the throne thou shalt be greater 3. We make Religion our businesse when our thoughts are most busied about Religion while others are thinking how they shall do to get a living our thoughts are how we shall do to be saved David did muse upon God Psal 139.3 While I was musing the fire burned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. Thoughts are as passengers in the soul when we travell every day to the City of God and are contemplating glory and eternity this is to make Religion our businesse Theophilact calls holy contemplation the gate and portall by which we enter into Heaven a Christian by divine soliloquies and ejaculations is in Heaven before his time he is wrapd up into Paradise his thoughts are all packd up and gone 4. We make Religion our businesse when our main end and scope is to serve God he is said to make the world his businesse whose great design is to get the world St Pauls ultimate end was that Christ might be magnified and the Church edified Phil. 1.20 2 Cor. 12 19. our aimes must be good as well as our actions Many make use of Religion for sinister ends like the Eagle while she flies aloft her eye is upon her prey Hypocrites serve God propter aliud they love the Temple for the gold they court the Gospell not for its beauty Mat. 23.17 but for its Jewels these do not make Religion their businesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys but a politick trick and artifice to get money but then we make Religion our businesse when the glory of God is mainly in our eye and the very purport and intent of our life is to live to him who hath died for us 2 Cor. 5.15 God is the center and all the lines of our actions must be drawn to this center 5. We make Religion our businesse when we do trade with God every day Phil. 3.20 Our conversation is in Heaven The greek word for conversation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies commerce and traffique our merchandize is in Heaven a man may live in one place and drive his trade in another a Saint though he lives in the world Vt municipes coelorum nos gerimus yet he trades above the Moon he is a merchant for the Pearl of price This is to make Religion our businesse when we keep an holy intercourse with God there 's a trade driven between us and Heaven 1 Joh. 1.3 Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Sonne Jesus God comes down to us upon the wing of his Spirit and we go up to him upon the wing of prayer 6. We make Religion our businesse when we redeem time from secular things for the service of God a good Christian is the greatest monopolizer he doth hoard up all the time he can for Religon Psal 119.62 at midnight will I rise and praise thee Those are the best hours which are spent with God and David having tasted how sweet the Lord was would borrow some time from his sleep that he might take a turn in Heaven It well becomes Christians to take time from worldly occasions sinfull dressings idle visits that they may be the more intent upon the matters of Religion I have read of an holy man who being tempted by his former evil companions to sin he made this answer I am so busie in reading in a little book with three leaves that I have no leisure so much as to mind my other businesse and being asked afterward whether he had read over the book replyed this book with three leaves are of three severall colours red white and black which contain such deep misteries that I have resolved with my self to read therein all the daies of my life in the first leaf which is red I meditate on the pretious bloud of Christ which was shed for my sins in the white leaf I meditate on the pure and â—elitious joyes of Heaven in thâ— black leaf I contemplate the hideous and dreadfull torments of Hell prepared for the wicked to all eternity This is to make Religion our businesse when we are so taken up with it that we have scarce any leisure for other things Christian thou hast a God to serve and a soul to save and if thou hast any thing of Religion in thee thou wilt take heed of the thieves of time and wilt engrosse all opportunities for the best things How far are they from Christianity who justle out holy duties instead of borrowing time from the world for prayer they steal time from prayer that they may follow the world 7. We make Religion our businesse when we serve God with all our might our strength and spirits are drawn forth about Religion we seck sweat strive bestir our selves as in a matter of life and death and put forth not only diligence but violence 2 Sam. 6.14 David danced before the Lord with all his might This is to make Religion our businesse when we shake off sloath and put on zeal as a garment We must not only pray but pray fervently Jam. 5.16 we must not only repent but be zealous and repent Rev. 3.9 we must not only love but be sick of love Cant. 2.5 Horat. multa tulit sudavit alsit This is to be a Christian to purpose when we put forth all our vigour and fervour in Religion Matth. 12.11 and take the Kingdom of God as it were by storm 'T is not a faint velleity will bring us to Heaven there must not only be wishing but working and we must so work as being damned if we come short Vse 1 Vse 1. Information Information Branch 1 1. Branch Hence learn that there are but few good Christians oh how few make Religion their businesse is he an Artificer that never wrought in the trade is he a Christian that never wrought in the trade of godlinesse How few make Religion their businesse 1. Some make Religion a complement but not their businesse they court Religion by a profession and if need be Religion shall have their letters of commendation but they do not make Religion their business Many of Christs Disciples who said Lord evermore give us this bread yet soon after basely deserted Christ Ioh. 6.34 and would follow him no longer Joh. 6.66 From that time many of his Disciples went back and walked no more with him 2. Others make the world their business Phil. 3.19 Who mind earthly things The earth puts out the fire So the love of earthly things puts out the fire of heavenly affections It was a judgement upon Korah and Dathan Numb 16.22 the earth swallowed them up Thus it is with many the world swallows up their time thoughts discourse they are swallowed up alive in the earth There is a lawfull use of these things but the sin is in the excess The Bee may suck a little honey from the leaf but put it in a Barrell of honey and it is drown'd How many ingulph themselves in
Did ever any read hear or pray so much but he might have read heard and pray'd more Jehoram might have waited on the Lord longer 2 Kings 6. ult 5. Conclus Humane endeavours are not required to co-operate with Gods grace and so make it effectual but his grace makes their endeavours effectual when he pleaseth Physical means make not Gods power effectual but his power makes them effectual and so it s in mens endeavours It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 6. Conclus All that men do before Conversion is not in vain fruitless and to no purpose When Rehoboam and the Princes humbled themselves at the preaching of Shemaiah they were reprieved and delivered from destruction 2 Chro. 12.12 Ahabs humiliation did adjourn the judgement 1 King 21.27.29 The Ninivites found favour with God upon their fasting and repentance Jon. 3.8 9 10. 7. Conclus All the Actings and endeavours of men whatsoever they be are not formaliter dispositions or preparations to conversion so that conversion must necessarily follow upon them For there is no necessary connexion between the actings of Men and divine Grace The Lord hath no where said if you act so far or be so disposed qualified or prepared I will convert you If Gods grace did depend upon mens Actings then those that are most Civil and Moral must be taken and those who are profane and rebellious must be left but Pharisees were excluded when Publicans and Harlots were admitted Great sinners sometimes are brought in who did nothing towards their conversion when those did much are shut out Mary Magdalen a great and infamous sinner is taken when the foolish Virgins were refused they were Virgins free from the spots and pollutions of the world they had lamps professions they did much they went out to meet the Bride-groom they gat oyle into their lamps they went to the door and they cryed Lord Lord open to us Haec sunt opera preparatoria quibus se effert Paulus Jun. in locum and there was no opening to them What preparations had Paul to this work of conversion he was a blasphemer a persecuter and an injurious person these were his dispositions and preparatory works he had towards his conversion 1 Tim. 1.13 8. Conclu Those that live under the means of grace the administrations of Law and Gospel have some operations and gifts of the Spirit which some call common preventing and exciting Grace whereby they are inabled to do many things towards and in order to conversion The Scribe that was teachable and answered Christ discreetly was not farre from the kingdome of God Mark 12.32 34. He was nearer unto it than those had not the means The preaching of the Gospel is to make the converted meet for Glory and the unconverted meet for Grace to prepare and bring them to regeneration I have begotten you through the preaching of the Gospel saith Paul to the Corinthians 1 Epist 4.15 The preaching of it wrought much in them before conversion it selfe was wrought Balaam living under the Law and amongst or nigh the people of God was much inlightned and greatly convinced insomuch that he desired to die the death of the righteous 9. Conclus No actings of men or qualifications in men are causes of conversion do merit it or make them congruous for it They are not antecedent causes or so much as Causae sine quibus non but the Lord doth according to his Prerogative work sometimes where they are not as Ezek. 16. When thou wast in thy bloud I said unto thee live There was no cause condition or qualification in them to beget affection or move the Lord to do ought for them It was the time of his love and he said live 10. Conclus What ever the endeavours and dispositions of men be they are only by way of order before Conversion they are only antecedaneous thereunto on mans part not necessary on Gods part who can and oft doth work where there be no such previous acts or dispositions as in the dry bones in Ezekiel they had no disposition or power in them to rattle and come together neither had the dead womb of Sarah any power or vertue in it to conceive 11. Conclus Acts of men towards Conversion are not to be rested in as any satisfaction for sinne as making the person acceptable to God or as inducements of God towards conversion Qui nobis ipsis nihil a deo meriti sumus quibus deus nullam gratiam nullam mercedē debet se si jure nobiscum agat juxta conditionē servorū Brugensis in loc but we must acknowledge our selves unprofitable servants when we have done all that is commanded us Luke 17.10 12. Conclus Mans quickning believing repenting or turning are not acts of man in part and partly of God but they are wholly of God and from God You hath he quickned Ephes 2.1 they were dead and could not quicken themselves it was He the Lord So no man can come to me except the Father draw him John 6.44 This drawing or causing the soule to believe in Christ is wholly the Fathers work Nisi donum dei esset ipsa ad deum nostra conversio non ei diceretur Deus virtutum converte nos Aug. de gra lib. Arb. Jam. 1.17 August And Ephraim saith Turn thou me and I shall be turned Jer. 31.18 he could not turne himselfe if the Lord had not done it it would never have been done Paul saith It 's not in him that wills c. but in God c. The will and deed are of him not of man Phil. 2.13 It is the Lord who is causa totius entis Every good and perfect gift comes downe from above it 's not a perfect gift if man contribute to it The saying of the Father is sound Velle habemus sed bene velle in parte in toto est a gratia 13. Conclus Man in the first act of conversion is meerly passive Those who believe are borne not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God nothing of mans will comes in Not ultimum dictamen intellectus did set the will on work here but the Lord begat them of his owne will Jam. 1.18 So that mans will is not semiviva semimortua but penitus extincta ad bonum spirituale and so ad hoc to this of Conversion as the vitall faculty is gone in a dead man 14. Conclus Mans will being first converted to God and by God himselfe converts it selfe also unto God acta agit as a childs hand in writing being acted by the Masters hand it writes Hence man may be said to turn himself for the will being healed and made good of unwilling willing it hath an intrinsecal principle of willing good and so dominion over its own acts whereby it turneth it selfe to God Where there is the Fathers drawing first there is presently the
on their sick beds at home they resolve if God will spare them to do or suffer any thing for God and his ways and their own salvation 9. They may cnoceive fair hopes of mercy The Lord Christ being held out in the Gospel and freely offer'd to sinners this breeds hope in them a general and preparatory hope What shall we do you told us that God had raised up that Jesus we crucified and made him Lord and Christ and that whosoever should call upon his name should be saved therefore we hope there is mercy for us Thus had they a hope kindled in them Act. 2.21 and Peter in the two next verses strengthens their hope saying Repent and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and the promise is to you and to your children 10. They may thirst after and pray for the mercy hoped for Such a qualification was in these men What shall we do you men of God we are a thirst and do intreat you to tell us where we may have water to quench our heat mercy to pardon our sins balme to cure our wounds The Publican in Luke hath left us his short pithy and affectionate prayer to imitate being in this case and state Lord saith he be merciful to me a sinner He was sensible of his sin and of his want of righteousness he had hope of mercy and thereupon came to the Temple to pray and pray'd earnestly for mercie and Conversion is none of the least mercies of God or least needful for a sinner 11. Men being come thus far they are to wait upon God for doing the work when the pots were fil'd with water the water was not made Wine till Christ put forth his mighty power neither were the men who lay at the pool of Bethesdah cur'd till the Angel came down and stirred the waters so a man in this case is to wait until the Spirit of the Lord come in omnipotenti sua vitate or victrici delectatione overcome his will and set it for the Lord and spiritual things when this is the work is done and done without violence to the will for its an omnipotent presence prevails with the will and it s immediately made willing in the day of this power By these forementioned things men are in a proximity or nextness to Conversion but not converted It must be an higher power then our own which lifts us up into an higher nature or state then we are in at present Though men may do much upon moral perswasions yet not so much as to make themselves Converts or spiritual of Animal or Natural Previous actions and preparative dispositions may make a man a picture of a Convert not a true or living Convert Having shewn what persons can and may do towards their Conversion it remains to declare what they ought to do The word must or ought the signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek imports two things 1. Necessity there must be Heresies 1 Cor. 11.19 it s no mans duty to broach or bring in Heresies but they must be its necessary for the discovery of men approved 2. Duty God is a Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and truth its mens duty so to do Joh. 4.24 It was the Pharisees and Scribes duty to pay tythe of Mint Anise and Cummin c. therefore saith Christ These things ought they to have done c. Mat. 23.23 Now then what persons can do they ought to do First there is a necessity of it we must do what we can else we are sloathful and unfaithful and our damnation will be just one thing is necessary viz. to turn unto God that our souls may be saved here it will hold good Turn or burn if it be necessary to prevent burning in everlasting flames its necessary to turn and so to do the utmost we can towards the same Secondly it s our duty Strive to enter in at the strait gate saith Christ he commands it and lays this injunction upon all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strain be in an agony as Christ was in the work of mans redemption so let men be in the works of their Conversion put forth themselves as they did in the Olympick Games the Wrestlers and Runners exerted all their might to obtain and so must men about the work of their Conversion The Lord who hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner saith Turn your selves and live There is life in turning and what should not men do to preserve or obtain life The Lord hath two great ends in saying thus Turn your selves and live yee although he know man is not able to do it 1. That we may see how corrupt and impotent our nature is and so break the strength of humane confidence thereby Quicquid nobis praecipitur a deo ad illud faciendum sufficientem potentiam habemus Dixit Pelagius quod homo sâ—lius liberi aâ—bitrii viribus potest perficere dei mandata Bradwardinus de causa dei l. 2. c 4. and bring us to be sensible of and throughly to bewayl our condition It is not so as some think and speak viz. that whatever God commands man hath power to do what man ever kept the Law since the fall of Adam and is not the Law given by way of command if man could keep the Law we might be justified and have life by it Rom. 8.3 Gal. 3.21 but the Law can neither do the one nor the other and why because man hath not power or strength to keep it 2. To put us upon looking out for help from whence the command cometh Hence is it that what the Lord commandeth us to do in one place he promiseth to give in another Circumcise the foreskin of your heart Deut. 10.16 and God saith Deut. 30.6 The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart In the former verse to the Text they are commanded to make themselves new hearts and new spirits which they could not do therefore in Ezek. 36.26 the Lord promiseth to give and put the same in them Repent and turn your selves Ezek. 14.6 and chap. 36.27 Ideo dat praeceptum ut exciâ—et desiderium praestet auxilitum Leo. I will put my Spirit into them and cause them to walk in my ways the Spirit God would put in should turn them from their Idols and own ways and cause them to walk in his ways The Lord doth therefore command such things that our desires and endeavours being quickned he may reach forth help unto us Therefore let us apply our selves to all these means and ways by which the Lord worketh Conversion Let us make use of all the ways forenamed and especially hear the word preach'd and pray Turn us O Lord and we shall be turned and see to it that we use the means in good earnest we may do more as hath been shewed than we do It s the counsel of him who was wiser than other men that whatever our hands do find to do we
be departing and taking its leave of the body or at lest may be in danger so to do whereas the former being a man of an hayle and good constitution of body the soul may act inform enliven it many years 8. Get a respect to all Gods Commandments Psa 119.6 then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments The reason why men indulge any one lust is because they pick and cull their duties and so indeed serve not the will of God but their own choice Oh how many are there that answer the Lord with half obedience like the Eccho which makes not a perfect respondence of the voyce but of some part thereof Many make such a difference amongst the Tables as if onely one side or one part were of Gods writing Oh Sirs this will not do this will undo the man that like Agrippa doth but almost beleeve almost repent almost conform to the will of God that man shall be saved proportionably almost One sin unrepented of will cause you to miscarry to all eternity one crack in a bell may make it unserviceable untunable and till it be new cast it is good for nothing one wound may kill your bodies and so may one sin your souls Oh Christians what had become of you and I if Jesus Christ had satisfied the justice of God for all but one sin there is a text in Ezekiel Ezek. 18.27 that is usually taken for a place of the greatest mercy in the whole book of God When the wicked turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed and doth that which is lawful and right he shall save his soul alive You have to the same purpose ver 21 22. of the same Chapter but pray mark what follows ver 28. Because he considereth and turneth away from all his transgression that he hath committed no mercy to be expected from this Scripture unless a man turn away from all his transgressions 2 Tim. 2.21 the vessel of honour is distinguished from the vessel of dishonour by this character that it is sanctified and prepared for every good work Luke 1.6 and this is the commendation of Zachary and Elizabeth they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless Halting in Religion is a troublesome deformed dangerous gesture and there is no cure for this like cutting off the right foot 9. Lay hold on Gods strength for the mortifying of thy beloved sin surely this is no easie work see how it is expressed in Scripture sometime it is called the mortification of our members is to mortifie a part of the body an easie work sometimes the circumcising of the foreskin of our hearts Deut. 10.16 did the Sichemites count circumcision an easie work by crucifying of the affections and lusts Gal. 5.24 was crucifixion an easie death and here in the text it is called a plucking out the right eye and cutting off the right hand the Apostle Paul in the forementioned place tells the Romans if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body you shall live He who is the fountain of spiritual life is also the principle of this spiritual death this is a work to be done by us but through the Spirit Hence in Scripture God is said to do this Rom. 8.13 Deut. 30.6 The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed and the Apostle expresses this by circumcision made without hands Col. 2.11 intimating that it is not a work of mans hands but Gods Q. If any aske me but how shall we lay hold on Gods strength R. By faith great things are attributed unto this grace because it lays hold on God and sets God at work 1 Joh. 5.4 This is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith it overcomes not onely the honours and riches and pleasures of the world but the lusts of the world of which you have mention 1 Job 2.16 saith is a self-emptying grace a poor beggarly hand rich only in receiving from another something like Davids sling and stone against Goliah lusts but in the name of the Lord of Hosts and by his strength even a babe in Christ through faith shall overcome the world I must tell you that Hannibal and Alexander and all the glorious Victors that we read of were but fresh water Souldiers in comparison of one that is born of God I shall only to what I have said add a few Motives to quicken you to your duty and so commend all to Gods blessing Motive 1. Right-eye sins and right-hand sins are the greatest hinderances of the souls closing with Christ When you flea any creature the skin comes off with ease till it comes to the head and there it sticks more then ordinary skill is required to get it thence Now I must tell you the sin that I am disswading you against is not only the eye sin and the hand sin but the head sin and here conversion sticks The sinner forbears many sins and performs many duties but when it comes to this Oh master saith flesh and blood pitty thy selfe beware what thou dost what be thine own Executioner plucke out thy right eye cut off thy right hand A mans sin is himself to deny ungodlinesse is to deny selfe this is a kind of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 self-murther No man ever yet hated his owne flesh Is there no getting to heaven unlesse a man leave himself behind this is durus sermo an hard saying As Naaman the Syrian 2 Reg. 5.18 When my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there and he leaneth on my hand and I bow my selfe in the house of Rimmon the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing So the sinner the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing Mark 10.20 21. The young man in the Gospel tels Christ that he had kept all the commandements from his youth but when Christ said to him One thing thou lackest goe thy way sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasures in heaven and come and take up thy crosse and follow me here he sticks verse 22. he was sad at that saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions or his great possessions had him Alass this poor young man little thought that notwithstanding his forwardnesse to keep the Commandements he was under the power of worldly lusts Oh sirs there is great strength in a river when it runs smoothly and without noise Motive 2. As these sins are the greatest hindrances of the souls closing with Christ so they prove the greatest trouble to the soul afterwards Your Eye-sin will prove your eye-sore yea and your heart-sore My meaning is your conâ—cience will suffer most upon the account of this sin all your dayes Thus Job cap. 13.26 Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possesse the iniquities of my youth When a mans conscience is
two Caleb and Joshua followed God fully Numb 14.24 Of the four grounds in the Parable only one held out Many of John Baptists hearers left him and fell away Joh. 5.35 Many of Christs hearers and disciples Joh. 6.65 Many of Peters 2 Pet. 2.20 Many of Pauls 2 Tim. 1.15 and 1 Tim. 5.15 Many of John the Evangelists hearers 1 Joh. 2.19 They went out from us because they they were not of us for had they been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us But none of these were ever sincere Christians and sound at the heart We wonder not to see an house built on the sand to fall or seed not having root wither or trees in the parched Wilderness decay Jer 17.6 or Meteors vanish or Blazing-stars fall or Clouds without rain blown about or Wells without springs dryed up So for Hypocrites to prove Apostates no strange thing and utterly to fall away There are four wills some have observed 1. The Divine will never alters or turns 2. The Angels will hath turned never returns 3. The will of man faln turned and in conversion returns 4. The will of Apostates after that grace received and abused turns away and never returns but becomes like the fallen Angels 2. Even Godly and gracious persons are subject to fall and therefore must not be secure they must work out their salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2 12. they are bidden to fear least they should fall short Heb. 4.1 Stand fast 1 Cor. 16.13 Take heed least they fall 1 Cor. 10.12 Look diligently least any fail of or fall from so is the other reading the grace of God Heb. 12.15 Take the whole armour of God that they may be able to stand Eph. 6.12 Even the very Elect have this root of bitterness and seeds of Apostacy within them Even Peter had sunk if Christ had not put forth his hand to save him from the water Mat. 14.31 and had been winnowed as chaff Luk 21.31 32 if Christ had not pray'd for him that his faith should not fail Let not him therefore that puts on his harness boast as he that puts it off 1 King 20.11 3. Yet a truly regenerate soul a plant of Gods planting by the water side a plant or graffe grafted into Christ and rooted in Christ can never fall away totally or finally Peter could not when Christ pray'd for him The Elect cannot Mat. 24.24 In the general Apostacy of the Christian world and the greatest persecutions under Rome-pagan and Rome-pseudo-christian Antichristian both times when all the world wandered after the Dragon and the Beast they who had their names written in the Lambs book held out and warped not Rev. 13.8 and 17.8 The elect are as Mount Sion that cannot be moved and are as fixed stars that fall not The house on the Rock stands firm in all weathers The Tree by the waters side Jer. 17.8 Seed in good ground Mat. 13. They who have a seed of God in them cannot so sin 1 Joh. 3 9 And they that are born of God 1 Joh. 5.18 They who are in the hand of Christ none can pluck them out Joh. 10.28 Yet as to the fallings of the Elect not presuming to tell you the minimum or summum quod sic we shall make those concessions or observations 1. We grant that the godly as well as others are subject to this Posit 1 falling-sickness having seeds of Apostacy in them and would certainly fall irrecoverably if left to themselves In te stas non stas Aug. By strength his own no man shall prevail or stand 1 Sam. 29. 2. Grace received truly sanctifying is not for his measure so great Posit 2 or for its nature so immutable and invincible but might be overhorn and would if not divinely supported and continually supplyed as the Widows oyl kept from decay fed by a spring of Auxiliary grace as Josephs bow abode in strength by the arm of God and his bough green and fruitful Gen. 49.22 23 24. Gratia gratiam postulat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 15.10 sed by a well of living water so that it is not the grace in us but the grace with us grace supervening and additional which keeps us from falling Even the good ground were it not for the influence of the Sun and Rain would prove as the stony and Thorny Ground Posit 3 3. There is no such state of consistency in the effectually called But there is a daily combate and of times a great inequality in his Pulse sometimes Amalek sometimes Israel prevails and this war lasts not as that between the house of Saul and David for certain years but as that between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days 2 Sam. 3.1 1 King 14.30 Paul sometimes as in the third heaven cries out We are more then Conquerors who shall separate us from the love of God c. sometimes as under foot cries out Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Posit 4 4. Even godly persons may fall for once very fouly as Peter yea lye long as David it is hard to say how low they may fall and how long they may lye yet sin not unto death as the Sun is for many months absent from some Climates yet returns again so that they may then say with the Church Rejoyce not against me O mine enemy when I fall I shall arise Micah 7.8 when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me Posit 5 5. There may also possibly be a relapse or falling a new into the same act of sin through humane infirmity as Abraham twice denying his wife the Disciples twice contending for supremacy And as I will not say how oft thy brother trespassing and repenting is to be forgiven not to seven but to seventy times seven so I cannot say how oft through infirmity a sinner trespassing and returning with repentance may be forgiven Gods mercies and thoughts being so far above mans Posit 6 6. The Christian may as to his own sense be reduced to a very sad and low state 1. He is poor in spirit he mourns he hungers thirsts pants doubts dislikes all 2. He judgeth of himself as under present prevailency of corruption Carnal sold under sin a forced slave to it Rom. 7.14 3. As if nothing had been done yet and all was to do he begs O God create a new heart in me Psal 51. 4. He may be apt to conclude against himself I never did yet truly believe or repent and which is worse with Thomas I never shall believe 5. In this case he lies bound as Peter Joh. 20.25 Act. 12.6 7. and can't help himself till the Angel comes and strikes off the bands and opens the iron-gate 6. And as to comfort he may be at an utter loss walk in darkness Esay 50.10 judge himself cut off Ezek.
debauched watchmen who having drunk sufficiently one day say they will do as much to morrow and more too and so had their drinking matches and rantings from day to day The third Use is of Discrimination 3. Vse to discover who is clean and who unclean in respect of falls and relapses and to put a difference between the holy and prophane which is the proper work of a faithful Prophet to some we are to open the door of hope to some to shut it Ezek. 22. â—6 1 Joh 5 17. every sin is not a sin to death every disease not the Plague every Ulcer not a Leprosie 1. There are some who have fallen into foule sins and they think their case desperate because of the greatness of their sins but their sin is not the sin against the Holy Ghost because not committed after light taste partaking of the Holy Ghost c. but in the days of their ignorance as Paul once some fall fouly after conversion as Peter but not deliberately maliciously and both these may be the spots of children they see the plague in their heart feel the smart these have foul scabs 1 Kingâ— but they go to Jordan and wash go to the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness and then though their sins be as scarlet Esay 1. they shall be as white as snow though red like crimson they shall be as white as wooll 2. There be some Relapses through humane infirmity which are truly bewailed this is not the sin against the Holy Ghost neither Come into the Camp I pronounce such clean For 1. there is no raw flesh of pride and presumption in them 2. All is turned whi e by true repentance it is a scab Lev. 13.4 5 6 14. and but a scab 3. It is but skin-deep the heart was not tainted 4. It standeth at a stay These four signs shew it to be no Plague of Leprosie such are not to be shut up or put out of the Camp And God as he pardoneth iniquity transgression and sin so he promiseth to heal and pardon their backeslidings Hos 14.4 Jer. 3.22 3. But there are others that make a trade of sin drink up iniquity like water Deut. 24.19 20 that add Drunkenness to thrist and fall and rise and rise and fall they lapse and relapse and slide away as water shall I say such shall have peace No what peace to such so long as their sins remain the wrath of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoak against that man and he shall blot out his name from under heaven Call not this a Scab this is the Plague of Leprosie this is more then skin-deep Lev. 13.10 11 14 15. Psal 68.21 this doth not stand at a stay here is proud raw flesh this is an old sore thou must out of the Camp thou art unclean God will wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of him that goeth on still in his trespasses I shall to conclude give a few short Directions to prevent Falls and Relapses but cannot now enlarge upon them 1. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation This is the old and great receit Mat. â—6 41 and daily experimented with every ordinary Saint probatum est watch in prayer watch after watch when alone watch when in company especially against ill Company and all occasions of sin 2. Keep conscience tender and shun the first motions and occasions of sin if thou find thy self given to appetite put a knife to thy throat is the wise mans counsel if to wine look not on the glass if to wantonness come not neer her corner the consecrated Nazarite must not only forbear the wine but the grape and not only the juyce but the husk and kernel of it Num. 6.4 3. Take heed of having slight thoughts of sin as to say as long as it is no worse it is the first time it is but now and then a great chance when I meet with such company and many have such foolish pleas and so play at the mouth of the Cockatrice Den till they are stung to death Deut. 29.19 4. Of having light thoughts of Gods mercy I shall have peace I shall have mercy when I do but ask At what time soever will save me we can't out sin the mercy of God when sin abounds grace superabounds c. The Lord faith he will not spare such nor be merciful to them 5. Take heed of reasoning from Gods temporal forbearance to eternal forgiveness Eccles 8.11 12. Because sentence is not speedily exâ—cuted against an evil doer his heart is fully set in him to do evil but though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged c. yet it shall not be well with the wicked at last 6. Take heed of presuming of thy own strength I can and I mean to repent I can when I will and I will when time serves Qui promittâ—t poenitenti veniam non promittit peccâ—nti poenitentiam I trust I am not so bad that God hath not given me over many have gone further then I why may I not repent at last hour 7. Take heed of a mock-repentance saying I cry God mercy God forgive me I sin daily and repent daily when I have sworn or been drunk I am heartily sorry Is not this repentance I answer no Repentance is quite another thing the burnt child we say dreads the fire Thou hast smarted for suretiship and hast repented of it thy friend comes again and desires thee to be bound with him once again thou replyst I have paid dear for surtiship already I have repented of my folly I have resolved to come into bonds again no more no not for the best friend I have thou art importuned by many arguments but peremptorily refusest urge me no more I have vowed and resolved against and have made an oath I would never be taken in that fault again Now I believe thee that thou hast truly repented of suretiship why dost thou not thus when thou art enticed unto sin again why dost thou not say I have smarted confessed bewailed been heartily sorry for my former folly now speak no more of it Psa 119.106 Psa 119.115 I have sworn and will perform it to keep Gods commandments Away from me ye wicked I must keep the Commandments of my God This would be somewhat like true repentance But take heed of a mock-repentance lest as true repentance meets with a true pardon thy mock-repentance should be answered with a mock-pardon as Tertullian excellently saith There be some that say saith he their heart is good De Paenitent they fear God grieve for sin though yet they fall into sin they can salva side metu peccare c. sic ipsi salva venia in gehennam detrudentur dum salvo metu peccant They can live in sin nevertheless notwithstanding their faith and repentance and God can damn them nevertheless notwithstanding
their souls from death James 5.20 and hide a multitude of sins Now the principal Objects of this excellent duty are such with whom wee converse such to whom wee are obliged and connexed by the bonds and links of nature office or vicinity of habitation Hence was it that our blessed Lord while hee walked in the valley of his Incarnation exercised his Ministry most part among his kindred relations and neighbours at Nazareth Capernaum Bethsaida neer the Sea of Tiberias at Cana and other Regions of Galilee in which parts hee had receive his Education Andrew when hee understood the call of Christ the gret Saviour of the world John 1.41 hee presently seeks out his Brother Simon to bring him to the Messiah Philip after the like manifestation looks out for Nathaniel and in a great extasie of spirit John 1.45 cries out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wee have found him of whom Moses and the Prophets did write There are many instances of this nature both in the Old and New Testament Abraham and Joshua were famous in their Generation for this work they counted it their principal business they made it their great care to instruct their families in the fear and service of the great God Psal 101.2 David also ingages to walk in his house with a perfect heart that by his exemplary pattern hee might gain over his family to the Lord. Luke 5.29 Matthew the Publican wee read did invite all the Tribute-gatherers that were of his own Fraternity and Profession to a great Feast that they might sit down with Christ and feed upon his heavenly Doctrine John 4.53 The great man in the City of Capernaum brings in his whole family to the beleef of the Truth Act. 10.24 Cornelius the Roman Centurion who was quartered at Caesarea calls his Relations together to hear the Doctrine of Faith and Repentance The woman in the Gospel having found the lost groat after great pains and diligence calls in her friends and neighbours to rejoyce with her Luke 15.9 Crispus and the Jaylor and Lydia and Stephanas are eminent Examples of this duty by whose conscientious care and procurement it may bee supposed that their whole housholds came under the roof of Christ because presently after that wee have heard of their own personal Baptism wee finde their families also washed in that sacred Layer I shall not insist upon Arguments to prove the incumbent necessity of this duty or Motives to allure you to the practice of it I might deduce it as an inference consequent from the Law of Nature to use our greatest indeavours that our Relations might obtain an union to the best and highest good I might draw it from the. Divine Injunction I might excite your diligence from the consideration of the dreadful danger following its neglect Psal 78.5 from the comfort that will flow into thy bosome upon the exercise of it since it is a notable evidence of the sincerity of Grace in thine own heart None but such as have seen and tasted can cry out to others with an holy affectionate vehemency O come taste and see that the Lord is good P1sal 34.8 The Wine of the Kingdome having once warmed the hearts of Saints sends up vivacious spirits and fills their mouths with a holy loquacity I might further provoke thee to this excellent work by the rich benefit in gaining such to love thee whose affections will exceed all natural love whatever and by the great reward that shall ensue in the life to come For they that turn many to righteousness Dan. 12.3 shall shine as the stars for ever and ever O Brethren if families were holy then Cities then Nations would quickly prove Mountains of Holiness and Seats for the Throne of God Wee are apt to cry out of bad times Alas those unclean Nests of ungodly Families have been the causes of all the wickedness in all Ages and Generations to this day Therefore whoever thou art on whom the Grace of God hath shined study that holy art of Divine Reflection and Re-percussion of that light on others hearts which bring 's mee to an useful and practical question Quest You I say What course shall wee take what means shall wee use what method will you prescribe that wee may bee able to manage this important and weighty duty that wee may bee helpful towards the conversion and salvation of our neer Relations that are in the state of nature I confess this Question is of grand importance and being properly solved may prove of great influence in all places where wee are cast by Divine Providence There is scarce a family scarce a person living who may not bee comprehended within the verge and limits of this discourse Ans In answer therefore to it I shall spend the principal part of my time and that I may handle it the more distinctly I shall rank such as may desire satisfaction and direction in this weighty and excellent case under three forms or orders Such as are either Superiours Equals or Inferiors But before I enter into the main body of the Answer I shall crave leave to premise three things 1. That this Question is not to bee understood of persons in publick capacity and concernment as Magistrates or Ministers but of Family-Relations Kindred Co-habitants Neighbours Friends and Acquaintance of such as have frequent converse together in Civil Societies and often commerce in dealings but principally of Oeconomical Relatives or such as are nigh to each other by blood or affinity 2. That Saving-Conversion is in the power of God alone to effect as being the primary and principal efficient cause of all those gracious works that accompany salvation There is none able to kindle Grace in the heart but hee who hath his fire in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem Yet not withstanding all of us in our several stations as subordinate instruments may and must use all wholesome means that are of Divine Appointment conducing to such a blessed end 3. That there are different states conditions capacities and qualifications among such Relations whose conversion wee should endeavour Some being perhaps enormously and outragiously wicked others morally civil and yet further others possibly may bee conformable to the institutions of the external worship of God Of these I may speak Sparsim opere interâ—exto as the particulars will hear together with such other appendant cases that may hold some consanguinity with the General Question To begin then with the first branch Quest 1. What means Superiors principally in Family-Relations should use to draw on their Inferiors to rellish and savour the things of God True it is what Jerom saies fiunt Hieronym ad Laetam Tom. 1. p. 55. edit Lugd. 1530. non nascuntur Christian No man is born a Christian but an heir of wrath and divine justice For the obtaining of the New Birth thin in such as are committed to our charge I shall draw up directions under
him have a sympathy with him in them Luk. 24.52 Act. 2.26 Neither is it his joy alone that hee was personally advanced by being raised again from the dead and taken up to glory to sit therein at the right hand of God but theirs also Tell a loyal wife that her husband is honoured and her heart will leap at the tidings that are brought to her 'T is good news to love-sick souls to hear that Christ is now in Glory they savour the advancements of their Lord according to those words of Christ himself to his Apostles If yee loved mee yee would rejoyce because I go to the Father for my Father is greater than I Joh. 14.28 They are glad by Faith to see the Sun of Righteousness after a dark and cloudy morning in his Meridian Altitude They dye Ioh. 20.20 and are crucified with Christ in his death Rom. 6.3 Gal. 2.19 And they feel a reviving of themselves in the Resurrection of their Lord and hence it is said of them that they are quickened together with him Ephes 2.5 Ioh. 20.11 compared with Mat. 28.8 and that they sit together in heavenly places with him Ephes 1.20 Wee read of Mary that shee went weeping to the grave of her Lord but hearing that he was arose shee came away rejoycing And no otherwise was it with his Disciples Christ doth not triumph alone in his Ascension but all such as love him share therein together with him And as they share with Christ in his personal joyes and troubles so do they no less when any of his concernments in the world do either prosper or else are trampled upon and clouded Psa 42.10 69.9 'T is as the arrows of death to see either his Laws Ordinances Officers or Subjects trampled upon The reproaches of the rebellious world reproaching their Lord fall upon them and are as so many darts struck into their own souls This is that which successively feeds their joyes and sorrows that it goes well with the Militant Church here below or that a cloud of displeasure and persecution is spread over it 6. Character Where love to Christ is sincere there Christ is accounted by the soul to be its Treasure and there is a longing desire in every such soul of the neerest communion with him I put both these together though there bee a very clear distinction between them for brevity it is a truly conjugal love which can neither bear with distance nor brook any Rival And this is the meaning of the Spouse in that double expression calling him the chiefest of ten thousands and professing him to bee altogether lovely The soul that loves Christ may love other things Cant. 5.10.16 and esteem them lovely but shee will say of none that they are altogether lovely but only of her Lord. When one asked Alexander to shew him his Treasure the report is that hee pointed to his friend Ephestion the Treasure of a soul that sincerely loves Christ is Christ himself Deus meus est omnia or my God is my all saith the soul that loves God as his Ultimate end Hence is that of David Psal 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee and who is there on Earth that I desire besides thee Christus meus est omnia or my Christ is my all saith the soul that is upon inquiry how to finde acceptation with God Whence is that of Paul Doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Phil. 3.8 'T is the proper Motto of a love-sick soul None but Christ The sincerity of a Christians love lies in giving a preheminence to the Redeemer whom it loves above every thing else The soul that loves Christ values nothing in comparison of him no not his own benefits Meretricius amor est plus annulum quam sponsum amare or It is a noâ—e of a Harlot to prefer the portion before the person And that is a no less true than noble speech of the devout A. Kempis Nobilis amator non quiescit in dono sed in Christo super omne donum or The Wo thy and Noble Lover values not Christ so much by what hee brings as by what hee is himself The soul that loves Christ loves Ordinances because they are the banquetting-house of her Lord Cant. 2.4 wherein shee is often refreshed by him shee loves the Priviledges of the Gospel becâ—use they are the Purchase of her Lords blood Cant. 4.1 c. Shee loves her own Graces because they are the rare Ornaments which Christ hath put upon her to render her beautiful and fit her for his own imbraces and yet after all her language to Christ is Not Thine but Thee Shee will not so value them as to forget him that gives them Christ is her Center and therefore shee rests not but will lay by and through all to come to him shee can scarce forbear a fit of Impatience sometimes to think of that distance that is still between them See Cant. 8.14 Make haste my Beloved saith the Spouse to Christ there and bee thou like to a Roe or to a young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices And such another Ejaculation is that Revel 22.17 20. where the whole Church is brought in crying to Christ Come Lord Jesus come quickly While our hearts dwell below upon the thick Clay and have no daily desires to send forth as Doves from the Ark for communion with Christ There is little sign of sincere love to him 7. Character Wee may know our Sincerity in love by the value wee put upon our selves as well as upon Christ if our interest in Christ bee the rule by which wee value our selves that will argue true love when this makes it day in our souls that Christ smiles upon us and on the other side when this spreads the darkness of the night over us that hee hides his face from us then wee love him David loved God heartily and therefore when God smiled hee rejoyced Psalm 4.6 Psal 30.7 and when God hid his face hee was as much troubled then as before delighted 'T is thus in every relation where there is sincerity of affection as the bond thereof and a dependance between them of the one upon the other 'T is thus between a Prince and a loyal favorite between a Husband and a loving wise 't is thus between the love-sick soul and Christ when shee injoyes him then none so lightsome in Countenance as shee According to the nature of love her affections are hardly concealed they are even too big for her heart to cover and therefore shee can scarce with hold her self from a Holy exultation before every one that meets her Whereas on the other side if Christ but withdraws if shee calls and hee gives no answer if hee seems to avoid her Company and to despise her familiarity what then Oh then her Joy is turned into Gall and her Pleasantness into Wormwood then her Countenance grows dark
together with his person hee offers Heaven and Earth for a Dowry Rom. 8.17 All things are his by purchase and thou shalt bee a Copartner or Coheir with him when thou art espoused to him 4ly 1 Cor. 3.22 23. He will manifest the highest Indulgence and Tenderness towards thee Not all thy cross walkings if through temptations it shall so fall out shall put him upon any more then a moment any departure from thee Isa 54.7 8. for hee hath resolved that his faithfulness towards thee shall never fail Isa 89.33 and therefore when thou seemest almost lost and ready to despond hee will return to thee again and the more time he hath lost by absence the more full will his heart bee of ravishing love and affections to thee 5ly Hee will Turn all to thy good neither thy sins Cant. 6.3 though many and great nor thy miseries though overwhelming and discouraging no nor lastly shall death it self Rom. 8.28 38. bee ever able to make a divorce between thee and him but serve as a passage to thee when thy work is done into the Bridechamber of thy Lord and now tell mee Phil. 1.21 hast not thou Reason to love him 4. Consider but thy case while this Virgin affection to thy Saviour is wanting 1. Thou multipliest thy whoredomes and thy abominations continually for what are thy Intensive willings of other things but so many acts of spiritual adultery and base prostitutions of thy soul to thy dishonour and disadvantage while other things usurp the room of Christ 2. Thou art a treacherous Hypocrite and deceiver forasmuch as thou pretendest to the eye of the world to bee Christs and yet art nothing less than his 3. You lay a barr in against your selves and the acceptance of all your duties when faith works by love then is obedience illustrious and meet for a gracious acceptaotin that obedience which owes no part of it self to love is worth little and brings in no more Gal. 5.6 then it is worth 4. You make bonds for your selves in death Iob 27.6 and lay up terrible reprâ—oches in the Consciences against the day of Judgement 5. You make your damnation necessary there being no Congruity to any of the Divine Attributes much less to the offices of Christ that that man should ever bee saved who never had any sincere affection to him These are some of the Considerations which may bee of use to them that have no spark of love yet kindled in their hearts There are a few of the other kinde which may provoke to get this love Inflamed where it is such are these Consider 1. The love of Christ to thee was a growing Increasing love I do not mean in respect of the habit but in the outward demonstration thereof The neerer hee was to his death the more exuberant in love and when hee rose again his heart did overflow with tender indulgence as appears by the meltings of his bowels towards Mary and over Peter and much more may wee beleeve him now to be full of them now that hee is at the Right hand of God 2. There is more lovelyness in Christ than ever thou canst finde out or fathome when wee have let out our affections to the utmost there will still bee more than wee can finde affection for our love to eternity will have something of admiration mixed with it 3. It 's all you can return to him it 's all hee looks for at our hands that which lies in love and which flowes from it is the whole that is required to compleat Christianity 4. The more you love him the more lovely you are unto him Then hath Christ the highest complacency in us when our hearts are under the greatest Raptures of love to him Beatus est qui intelligit quid sit amare Jesum contemnere scipsum propter Jesum A Kempis de imitatione Christi l. 2. c. 7. 5. It is the honour of a man to love Christ superlatively It is the sweetest part of our lives and that which Christ values us more by than by any thing else It 's Heaven on Earth 6. According to the measure of your love so will all the rest of your services and graces be i. e. either more or less better or worse Love is like the Master wheel in an Engine making the whole soul to move faster or slower These are the considerations of the last kind will some say oh but what shall wee do to get this blessed affection into our souls which was the third thing proposed And in order thereto I offer these Directions 1. Direction Bee well acquainted with the nature of this great duty The great mistake of the world lies in this That is thought to be love which is not and thence men and women grow bold and confident and value themselves more than they ought I have given in my best assistance so far as the nature of the first case would permit to prevent mistakes in this matter before and therefore I will not do it over again Only remember if you would not miscarry that it is not a Naked Christ but a Christ advanced by incomparable Personal Excellencies and cloathed with his offices of King and Priest and Prophet that is the Christ to bee loved and you cannot well miscarry This is that damning mistake of the world they love Christ but not as dignified by God with any of his offices 2. Direction Bee much in the study of your selves what you were originally and what you are since become through your own miscarriage wilfulness and folly Take your souls to the glass of the Law and go from one precept to another and when you have done there go to the Gospel And be sure you do not deal sleightly but understand throughly how much you have offended And when you have well studied the number and quality of your sins then consider the justice and holiness of the Eternal God which you shall understand by the same Law and Gospel where they speak the Divine Terrour against offending-sinners but more specially shall yee know is by going to the Cross of Christ and wisely and seriously considering the horrour of that punishment which Christ there indured for wee never know as wee ought the evil of sin and our misery thereby until wee know what hee indured to make an Expiation for it Do this and do it faithfully They that never knew themselves they are most certainly without love to Christ And it is enough to prove it because unless this foundation be first laid they can see no sufficient reason for it 3. Direction Get a true Conviction concerning thy own ultimate end and happiness Where it lies viz. not in the objects of sense but in the Beatifical vision of God possesse thy soul by Scripture light Mat. 16.26 of the grand importance of securing thy Interest therein while you think your happiness lyes any where else than in God it will be
Lords Day on which the Apostle enjoyneth the Corinthâ—ans to lay up something in store implying thereby that that is a very fit season not only to do such works of mercy which are then offered unto us but also to prepare for other times 4. Daies of Thanksgiving for some eminent mercy are another seasonable time of doing works of mercy The remembring of the poor at such times is expresly commanded in Scripture Deut. 16.14 Thou shalt rejoyce in thy heart thou and thy Son and thy Daughter and thy Man-servant and thy Maid-servant and the Levites the Stranger and the Fatherless and the Widdow Here the Stranger the Fatherless the Widdow are commanded to rejoyce on their daies of Feasting which presupposeth the rich mens sending portions of their good chear unto them which was the practice of the people of God as appeareth by that command of Nehemiah to the Jews on a day of Thanksgiving Go your way eat the fat and drink the sweet Neh. 8.10 and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared And their day of Thanksgiving from Hamans conspiracy is called a day of feasting Ester 9.22 and of sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor And what more seasonable time can there be for shewing mercy to the poor than when wee are blessing God for his manifold mercies vouchsafed unto us 5. Daies of fasting and prayer are another seasonable time of doing works of mercy For how can wee expect that God should shew mercy unto us in removing those Judgements which wee feel or in preventing those which wee fear if wee will not shew mercy to our poor Brethren who stand in need of our relief In the day of our fasting therefore let us at least give away to the poor so much as wee save by our fast For as Austin in one of his Sermons saith Then are our fasts acceptable to God Tum grata sunt Deo nostra jejunia si illi qui necessitate jejunant reficiantur a nobis Aug. Serm. de Temp. 64. if they which fast out of necessity because they want meat bee relieved by us Let this therefore be alwaies observed by us that the poor have the gain of our fasting and not our own purses VI. Our Alms must be given readily and speedily without any needless delay according to the counsel of the Wise-man Prov. 3.27 With-hold not good from them to whom it is due that is with-hold not any act of Charity from those who stand in need of thy help Say not unto thy Neighbour go and come again and to morrow I will give thee when thou hast it by thee Qui sic moratur neganti proximus est Seneca de benefic l. 2. cap. 5. Beneficia non sunt procrastinanda sed tempestivè danda ut magis prodesse possint Bis dat qui cito d'at hee that so delaieth his helping hand is next door to him that denieth And therefore as any occasion offers it self unto us let us speedily embrace the same as knowing that a speedy giver is a double benefactor and the swifter that a benefit cometh the sweeter it casts And contrariwise a benefit loseth its grace that sticketh to his fingers who is about to bestow it What then shall wee think of their charity who put off all to their death-beds never giving any thing considerable to the Poor till they can keep it no longer these though by their last will and testament they give somewhat to the Poor yet questionless it is against their wills for could they have kept it longer they would not have parted with it Ingratum est beneficium quod diu inter manus dantis haesit Senec. de Benef. I shall desire such seriously to consider these six things 1. That if all rich men should do thus the poor would soon bee starved for want of bread 2. That this practise of theirs is against the express command of God who requireth us to do good and to communicate out of our store while wee have time and opportunity Gal. 6.10 Matth. 5.16 3 That they have no assurance of the continuance of their wealth For as the wiseman speaketh Prov. 23.5 Alas Aquilinas Riches many times make themselves wings they fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven they have Eagles wings to fly from us And how many are there who have out-lived a fair estate If God in his displeasure blasts a mans substance it vanisheth away in a moment 4. Though their riches should continue with them even to their deaths yet they have no assurance that God will give them grace to bee liberal at their deaths who had never the goodness to bee charitable in their life-time 5. That they have no assurance that God will accept of their death-bed charity what St. Austin speaketh of death-bed repentance that it is seldome true and hearty The same may I say of death-bed charity it is seldome true and hearty but for the most part rotten and Hypocritical proceeding from ill grounds as vain-glory conceit of merit and the like 6. That they have no assurance of the true performance of their will that the poor shall bee the better for what is thereby given them For how many Exeoutours have proved most unfaithful to their trusts whereby many charitable gifts have been clean perverted And if friends bee so unfaithful to us in our life time how can wee but question their fidelity after our deaths Oh therefore that all whom the Lord hath blessed with an estate would in their life time become their own administrators making as one saith their own hands their Executors and their own eyes their Overseers For questionless that charity which is exercised in a mans life time is the best and most acceptable unto God VII Our Alms must bee bountiful and liberal giving out proportionably to what the Lord hath given unto us This is implied in that command of God to his people Deut. 15.11 Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy Brother to thy poor and to thy needy in the Land that is thou shalt give unto him bountifully and liberally And our Apostle here in the Text would have rich men charged to bee rich in good work 1 Tim. 6.18 Luke 12.48 even as God hath given them all things richly to enjoy For unto whomsoever much is given of him much shall bee required And therefore the same Apostle adviseth the Corinthians to give 1 Cor. 16.2 as God had prospered them To whom God hath given little of this worlds goods of them hee requireth but little but to whom hee hath given much of them hee requireth much Rich men therefore must not only give a portion of their wealth to the releife of others but also in some fit proportion to their estate Quest If any shall aske what is that portion or proportion of estate which rich men ought to set apart for Charitable uses Answ It is an hard matter to determine
for direction to be a Shield and Sun yea and shadow from the heat and a place of refuge and a Covert from storm and from rain In such Promises as these holy David h Psa 119.49 50. trusted This was his comfort in his affliction the word of his God quickned him Gods Promises are some of his Bonds and Obligations whereby he is held firmly bound to Believers These faith makes bold to put in suit to plead the security that God hath given Lord saith Faith here is thy Bill obligatory behold see here thy hand and seal Discern I pray thee whose are these the Signet and Bracelets and Staff Thus David Psal 119.49 Remember thy word unto thy Servant wherein thou hast caused me to hope the word of Promise was all that David had to shew and he counts that enough to set his Faith on work 4 Gods inviolable stedfast never-failing * 1 Cor. 10.13 Faithfulness Gods goodness inclines him to make good Promises and his faithfulness engages him to make those Promises good If the word be once gone out of his mouth * Luke 21.33 Heaven and earth shall sooner pass away than one Iota of that word fail This faithfulness of God i Josh 23.14 15. Joshua asserts to the heighth throws down the Gantlet and does as it were challenge all Israel to shew but that one thing that God had failed them in of all the good things that he had promised If God in very k Psal 119.75 faithfulness afflicts to make good his threatnings much more in faithfulness will he preserve to make good his Promises God never yet did never will fail that man that puts his trust in him Psal 9.10 It is true God may frown on yea and severely lash a Solomon a Jedidiah when they break his Statutes and keep not his Commandments Nevertheless his loving kindness he will not utterly take from them nor suffer his l Psal â—9 33. faithfulness to fail God never yet brake his word by deceiving nor crackt his credit by compounding for less than was due with any Mortal living So Faithful is God so true to his Word that let God but promise a Victory and Jehoshaphat will sound an Io Triumphe m 2 Chro. 20.17 c. before the Battel And let but he threaten Babylons ruine and the Angel cries Babylon n Rev. 14.8 is faln Thus then Gods faithfulness calls for Saints trust Psal 146.5 6. 5. Gods most holy wise Powerful gracious Providence This also is a prop for trust It is the o Acts 17.25 28. Lord that gives unto all life and breath and all things It is in him we all live and move and have our being The p Pro. 15.3 eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding of and providing for the evill and the good This divine Providence the Egyptians acknowleâ—ged and held forth in that significant Hieroglyphick of a Sun pourtrayed in a Ship tossed with wind and water Euseb de prepar Evang l. 3. c. 3. God hath an eye in the wheels and motions of all inferiour creatures Ezek. 1. 18 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hence that holy Symbol of our English Josiah Edward 6th viz. A coelestial Globe with this Motto Nihil sine Deo It is the Lord that feeds the Sparows that have no Barn and the Ravens that have no Granary It is he that so gorgeously cloaths the Lillies that have no Distaff Not a q Mat. 10.29 30 31. Bird descends from his perch not an hair fals from the Head without this Father Fear not then ye are of more value than many Sparrows Where God sends mouths he will not grudge meat And he that feeds the young Ravens will not starve the young r Mr Heron when dying to his Wife somwhat desponding by reason of her many children and smal provision for them Herons Faith contemplates what God doth recounts what God hath done and from thence concludes what God will do Hence it prayes with the Psalmist Psal 17.7 and 31.19 Faith reflects on former experiences it s own and others and by the holy skill it hath in the Physiognomy of Providence clearly reads and collects what God will do in whâ—t God hath done It casts its eye on 1. The experiences of others and judges her self to have an Interest in those very Providences of grace which they enjoyed Thus the Church a thousand years after that heavenly combate betwixt God and Jacob tells us That God found Jacob in Bethel and there he spake with Å¿ Hos 12.4 Arrowsmith chain â—01 4â—6 Jenk on Jude part 1 p. 286. us Several Ages before they were born yet with us i. e. with Jacob for our good on our account for our Interest Faith reâ—embers there was once a Joseph in a Prison a Jeremy in a Dungeon a Daniel in a Den a Peter in Chains an Hezekiah on a supposed death beâ— and Providence assisted them why not me This poor man cryed and the Lord helped him Psal 34.6 and Our Fathers trusted and thou didst deliver them Psal 22.4.5 Lord â—hou art the same yesterday to day and for ever why then may no I expect Salvation from thee 2. It 's own experiences Thus David confidently replies to Saul that thought him no match for Goliah t 1 Sam. 17.37 The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the Lion and Bear will also deliver me from this uncircumcised Philistin and thus Paul He had the sentence of death upon him the black stones were thrown into the Urn against him but his God had and did deliver and therefore in him he trusts that he will still u 2 Cor. 1.10 deliver VI. And Lastly I argue from Those dear Relations in which the Lord is pleased to stand and own towards his people These cry aloud for their trust in God Is he not our * Isa 40.28 Creator Hath he built the house and will he not keep it up he that made us will assuredly take care of us We may safely give up our selves our trust our all to him who hath given us our selves and our all This w 1 Pet. 4.19 relation the Apostle makes the ground of trust Is he not our Redeemer will he part with his blood for us and yet deny us bread Is he not our x Isa 63.16 Father Are we not his Children and shall not he provide for his own children 1 Tim. 5.8 Hath the great God put such a Philostorgy or natural affection into the Bear Pellican Dolphin Lioness Eagle towards their young and shall not he much more carry his own upon Eagles wings Exod. 19.4 Is he not our King Head and Husband in a word All those Relations wherein we stand To God or God to us are stable Grounds of our trust upon Him and strong engagements of His Assistance to and Providence over us Thus much for the Fourth General the Fifth followeth V. What are those special and signal
Moses In the Mount there will God be seen Gen. 22.14 3. And Lastly * Superata Tellus Sydera donat Boet. Faelix post fata Ad delicias juvat ire periclis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heaven will pay for all at last Where every Tear shall be wiped off Rev. 21.4 The plesantness and security of the Port will make more than full Amends for the danger and difficulty of the passage And This is That wherein Faith Triumphs as knowing That He that for Christ's sake in obedience to Christ's will in conformity to Christ's Word in aiming at Christ's glory wears the sharpest Crown of Thorns Here shall by Christ have His Temples incircled with the fairest Crown of Glory hereafter As in this life an hundred fold so in the World to come Life Eternal Mark 10.30 How may we cure Distractions in holy Duties Mat. 15.7 8. Ye Hypocrites well did Isaiah prophesie of you saying This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me IN this Chapter you will find a Contest between Christ and the Pharisees about their Traditions and old Customs which they valued above the Commandments of God as it is usual with formal men to love Chains of their own making and to make conscience of a Tradition when yet they can dispense with a Commandment and thereby discovering themselves to be very hypocrites who are more in Externals than in Internals in shew than substance minding the formality rather than the spirit and life of Service to God our Lord confirms his censure by the testimony of the Prophet Isaiah Ye hypocrites c. I shall not stand explaining the words Drawing nigh is a phrase peculiar to Worship especially to Invocation mouth and lips are put for all external Gestures and that bodily exercise which is necessary to the worship of God especially for words But their heart is far from me it chiefly intendeth their habitual averseness from God but may also comprize the wandering and roveing of the mind in duty which is a degree and spece of it of that I shall treat at this time and my Note will be That distraction of thoughts or the removing of the heart from God in Worship is a great sin and degree of hypocrisie The Text speaketh of gross hypocrisie or a zealous pretence of outward Worship without any serious bent of heart towards God but any removal of the heart from him in times necessary to think of him is a degree of it for though distractions in Worship are incident to the people of God yet they are culpable and do so far argue the relicks of hypocrisie in them I shall shew 1. The greatness of the sin 2. The Causes 3. The Remedies First That there is such a sin sad experiences witnesseth vain thoughts intrude importunately upon the soul in every duty in hearing the word we are not free Ezek. 33.31 nor in singing but chiefly they haunt us in Prayer and of all kinds of prayer in mental Prayer when our addresses to God are managed by thoughts alone there we are more easily disturbed words bound the thoughts and the inconvenience of an interruption is more sensible as occasioning a pause in our speech and as in mental Prayer so when we joyn with others to keep time and pace with their words unless the Lord quicken them to an extraordinary liveliness we find it very hard but how great a sin this is is my first task to shew I shall do it 1. By three generall considerations 2. By speaking particularly to the present case First Generally 1. Consider how tender God is of his Worship Lev. 10.3 He hath said That he will be sanctified in all that draw nigh unto him To sanctifie is to set apart from common use Now God will be sanctified that is not treated with as an ordinary person but with special heedfulness of soul and affection becoming so great a Majesty when you think to put him off with any thing you lessen his excellency and greatness and do not sanctifie him or glorifie him as God and therefore God pleadeth his Majesty when they would put a sorry Sacrifice upon him as if every thing were good enough for him Mal. 1.14 Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing for I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts To be sleight in his service argueth mean thoughts of God Eccl. 5.2 Be not rash with thy mouth nor hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth We forget our distance and by a bold prophaneness are too fellow-like and familiar with God when we are not deeply serious and exact in what we do and say in his presence but only babble over a few impertinent words without attention and affection Certainly God is very sensible of the wrong and contempt we put upon him for he noteth all Heb. 4.13 All things are naked and open to him with whom we have to do And he will not put it up for he telleth us Exod. 20.8 That he will not hold them guiltless that take his Name in vain and he will be as good as his word For the least disorders in Worship have been sorely punished witness the stroke from heaven upon Aarons Sons Lev. 10.2 The breach made upon Uzzah 2 Sam. 6.6 And the havock made of the Bethshemites 1 Sam. 6.19 The diseases that raged at Corinth 1 Cor. 11.30 And though judgments be not so rise and visible now upon our unhallowed approaches to God yet he smiteth us with deadness where he doth not smite us with death for a man is punished otherwise than a boy and judgments are now spiritual which in the Infancy of the Church were temporal and bodily Certainly we have all cause to tremble when we come before the Lord. 2. The more sincere any one is the more he maketh conscience of his thoughts is more observant of them and more troubled about them Isa 55.7 Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts then he beginneth to be serious and to have a conscience indeed when his thoughts trouble him So David Psal 119.113 I hate vain thoughts but thy Law do I love We think thoughts are free and subject to no Tribunal if there be any errour in them we think it is a very venial one they betray us to no shame in the world and therefore we let them go without dislike and remorse But a child of God cannot pass over the matter so he knoweth that thoughts are the immediate births of the soul and do much discover the temper of it that there Actions begin and if vain thoughts be suffered to lodge in him he will soon fall into further mischief and therefore he considereth what he thinketh as well as what he speaketh and doth and if at all times especially in Worship where the workings of the inward man are
understand the difference between the little trifling bubble promises of the world and the great precious solid and massie promises of God and let faith tell thee that the threatnings of a raging Devil a storming Nebuchadnezzar or a furious multitude are but the noyse of a Pot-gun if compared with the thunder of Gods dreadfull Threatnings Remember what God saith to his afflicted Church Isa 51.12 Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall dye and of the son of man which shall be made as grass and forgettest the Lord thy Maker c In a word think thus with thy self man cannot do all that he seems able to do nor all that he resolves and boasts that he will do but God can do all that he hath said he will do and he will do for his suffering servants more than they can hope or think Let us heartily believe that God can easily recompence us for whatever we may lose for him but all the creatures in the world are not able to make amends for that which Apostacy from God will deprive us of Oh Sirs could we but heartily believe this what a sorry temptation would persecution be If this faith were strong persecution would be exceeding weak if faith could see men and devils able to do nothing and God able to do all things then persecution would be able to do nothing and such a faith would be able to do and to suffer all things And thus I have spoken to both the parts of this practical Case of Conscience and shall now close up all with a word of Exhortation That if it be such a real ground of trouble c. then let us make it our earnest prayer to God that our Land may still be a Goshen and a Valley of Vision and not an Egypt or the vale of the shadow of death that we may still enjoy the Ordinances of the Gospel and the company and society of good men that our lot may never fall among Ezekiels Scorpions or pricking briars and grieving thorns Ezek. 2.6 and 28.24 Let us heartily pray for that blessedness mentioned Psal 65.4 That the Lord may chuse us and cause us to approach unto him that we may dwell in his Courts and be satisfied with the goodness of his house How is Hypocrisie discoverable and cureable LUKE 12.1 First of all Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisie WHen our Lord and Saviour had finisht his heavenly soul-searching Sermon in the Chapter foregoing he came so close in the application to the Scribes and Pharisees a proud hypocriticall people that they not able to indure their pride and hypocrisie should be so soundly convinced and openly detected combined and contrived by urging Luk. 11.53 54 and watching and catching words to accuse him and stop his mouth at least Joh. â—1 17. if not his breath These conâ—rivances and practises of theirs were not unknown to him that knew all things and what effect it wrought in Christ you find in this verse of the Text he preacheth the same things and in the same manner and sharpnesse of stile at the next opporâ—unity In the mean time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the greek in those or in which times that they were thus plotting and contriving Christ is boldly preaching the same Doctrine that they were persecuting was as bold for the truth as they were politick against it And in those very dayes and in the midst of these contrivements aganst his preaching the people as much loved the Doctrine that the Pharisees persecuted an innumerable multitude were gathered together to see and to hear him A myriade too many thousands to be easily numbred flocked and thronged so to him that they even trode one upon another and then he began to say to his Disciples they were nearest to him but so as the people heard it and he taught them and that was his intent as you may see ver 40 42. First of all Beware of for the adverb is not to be joyned to the verb taught but to the word beware i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first of all is not used distributively but eminently as much as to say chiefly especially beware c. so it is used by the Apostle first I thank my God for you all Rom. 1.8 that is chiefly that your faith is spoken of through the world Beware and avoid this leaven of hypocrisie wherewith the Pharisees doctrine and conversation is so leavened take heed beware especially chiefly of hypocrisie In the Text is represented a pretious Sermon in its preaching with the circustances of it Wherein is observable 1. The time it was in that juncture of time when they had councelled and determined but had not yet executed their councels 2. The Preacher Christ himself the great Prophet of the Church in the exercise of his Propheticall office 3. The auditors his Disciples and an innumerable multitude of people 4. His first Doctrine is Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees And this Doctrine is confirmed by Reason ver 2. and improved by inference ver 3. Many usefull lessons might be commended from the other particulars but my meditations are confined to the last the Doctrine the caution Beware of the leaven c. and only spend as much time in opening the Text and Doctrine as will let me in to give direction how to discern and how to be delivered from this dangerous leaven of hypocrisie which is according to your desires unto me for your instruction in this particular The words naturally yeeld you this Doctrine Doctr. Matth. 23. Hypocrisie is a dangerous leaven which Ministers and people are chiefly and especially to beware of and acquit themselves from Hence you have a Chapter of woes against it Esa 1.11 12. Esa 66.3 And it is represented as that which renders odious to the Lord and defiles his choisest Ordinances and our best duties if it cleave to them And puts God to sad complaints and exprobations of such a people Hos 6.4 What shall I do unto thee O Judah what shall I do unto thee O Ephraim for your righteousnesse is as a morning cloud all shew no truth no showers And hath been the ruin of many forward and glorious professors as Baalam Jehu Saul and many other persons of great parts and many great performances and one would conceive of great hopes too but they and their works and their hopes all are perished Job 8.13 the hypocrites hope shall perish The explication of this Doctrine would lye in the speaking to these particulars 1. What hypocrisie is 2. How it is resembled by leaven 3. Why called the leaven of the Pharisees 4. Wherein is it so dangerous 1. What hypocrisie is Much of the nature of a thing is many times discovered in its name the name is a brief description The word hypocrite properly signifies an actor or stageplâ—yer a personater of other men in their speech habit and action The Hebrew
hope fill you with all joy and peace in beleeving that you may abound in hope So much for the possibility of this assurance Now I come to the second part of the Question to speak to those that know not that they have eternal life and discern not their spiritual condition and those may bee of two sorts 1. Some that for want of diligence in the use of means are uncertain what their condition is 2. Such as have made inquiry and long earnestly to bee resolved in this great Question whether they bee converted changed and shall bee saved or no and yet cannot finde it out I would speak a few things to the first of these because the greatest part know not their condition through their own carelesness and negligence that through the slothfulness of their own hearts on the difficulty of the work or multiplicity of worldly care and business are yet in the dark That examine their shop book oftener more diligently than they do the book of their own hearts that make oftner enquiry whether they grow rich than whether they wax good If I may judge of other mens hearts by mine own in this point and not bee thought to have too hard and uncharitable thoughts of them I would conclude we are all guilty of negligence in this case and therefore walk in the dark and remain in uncertainties about the salvation of our immortal Souls which should bee the first thing wee should make sure of because it is of the greatest and everlasting concernment Ah Christian chide thy own slothful lazy negligent heart shame thy self out of this carelesness what canst thou eat and drink and sleep and trade as quietly as if thou wert past all danger And yet thou dost not know whether thou shalt be damned or saved Awake oh my soul rouse up thy self and look after thine eternal state it is no matter whether thou art rich or poor honourable or contemptible the great question that with the greatest seriousness is to bee resolved is whether thou hast grace or no whether Christ bee thine or no certainly careless persons should bee stirred up to looke after their eternal state and those that are diligent need some considerations to make them more diligent and therefore the Apostle Peter writeth to those that had obtained like precious faith with himself calling upon them urging and exhorting them to make their calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 For this end let mee propound these following Questions to thee that art negligent in this great concernment and as thou readest give thy self a sober serious answer 8. Questions propounded to slothful christians 1. Is it nothing to thee to live in the dayly neglect of a commanded duty is it not the injunction of thy Lord whose servant thou dost profess thy self to bee that thou shouldest give all diligence in this matter and wilt thou not give any at all or not at all proportionable to the waightiness of thy concernment herein might not this raise doubts and jealousies in thy soul that thy condition is not good because thou art not diligent to know and to prove it to bee good especially when thou dost consider that thy Lord commands thy diligence herein Mightest not thou question the sincerity of thy obedience to any of Gods commands for want of the universality of it extending it self to all Gods commands tell mee Christian why hath God given us this charge read 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather brethren give all diligence to make your calling and election sure is it not the same God that commands thee to Pray that commands thee to make sure of Heaven didst thou never read these words or hast thou read them and thrown them by and thought this counsel is not fit to bee followed nor this command to bee obeyed what canst thou say for thy neglect look a little into the Text what is it that you are commanded to make sure of house or land if it had been so it is like thou wouldest have obeyed but it is something better infinitely better whether thou are effectually called eternally elected and is this to bee done slothfully carelesly or doth not God require thy diligence thy utmost diligence nay all thy diligence nay thy speedy diligence without delay thy painful diligence without indulging thy self in thy sloth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy continual diligence without weariness or till thou hadst got a certainty of thy state and shouldest thou not do this rather than any temporal concernment shouldest not thou make sure of grace rather than of riches of heaven rather than the earth of an interest in God rather than of earthly possessions 2. Is it not a shame that wicked men should daily use more care to make sure of fading vanities Operose nihil oguit than thou dost use to make sure of better more lasting riches what is not the soul better than the body or are things temporal better worth than things eternal how do they cark and care what must we eat what must we drink how shall we be sure of something to keep us when wee are old dost thou do thus for thy soul how shall I get my sins pardoned my nature sanctified and my soul saved how shall I bee sure of an eternal heavenly house above when this mouldring cottage of my body is tumbled down doth it not shame thee to see the diligence of worldly men that if they buy house or land they looke narrowly to the writing and ask advice and counsel whether the title will bee good that hee may bee sure and not defrauded The Old userer will not let forth his monies but hee will have good sufficient security both for principal and interest because hee saith and knows it is good to bee sure nay yet further doth it not shame thee that many men should take more pains for hell than thou dost for heaven and to bee sure of damnation than thou dost to be certain of thy salvation how do they daily drudge in the waies of wickedness committing sin with greediness with both hands heartily with their whole soul as though they should not come to hell sure enough or soon enough while thou art dull flat listless in thy duties to God and not praying heartily as for thy soul do not wicked men take more pains in breaking the sabbath than thou dost in keeping of it and do not they scorn duties more than thou dost prize and practise them But further 3. Dost thou not too much forget thine own Mortality dost thou indeed consider that thou art hasting into an eternal state and must within these few years months yea weeks enter into an unchangeable condition dost thou indeed beleeve Heaven or Hell is before thee that eternal death or eternal life are at the end of this fading short momentany life or dost thou judge it to bee indifferent whether bee the place of thine everlasting abode what is the
matter Good Lord what sloth stupidity negligence hath possessed our hearts surely if thou didst beleeve that thou mightest bee in thy grave to morrow wouldest thou not make sure of heaven to day if the lease of thy house be almost expired and the Land-lord hath given thee warning to provide thee another Habitation for hee will not suffer thee to renew it any more dost thou not presently enquire of thy friends and of thy neighbours Sirs can you tell mee where I may have a convenient dwelling I have but a little time in the house where I am and I have had warning to go out by such a day art thou not careful to have an house ready to go to upon the very same day thou leavest the former Alas man dost thou not know the lease of thy life is almost out nay dost thou not know that thou art only a tenant at will and God may turn thee out at an hours at a moments warning and yet dost thou not make sure of an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens hath not God given thee warning did thy head never ake was thy heart never sick surely if thou didst not forget thy own mortality thou wouldest be more careful painful diligent in thy business I see frequently men upon their sick-beds when they think they must dye begin to inquire after Heaven and how they may know their sins are pardoned and whether their souls shall be saved because the apprehension of the neerness of the grave doth rouze them and for all thou knowest thou though now in health mayest be as soon in thy grave as hee that lieth sick God can stop thy breath when hee pleaseth Art thou mortal look then after thy soul 4. Is not this too great a sleighting of the comforts of the Spirit of God of Christ and Happiness is there not so much excellency in all these and sweetness in discerning thy propriety to them as to provoke thee to diligence in making sure of them 5. Dost not thou know that others have looked long after it and dost thou think thou shalt come so easily to it others have prayed much and searched themselves often and yet have not been able to satisfie all their own doubts whether they have gone farther than ever any hypocrite went and dost thou think it will be so easily discerned whether thy heart be sincere with God many finde it a hard thing to distinguish betwixt the highest degrees of common grace in hypocrites and the lowest degrees of saving grace in a true beleever 6. Dost thou think that conscience will never be awakened to disquiet thee when thou canst not satisfie it about thy salvation will it alwaies be in this spiritual slumber dost thou think that sickness will never come and that death will never come and that trouble will never seize upon thee when thy conscience shall be so alarmed that thou wouldest give all thou art worth to know what shall become of thy soul oh then for an infallible evidence of Gods Love oh then that thou mightest know whether God will pardon thy sin and save thy soul oh dreadful case when thou comest to dye and conscience shall accuse thee for thy sloth when thou feelest thy spirit begin to fail and apprehendest thy self neer the grave and conscience rageth and is not at peace because thou dost not know whether thou shalt go to Heaven or Hell It is dreadful doleful sad to hear these complaints from a dying man oh woe is mee that I must take my farewell of all my friends and death is impatient of delay and yet I cannot say my sins are pardoned oh woe is mee though I lye a dying I cannot say my sins are pardoned within a little while my body must be carried from my bed to my grave but oh it breaks my heart that I cannot tell whether my soul my precious and yet too much neglected Soul shall be carried to Heaven by holy Angels or dragged down to Hell by cursed devils oh that God would grant mee a month or two a little longer that I may work out my salvation but thy conscience shall tell thee thou hadst time but thou didst mis-spend it thou hadst it but thou didst not improve it in getting this grand Question resolved Whether thou hadst made thy peace with God Consider now how dreadful it will be when conscience is awakened and thou in this case unresolved 7. If thou be a true Christian yet herein dost thou not act too much like the careless ungodly world they take no care to make sure of Heaven and wilt thou justifie their practice and harden them in it There are some carnal ones in the family a carnal husband or a carnal wife or ungodly children or graceless servants that minds not God nor care for their souls that look not after Heaven and wilt thou be guilty of incouraging them in their carelesness and hardening them in their forgetfulness of God by thine own remisseness but if thou wast serious in the use of means pressing following hard after God thy strictness might shame them out of their wickedness and might reflect upon themselves if such a one that lives so circumspectly and taketh such pains in duties and yet doubteth and fears and would fain be resolved what a careless wretch am I never to regard my own soul they are ignorant of God and his excellency of Christ and his beauty of Grace and its necessity and therefore desire them not nor care to make sure of them but God hath opened thine eyes to see all these Stir up thy self then to get a certainty of thine interest in them 8. Art thou not too much guilty of hypocrisie when thou goest to the table of the Lord and yet dost not give diligence to make thy calling and election sure nor to have the certain knowledge of the pardon of thy sin and of thy peace with God is not the Lords supper an ordinance for the helping the right receivers to assurance of the pardon of their sin in the blood of Christ is it not for that end a seal of the covenant of grace if thou sayest thou usest it for this end why then dost thou look after it no more when thou returnest from that Ordinance Having premised these things to awaken you and rouse you out of your sloth supposing that now you are resolved to take any course that can bee prescribed from the word of God That thou art one who weepest mournest complainest because thou dost not discern thy spiritual condition I shall lay down my advice to thee in these following directions 1. Direction 1. Get some Characteristical distinguishing signs of true saving grace by thy serious searching the word of God Directions to get assurance God hath told thee in his word who shall bee damned and who shall bee saved though not by name yet by the qualifications by which they are described In the Bible there are the statute laws of