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A93079
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The saints iewell, shevving hovv to apply the promise In a sermon preached by Thomas Shepheard.
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Shepard, Thomas, 1605-1649.
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1642
(1642)
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Wing S3115A; ESTC R232293
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10,658
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26
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cast an eye of pity upon thee thou art in the way that is the meanes God hath appointed to bring you home to Christ but yet untill thy condition be changed all thou doest is sinne for The very thought of the wicked Prov. 15. 26. are an abomination to the Lord. But oh strange Though firebrands out of hell be spitted in your faces yet you are not affected But it may be some of you thinke to doe it when you are sicke or upon your death bed but it may be too late then when God openeth and awakeneth your conscience and if you be not awakened here you shall be sure to be awakened in hell I remember I heard of a yong prodigall when he was dying looked on the fire and said as that fire burneth there so shall my soule burne in hell Another said on his death bed Oh that I might live though it were but the life of a toad God is very carefull to send his Angels for the godly but for the wicked the devils stand ready at his bed side to fetch him into hell as soone as his breath goeth out of his body and then they will cry out Oh the time of mercy that I have had but now it is past the gate of mercy is shut never more to be opened Obiect But it may be yet some will say thanks be to God I am not in hell yet and as long as there is life there is hope Answ Oh fearefull what hope still read that place and tremble in reading of it The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when hee Mat 24. 50 51 looketh not for him and in an houre that he is not aware of and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites there shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth Oh consider this against the day of iudgment it is a sad day for all such when mercy and patience and Christ shall pleade against them yea The dust of ministers feet shall rise up against them Oh but if so then Luke 10. 11. what will their condition be when drops of blood and sweate shall rise up against Luke 22. 44. them yea more the husband shall rejoice to see the damnation of the wife The righteous shall reioyce when he seeth vengeance on the wicked because God hath gotten the Psal 58. 10. glory of his enemies Vse 4 The fourth use is An exhortation to the godly first and secondly to the wicked In the first place to the godly that complaine they cannot lay hold on the promise Go to God to enable you that you may so doe Consider in the first place that not to beleeve and lay hold on the promise is a sin of unbeleefe And he that beleeveth not is damned See the evill of this sin of unbeleefe in these particulars Iohn 3. 18. First Hereby we grieve the holy spirit of God whereby wee are sealed to the day of redemption What a grievous thing is it for Eph. 4. 30. thee who desirest to be assured that the promise is thine that thou by unbeleefe should est grieve that holy spirit which sealeth up the promise to thy soule see that place Heare ye now oh house of David is it a small thing for you to weary men but you must weary Isai 3. 17. my God also If a man promise to doe another man a courtesie and after some delay that man comes to him and saith Will you do as you promised me He saith yes but saith he will you indeed and thus he pleadeth with him a whole day and doth not beleeve him will not that exceedingly grieve his friend who promised him so to doe and fully intended no lesse even so is it with all those that are Gods people and will not beleeve what God hath said unto them but stand and plead with God two or three yeeres or more as those that bebeleeve glorify God so those that will not come in rob God of his honour and glory and grieve him It argueth a great deale of pride of heart in them that they will not beleeve because they have not what they would but something they must have of themselves like women that will not goe to a feast because they have nothing to carry Here is a great deale of unthankfulnes for all that God hath done for them yea evē for Christ himself where we love we are very thankfull and where we desire to be thankfull wee will be willing to take a kindnesse It argueth a great deale of impatience when we will not wait in a way of beleeving upon the promises of grace and cheerfully attend Gods leasure He that will not beleeve gives God the lie for He that beleeveth c. Hee that beleeveth 1 Iohn 5. 10. not in every ordinance he comes to he maketh God a lyar because every ordinance beareth record of Christ Not to beleeve is a denying of Gods power for they will not trust God especially in a great straight and by this wee may see what a many sins even Gods people may commit in this case Consider againe in the second place what a safe thing it is to beleeve I speak to Gods people As Surgeons when they let a man blood bid him looke another way so when the devill letteth you blood that is holds you pooring on your corruptions looke another way I meane on God and then you shal be safe from the devill and the world and your own corruptions And that you may lay hold on the promises of God take heed of those lets and impediments that might hinder you Sin is a let for it will wrest the promise out of our hands But your iniquities c. Isai 59. 2. The second impediment is our doubting and wandering in our prayers for We must pray lifting up our holy hands c. Iam. 1. 6. The third impediment to beleeving is slavish feare when we feare man more then God contrary to that counsell Feare not Isai 8. 12. their feare nor be afraid c. The fourth let is When we lay downe one thing that might afford us help and draw our selves to God and in the meane time take up another which can no way help us as when we lay downe the promise and take up the threatning Fiftly when we set our mind too much on the creature or honours and seeke our owne basenes or worldly pleasures In the next place take these helps to lay hold on the promise Labour to live by faith in all straits and conditions and by faith fetch a supply for al your wants by the promise from Christ Secondly marke the promise well which is the ground of all comfort and read them over often Do not flutter up down from one promise to another but lie a great while on some one and wring and squeese it by meditation upon it Thirdly apply the promise aright do not thinke it belongeth not to you because you have not that presently which is promised in it you must know that God setteth not downe the time when it shal be fulfilled Fourthly We are to wait patiently and humbly under our present condition vntill God grant our desire Gods time is the best time Blesse God for all his promises but especially when they are made good to us Psal 103. In the next place to those that yet stand out and are not closed with the promise I entreat you come in to God take his gracious offer lay hold on the promise which that you may doe take heed of those things that wil be le ts and hinder you Take heed of all sin for the Lord saith your sins have kept back good things from you Take heed of setting your mind to muc◠upon the creatures for they will shut one God the creator Old men do you come home to God yong men do you remember your creator in the dayes of your youth God this day calleth you it may be he will never call more how many hath the Lord struck with death sicknes and how soone it may be any of our turnes I know not sicknes is an unfit time to get Christ and to make our peace with God if you stand still you die If you go on in sin you die therefore turne from all your sin and come in lay hold by faith on the promise that so ye may live and this that I have spoken unto you may not be in vaine FINIS
will give to him that thirsteth of the water of life freely Obiect But this is a hard matter I cannot say I truly desire Christ on such terms as I should Answ But is it a griefe to thy heart that thou canst not deny thy selfe and happines rather then be separated from Christ and to close with Christ even upon any termes it is thy burthen because thou canst not desire to beleeve as thou shouldest Then comfort thy selfe God will accept the will for the 2 Cor. 8. 12. the deed in this case Obiect But the soule objecteth and saith alas I am so farre from being grieved as I ought that I rather find a hard heart that will not grieve and mourne for sin I cannot finde breakings of heart for it Answ For thy comfort I will come one step lower to thee hast thou any will to it Marke this place if any place in the whole Scripture be for thee here it is in the last words of this verse And who soever will let him take of the water of life freely Rev 22. 17. But it may be the wicked will say I will have Christ but stay not every one that saith so shall have Christ but art thou willing to part with thy sinnes and it may be to part with health wealth liberty friends yea and your owne life also what say you Are you willing upon these termes Obiect But the poore soule saith againe I feare I shall never doe this but art thou willing that Christ should make thee willing and pitch thee upon a promise and should hold thee there If thou canst finde these things then comfort thy selfe for thou hast right unto Gods promises Vse 3 The third use is Seeing God hath made many promises unto his people this is terrour to the wicked Here are many in this congregation to whom I have not spoken one word in the last use of comfort now God sends other newes to you therefore put it not off from you if I prove not what I say by Scripture beleeve me not what I have said for the comfort of Gods people I must say the contrary unto you First as Gods children have their names written in Gods booke and you have your names written also but it is in the blacke booke of Gods wrath Secondly as Gods children have a marke set on their foreheads so there is a marke set on you but it is a woefull one for though I iudge you not yet I am perperswaded the devill hath set his blacke marke with a brand from hell one some of you yea a man may gather from your very faces almost what some of you are but the day of judgement will fully discover you all But in the meane time know this whosoever you are that are under your naturall condition you are under Gods curse as it is If any shall heare the words of Deu. 29. 19. 20 this curse and blesse himselfe in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walke in the immagination of my heart c Then the Lord will not spare him but the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoake against that man and all the curses of this booke shall be upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven c. Also I will heape up mischiefe upon you and I will send mine arrowes upon you Oh what a heavy thing is Deut. 32. 23. this I pray you consider it sadly not to have right to Gods promises is the condition of a man that is cursed and miserable in his life at his death and after his death You rich gentlemen and gentlewomen give me leave to speake to you I pray you consider thus much if you have not right to Gods promises the curse of God is stamped upon every crosse and peny and upon every thing you have See but this place I have cursed your blessings saith the Lord as if he Mal. 2. 2. 3. should have said though I have given you plenty of corne and money and other things yet they are to you but as curses and is not this a very sad thing give mee leave to deale plainely it is as if a man had but two pence in all the world and he should goe and buy a halter with it to hang himselfe yea further all that thou hast in this conditon is but as if thou shouldest twist a cord together to hang thy soule in hell And to you of the poorer sort that have not a right to the promise you are in a miserable condition for you are both miserable here and hereafter also Israel hath not returned to him that smote them neither doe they seeke unto the Lord therefore Isai 9. 13. 14 the Lord will cut off from them both head and taile branch and rush in one day Againe whatsoever you doe in your calling is accursed unto you yea your praying reading hearing fasting and mourning all is sin for The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination Prov. 15. 8. unto the Lord. Object But if it be so may these wicked men say that our best duties are sin why should we performe any duties either praying hearing or the like Answ In answere to this know for certaine whiles thou art in this condition thou art in a bad condition for every thing you doe is sin Vnto the pure all things are pure but T it 1. 15. unto them that are defiled and unbeleeving nothing is pure but even their mindes and consciences are defiled So that to you to performe duty it is sin or not to performe duty is sin but yet omit not duty for though in performing duty thou sinnest yet not to performe duty is a double sin To performe duty whiles thou art in thy naturall condition is sin for the manner because though thou mayest doe the duty for substance as pray heare conferre or the like yet because thou doest want a principle of grace nothing is done aright and so wanteth acceptance but to neglect duty is a sinne in regard of matter and manner also for as it is sinfulnesse it selfe not to doe the duty so it is sin to have the heart not rightly disposed for the manner of performance it is with you as it was with the leapers they said among themselves thus Why sit wee here till we die If wee say we will enter into the city then the famine is in the city 2 King 7. 3. 4 and we shall die there and if we sit still here we die also Now therefore let us come and fall unto the host of the Syrians if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but die So say thou with thy selfe If I doe duety I sin and if I doe not performe duty I commit a double sin but I will goe to duty if God will save me I shall live if not I can but perish and for thy comfort consider it may be God will