Balaam and his wages Achan and his wedges Herod and his Herodias the young man and his great means are not easily separated O how difficult is it to wean the child of disobedience from those breasts which he hath sucked so often and with so much complacency and to divorce them which like man and wife have been ravished with each others love in works of Art its hard to build easie to destroy in
pleasant â—rov 3.17 Regeneration brings the soul to its centre in which it must needs rest The very work of serving God is a reward in it self in the keeping of them meaning Gods commandments there is great reward Observe Pâ—â— 9 1â— in keeping of them The service of God affords such satisfaction that Gods servants would not leave it for all this world though they were to receive no recompence in the other world The Precepts of God are sweeter then the honey how sweet then are his Promises Is life excellent This is the true life Eternal life saith Augustine is the true life This is the seed the beginning of eternal life Joh. 17.3 All unregenerate men are dead are but walking ghosts or moving carcasses their souls are but like salt to keep their bodies from putrifaction for a season The Heathen said of a vicious man that lived to be old Multum jactatus est noâ—multum nâ—vi gavit Sâ—n ad Panlin alluding to Mariners He was much tossed â—p and down but sailed not at all All the time of thy natural life till thou art converted is lost Paul dates his life from his regeneration We count not a tree living for standing in a garden if it bring not forth fruit Is honor excellent Holiness is honorable Holiness becometh thy house O Lord of Hosts Psal 93.5 It 's more honor to be a Member of Christ then to be Monarch of Christendom Godliness is the honorable livery which Christ purchased for and bestowed on the society of Christians He gave himself for his Church that he might present it to himself a GLORIOVS CHVRCH without spot or wrinkle Ephes 5.25 27. In a word holiness is the honor and excellency of God himself Exod. 15.11 He is said to be glorious in holiness he is called rich in mercy Ephes 2.3 but glorious in holiness his Mercy is his treasure but his Holiness is his honor He sweareth by his holiness Psal 89.35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David Great persons though sinfully will swear by their titles by their honors by that which they glory most inthese are their oathes that are most binding with them The great God in whom is no iniquity sweareth by his holiness as his crown glory his great excellency He is above thirty times called The Holy one of Israel This is the excellency which Angels and perfect spirits in heaven and Saints on earth do so much admire him for Is 6.3 Rev. 4.8 Nay as gold Exod 24. â—0 â—5 â—â—v 6. â—◠〈◊〉 16 23. Ps 105.42 Isz 5â— 10 Pr. 1â—5 17 because 't is the most excellent mettal is laid not only over pâ—uter and brass but also over silver it self so because holiness is the excellency the perfection of God it s laid not onely over his Servants his Sanctuary his Services his Word his Works his Sabbath his Temple and every thing that belongs to him but also over all his other choyce Attributes his Power is holy power his Mercy is holy mercy his Wisdom is holy wisdom Holiness is the perfection of all his excellent Attributes For were it possible which is high blasphemy for any to imagine for those Attributes to be separated from his holiness they would degenerate his Wisdom into craft Gurn. Ar. par 2. p. 2.9 his Justice into cruelty his Mercy into foolish pity and his Soveraignty into tyranny t is the Holiness of God which poiseth every one O the excellency the excellency of holiness who knoweth its worth Reader what dost thou think of this third subject of consideration The excellency of regeneration and holiness which God requireth of thee for the avoiding of hell and attaining of heaven Tell me doth God require any thing to thy wrong If God required of thee to live a thousand years on earth and to spend all that time in hunger cold nakedness disgrace paines and imprisonment or otherwise thou shouldst not escape unquenchable burnings and enjoy eternal life thou wert worse then mad if thou didst not accept of and obey such a command How hearty and thankful then should thy acceptance be of Jesus Christ to be thy Lord and Savionr of dying to sin and living to and delighting thy self in his blessed Majesty which is all he desireth of thee O do not refuse when thou art so well offered Is it possible that thou canst read so much of the excellency of regeneration how t is the image of the glorious God the destruction of the evil of evils the fruit of the death of Jesus Christ the end which infinite wisdome propounds in his workings the special workmanship of Gods own hands the high honour and perfection of the mighty possessour of heaven and earth and thy soul not be in love with it nor breath after it O that I were regenerated O that my soul had those true treasures those spiritual pleasures that wisdom that life that honour that beauty that excellency which no tongue can commend sufficiently O that the pure image of God were imprinted on me O that Christ might see the travail of his soul upon me and be satisfied I have read that when Zeuxis the famous painter had drawn his masterpeece the picture of Helena Nicostratus the Athemian painter beholding it stood amazed at its rareness and admired the exquisiteness of it There stands by a rich ignorant wretch who would needs know what Nicostratus discovered in it worthy of so much wonder O Friend saith he hadst thou my eyes thou wouldst not ask such a question but rather admire it as I do It may be Reader when thou seest the Saints admiring the beauty of holiness ravished with the excellency of Gods image so extreamly taken with it that they read hear watch fast pray mourn weep suffer any thing all things to enjoy more of it thou art ready to wonder what they see in holiness worthy of such admiration and such diligent endeavours but I tell thee Hadst thou their eyes instead of wondring at them thou wouldst wonder with them I and work with them too and that hard for holiness The fourth Subject of consideration The necessity of Regeneration FOurthly Consider the absolute necessity of Regeneration if it were not so excellent yet it is a thing of absolute necessity and therefore must not be neglected It is not a work of indifferency which may be done or may not be done but a worke of indispensable necessity which must be done or thou art undone for ever Reader here is an argument which neither the flesh nor world nor devil can answer and therefore it must not be denied It is indeed so fruitful a blessing that if thou hast this thou needst no more every thing that is worth ought is in the womb of it but it is so needful that if thou hast not this thou hast nothing the whole world cannot make up the want of this There are many things about which possibly thou spendest much
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
the Serpent that stings thee to death is from thy warming and hatching that egg in thine own breast All the men on earth and all the devils in hell could not damn thee were it not for thy wilfulness in sin And canst thou expect that Jesus Christ should save thee against thine own will that he should carry thee to heaven whether thou wilt or no Believe it a state of sin and wrath is the matter of thine own choice The door which shuts thee out of the fathers house is bolted against thee by thine own hands Answer me this question or else never more make this objection Art thou willing to turn from sin unto God Art thou willing to take the son of God for thy Saviour and Lord If thou art willing I am sure God is willing he hath confirmd it with an oath Ezek. 33.11 Jesus Christ is willing that sinners should live or he would not so willingly have died such a death he hath paid the price of thy ransom and offereth thee an happier estate then that of which Adam deprived thee If thou art willing to accept of thy freedom thou mayst have it If any man will let him drink of the water of life freely Rev. 22. And if thou art not willing why dost thou complain Fourthly I answer the fault is clearly in thy self because thou neglectest to do what thou hast power to do Thou hast power without any special grace to perform duties to hear the word to pray in secret and with thy family to forbear thy wicked company thy swearing lying drinking scoffing at godliness and yet dost not mind those duties constantly nor forbear those sins shall a servant friend be thine own judge which is trusted with five pound to imploy for his Masters honour spend this in whoring and gaming and then blame his master for not trusting him with thousands When man broke by his fall there was some stock left in his hands not enough to set him up again but that which might do him some good now they spend this profusely they throw away those checks of conscience which escaped the ruines of the fall they corrupt themselves in what they know and wickedly refuse to do what they can and yet are so impudent as to flie in the face of the ever-blessed God that he doth not give them power to do more Fifthly thy weakness and impotency should drive thee to Christ for strength Lex data ut gratia quaereretur gra tia data ut lex impleretur Aug. de Spi. et l. 1. cap. 19. Thy misery by the first Adam should cause thee to mind thy recovery by the second Adam The word of God discovereth to thee the necessity of regeneration thine own inability to do it that thou mightst ply the throne of grace flie to Jesus Christ for help and succour A man that is lifting a peice of timber and finds it too heavy for him will call in help thus the Law is a School-master to drive thee to Christ When thou considerest with thy self that thou must be regenerated or damned in hell for ever and that thou art altogether unable to renew and sanctify thy self how diligent should it make thee in attendance on Jesus Christ for his Spirit and grace How shouldst thou wait on thy redeemer in reading hearing praying meditating using all those meanes which he hath appointed for the conversion of thy soul The second objection answered That unregenerate men sin in performing duties and attending on ordinances SEcondly it may be thou wilt say You presse me much to pray and hear and frequent the means of grace but I sin in doing so I sin in praying I sin in hearing and singing and would you have me sin I answer First thou sinnest in eating and drinking and following thy calling in not doing these things upon right principles and for right ends and wilt thou therefore forbear them thou wilt pamper and please thy body right or wrong not onely in the use but even in the abuse of the creatures but how ordinary an excuse will make thee neglect thy soul Secondly Regenerate men themselves sin in all their performances though not in such a manner as unregenerate ones do and should they therefore lay them down Thirdly no pretence whatsoever can excuse from obedience to clear precepts remember also that the commands of God do not interfere or contradict each other Now God expresly commandeth thee though thou art in a natural estate to perform duties Peter when he had told Simon Magus that he was in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity yet he bids him pray to the Lord Acts 8.22 if peradventure the thoughts of his heart might be forgiven him our sinning in duties cannot abrogate that Law of God which enjoyns duties as Gods precepts are not measures of our strength so they are not lessened by our weakness The Ninivites though unregenerate as some think yet when threatned with destruction did both pray and fast and found that it was not in vain Jonah 4.3 Fourthly thou sinnest less in performing duties then in neglecting them If thou art resolved to go on in a course of sinning and damning thy soul I know not what to say to thee the Lord pitty thee but if thou hast any desire of Salvation in a Gospel-way thou offendest far far less in waiting on God in his Ordinances then those do that refuse them in performing duties without suitable grace thou failest in the manner of Divine worship others that omit duties fail both in the matter and manner thou owest God outward as well as inward service the confession of thy mouth as well as the conversion of thine heart surely then if thou givest God the former though without the latter thou dost not sin so much as they that give him neither Fifthly shouldst thou neglect the means of grace thou wouldst make thy condition which is already dreadful to be desperate if ever God meet thee it must be in his own way Rom. 10.15 17. Prov. 8. I believe thou scarce ever heardst of any man converted while he cast by the means of grace which God afforded him Sixthly If thy condition be so sad that thou sinnest in all thou dost thou hast the more need to hasten out of it Ah who would be quiet one hour in such an estate wherein what ever he doth is abominable to God! Men that are weak and sickly do not therefore forbear food because they are not able to digest it well and it may possibly yeild some nourishment to their disease but do therefore eat that they may get strength and be enabled to overcome their distempers Seventhly God may meet with thee in the means of Grace The Ordinances of God are the golden pipes through which he conveyeth the oil of Grace from Christ the olive tree God doth not bid thee to wait upon him for nothing thousands have found by happy experience that they are blessed which watch at Wisdoms gate
The DOOR of SALVATION OPENED By the Key of REGENERATION OR A TREATISE CONTAINING The Nature Necessity Marks and Means of Regeneration As also the Duty of the Regenerate By GEORGE SWINNOCKE M.A. and Pastor of Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire Matth. 18.3 Verily I say unto you Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven Non est via ad regnum sine primitiis regm nec sperare porest coeleste regnum cui neque super propriam regnare concupiscentian adhuc datur Bernard LONDON Printed by John Best for THO. PARKHURST at the Three Crowns in the lower end of Cheapside over against the great Conduit 1660. To the right worshipful Sir Charles Herboard Knight To the Worshipful Richard Franklin Esq John Beresford Esq Edward Ironside Esq Richard Beresford Esq And to the Gentlemen Yeomen and the rest of the inhabitants of the parish of Rickmersworth IT is the custom of our Country and if I mistake not a Statute Law of the Nation that children should be kept and maintained by those places in which they were born This book which treateth of the Babe of grace was conceived in your Parish brought forth in your Pulpit and now presenteth it self to you not for your protection and patronage but for your perusall and practice I confess that I am bound to many of you in courtesie to all in duty and I know not better how to express my thankfulness to some and my faithfulness to all then by dealing uprightly with you in the concernments of your souls Rom. 1.9 God is my witness whom I desire to serve with my spirit in the Gospel of his Son that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers And can through the strength of Christ much more rejoyce in one of your conversions then in all your possessions Ye know what a large Epistle I have already written to you I beseech you to read it often To the Reader in Hell and Heaven epitomized and O that the Lord would write it within you We live in days that are full of division but all that have any face of religion or form of godliness will acknowledge the things which I have written to you to be the commandments of God My cheif work is and hath been to preach unto you Repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ which are of such infinite weight in order to your unchangeable welfares And could I prevaile with you heartily to embrace those essentials of Gods word I should have confidence of your joyful appearance in the other world T is a sign of a very foul stomach to loath such solid food as those vitals of Christianity are and to pick at Kickshaws or Sallads I mean either the new-fangled opinions of some upstart way or the vaine flourishes of humane wit O how gladly would I stand forth to your comfort at the judgment feat of Christ which that I may I earnestly request you again and again in obedience to your blessed Saviour and for the sake of your precious souls to ponder and practice these three particulars Consider that they are not onely commended to you by your weak and dying Minister but commanded you by your Maker who will within a short time reckon with you for the performance of them First Make conscience of be diligent about the means of grace neglect not secret private or publick ordinances Your bodies may as probably live without diet as your souls without duties This is Gods way by which he infuseth grace where it is wanting and increaseth grace where it is As the head by the nerves and sinews as organs conveyeth animal spirits to the whole body So doth the Churches head Christ Jesus by ordinances convey his Spirit and grace to his members Doth not experience teach you that your hearts are like water though heated a little while over the fire of the means of grace yet are no sooner taken off but they are returning to their former coldness Mariners that swim against wind and tide must row hard and continue at it if they intermit but a little while how far and how forcibly are they carried backwards It is not unknown to you if ye have any knowledge in spiritual affaires how busily and unweariedly the Devil world and flesh are drawing you to hell it highly concerneth you to be always by duties fetching in supplies from above if ever ye would arrive at heaven I do not wonder that many in our perillous times who live above duties are given up to sensuality or blasphemies The Papists say that if they can get the Protestants out of their strong holds of Scripture into the open fields of Councils and Fathers they should quickly be able to foil them If Satan can prevaile with men but to throw away the Word of God which is the sword of the Spirit and the prayer of faith which engageth Christ himself in the combat he will never doubt the conquest While men wall in the Kings high way between Sun and Sun they have the protection of the Law if otherwise it is at their own peril If you keep the way of God he will be your guard but if you wander and leave him no wonder if he leave you And certainly wo will be to you when God departeth from you A dreadful night of darkness must needs be expected when this Sun is departed The ministry of the word is called the salt of the earth Mat. 5. Saints are called Doves Who are those that fly as doves to their windows Now the property of Doves is to be exceedingly in love with a salt-stone Kites and Rooks care little for it but Doves are mightily incited to it Graceless persons neglect and despise the means of grace but they that ever enjoyed God in them cannot but set a due price upon them The beggar the poor in spirit will know that door again at which he hath received a good dole I will never forget thy precepts for by them thou hast quickned me Secondly Mind the religious education of your children Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It was the wish of Crates that he were upon the top of the highest hill in the world that from thence he might cry out against monstrous parents that toile to leave their children great estates but take no care what maner of persons they should be which should enjoy those estates I doubt not but ye are careful to breed your Sons Gentlemen or to bring them up to trades that they may know how to live a few days in this world but alas how few of you are solicitous to breed them new creatures and to bring them up to Christianity that they may know how to live for ever in the other world I remember that Augustine speaks mournfully Some praise my father for being at such cost even beyond his estate in my nurture but alas his care
how soon it may overcast nay it may be followed with flakes of fire before night Sure I am that God hath given thee no lease of thy life and that others have died of the same age and likeliness tolive and why thou shouldst promise thy self a priviledge beyond others that thou shalt live longer I know no reason unless this That the Devil and thine own heart have conspired together to murther thy soul by getting thee to future and put off thy conversion till thou comest to Hell-fire and then thy ruine will be past remedy Suppose the same voice should come to thee which did to Hezekiah Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live meaning speedily What woulst thou do thy house is not in order thy soul Man is all out of order and therefore death would come to thee as Abijah to Jeroboams wife with heavy tidings with such news as Samuel brought to Eli which will make thy ears to tingle and thine heart to tremble Ah how will he do to die that never knew how to live The black Usher of death will go before and the flaming fire of Hell will follow after Didst thou but believe the word of God as much as the Devils do thou couldst never depart this life in thy wits who hast not led thy life according to Gods will One would think the noise of this murthering piece of this great Cannon Death though it should not be very near thee might awaken and affrighten thee when that deluge of wrath cometh that the fountain of fury from below is broken up and the flakes of fire from above are rained down thou hast no Ark no Promise no Christ to shelter thy self in For Regeneration is the plank cast out by God himself to save the sinking sinner by bringing him to the Lord Jesus and thou wantest it Dost thou not see that thy Sentence of death if thou continuest so is already passed in the High-Court of Heaven entred and engrost in the Book of Scripture and God knoweth how soon the word of command may be given to some disease for thy execution What comfort therefore canst thou take in all the creatures while thou wantest this new creation It is reported of Xerxes Plutarch in vit Themist the the greatest of the Persian Monarchs that when the Grecians had taken from him Sardis a famous City in Asia the less he commanded one every day at dinner to cry before him with a loud voice Sardis is lost Sardis is lost It seems to me that thou hast far more cause to have a Friend without or Conscience within to be thy Monitor every day and every meal to sound in thine ears Friend Thy Soul is lost Thy Soul is lost Certainly such a voice might mar thy greatest mirth sauce every dish with sorrow make thy most delicate meat a medicine and thy sweetest drink distastful to thee O didst thou but know what it is to lose thy soul thy God thy Christ thine Heaven and all for ever thou wouldst in the night be scared with dreams and visions and in the day be frighted with fears and terrors When Vriah was bid by David to go down to his house and refresh himself he answered The Ark and Israel and Judah abide in Tents and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields shall I then go into mine house to eat and drink and lie with my wife As thou livest and as thy soul liveth I will not do this thing 2 Sam. 11.11 Mark The good man could take no pleasure in relations or possessions because the natural lives of others were in danger nay he forswears the use of those comforts for that very cause How then canst thou solace thy self with lying vanities when thine Eternal life is not in jeopardy but lost really and thou canst not assure thy self one day for its recovery Shouldst thou see a condemned prisoner which knoweth not whether he shall be hanged on the morrow or the day after hawking or hunting sprucing himself or sporting with his jovial companions what thoughts wouldst thou have of such a man wouldst thou not think surely this man is mad or desperate were he not beside himself he would minde somewhat else since he is so near his end But Friend turn thine eyes inward and see whether there is not infinitely more reason why thou shouldst wonder at thine own folly and madness who art by the word of the dreadful God condemned not to be hanged but to be damned not to the gallows but to the unquenchable fire and canst not tell whether this night or to morrow morning justice shall be done upon thee and yet thou art buying and selling eating and drinking pampering the perishing body never minding or thinking what shall become of thy poor precious soul to eternity The wise mans advice is that if thou art indebted to men and liable to their arrest and imprisonment thou shouldst not give sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to thine eye-lids before thou hast made thy peace Prov. 6.1 2 3 4. What speed shouldst thou then use when thou art infinitely indebted to the Almighty God at his mercy every moment liable continually to be arrested by that surly Serjeant Death and by him to be hurried into the dark prison of Hell to agree with thine Adversary while thou art in the way and to get the black lines of thy sins crost with the red lines of Christs blood and so for ever blotted out of the Book of Gods remembrance As the Chamberlain of one of the Persian Princes used to say to him every morning Arise my Lord and have regard to the weighty affairs for which the great God would have you to provide So say I to thee Awake O man out of thy carnal security and have regard to the great end for which thou wast born and the great errand for which the great God hath sent thee into the world Reader that thou mightest avoid the endless wo of the damned and attain the matchless weale of the saved I shall do two things in the prosecution of this exhortation I shall both give thee some helps towards regeneration and remove some hindrances First I shall offer thee three helps unto holiness and thereby unto Heaven Secondly I shall answer three objections which probably may arise in thine heart If thou hast any real desire after thine eternal welfare ponder them seriously and practice them faithfully And the good Lord make them successful O how happy might it be for thee if the getting of a regenerated nature were the main taske of thy whole time Believe it thou wilt have no cause to repent of it For the helps towards Regeneration and thereby towards Salvation The first help to Regeneration Serious Consideration 1. THe first help which I shall offer thee is serious consideration He that goeth in a wrong path and never thinketh of it will not return back or turn about though
a cursed sianer that roll of curses twenty cubits long and ten cubits broad is thy right Zach 5.4 Thou art a breaker of the Law and out of Christ and therefore an heir of the curse and wrath of the Lord. The curse of God hangs every moment over thine head like a Blood-hound it followeth thee where ever thou goest as thy shadow it accompanieth thee whatever thou dost thou art continually under the dropings and spouts of the Almighty Gods indignation and canst as soon slye from thy self as from it till thou art regenerated Thou art cursed in all thou hast whether they are natural civil or spiritual enjoyments they are all cursed to thee For thy natural parts thy wit memory knowledge head heart are all cursed to thee They are employed in the service of Satan and with them thou fightest against God and thy soul As Jehu against his Master so thou marchest furiously against thy Maker with his own Soldiers Thy Memory is Satans treasury thy Will an agent for hell thy carnal mind enmity against God the Handmaids of thy affections like Hagar crow over their Mistris and make even thy Reason a slave and Lacquey to thy sensual lusts all thy natural endowments are Satans ornaments and as the more sharp and keen the weapon is the more mischief the murderer doth with it so the more witty thou art the more wicked thou art thy wisdom being from below earthly sensual devilish Jam. 3.15 For thy civil advantages Thy wealth credit house-delights friends are all cursed to thee Thy riches make thee the greater rebel and thereby further thine eternal ruine Thy fulness breeds forgetfulness Where the richest Mines are the earth is most barren Thy wealth is like fuel to feed thy wantonness Thine Honor like wind puffeth up the bladder of thine empty heart with pride The more God lifteth thee up the more thou casteth him down the respectful breath of thy neighbours doth but blow the vessel of thy soul towards Hell Thy pleasures are prejudicial to thy precious soul like the wasp thou drownest thy self in those pots of honey and as the silly fish swimmest merily down the silver streams of Jordan till thou fallest into the dead sea and perishest Thy Relations and friends if wicked are cursed to thee they breathe on thee and thou takest the infection wanting this preservative of regeneration They are actually what Michal was to David intentionally in regard of Saul snares unto thee Thy house is cursed The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked Prov. 3.33 what ever cost be there there can be no true cheer for there is Gods curse which mars all this will either rot the timber and pull it down or undermine the foundation and blow it up Possibly there may be in thine house a loving wife lovely children many servants stately rooms costly furniture dainty fare great earthly delights But man The curse of God is there A spoonful of this like Copris will turn all thy wine into ink thy sea of honey into gall and wormwood How can thy sweetest dish be savoury when the curse of God is thy sauce Or thy most sugared cup be pleasant when the curse of God lieth like a toad swel'd at the bottom or thy finest rayment delight thee when in every suit there is the curse of God like a plague sore or how can thy most beautiful building content thee when this curse of God on thee for thy wickedness turns it into a prison to keep thee who art in the bond of iniquity till the hour of death the time of thine execution There is a place which some speak of in the West-Indies where there is extraordinary luscious fruit growing but the inhabitants are so scorched with the heat of the Sun by day and multitude of gnats stinging them by night that they cannot either eat or digest their sweet meats with any comfort for which cause the Spaniards call the place Comfits in hell Reader what delight canst thou take in thy table though it be spread with various earthly enjoyments when every dish is served in with the scorching wrath of God and stingings of a guilty conscience As a feast to him that sate under a naked sword as wine to a condemned malefactor as Dives dishes followed with the unquenchable fire so are all the comforts of this inferiour creation to an unregenerate person Thou art a curse to thy children its ill to have relation to thee who art under the indignation of God The seed of evil doers shall never be renowned Isa 14.20 so Job 5.3 4. If thy children are good thou art their grief if wicked thou wilt make them worse The best of them may smart temporally for thine iniquities When the body of the tree faleth the branches fall with it Exod. 20.5 and O how much more is it to be feared that thou wilt draw them after thee both to sin and Hell It is not safe to be thy neighbour if it be ill to dwell near him whose house is on fire surely 't is not good to be nigh him who is under Gods fury When an overflowing storm sweepeth away the wicked the tayle of it may dash at their best neighbours Though they shall not perish with thee yet they may smart for thee Thy name is cursed The name of the the wicked shall rot Prov. 10.7 Thou mayst be honorable in the esteem of thy graceless neighbours but thou art contemptible in the account of Christ and his members and when ever thou diest thou wilt go out like a candle leaving behinde thee a stinking savour in the nostrils of the Saints Thy calling what ever it be is cursed thine eathly imployment proves an heavenly impediment Thou art cursed in the City and cursed in the field cursed in thy basket and cursed in thy store cursed in the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy land and increase of thy kine and flocks of thy sheep cursed when thou comest in and cursed when thou goest out The Lord will send upon thee cursing vexation and rebuke in all that thou settest thine hand unto until thou be destroyed and perish quickly because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken the Lord Deut. 28. init per tot As thy natural parts and civil advantages so also thy spiritual priviledges are cursed to thee till thou turnest from sin â—hou enjoyest Sermons Sacraments Sabbaths seasons of Grace and like the Spider suckest poison out of those sweet flowers Roses some say kill horse-flies Is it not sad that those precious mercies should hasten and increase thy misery Thine unregeneracy like some desperate disease turneth those medicines which are administred to cure it into the nourishment and confirmation of the sickness it self the word of God is the savour of death unto death unto thee â— Cor. 2.18 Thou surfeitest of that bread of life then which no surfeit is more dangerous thou growest black and wanzy in the
it possible for them to speak to thee when thou art in the other world it must be the same answer which the King of Israel gave a poor widow in her distress Help my Lord the King saith she If the Lord help not I cannot help saith the King such would their answer be to thee If the Lord help not we cannot help But friend what will thy case be when they cannot help and God will not help what a poor helpless creture wilt thou be for ever Secondly It will teach thee the severity of the Lord. Now possibly thou knowest what the pain of the teeth is or what the fury of a fevor or what the violence of the gout or what the wrack of the stone is but not what the wrath of the Lord is though these things speak it somewhat yet thou dost not believe it at all but then feeling will be believing Suppose every part of thy body were as much tortured as ever thou hast felt any one part and that for ten thousand years how heavy would it be to bear This were but a fleabiting to what thy body must undergo in hell And yet the torments of thy soul will be the soul of thy torments in the other world thou shalt know what the worm that never dieth what the fire that never goeth out what blackness of darkness what to be tormented day and night what weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth what destruction from the presence of the Lord what the wrath of the lamb meane Mark 9.43 44. 2 Thess 1.7 8. O t is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 12.31 His wrath is as the roaring of a lyon Amos 3.4 as a terrible earthquake which makes the hils to quake Psal 18.7 8. as the rage of a bear robbed of her whelps Hos 13.8 It is a devouring fire the most terrible of all Gods creatures Tophet is prepared of old for unregenerate ones it is prepared he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it Isa 3. ult Fire which is so irresistible that thou art but straw and stubble before it so intolerable that thou wilt moan and mourn sigh and sob under it so unquenchable that when it is kindled in Gods anger it shall burn to the lowest hell Deut. 32.6 This fire I say will speak a little what that great fury is which thou shalt feel I have read that a frown of Queen Elizabeth kild Sir Christopher Hatton Cambden Elizab. the Lord Chancellour of England What then will the frowns of the King of Nations do If the rocks rent the mountains melt and the foundations of the earth tremble under his wrath what wilt thou do When God shall with one hand strike thee according to his infinite anger and with his other hand support thee by his infinite power to feel the stroak of that fury who can expresse or conceive what thou shalt endure When thou considerest that the wrath of God hath thrown millions of Angels our of heaven drownd a whole world destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone opened a flood-gate of matchless miseries and let them in upon Adams posterity thou mayest conceive a little what it is But when thou considerest that this cup of the Lords wrath made Jesus Christ who in his person was true God when he did but sip of it to be all over in a bloody sweat in a cold winters night and that in such abundance that the clods of blood trickled down from his face to the ground and when he drank it off to cry out in bitterness of soul and anguish of spirit My God my God why hast thou forsaken me what apprehension wilt thou have of the indignation of the Lord Well all this must fall on thee if thou diest in this estate how darest thou any longer to provoke the Lord to anger art thou stronger then he 1 Cor. 10.22 The Roman would not contest with his Soveraign that could command Legions Wilt thou by sin contend with that God Matth. 18. â— 18. and 21.13 Iude 6 7 12. ver Mark 9.44 who can command fire to burn thee chains to binde thee brimstone to choak thee Lions to tear thee Serpents to sting thee scropions to scourge thee darkness to fright thee Devils to wrack thee Worms to gnaw thee millions of woes to seise on thee and Hell to hold thee to feel all this for ever Ah! who knoweth the power of thine anger according to thy fear so is thy wrath Psal 90.11 3. It will teach thee the woful nature and fruits of sin Now thou canst mock at mischief and sport with sin as if it were nothing but Good Lord what thoughts wilt thou have of thy most pleasureable wickedness in the other world when the sensual delightful streams thereof shall be dried up with the scorching heat of Gods wrath and nothing left but the mud of horror and vexation Sin dogs thee up and down all the while thou livest as the Fowler doth the flying bird conscience will ever now and then give thee a gripe have a fling at thee whether thou wilt or no but when the bird settles then the gun goeth off so when thou art settled in thine own place then expect the murthering piece After thy death the vermin of thy lusts will crawl in thee and feed upon thee Thou shalt see all thy millions of sins like an Army set in order and marshald in rank and file before thine eyes and every one with their envenomed arrows poysonous bullets and wounding weapons set in array against thee First Original sin the Commander in chief marcheth up in the front after that thine innumerable actual transgressions thy carnal-mindedness unbelief pride adultery hypocrisie drunkenness swearing lying malice hatred envy unrighteousness atheism blasphemy profanation of the Lords-day undutifulness to parents unthankfulness for mercies unprofitableness under the means of Grace incorrigibleness under afflictions thy secret private publick sins thy omissions commissions thy personal relative sins all these and many which thou now never thinkest of shall let flie whole vollies of shot upon thee Then thou wilt know that 't is sin which hath made thee so like to Satan that 't is sin which hath separated God and thy soul that 't is sin which hath shut heaven against thee that 't is sin which hath brought thee into Hell that though sin be delightful in the act yet t is dreadful 't is damnable in the end O 't will be sin indeed there Now thou walkest lightly under the weight of those grievous sins which make the whole Creation to groan but then thou wilt feel sin to be a burthen too heavy for thee to bear A massy piece of timber floating upon the waters and swimming may be drawn this way or that way by one man but when it is once grounded he cannot stir it 't
shall inherit the earth Matth. 5.5 If heaven can make thee blessed thou shouldst be blessed Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 5.3 If all things could make thee blessed thou shouldst be blessed Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods 1 Cor. 3. two last verses Reader I shall do my utmost so to set forth the felicity of the regenerate which no pen can fully that thou mayst admire it How goodly are thy tents O. Jacob and thy tabernacles O Israel Numb 24.5 and not only as Balaam desire their deaths Let me die the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his Numb 23 10. but also endeavour to live their lives and to have thy conversation like theirs While thou continuest in this world thou shouldst be a blessed soul and when thou entrest into the other world thou shouldst be a glorions Saint In this world thou shouldst be a blessed soul in every condition into which thou couldst come in every relation in which thou dost stand at all times and in all places whatsoever All the Providences of God should be profitable to thee If Gods hand were enlarged in mercy thy heart should be enlarged in duty If God should prosper thee in temporals the streams of his bounty should lead thee as the water course either upward to the spring or downward to the ocean to the source and fountain of all thy happiness Thy heart would still be in heaven where thy best things were even then when thy body were busied among earthly good things 1 Cor. 7 29 30 Phil. 3.19 Some observe of the seed called Henbane that it killeth all birds save sparrows and to them it is nourishing food and they give this reason because their veines are so narrow that the fumes of the seed cannot passe through them to their hearts truly thus t would be with thee though thou sands of others are poisond with their worldly portions because the fumes thereof penetrate into their vitals but if riches increase thou shouldst not set thine heart upon them nay thou shouldst get nourishment from them As Jehosaphat the more honour and wealth thou hadst the more thy heart would be lifted up in the ways of God 2 Chro. 17.5 6. If thine estate were but little yet t would be perfumed with love and that lump of sugar in thy cup would make the liquor sweet be it never so small As the waters which flow from the hils of some of the Islands of Molacca taste of the Cinamon and Cloves which grow there so should thy guift though it were but water taste of the good will and special grace of the giver Thy little with the fear of the Lord would be better then the riches of many wicked men Psal 37 15. As a little ring with a very costly Diamond in it is far more worth then many great ones without it so thy estate though it were but a penny should be joyned with the pretious jewel of that love which is better then life and enjoyed by special promise and thereby be infinitely more worth then the thousands and millions of others bestowed meerly from common bounty and enjoyed onely by a generall providence If the black frost of adversity overtake thee thou shouldst as Conies thrive the better thy soul being hail thou wouldst become thereby the more healthy By affliction thou shouldst be partaker of Gods holiness Heb. 12.10 The waters of affliction should wash out the diri of thy corruption and the more they increased they would raise thee as the flood the Arke higher above the earth and mount thee nearer to heaven Torches burn the better for beating Spices smell the sweeter for pounding Vines bear the more for bleeding and the more thy soul were kept down by those weights like the Palm-tree the more thou shouldst grow That scouring and rubbing which fretteth others should make thee shine the brighter Psal 94.12 Divine corrections should make thee learn thy sacred lessons It is said of the Lacedemonians that when all other people were undone by war they onely grew rich Truly thus when ungodly ones are the worse for outward miseryes and wants like Ahaz in their distress they sin more against the Lord thou shouldst thrive the better grow the richer in grace and good works The diminution of thy temporal should be an addition to thy spiritual estate Job 36.9 10. As spring-water smoaketh when other waters are dried up because that is living and these are dead nay t is observed waters arising from deep springs are hotter in winter then in summer the outward cold keeping in and doul â—â—g the inward heat So the waters of thy graces should not onely continue having a living principle when the Sun of calamity scorcheth and drieth up the dead ponds of unregenerate professors Mat. 13.21 but also increase in spiritual heat Job 17.8 9. Philip. 1.14 If the Devil assaulted thee with temptations they should never be for thy perdition but probation Rev. 2.10 The Captain of thy Salvation would so strengthen thy soul with the Shield of Faith and Sword of the Spirit that thou shouldst not onely defend thy soul from all deadly wounds but offend thine Enemy and be more then a Conqueror over Principalities and Powers through him that loveth thee It would possibly be grievous and terrible to thee to be tempted but if God did not see it needful he would not suffer it nay if he could not make it useful he would not send it by those thorns of the flesh he would prick the vein and let out the ranck blood of thy spirit It is said of Telephus that he had his impostume opened by the dart of an Enemy which intended his hurt Truly so God would make to thee the fiery darts of the Devil though they were intentionally mortal to be eventually medicinal 1 John 5.18 The evil one should not touch thee that is with a mortal or deadly touch As a sound tree shaken with the winde thou shouldest not fall but root thy self the â—â—â—ter thou shouldest like Sampson fetch meat out of the Eater and out of the Strong sweetness thou shouldst get honey even out of this roaring Lion thy Regeneration like Pollium would be a special preservative against the poyson of that croocked Serpent Nay when thou shouldest fall into the evil of sin even that should turn to thy good God no thanks to thee like the skilful Apothecary would make wholsom treacle of such poisonus drugs If thy corruption should at any time get the mastery and break out in thy life thou shouldst be so well purged by the Physician of souls with the bitter Aloes of Repentance that as those who have had ill humors of their bodies getting head and breaking out in the small-pox and do well thou shouldst be the healthier in thy soul
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
creature hath his understanding darkened he walketh in the way of the flesh and the world and believeth that to be the right way to happiness but when the spirit of God enlightneth the mind the man seeth that he was exceedingly mistaken begins to wonder at his own folly and wickedness to abhor himself and change his course I will bring the blind by a way which they knew not Isa 42.16 17. I will lead them in paths that they have not known I will make darkness light before them then what followeth they shall be turned back they shall be greatly ashamed Till the understanding of a man be enlightened to see the deformity of sin and the beauty of holiness he will never heartily loath and grief for the former love and long for the latter As it is in some hot climates though the Sun shine very hot there yet when there is no entrance for it into mens houses t will not scorch or heat the inhabitants sin is of a scorching nature but when the understanding which is the window into the house is kept shut that it can have no entrance into the heart no wonder if the sinner feel no pain God hath made the same organ for seeing and weeping T is the eye of knowledg which affects the heart Zach. 12.10 They shall see him whom they have pierced and mourn sight of sin doth precede sorrow for sin as soon as ever the infant cometh into the light it cryeth though all the time it was in the dark prison of the mothers womb it was quiet Secondly Ioh. 16.9 10. the second step which the spirit takes is conviction to convince the sinner The sun which did before enlighten his mind doth now slide down with its heating and scorching beams into the conscience That knowledge which the sinner had of his sins before was speculative but now becomes practical making sin like a lump of lead upon tender flesh that the conscience is exceeding press'd and oppress'd with it Conviction is the application of the nature of sin and danger of sinners to himself in particular which before he knew in the general as in the twilight before the Sun ariseth a man may see abroad but he cannot see in his own house but when the Sun ariseth a man can see both abroad and at home within his own doors So before the Spirit approacheth the soul in a way of conviction the sinner could see abroad he knew that the soul that sinneth must die that they which do such and such things cannot inherit the Kingdom of God he knew these things in the general but he could not see in his own house in his own heart that he himself was a great sinner a dead a damned creature for though he would in his prayers acknowledge that he had broken the Law and was thereby liable to the wrath of the Lord yet he did it but customarily and formally not beleeving what he spake for should another man come to him and tell him O Friend you daily provoke God and are every hour in danger of hell he would flye in his face and tell others that he was a very uncharitable man and all because the sinner could not see in his own house but when the Sun of righteousness ariseth the sinner can see within as well as without doors he seeth the hainous nature of his own sins and the grievous danger of his own soul The Spirit of God convinceth the sinner of four things First the Spirit convinceth him of his great and innumerable corruptions The man before knew in the general that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and would confess himself a sinner formally and slightly but now he feels himself a sinner and finds experimentally that he is a polluted poisoned creature The Spirit of God holdeth the glass of the law before the eyes of his soul and makes him whether he will or no see what dirt and deformity is in the face of his heart and life Without the law there is no transgression and without the knowledge of the law there will be no conviction As one of the persecutors in the days of Queen Mary searching an house for a Protestant askd an old woman in the house Where is the Heretick she points to a Chest of linnen upon which stood a looking-glass and bid him look there and he should see him he lookt there and still asked Where is he She meant that he himself was the Heretick and in the glass he might see himself So before the Holy Ghost came to convince this sinner if the minister at any time had preached against pride unbelief carnal-mindedness hypocrisie and the like his voice was Where are these men Surely the Minister meets with such and such in his Sermon but now the spirit in his conscience speaketh to him what Nathan did to David Thou art the man Thou art the proud carnal hypocritical cursed sinner which the word of God meaneth the man cannot deny it The Holy Ghost puls off his rags and plaisters and makes him see all his nakedness and sores it lanceth his wounds before his eyes and now he beholdeth the venemous matter and corruption which is in them that he little thought of before Formerly he esteemd himself to be sound comparing himself with them that were worse or not minding the inward meaning and extent of the law of God but now by the law the spirit brings him to the knowledg of sin Rom. 7.7 It sheweth him the depravation of his nature how full it is of pollution even as full as ever toad was of poison how empty it is of all good nay what an enemy it is to God and godliness it sheweth him the abominations of his heart how the imaginat on s and thoughts of his heart have been evil onely evil and that continually the provocations of his life how full that hath been of lusts and sins even as the firmament of stars it sheweth him the evil of his thoughts of his words of his deeds his omissions in his closet in his family his commissions abroad at home it sheweth him his idolatry in setting up Self as his God in bowing down to it and worshiping it his adultery in going a whoring after the creatures loving fearing and trusting them more then the creatour who is blessed for ever It sheweth him how he hath dishonoured the name of God grieved the spirit of God undervalued the Son of God violated every command of God how he hath sinned against the first command in not worshipping and glorifying God as the only true God and as his God and in giving that honour to others which is due to him alone against the second in not worshiping God according to the word but according to the traditions of others or his own inventions against the third in not reverencing the name word and works of God against the fourth in not sanctifying the Sabbath to Gods service but