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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81056	Samson a type of Christ in a sermon preached at Mr. Pomfret's meeting-house in Gravel-lane near Hounds-ditch, London: at the morning-lecture, on July 22. 1691. from Judg. xiv.5. Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Tunnath; and came to the vineyards of Timnath; and behold, a young lion roared against him. Wherein is shewed, I. In six particulars, how clearly Samson doth type forth Jesus Christ, ... II. With respect unto Samsons marriage, ... III. As Samson loved and married an uncircumcised woman, ... IV. As Samson did overcome the young lion which opposed him: so Jesus Christ doth overcome and destroy that roaring lion, the Devil, that opposeth him. Published at the request of the Congregation, for Publick Good. By D.C. an unworthy servant of Christ.	Crosley, David, 1670-1744.	1691 (1691)	Wing C7247A; ESTC R232725	34,097	40

that is but a counterfeit Conversion But alas we see too many Examples of this nature at this day in the World many set forth fair for Heaven in all outward appearance for a while and yet afterwards wither and dry away The Lord make all these Examples as so many awakening warning Caveats to us to be the more watchful for though all sleep till the Bridegroom's Voice be heard yet woe to them that sleep afterwards Oh the many Evils occasioned by a lukewarm Spirit Who is able to express them But in a word Luke warmness if it prevail setteth open a door forth at which all present Enjoyments of God take their Flight and in at which Satan Sin Death and Darkness come in And truly when once it comes to this the Face of Heaven looks black upon such a Soul Therefore I beg of you all that hear me this day have a care of a lukewarm Spirit CAVTION 2. Again Secondly If you find God delivering you from this dangerous Rock of Lukewarmness directing your Feet from this dreadful Path which directly leadeth down to the Pit so as that Satan can do no good of you here Then have a care on the other hand of splitting your selves upon the no less dangerous Rock of Hypocrisie and Self-conceitedness And to prevent this 1st SEE that you be found in the Faith especially in the great Article of Justification 1. Holding Justification by Faith 2. And that not Subjectively but Objectively not as a bare Act in us but as Beholding Receiving Imbracing and applying of Jesus Christ according to that clear and most precious Text Acts 13.39 And by him all that do believe are justified from all things c. And 2ly BE careful to live Holily and as careful to do it sincerely the Grace of God inforceth Holiness but hateth Hypocrisie and that you may do this 1st See that you expect not that Holiness should bring you to Christ but that you should derive Holiness from Christ being by Faith Primarily brought unto him 2ly That the performance of good Duties moveth not God to give his Grace to you but his Grace first given to you and wrought in you moveth you to perform good Duties if you do them aright 3ly THINK not that your love to God or to Goodness doth produce love to God towards you which was not in him before but contrariwise that God's Love to you manifested and revealed in you produceth and begetteth love in you both to God Goodness and Good Men nay to your very Enemies But Oh wherewith shall it be lamented that this Godly Love which always produceth Christian Unity is so much wanting at this day among professors But 4ly IN all your Holy Actings do not as it were Act for Life or that you may receive Life but on the other hand Act as from Life already received from Christ by Faith and revealed and wrought in your Hearts by the Spirit LASTLY Be not puffed up with or by any thing that you do have done or can do Oh forget it look over it take Christ's Advice let not the left Hand know what the right Hand doth and when you have done whatsoever is commanded you still account your selves unprofitable servants Luke 17.10 And be sure you hold fast the Foundation and Corner stone Christ Jesus and bring nothing as a Ground of your Faith into the presence and before the Face of God but Christ and him alone Oh observe the words of Luther upon his Dying Bed which are said to be his last words Says he Christ have I loved Christ have I feared Christ have I served Christ hav● I preached in Christ have I believed and unto Christ I commende my Soul Beloved here was a Blessed end here was a Comfortable and Glorious End The Lord bring us all to such an End for his Names sake And would you come to such an end then beware of Hypocrisie But I haste A word or two more of Caution to the Wicked and so I come to the Application AND in the first place if there be any Persons among us this day that are Ignorant of and Strangers to God and his workings upon the Souls of his People and that are mindless and regardless of God Christ the Gospel Heaven and their Souls Salvation living either in desperate Wickedness Moral Civility or Legal Holiness and yet without God Well to all such I would say Oh have a care have a care how you dally away your precious time Consider your Souls lie at stake and if you miss of Christ you are undone for ever remember the Rich Man Luke 16. who never lift up his Eyes till he was in Hell Oh examine before hand what you will do upon your Dying Beds when you must take your Leave of Friends and Relations go off the Stage of this World and pass into endless Eternity Beloved pray mind me there is as it were two great Porters if I may so speak which stand beside the Gates of Death viz. Christ and the Devil Christ as it were on the right hand and the Devil on the left and when the Soul of a Righteous Man passes the Gates of Death Christ whose everlasting Arms are still spread under all his with open Heart and Hand is there ready to receive him and will not suffer Satan as much as once to come nigh him but will say No Satan the time of this Souls warfare is accomplished thou hast had thy time to try and sift him and hast caused him to feel many a bitter hour of Trouble but I who long since bought him have saved him from thy Hands and will now receive him to Glory where thou shalt never trouble him more for precious to the Lord are the Death of all his Saints and Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth for they rest from their Labours Trouble and Toil. But on the other hand when a Wicked Unbeliever dyes and comes to pass the Gates of Death presently he falls into the Jaws of the Dog of Hell i. e. the Devil and is caught in the Arms of Satan and so hurried down into Eternal Flames and if he cry Lord save me No saith Christ for in thy Life time thou contemnedst my Grace and Gospel and cast off my Counsel and Reproof thou set light by my Death and Merits and would have none of my Salvation I will therefore now Laugh at thy Calamities and mock when thy Fear cometh Depart thou from me O thou Worker of Iniquity O consider this all you that forget God and while it is called to day and while the Door of the Bride-grooms Chamber standeth open hear fear and lay it to heart return to the Lord accept of Grace and embrace those things that belong to your Peace before they be hid from your eyes For the Devil designs nothing more than to draw you on with one Temptation or another in Blindness and Forgetfulness of God till Death hath closed up your Eyes and then

his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple That is Whosoever pretendeth to come to Christ and hateth not all these things with what else can be named besides Christ in comparison of or in competition with Christ cannot be his Disciple and then for certain not his Spouse Oh Beloved many keep a great stir about Sin being the main Let in the way of Union betwixt Christ and a poor Soul but I tell you it is not Sin but the Love of Sin that separateth betwixt Christ and the Soul See Rev. 22.15 Whosoever loveth and maketh a Lye is cast out of the Holy City not he that barely maketh a Lye through weakness or by reason of Temptation but he that not only doth so but also loveth to do so this is the Man of the Lord's Anger Therefore saith David If I delight in Sin God will not hear my voice This therefore is the main Let in our way of Union with Christ because we Love Sin and love the World together with the Pleasures and Profits thereof we love the Flesh and we love our Lusts our Selves our Works and our own Righteousness and therefore we cannot love Christ And further provided that we should hate Swearing and Drunkenness and yet love Pride and Covetousness this is nothing or if we should hate Pride and Covetousness and yet love Deceit and Hypocrysie we are still no better This is but as it were to change one Devil for another and so keep a Devil still But I cannot enlarge THE Third Let in our way of Union with Christ which I shall now mention is want of Faith in Christ And truly Beloved this is a great Mountain in our way indeed this is the Hydra the Monster-Sin Vnbelief for as there is nothing impossible to him that believes so there is nothing possible to him that believes not For as Faith hath the preheminence above all other Graces so Unbelief hath the preheminence of all other Vices And how many a poor Soul is there that is both sensible of troubled for and burthened with Sin and also sees a want of longs for and desires to be with Christ and yet hath little or no Union with Christ by reason of Unbelief Yea there are many that are weary of the World weary of Sin weary of the Devil and of themselves too accounting in their very hearts all things nothing in comparison of Christ and yet for all this have little or no Fellowship with Christ because of the want of Faith Oh therefore this want of Faith is a great Soul-plague it is as the Devil's Castle and Tower of Defence from whence he shooteth so many Darts at the Souls of the Afflicted The Lord in Mercy arm us all against this Unbelief And truly my Friends there is no reason for the persons before spoken of to doubt of God's favour of all persons in the World for all the free and blessed Promises in the Gospel run with a direct tendency to and upon them I beseech you therefore if there be any such here this day that you would take courage trust in God and doubt no more and the Lord give and grant you Hearts thus to do for I know there is no such precious Herb as Faith is grows in the corrupted Garden of Mans Heart by Nature But oh you proud obdurate and hard-hearted ones whose hearts the Lord never yet touched nor who never yet trembled at Gods Words to you be it spoken the Dread ought to lie at your doors for there is not a Curse written in all Gods Book but it runs with a direct tendency to and upon you as little as you fear it think of it or are troubled for it now yet the Day is a coming even at the Door when you shall be made to know it The Lord God give you hearts to see it in due time before it be too late and the Offers of Grace be hid from your Fyes But there is at this day a sort of Professors of Christianity in the world who pretend to Faith and a holy Life or rather first a holy Life and then Faith as they suppose and these are still crying Do do do and upon doing they pronounce Men blessed happy and safe not regarding in the mean while whether such have any Faith or no or if they have whether it be rightly founded upon Christ or no without leaning to or depending upon any thing else especially in point of Justification But oh that such Persons would seriously consider 1. That Man as Man and whilst cut of Christ can do nothing So saith Christ himself Without me ye can do nothing John 14.5 But the strongest Argument that ever I met with to convince me of the truth of this is recorded in John 5.30 Where Christ saith thus I can of mine own self do nothing And from hence I infer That if the sinless spotless and only Son of God did acknowledge That he could of his own self do nothing that is as he was Man c. then is it most high Presumption for a poor mortal sinful wretched Creature Dust and Ashes to say or think that of himself as separate from the Grace Power and Goodness of God in Christ he can do any thing that is any thing acceptable or well-pleasing to God 2. Let them consider that whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin Rom. 14.23 And also that without Faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 And lastly Let them consider that Faith is the Gift of God Eph. 2.8 and a Fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 And if so then pray what is sinful Man in and of himself but a poor lost helpless nothing undone Creature And this must man be made to see before ever he can truly close with Christ Jesus in Truth and Sincerity And when once he comes thus to be stript of all and made nothing in himself then is he a fit Object of Mercy in which God once coming to work Faith in the heart in order to an embracing of Christ then a blessed Union betwixt Christ and the Soul is immedily brought forth BUT Fourthly and lastly For I cannot stand to mention any more Particulars Another dreadful and most mighty Let in this way of Union betwixt Christ and his Church is the Devil of whom it is said in another case and may accordingly be said in this He that now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way 2 Thes 2.7 And indeed it is him which the young Lion in our Text doth most directly point at for as the young Lion roared against Samson when he came down to Timnath to take this Daughter of the Philistines to Wife so the Devil roared against Christ both when he came in the Flesh to purchase and redeem his Church and also as he cometh in the Spirit to call and sanctifie his Church in order to the betrothing of her unto himself

he knows well enough that Hell shall close its Mouth on your Souls if you miss of Christ you miss of Heaven for ever AGAIN Secondly Beware that upon your turning from your evil ways you do not close with a false Faith in an unfound way of Religion for it will be a sad thing if you talk your selves to Hell with heavenly Words or go to Death and Judgment with a Lie in your right-hand But may be you will say But how shall I turn aright I answer I shall direct you to the Lord 's own counsel Jer. 4.1 If thou wilt return O Israel saith the Lord return unto me Mind the words Return unto me It is not enough to turn to this or that Man 's particular Way or Form nor to joyn to this or that Congregation though never so pure and Apostolical neither is it enough to turn from a vain and sinful to a good and godly Life from Vices to Vertues from evil and wicked Works to an outwardly holy and righteous Conversation though all these are good in their places and always certain Adjuncts of true Christianity and evermore Concomitants of true Faith in all that are truly godly so far as possible BUT the Root of the Matter lyes in this a sincere and godly turning to the Lord I say To the Lord and a closing in the first place with Jesus Christ by Faith as our Mediator Advocate and only Saviour as our King Priest and Prophet as our Head Lord King and Husband for ever Taking him as of God he is made over to us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption believing that he hath bought us and paid our Debt for us that he hath acquitted us from Sin the Law Curse Death and Hell and that by him we are accepted of and justified before God Almighty and that our Sins are laid upon him and his Righteousness imputed to us by God the Father according to that golden Text 2 Cor. 5.21 He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him And that now henceforward we must not live unto our selves but unto him that hath redeemed us and died for us and that we must fear him and serve him not as Slaves but as Sons not for Rewards but of a ready Mind accounting it as our Meat and Drink to do the Will of God according to his Word knowing that a Free-will Offering is only acceptable unto God These things I commend to your Consideration I would enlarge further but that time calls for a Conclusion However take a few words of Application AND first of all by way of Examination And because we are upon a Matter of very great Importance I desire we may all be faithful to our own Souls herein The several Particulars which I shall commend to your Consideration by way of Examination are these following FIRST Pray let us examine Whether Samson be come down to Timnath I mean Whether Christ Jesus be come home to our Hearts Whether he hath given an awakening and an effectual Call in and by the Gospel to our Souls which hath brought us out of darkness into his marvellous light and out of the Kingdom and Territories of Satan Death and Hell into the Kingdom of his dear Son OBJECT But may be you will say But how shall I know it ANSW To which I Answer by these three following Marks FIRST If Samson be come down to Timnath if Christ be come home upon your Hearts to call your Souls home to himself as aforesaid then hath he given you a true sight and a sense of your Philistine Condition of your Uncircumcised Estate which you are in by Nature A true sight of which doth chiefly consist in these five things 1st In being brought to see your selves to be the chief of Sinners even as Paul 1 Tim. 1.15 2ly In being brought to see the exceeding sinfulness of this Sin wherewith you are thus polluted Rom. 7.13 3ly In being made truly sensible of the dreadful Curse with the which the Law threatens you for and because of this sin and sinfulness Gal. 3.10 4ly In being accordingly made sensible of your own insufficiency by any worth or merit in your own selves to satisfie for the Sin or deliver from the Curse whereof you are guilty and with the which you are attended whilst you are in this condition 5ly In being brought to see at what an infinite distance you stand from God in this Estate and consequently to see how far you are 1st From Reconciliation with God and 2ly Of the Certainty of your Damnation if you be not reconciled unto God SECONDLY A Second Mark is this If Christ hath called you to himself out of darkness into his most glorious light then as he hath let you see an insufficiency in yourselves to save your selves so he hath let you see an All-sufficiency in himself whereby you are brought to understand that though you be wholly lost in your selves yet that there is a full and absolute possibility of your being both redeemed and saved in and by Jesus Christ so that despairing in the first place of all power peace and safety without Christ you may be brought wholly and alone to confide in Christ for the same And this is a sure and most happy Condition and I beseech you be serious in the Examination of it AND Lastly The Third and last Mark is this If Christ hath called you home to himself as aforesaid then are your selves become a burthen to your selves and you find your greatest Enemies to be them of your own House which makes you call and cry day and hour unto the Lord your God to help uphold and strengthen you against Self and all its Assistants that so being freed from the same you may be given up wholly to Christ Jesus both in Faith and Practice which is a Condition most desirable to all true Christians though God knows too many Professers at this day are strangers to the same SECONDLY A Second thing which I would have you to examine is Whether this young Lion the great Opposer of Christ viz. Satan be destroyed and slain yea or no OBJECT But may be you will say How shall I know that ANSW If this young Lion be slain I mean If Satan be overcome in and upon your account then you may know it in some measure by these following things FITST If Satan be thus overcome then you are made sensible that it was not you but another upon your account that did thus overcome him even Christ Jesus and so consequently that not to you but to him belongs all the Glory for evermore SECONDLY If Satan be thus overcome by Christ Jesus in you and for you then are you abundantly troubled for that you can no more love and give Praise to Christ Jesus for the same for Beloved I am very much satisfied that it is one of the greatest Troubles that a true Child of God meets

Faith to lay hold on Jesus Christ in Sincerity fear not but it shall be well with you to Eternity And in your turning to God beware of this That your outward Appearance as to Lives and Conversations do not go before or without your Hearts and inward Inclinations And further have a care of seeking after God in another way than he himself hath appointed Consider that not in the way of Works but in the way of Faith we are to meet with live and walk with Jesus Christ for the Just shall live by Faith And pray note it it is not every one that cryes Lord Lord that shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven because all that profess the Name of Christ have not Hearts endued with sincere Love to Christ and I must tell you that a sanctified Heart is better than a Silver Tongue and a heart full of Grace is much better than a head full of Notion Ard certain it is that you may pretend to be Gods Servants when you are not his Sons but undoubtedly if you be his Sons you will be his Servants not by constraint or for Rewards but most freely and with a ready mind And one word further I desire to commend to you and I desire you to observe it A Man may seem a Christian and not be so but if a Man be a Christian he must of necessity seem so AND so I come to the last Use which is a word of Comfort to all such as apprehending themselves to live in the Land of the Philistines I mean afar off from God do long breath groan pray and most earnestly desire to be brought nearer to yea and wholly to be joyned with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Husband And to all such I would say fear not for your Redeemer liveth and the most holy One of Israel will be your Refuge He that is the God of Glory and that inhabits Eternity can and will help all that love him fear him trust in him and depend upon him OBJ. But perhaps thou wilt say True I desire yea and that with all my Heart so far as I know it to be made one with and Married unto Jesus Christ But the Devil this roaring Lyon of whom you have spoken doth so withstand and oppose me herein that I am afraid that what I desire herein can never be effected Surely never poor Soul was so tempted with and oppressed by Satan as I am TO which I Answer Poor Soul thou feelest no Mans burthen but thy own neither doth Satans Temptations to another trouble thee but do but thou ask another in thy Condition and he will tell thee that he is tempted even by Satan as thou But may be thou wilt say But I think there is none in such a Condition as I am To which I answer Why what a State art thou in Well perhaps thou wilt say First I am full of Sin and sinful pollutions and so consequently more abominable in my self than a Toad So that when I come before Christ Jesus to beg Mercy and Acceptance alas I see that I deserve none And besides when I come I have almost always the Devil to bear me Company on purpose to prevent my embracing of and being joyned unto Jesus Christ and therefore surely never Person was in my Condition To which I answer Alas poor Soul thou art quite mistaken for there is not a true Christian but is in the same Condition less or more yea I my self could tell thee the same Story and much more yea and that by woful Experience But however for thy better satisfaction I shall commend to thee an Example from the Scripture See Zech. 3.1 2 3. and note it well saith the Prophet there He speaking of God shewed me Joshua the High Priest standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan stood at his right hand to resist him And saith the Text Joshua was cloathed with filthy Garments and stood before the Angel Now Joshua in this place is a Figure of the Church and the Angel of Christ The Text therefore teacheth us thus much That when the whole Church in general or any Member in particular do come before Jesus Christ in order to Justification and Salvation in and by him then and at that time they come clad with filthy Garments so undeserving of acceptance and also have the Devil to bear them company in order to the preventing of their either joyning with or confiding in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Husband accordingly as thou sayst of thy self so thou art not alone in this Condition But pray mind how Joshuah in this Estate was freed rescued and delivered both from his filthy Garments and also from the Devil See the third and fourth verses Christ first rebuked Satan and then caused Joshua's filthy Garments to be taken away cloathing him himself with changes of Raiment and as he did to Joshua so will he do to thee if thou believe but in him But perhaps thou wilt say Nay but I am Poor Barren and Unfruitful I answer Even so do all God's People judge themselves to be they are crying out of their Leanness daily and hourly and think with and of themselves That they do nothing for God but though they think thus of themselves yet God thinks otherwise And indeed this I have observed over and over That the Godly have still such low Thoughts of themselves and are base in their own Eyes whereas the wicked on the other hand are proud and lifted up and have high thoughts of themselves and it seems by our Saviours Words That both the Righteous and the Wicked will have the same thoughts each of themselves at the Judgment-day See Mat. 25. from 31. to the end where first he tells the Righteous That they had fed him cloathed and visited him c. But they cry out Lord when did we so and so Alas they took no notice of their good doings Well but Christ did Oh blessed Professors it is to be feared there is too few such at this day for most are looking upon what they are have know and do and Oh! this spoils Religion puffs up with Pride and undoes the Soul But the Righteous cry out When saw we thee hungry sick or in Prison and did these things unto thee But now mark when he turns him to the Wicked saying I was so and so and yet ye did not such and such things unto me They answer Lord when saw we thee so and so and did not these things unto thee Alas Blind Souls they had deluded themselves with the doing of this and that all their Life time when as they had done nothing in God's account forasmuch as they had not Believed on the only begotten Son of God for not Doing but Believing brings the Soul to Jesus and so to Truth and Holiness in and by him Oh that Professors would seriously weigh these things But alas few do But however when the Lord shall pour forth more of his Spirit

from God yet there is a time wherein he will gather and call them all home to himself There was a time in which Samson went down to Timnath to take this Daughter of the Philistines to Wife And accordingly there is a Time wherein God will gather his Elect from the four Winds of the Heavens There is a Time for every one of Gods Jewels to be gathered into his Treasure and for every one of his Sheep to be brought into his Fold tho' God's People be born in Sin He will not have them to dye so for there is a time wherein I saith the Lord will call her Beloved that was not Beloved And this hath the Father appointed Eph. 1.10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and which are on Earth even in him And beloved this time shall assuredly come upon every Soul belonging to God the Lord stir up our Hearts to look for it for except we be converted and born again we can never enter into the Kingdom of God An uncalled State is therefore a dreadful State for while a Man is so he knows not whether he belong to God or no But certainly such a one may conclude that for the present he belongs unto the Devil the Lord awaken all such THIRDLY From hence I would inferr That God must condescend and come down to us which indeed he hath done both in Flesh and Spirit before we can ascend to him So Samson went down to Timnath A Man whilst in Nature and so consequently dead in Sin is no more able truly and sincerely to ascend up to God either in Affection Faith or Practice than a Stone to lift up it self into the Air or a Bird to stye which hath no wings What could the dry Bones do which the Lord saith was the House of Israel till the Spirit of the Lord came upon them Ezek. 37. What cause then hath every Soul amongst us to be humble before the Lord and to be abased in our own Eyes and to cry out with David Psal 115. 1. Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name be praise and with Paul 1 Cor. 4.7 What have we that we have not received And with Isaiah Chapter 26. 12. Thou O Lord hast wrought all our works in us But many Professors at this day suppose a possibility of setting up Christ too high and of laying Man down too low in himself But how this cometh to pass I could never yet understand sure I am there is a great deal of both Possibility and Danger of setting up Man and his Righteousness too high and thereby disesteeming of Christ and his precious Death and Merits never was there less reason to cry up Mans Works and Obedience I mean so as to boast thereof or depend thereupon than at this day in which they are I may speak it with sorrow so little practised But were but the Free Grace of God Christ Jesus and Faith in him duly exalted and freely preached in Life and Power it would I think be the only way truly and without Hypocrisie to reform Mens Lives and to work their Hearts into a godly sorrow which would issue in it true and evangelical Repentance never to be repented of but there being so much Legality among Professers at this day hath undoubtedly been a great occasion of so much lukewarmness in the World in Matters of Religion BUT I come to the Third Particular viz. TO mention some of the greatest Lets Hindrances and Impediments which do most interrupt this blessed Union and Agreement betwixt Christ and his Church which indeed are many but time will but permit me to mention some few AND the first main Let or Hinderance is the want of a thorough sight and a true sense of the Miserableness of the condition in which we are by Nature and accordingly an enjoyment of rest and satisfaction though both false and Soul-destructive in that condition And thus much even Nature it self teacheth That no Man will seek unto a Physician for a cure unless he be first sensible that he is troubled with such a Distemper as doth necessarily call for and require such a Cure And who knows not that even the best of us are a great deal more ready and forward to encline to and seek after the Benefit and Cure of the Body than the Benefit and Cure of the Soul insomuch that a Man of whom I have heard who deserting and forsaking the Work of the Ministry in which he had spent much labour and travel to take up the Practice of Physick and being asked the reason why He returned this Answer Because said he I saw People were a great deal more careful of their Bodies than of their Souls and much more free to lay out their Money and Pains for the one than the other And Christ himself tells us That the whole need not a Physician but they that are sick The reason therefore why Christ our great Physician of Souls is so much slighted is because so few are sensible of their Souls Maladies and Distempers AND the case is the same in the Point in hand for the main reason why poor Sinners are no more free to change their Estate to forsake their first Husband viz. the Devil and the World and to be joyned and married to Jesus Christ is because they see not the danger and misery which they lye in and under in the Condition in which they are A SECOND Let or Hinderance in this Matter is Persons being so much in Love with their present States and the Pleasures and Profits which as they suppose they enjoy therein For the proof of this see that Place in Matth. 22. at the beginning Where the Text tells us That a great King i. e. God made a Marriage for his Son i.e. Christ and sent forth his Servants to call them that were bidden to the Wedding But what saith the Text Well they would not come Again he sent forth other Servants to tell them that all things were ready This was not only to invite but also to perswade But what saith the Text Ver. 5. Well They did not only refuse to come but they also made light of it and went their ways one to his Farm and another to his Merchandise Alas their Purses were full they had Riches enough at home they knew not that they were wretched poor blind miserable and naked Rev. 3.17 Yet it is not the bare having of the World and the Things thereof that hinders but it is the inordinate loving thereof This is that which spoils all In 1 Tim. 6.10 The Apostle tells us That the Love of Money is the root of all Evil. Mark it It is not the Money it self for the Creature is good but the inordinate Love of it this is the root of all Evil. Therefore pray mind what our Lord saith Luke 14.26 If any man come to me and hate not

withall even because he finds himself no more forward in loving and praising of Jesus Christ for all his Gifts Favours and Mercies Yea and truly I hope there is some among us this day whose Minds and Spirits have been greatly burthened many a time because they could deny themselves no more and esteem of Christ no better in Matters of this nature And pray note it It is a good sign of a Christian in whomsoever these Thoughts do reside for Self-Love Pride and Spiritual Ambition is of all things most contrary to God and destructive to Godliness BUT Thirdly and Lastly If Satan be thus overcome in you and upon your account then are you in some degree united and married to Jesus Christ OBJECT But may be you will say But how shall I know whether I be so Married to Jesus Christ or no ANSW To which I answer If you be Married to Jesus Christ then it will appear in these following things FIRT You will have a higher Esteem of Jesus Christ than of any thing else whatsoever Yea he will be to you the chiefest among ten thousand even altogether lovely so that you will be brought to think one day in his Courts better spent than a thousand elsewhere SECONDLY You will think every hour a lost hour that is not spent in the fellowship of his Love and enjoyment of his Presence yea and often will you be bewailing your selves that you have spent so much time without the same crying out unto God after this manner and saying O Lord how many a day and hour have I spent in wickedness and vanity without either seeing or enjoying thee O my God! which now occasions abundance of trouble to my Soul even when I consider it THIRDLY You will think your selves Losers by all things you receive in which you receive not Christ Jesus Then it will not satisfie you to have Lands and Livings Gold and Silver Wife and Children unless you have Christ too Neither will it satisfie you to enjoy Gospel-Priviledges and Gracious Opportunities unless you enjoy and possess Jesus Christ in all and every of those things for no Wife that sincerely loveth her Husband doth ever account her self happy in the enjoyment of any thing wherein she doth not enjoy her Husband even so in like manner God's dear Children are not content with any thing that they do possess or enjoy wherein they do not possess and enjoy Jesus Christ And Oh Sirs let me freely speak it these Persons are not content with Gifts no not with heavenly Gifts without the Giver Do they come to hear Sermons still they are searching for God's Power and Presence in and under the same or else they are not contented Do they Pray Read or Receive the Sacraments Well still it is the same all things without God are nothing in their esteem FOURTHLY If you be thus Married to Jesus Christ then are you soon aware of any thing that doth interpose betwixt Christ and your Souls yea if a Cloud do but come over the Face of the Sun of Righteousness so as to darken the Glorious Light thereof in your Souls then are you quickly sensible of it And if that this Cloud remain upon the Face of the Son of God Christ Jesus so as that Spiritual Darkness do long continue in and upon your Souls O how often are you then enquiring and saying Oh why doth he hide his Face from me and why is his Chariot-wheels so long in coming FIFTHLY If you be thus Married and United to Jesus Christ our Spiritual Samson you are very Earnest in the promoting of Christs Glory O when you hear Persons giving Glory to fleshly Wisdom Humane Learning Natural Abilities Moval Civility or any thing of the like Nature which seemeth to lessen or derogate from the Glory of Christ Jesus O how near doth this come home to your Heart for better a great deal a true Christian endure to hear themselves laid low and trampled in the Dust yea and accounted as bad nay worse than nothing than to hear Jesus Christ abased and set below his place O this cuts them to the very Heart SIXTHLY If thou be Married to Jesus Christ then it is thy Hearts desire to walk in all his Ways and in all things to conform to his Will and Pleasure A Tender and Loving Wife taketh more pleasure in doing and observing her Husbands Will and Pleasure than her own So in like manner Christs Church and People do most heartily desire to do Christs Will yea and account it as their meat and drink to do the same SEVENTHLY and lastly If thou be married to Jesus Christ then art thou oftentimes in Great Trouble that thou canst keep no more faithful and true to him than thou dost yea and how often art thou taking occasion from the observation of thy own weakness and proneness to backslide from God to detest and abhorre thy self to lay thy hand upon thy mouth to admire Gods unspeakable Love and to cry out with the Church in the Lamentations Ch. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not And hence it cometh to pass that the continual Cry of thy Soul is Not unto me not unto me but unto Samson even Christ my Lord and Husband be all the praise and glory for ever and ever MANY more things I might propose to your Consideration to be Examined by you but time being spent I omit them and shall only add two words more and so draw to a Conclusion And the first word is by way of Terror to the Wicked who neither are Married nor desirous to be Married to Jesus Christ And the Second is by way of Comfort to all such as apprehending themselves to live in the Land of the Philistines afar off from God do long breath groan pray and most earnestly desire to be brought nearer to and wholly joyned with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Husband I begin with the first viz. such as neither are Married nor desirous to be married to Jesus Christ And to all such I say that it had been better for them that they had never been born than that they should live and dye without Jesus Christ better had it been that their bodily Eyes had never seen the Sun in the Firmament than that their Souls Eyes should not see the Son of God in the Gospel Better had it been that such had never had a being in this World than that they should have an Eternal being without Christ in another World O Dear Friends I would be plain with you and pray mind what I say As the Tree falls so it lyes no Conversion in the Grave True the Grave may be as a Bed to rest in but it will not it cannot be as a Shop to Trade in Therefore let Old and Young Rich and Poor that hear me this day be advised to turn to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour And Sirs if you do but come by a true and sincere