courses whatever shall be told you to the contrary is little lesse dangerous and damnable than to come to the Sacramnent with such wicked purposes Let this then suffice to remove your first mistake that you may take liberty in some sinful waies you have a minde to before you have taken the Sacrament The second gross mistake which I finde in your objection is that you think though at present you have no great minde to be so serious as to set upon preparation for the Sacrament yet that hereafter you shall when you have had your swinge a while longer and have taken a little more pleasure being as yet perhaps but in the prime of your youth and thereupon you hope that God will bear with you yet a while since you have such good purposes to become his servants for the time to come Should I go about fully to shew you the vanity of this conceit and your folly in delaying to return to God I might fill many sheets wherefore that I may not be tedious I shall do little more than represent to you the very true language and import of this pretence of yours that so you may be ashamed of ever using it more or harbouring it any longer When you talk of staying yet a while before you cast off your old companions and courses and bind your selves to a godly life at the Sacrament what do you in effect but say That when you have contemn'd Gods mercy and griev'd his spirit a little longer and done somewhat more to dishonour his name then you will betake your selves to him and become his people when you have done Satan yet a little more service then you 'l shake him off and take Christ for your Master when you have a while longer trod under foot his precious blood then it shall wash you from all your sins when you have run deeper on the score and added something more both to the number and hainousness of your transgressions then you 'l come for a pardon when you have done somewhat more to make God your enemie then you 'l seek reconciliation when you have let your lusts take deeper rooting then you 'l pluck them up when you have made them a little stronger then you 'l subdue them when the sore is festered then you 'l apply the Plaister when the gangrene is almost got to your vitals then you 'l seek a remedy thus foolishly thus presumptuouslie and baselie do they argue who think it is too soon yet to come home to God and be religious in good earnest I know you would be asham'd to speak thus and will scarce be perswaded there lodges so much wickednesse in your hearts but for certain there does whil'st you retain secret purposes to go on in any way of known sin Ah poor sinner that thou didst but a little know what thou doest whilst thou standst thus unresolv'd whither thou shouldest yet bid farewell to thy lusts and come over heartilie to God by Jesus Christ. Oh disingenuous creature dost thou think thou hast not provokt and dishonour'd thy Maker enough yet Hast thou not yet sufficientlie abused thy Redeemers grace and patience Hast thou not yet thrown away time enough and sinn'd away mercies and offers enough Is sin so sweet and profitable a thing that it should be so hard to determine whether it was best be forsaken or not Is God so hard a Master and his service such a burdensome thing that sinners must be wooed to him with so much earnestness and all prove too little with the most Is it so safe and desirable a state to remain still in the gall of bitterness and under the wrath of God Can you keep off this wrath which you are plucking upon you Have you both repentance and time at your own beck And are you sure of acceptance how long so ever you stay before you seek it will holinesse be good for you hereafter and is it not now Or are you afraid of being happie too soon wherefore weigh things well Sirs and then resolve whether there be any wisdome in delaying that work which may be put off too long but cannot be too quickly done that work to which in all reason and conscience you stand engag'd every hour even to be divorc't from sin and Satan and firmly betrothed to the Lord Jesus How long must he seek and sue for thy consent Why should not he have thy youth as well as any other Doth Satan deserve it better than he Did not he die for thee in the prime of his years and why should'st not thou live to him whilst thou art young When wilt thou have put away that wretched disobedient answer that it 's yet too soon to entertain him Hath he stood knocking for entrance till his locks are wet with the dew of the night and is it still too soon to open to him and let him in Oh beware least thy continued stubbornnesse should even wear out his patience least thy perverse carriage should provoke him for ever to leave thee and least if still thou think'st it not time yet to break off thy sins and set upon a godly life he should think it time to cut thee off and sentence thee to everlasting death In the mean time know that all thy good designs what thou wilt do and be hereafter will not be the least excuse of thy present wickednesse nor make thy case any better with God nay rather they make it worse since it appears thou art convinced in thy Conscience that thou oughtest to live after another fashion than thou do'st and yet wilfully neglectest thy acknowledged duty I hope then I have said enough to shew that thou hast no refuge no excuse that will hold whilst thou absentest thy self from the Sacrament out of a lothnesse as yet to reform thy life and do the duties to which this would bind thee Wherefore to conclude If it be thy purpose to continue in any sinfull course come to the Lords Table if thou darest for farre be it from me to speak one word to encourage thee to forswear thy self But yet on the other hand Go on in thy sins and stay away if thou darest for thou art in danger every moment of dropping into Hell whilst thou remainest in such a state Thou seest then to what a strait sin brings thee so that turn thee which way thou wilt whilst thou willingly carriest it about thee an Angel with a flaming sword stands full in thy way threatning destruction whether thou comest or comest not whilst thou continuest a resolved sinner thy case is sad and deplorable But yet one way remains and but one that I know for thy safety even with all speed to cast away thy sins and change thy heart and life and then come as soon as thou wilt to the Lords Table there to professe this blessed change and to confirm thy self therein And for thy encouragement take notice of two things 1. It is not an absolute sinlesse perfection
word and all providences shall help forward thy happinesse All thy outward affairs thy heavenly Father who knows what thou hast need of will see to and regard at all times he will so dispose of and provide for thee as shall be most for thy advantage no affliction shall befall thee but will prove as Physick to thy soul in all estates and conditions he will be near to thee to direct and preserve thee if thou retain thy integrity so that neither men nor Devils shall prevail against thee to thy ruine And the Holy Ghost will be thine to enlighten sanctifie guide and comfort thee to assist thee in duties and to seal thee up to everlasting happinesse When thou diest the Lord Jesus will receive thy Spirit and preserve thee from the roaring Lion and the pit of destruction and vouchsafe thee the beginnings of happinesse with himself which shall be compleated and perfected at the great Resurrection day when thou shalt be raised up by his power and brought into appearance not in wrath but in mercy and shalt be publickly owned by that Christ whose person and cause thou didst here embrace and own and by him thou shalt be openly justified from all accusations of Satan or the Law and shalt be presented pure and holy into the presence of the Father and shalt be eternally blessed in the enjoyment of all those treasures of infinite love and goodnesse which God hath laid up in store for believers This is the inheritance which we come to by Christ we are made heirs of God yea coheirs with his own Son we enter upon the joy of our Lord with him we shall abide in the mansions that are in our Fathers house Then at length we shall know all the designs of Divine wisdome and love when they shall be accomplish'd in us and for us and by the fruition we shall understand what is that exceeding and eternall weight of glory for which there were made such wonderfull contrivances such solemn preparations by that God who doth all things like himself being infinitely wise and good Then shall we reach to and find those glorious things that are spoken of the City of God yea those things which it was neither lawfull nor possible for Angels or Men to utter To be short thou shalt then be advanced to the utmost possible perfection of thy nature thy soul shall be fitted for those actions and employments which are most suitable to it even the loving and praising thy Maker Saviour and Sanctifier and shalt be made capable of tasting the most ravishing satisfying sweetnesse and joy in these employments in pleasing the blessing God and in feeling thy self encompassed with the warm embraces of his dearest love And as this thy blessedness shall be infinite and unspeakable so shall the continuance of it be eternall Nor shall thy delight be once abated or interrupted through all this eternity but be ever exalted to the highest pitch it shall always flow yea overflow but never ebbe This is the joy which hath no end no measures or decay This is the glory which Christ will give his servants not as the world gives gives he unto them This he tells us is the will of him that sent him that every one that sees the Son and believes on him may have everlasting life Joh. 6.40 The water which he gives us to drink shall be in those who partake of it a well of water springing up into everlasting life And some beginnings of this divine life now there are brought into the soul whilst it is made in its measure conformable to God and is carried out after him with the strong workings of love and desire and feels the shedding abroad of his love in it self and lives in the joyfull expectations of an advancement to the abundance of life the perfection of blisse which I before mentioned And now Reader if thou believest all this which I think thou must needs except thou take the Gospel for a cheat if then thou believest it to be true I would know of thee whether the invitations Christ makes thee to come to him be not backt with sufficient motives to prevail with all that are not quite beside their wits in matters of the greatest moment By this time I hope thou seest that thy Redeemer seeks thy interest whilst he is so importunate with thee What is all for in the result but this That thou would'st make thy self blessed for ever This he commands thee this he beseeches thee to And shall such commands be disobey'd shall such requests be denied Good Lord How strange a thing is this That man a reasonable Being whose wisdome sets him above all other creatures on earth should be thus woo'd thus call'd upon and entreated to be happy and yet that he should stand dallying and deliberating whether he had best be so or not yea that he should peremptorily refuse to be so Which should I most admire in this case the distraction and base ingratitude of man or the inconceivable mercy and patience of God so long to bear with such unworthy creatures and so frequently to renew the offers of blessednesse and even presse it upon them Well then dost thou think there is any gain in godlinesse Is there enough to be had with Christ to make him and his gifts worth the accepting For that I tell thee still is all that is expected from thee be but cordially willing to take him and all his benefits together and for certain all shall be thine Thou shalt find every promise of the book of God made good to thy comfort yea thou shalt find ten thousand times more than ever thou could'st understand or conceive from the fullest promises the highest expressions that ever thou mett'st with concerning the priviledges of Believers Shall all that is said then bring thee to be one of that number or not Dost thou know where to make a better bargain for thy self If so take thy own course and make thy best on 't for be assured Jesus Christ needs not thee His glory doth not so depend on thy subjection to him that it should be lessened in case of thy disobedience Doe thou as thou wilt he knows how to secure his own interest but fain he would perswade thee to take pity on thy self and save thy own soul. If there be any in all the world that hath done more for thee than Christ or that will doe more hearken to him and spare not But before thou conclude there is any such person or thing examine matters well on both sides and then doe as thou seest meet Indeed the case is so plain that the veriest child or fool almost may know how to decide it Bethink thee well what thou art like to have from the world from thy lusts from the service of the Devil or from any thing that would keep thee from Christ. Canst thou think that the satisfying of thy senses with what they call for or pleasing thy fancy with
apposite Text Ezek. 16.62 63. And I will establish my Covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord That thou maist remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord God It is to be considered moreover that the promises of joy are principally made to this frame The spirit of the humble and contrite God hath promised to revive They that mourn shall be comforted And they who come to the Table of the Lord weeping are most likely to return from thence rejoycing 4. And when you are wrought to this humiliation for and hatred of sin you will easily be brought to the next part of your work which is stedfastly to resolve by the grace of God never more to give willing entertainment to the same but to be entirely devoted to God by Jesus Christ to love please and serve him all your days I have told you how at the Lords Supper you renew your Covenant to perform those duties which you were engaged to by being Baptized into the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Renouncing carnall self you professe to place your happinesse in the love of God and no farther to regard or please your selves than is consistent with his pleasure Renouncing the world your own abilities righteousnesse and worthinesse and all ways to to happinesse which are set up against Christ you professe to take him alone for your Redeemer and to resign up your selves to him that he may bring you to the fruition of God and therefore Renouncing the Devill who would draw you from God and Christ to gratifie your lusts with earthly things you professe your resolutions to be led by the Holy Spirit of God in those ways that lead to his everlasting kingdome You who are truly willing to all this for to such I speak I would have you in the most serious manner to professe the same before God and especially in the prayers that you make in preparation for the Sacrament Bind your selves over to him by the strictest vow that he shall be your God and you will be his people Professe to him that he shall be the portion of your souls that you will have none in heaven but him and will desire nothing on earth in comparison of him that if he will but vouchsafe you his saving love in Jesus Christ you shall be indifferent to all things here below as knowing that in his favour alone you are abundantly provided for Acknowledge his right to govern you and dispose of you being your Maker and Preserver infinitely wise and good and engage to take him for your Soveraign and Lord to render a sincere unlimited obedience to his commands and quietly to submit to his dispensations Professe to him that you relinquish all right to your selves and give up all into his hands to do with you what he pleaseth consecrating all to his glory whatever he doth or shall afford you being resolved through his assistance so to improve and employ it Promise to him that neither your own will nor the will of any mortall man shall be obey'd in contradiction to his And bethink your selves of those sins whereof you have been more especially guilty in thought word or deed and of the duties you have omitted and engage your selves particularly against those sins and to the performance of those duties And then Remember under what notion you enter into Covenant with God and what kind of creatures you are even poor lost sinners loaded with much guilt which you could never by any satisfaction of your own making take off from your selves and also exceeding weak so that you cannot by your own strength give that obedience to God which he requires nor vanquish the difficulties which you will meet with wherefore it is of absolute necessity that you accept of Jesus Christ as your Deliverer and your Strength for he onely who hath the Son hath the Father also Professe then before God your unfeigned willingnesse to close with the Lord Jesus to all those ends for which he offers himself to the world Acknowledge to him that you neither expect mercy for any merit of your own nor set upon duty in your own might nor look for acceptance of any service for its own worth but that you humbly depend upon Christ the Mediatour for all that you stand in need of Acknowledge his right to rule over and in you as having bought you out of slavery with his own most precious blood to whose mild and gracious government you will therefore submit your selves Professe your willingnesse and earnest desire to have your hearts purged and sanctified by his Holy Spirit and your lives thereby directed according to the precepts of the Gospel Thus professe your acceptance of Christ and submission to the Spirit that you may be brought into the favour of God and be enabled to please and glorifie him by your holy conversation for all tends to this even to make you holy in heart and life Therefore are we married to Christ that we may bring forth fruit unto God Râ—m 7.4 And the fruits of righteousnesse are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God Phil. 1.11 In him we are created unto good works This is the effect of his death and resurrection that we might be dead to sin but alive unto God Rom. 6. throughout They are Christs Disciples that bring forth much fruit to the glory of God the Father Joh. 15.8 And therefore is the Spirit of life given us through Jesus Christ that we may be made free from the power of sin and death that the carnall mind might be taken away and we made subject to God and able to please him yea that we might rise up to an higher kind of life more spirituall and heavenly than was ordinarily attainable under the Law Rom. 8. the former part of that Chapter This being then the summe of all to devote your selves to God by Jesus Christ to live in his love and fear and in strict obedience to his laws till you shall be taken glory you that are firmly purposed to do this and have made promises thereof betwixt God and your own souls Do you eat thâ— Bread and drink the Wine in the Sacrament as a confirmation of these promises Let this be remembred I beseech you whatever you forget That hereby you do most straitly engage your selves to live a Righteous Sober and Godly life from this very day and to the end of your days This some give as the reason why the Name Sacrament is put upon Baptisme and the Lords Supper because they are of a like nature with that Oath which Souldiers were wont to take to be obedient to their Generall and rather to die than to forsake their Colours which military Oath was called a Sacrament and thus both by Baptisme and the Lords Supper are we consecrated to the service of God
you have a greater evidence of the graciousness of his nature than that very mercy which you are going to remember even his giving his only Son to die for us whilst we were yet ungodly and enemies And did he of his own free grace without our asking and against our deserving provide a Saviour for us and is he yet unwilling to save us did he find out a means for our reconciliation to himself and is he now backward to be reconciled Does he importune us to take that which he is unwilling to give us Be not I beseech you of such an easie belief of the Devil 's grosse fallacies and so hardly drawn to believe what God hath not onely said but done so much to make it past all doubting See the Apostle arguing much after the same manner Rom. 5.6 7 8 9 10. Oh let your hearts then be fill'd with admiration of that love which God hath herein exprest to men the wondrous greatnesse whereof is such that it almost surpasseth our Faith and doth farre surpasse our full comprehension That there should be a way for the recovery of self-destroying sinners contrived by him whom they had offended and brought about by the death of his own Son that they might be raised to the highest happinesse even an eternity of the most ravishing joys in nearest communion with the Divine Majesty and all this to be had for a cordiall thankfull acceptance This is the Lords doing and well may it be marvellous in our eyes Great things hath the Lord done for us whereof let our souls be glad If an host of Angels came from heaven to proclaim these good tidings of great joy to all people shall not the Congregations of Christians eccho back their Glory be to God in the highest who hath sent on earth peace and shewn such good will to men Oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good and his mercy endureth for ever Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy Oh do you praise the Lord for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull works to the children of men who hath shewn mercy to such as sate in darknesse and in the shadow of death and hath broken the gates of brasse and cut the barres of iron in sunder and hath sent his word and healed you and delivered you from destruction Oh do you sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoycing Psal. 107. Call upon your souls with the Psalmist in another place Blesse the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me blesse his holy name Blesse the Lord oh my soul and forget not all his benefits who fogiveth thine iniquities and healeth all thy diseases who redeems thy life from destruction and who crowns thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies Psal. 103. at the beginning Oh think what a deplorable condition we had been in if God had left us in the hands of Satan to whom we had enslaved our selves and had never lookt after us more Oh what a dungeon had this world then been where we should have lived in darknesse and fetters in horrours and torments and all as but an inlet and passage to miseries infinitely worse and altogether unavoidable But oh blessed and for ever praised be his Name who hath visited the earth with his goodnesse and caused the rejoycing light to shine in dark and disconsolate places and hath proclaimed liberty to the captive and shewn a strong hold to which he hath called the Prisoners â—f hope to turn themselves having laid help on one that is mighty sending forth the prisoners out of the pit by the blood of the Covenant Zach. 9.11 This is that blood which by the Wine in the Sacrament is represented to you yea which is thereby put into your hands and given you to drink in remembrance of that which was once shed for you And shall not the hearts-blood of your dearest Lord warm and revive your souls enflame and advance your love Will you not now begin that new song of the heavenly Chore ascribing blessing honour glory and power to him that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever who by his blood redeemed us and makes us kings and priests unto God Rev. 5. This is that blood to which you owe all that you have or hope for This quencht those flames which else had fed upon you for ever This satisfied that justice which else had laid hold on you for your disobedience This purchast an inheritance which silver and gold could not buy This purgeth the conscience from dead works and makes the soul fruitfull unto God This pacifies the Conscience and appeaseth the disturbances that sense of guilt is apt to raise By this blood of the Lamb it is that the Saints in all their conflicts do overcome And can you withhold the most affectionate hearty thankfulnesse for this precious all-healing blood Methinks we should even be pained in our selves as not knowing how to give vent enough to our affections especially when our bleeding Lord is set before us Oh let him wholly possesse your thoughts and do you view that transcendent love which he manifested in his whole course but chiefly in the close of it that all may beget in you some answerable returns of love Read as you have leisure those heavenly discourses which were his Farewell Sermons to his Disciples and his last prayer for them which you may find in the 14 15 16 17. Chapters of John and see there how love breathes in every line Follow him to the Garden and there hearken to his groans and behold his bloody sweat which proclaims him to be sick of love of a love that would not be quencht by those crimson streams No still he goes on and go thou after him with the Women that followed him to his Crosse and weep not if thou canst forbear whilst there thou seest him die for love even for love of thee poor soul who do'st sincerely love him Art thou not astonisht at the thoughts of it What could the Lord Jesus see in such miserable worms as we that should incline him to undergo all this on our behalf Nay there 's the wonder he saw nothing and therefore he underwent it Nothing did I say yes he saw our guilt and defilement for which he might have justly loathed us But he seeing all this our misery was rather moved to a compassion for us Such a compassion as never dwelt in a mortall 's breast that he should pity those who pittied not themselves and die to recover those who had even murdred themselves yea that he should die to make them happy whose sins were the cause of his Death and even merit mercy for such as had no mercy on him and give life to them who took his away All this was voluntarily done by the Son of God who became Man on purpose that he might die and do all this for the