〈…〉 all my Years in the Bitterness of my Soul Which Words are Written for our Admonition and Ensample for our Imitation and Practice upon whom the Ends of the World are come Namely That each of us should severally go all our Remaining Years Months Weeks and Days of this our Pilgrimage in the Bitterness of our Souls And if we should also when we come to lie on our Death-Beds Weep sore Provided it be for the very same Reasons as Hezekiah did It would be never the worse but better for us Now with what kind of Use and Application shall I conclude the foregoing Sermons The first Use shall be a short Word of Exhortation Namely for all that shall hear or read these lines To walk before God in Truth and with a Perfect Heart and to do that which is Good in his Sight How this may be done hath been already shewed My Business at present is to Exhort and Perswade People so to do Have ye in the past time of your Lives walked before God in Truth and with a perfect heart and done that which is Good in his Sight Some have and some have not But this know God requireth that which is past Eccles 3. 15. He will certainly call you to an Account and Judge you for the past time of your Life That is gone by and there is no recalling of it yet the future course of your Life is somewhat more in your Power Do ye therefore secure the Aâ—â—â—ues Walk before God in the beginning of each Day 〈◊〉 all the Day long And as ye do thus in the several Days the residue of your Life that is to come will 〈◊〉 True Perfect and Good For it is not a vain thing â—or you Because it is your Life and through this thing 〈◊〉 shall prolong your Days in the Land whither ye go â—ver Jordan to possess it Deut. 32. 47. It is not a â—ain or Indifferent thing in the first place to Hear or Read the Word of God or not to do it For all that â—ver will be saved will be saved by the Word of God As Contrariwise Destruction and Misery are â—hreatned to those who refuse it or turn their Backs â—rom it or who only give it the Hearing but do not thereafter But Moses saith Set your hearts unto all the Words which I testifie because it is your Life Which is the nearest thing belonging to any one for 't is this which gives the resentment and feeling of all other things And through this thing of walking before God in Truth and with a perfect heart and doing that which is Good in his sight Ye shall Prolong your Days It Prolonged Hezekiahs Days Fifteen Years more and it will prolong your Days a longer space of duration then Fifteen Thousand yea Fifteen Millions of Years in the Land of Eternity whither and when ye go over the Jordan of this Life to possess it The Heart and Conscience of every one must necessarily assent to the Truth of this following Proposition Seeing that Man must live and abide for ever for so it is from the Order Decree and Determination of God concerning us He cannot do otherwise then desire to be happy for ever when He goes over the Jordan of this Life as well and all one as He desires and endeavours to live happily and comfortably in this Life on this side of Jordan Seeing that Mâ—â— must live after Death He must all one and also doth desire to be Happy and Blessed after Death all onâ— as it is Natural and every one doth desire to liâ—â— Comfortably Pleasantly and Happily before Deaâ—â— And seeing again from the Order Decree and Determination of God There is noâ— other way undâ—â— Heaven to be Happy and Blessed for ever but 〈◊〉 walking before God in Truth and with a Perfeâ—â— Heart and by doing that which is Good in his sighâ— throughout all our remaining Life Hereupon 〈◊〉 Word of Exhortation speaks most strong and forciblâ— to every one that would be saved and happy for 〈◊〉 ver as every one would who knows and believes 〈◊〉 future State Go thou and do likewise What I say 〈◊〉 thee I say again to all Go thou and do likewise Ev 〈…〉 to walk before the Invisible God in Truth and wi 〈…〉 a Perfect Heart and to do that which is Good in 〈◊〉 sight all the remaining Days thou walkest moveâ—â— and breathest on this Earth If you do but atten 〈…〉 unto and understand throughly that Reasoning and Truth which lies in this consideration It will appear to be the most Strong and Powerful Argument in the World for to Perswade Men. The other Use which I shall draw and infer from these last words of our Text And Hezekiah wept sore shall be To Recommend unto those who are in Reality and Truth obedient Servants of the Lord to be in a State of Weeping and Mourning Say I these things as a Man For doth not the Law of the Prophets Recommend and say the very same unto ye Therefore also now saith the Lord Turn ye even to me with all your Heart and with Fasting the intent whereof is to afflict our Soul Isa 58. 3. And with Weeping and with Mourning Let the Bridegroom go forth of his Chamber and the Bride out of her Closet Let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord Weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy People O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach Joel 2. 12 13 14 17. And in that Day did the Lord God of Hosts call to Weeping and to Mourning and to Girding with â—ack-cloth Little of this is obeyed and observed in this Generation and Countrey of ours but herein is fulfilled what is next Written And behold Joy and Gladness slaying oxen and killing sheep eating Flesh and Drinking Wine Let us Eat and Drink for to Morrow we shall die And it was revealed in mine Ears by the Lord of Hosts surely this Iniquity shall not be Purged from ye until ye die saith the Lord God of Hosts Isa 22. 12 13 14. But here it may be surmised and said That such kind of harsh and sowre Doctrine may be Reasonably expected from the Old Testament Dispensation which came from Mount Sinah which gendreth Bondage from whence the Law was given in Fire in Blackness and Darkness and Tempest of Thunder and Lightning But the Gospel was not ushered nor brought into the World after that manner for it came in a still Voice with a Fear not for behold I bring you Good Tidings of Great Joy which shall be to all People Luke 2. 10. Doth this same Gospel Recommend or say any thing concerning this State of Weeping and Mourning For if it should How would it then bring us Good Tidings of Great Joy which shall be unto all People Yes assuredly it doth both but herein is Comprised the Mystery of God That the Weeping and Mourning must go before the Joy which is to be manifested in us and had by us
same Order Decree and Purpose of God Now here is the strange thing which rather shews that Satan acted in Balaam as to that that when Balaam knew this before and how desirable indeed it was to dye the Death of the Righteous yet that he should presently hereupon love the Wages of Vnrighteousness which he might conclude would cut him off and hinder him from the other good and desirable thing But truly Satan deceiveth not only the Poor and Foolish but even the more Wise and Learned and Eloquent of Mankind for so was this Balaam And so as Rabshakeh could speak in the Person of his Master for thus saith the King of Assyria Make an Agreement with me by a Present and come out to me Isa 36. 16. So if the Great God of the World should speak on that wise unto the Inhabitants of the Earth as indeed he doth not but rather disclaims and disowns and denies that sort If I were Hungry I would not tell thee for the World is mine and the fulness thereof Thinkest thou that I will eat the Flesh of Bulls or drink the Blood of Goats Offer unto God Thanksgiving and pay thy Vows unto the most High But suppose that any false or pretended Messengers or Ministers from him should Preach unto you on this manner For thus saith the Lord God make an Agreement with me so far is no false Doctrine for Jesus Christ the Truth it self Preacheth the same to Mankind Agreâ— with thine Adversary quickly whilst thou art in the way But here comes in the Falshood and it is falsly applied Make an Agreement by a Present and that must be Thousands of Rams and Ten Thousands Rivers of Oyl The cunning corrupt Romish Priests have hence drained a great deal of Tithes and Alms to feed and enrich themselves for they have fallaciously Reasoned and Perswaded the People that what was given unto them this way was making a Present unto the Lord and consequently an Aâ—tonement for their Sins But all this will not do for iâ— one should go yet further and as those who gave up their Children unto Moloch so they would give up their very Children which came out of their very Bowels as Sacrifices to appease God their first Born for their Transgression and the Fruit of their Body for the Sin of their Soul All this is more besides the matter still for God requires none of these things What are Thousands of Rams and Ten Thousand Rivers of Oyl unto him whose is the World and the fulness thereof But this is more than all the Sacrifices and Alms in the World which make so great an outward shew and noise to walk humbly with thy God that is to be obedient unto him for this is the best and most real instance of Humility And this walking Humbly with thy God denotes a doing so throughout ones Life even as long as we walk at all In truth if we do thus walk Humbly with our God we have no Reason to fear as concerning the Sin of our Soul For we may let God alone to do as to that even according to the Words of his Covenant and Truth provided always that we be and continue in Covenant with him For I will be merciful to their Vnrighteousness and their Sins and Iniquities will I remember no more Heb. 8. 12. Most Precious and Comfortable Words which I had rather in truth to belong unto me when I lie upon my Death Bed or in whatever Hoâ—â— I am taken either violently or suddenly out of this World then to have a Medicine or means found out how I might live not only Fifteen but if it were Fifteen times Fifteen Years longer for if God is merciful unto my Vnrighteousness which signifies where I have not come up unto but have come short of that great Rule of Righteousness in Scripture and if he remembers my Sins and Iniquities no more then let Death come upon me as soon as it will and what way it will it cannot possibly hurt me But this will never be unless in our foregoing Life God is our God and we are to him a People There is no way to be Blessed in ones Death but to be Godly in ones Life There is no way to have God for our Friend and to be at Peace with us when through the Passage or Entry of Death we come to appear before him but to have lived unto the same invisible God to have served him with our whole Heart and to have obeyed him in all things in these days of our Flesh As we live so we shall dye and so again we shall dye that is Receive after Death according as we have lived These are Truths of great importance and necessary to be Understood aright and done accordingly that Souls may no longer Shipwrack and be lost upon those deceitful and broken Planks As if it were then soon enough to serve God throughly and constantly and Universally when they come to be Sick or in Declining and Old Age or upon a Dying Bed God forbid for this have I found in all my Study out of the Book of Gods Statutes and in all my enquiring and searching diligently out of the Scriptures of Truth that such a Man or Woman who thinks so and will venture and run the risque to Act accordingly It were better that a Millstone were tyed about his Neck and that he be thrown into the Sea for this would only sink him into Temporal Death and Destruction But the other deceit if trusted and relied on will involve them into Everlasting Destruction from the presence of the Lord and the Glory of his Power Such will never enter into that rest which remaineth for the People of God Inasmuch as they were never his People who did not serve and obey him in the most nor yet in the best part of their life time Altho' some yea too many of that kind of outward worldly Priesthood now among us Who heal the hurt of the Daughter of my People slightly crying Peace Peace when there is no Peace Will also huddle up the matter after their rate when People are lying in Fears and Hoâ—rours on their Death Bed and send them out of thâ— world with a vain hope and false thought yet even theâ—â— might have Learned better and more faithful dealing froâ— that afore-mentioned saying of corrupt Balaam for hâ—â— fault and failure only was that he spake well but did illâ— Behold I have received Commandment to Bless and he hatâ— Blessed and I cannot reverse it So it is on the other hanâ— where we Ministers have received Commandment to Cursâ— or to speak evil As Cursed are all they that err from hiâ— Commandments Or where he hath threatned to Punishâ—â— there God hath Cursed and Threatned and He will Punishâ—â— and we cannot reverse it Not all the Ministers Preachers or Understanding People now living on the Earth can reverse or change from the least Title of thâ— Word of God that it should fail or not
would insist only upon useful and profitable Subjects which I have observed accordingly and yet more chiefly when I have spoken of these things I do hereby appeal to the several Hearts and Consciences of those who shall Hear or Read this Can ye think of a more profitable and useful Subject of Discourse then for ye to be put in mind and directed how ye ought to live and how ye ought to die The Words of our Text are Hezekiahs Prayer and Saying unto the Lord in the presence and hearing of his Prophet which may be supposed by way of Answer to that message and saying of Isaiah from the Lord unto him which was Set thine House in order for thou shalt die and not live And thereupon this behaviour and reply of Hezekiah is thus recorded Then Hezekiah turned his Face unto the Wall c. Now what God spake in time past unto Hezekiah by the Prophet in these last Days he doth speak the same unto each Man or Woman in his word and by the Ministry thereof all one as if he now called them severally by their Names such an one and such an one yea every one of ye Set thine House in order for thou shalt die and not live It is certain That every one cannot make so Good an Answer and Return hereupon as Hezekiah did for as all are Transgressours from the Womb so the greater part of Men and Women do continue so But to make such a comfortable Answer and Return is only the distinguishing Lot and Portion of the Generation of thy Children the true Saints and Servants of the Lord. There is a wide difference between sudden wishes and real continued performances For the first even Sinners and Hypocrites the Ignorant and Ungodly have some times good wishes and wouldings towards God O that they did please him and were at Peace with him when indeed they do not go about so to do and obtain it But the Righteous and Godly know it is vain and deceitful work before the Lord Cursed is He that doth the Work of the Lord deceitfully Unless their Good Resolutions be turned into actual performances For even a wicked Balaam could and did cry out before hand upon a serious Fit and Mood Let me die the Death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his Numbers 23. 10. When yet for all this Good Expression he did soon after Love the Wages of unrighteousness 2 Pet. 2. 15. Even so there are in the Wicked and Children of Disobedience some secret and inward thoughts that it would be better for them if they did lead a Godly Obedient and Righteous Life But notwithstanding all these Good Thoughts Like the Dog they return to their Vomit and so they continue and persist still in their former Ungodliness and Irreligion Sin and Transgression But it is only a Godly Hezekiah or one like unto Hezekiah who can make that most sweet and comfortable Review and Appeal to him that is Invisible and have their own Heart and Conscience within them Witnessing to the Truth Reality and Sincerity thereof Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a Perfect Heart and have done that which is Good in thy sight and Hezekiah wept sore Not for Grief and Vexation that he had done so In no wise but through that abundance of Comfort and Rejoycing which upon this very same Reflection did hence stream and flow in upon his Soul For I trow and assure ye that such a Reflection or Remembrance is better and will contribute more to ones future which indeed is the only real and enduring Happiness Then to have lived in Pleasure on the Earth to have been wanton or to have nourished our hearts as in the Day of Slaughter James 5. 5. For it may be sensibly perceived even now that the Pleasures of this life However sweet they may seem to some in Enjoyment and whilst they were present yet as they choke the word Luke 8. 13. So they make Death bitter and more terrible When a Man comes to die if he hath heretofore lived in all the Pleasures Riches and Honour of this World he is never the better for having had them but rather he suspects his condition to be the worse in that they have occasioned so much the more Sin and Guilt and Pride unto him as to which he must go away to give an Account and this Account will be with Grief and not with Joy which will be unprofitable for him He being then to undergo so much Pain Loss and Punishment for the sin which he Committed in the Days of Flesh And then also the Soul makes inquiry what his Good she hath done in order unto or towards God and as from the other sort doth arise fearful Expectation so the having done Good will stand in some stead and yield Comfort and Hope and Assurance and Boldness in that Day The only want and failure here will be if there hath been any Good done would God there had been more of it and it had been better but that cannot be now neither for care should have been taken as to this sooner and before However the Soul must go away to give Account and receive for it as it is It is probable by these two kinds of Speech Hezekiah was sick unto Death then Hezekiah turned his Face towards the Wall That Hezekiah was at this very time when the Prophet Isaiah came unto him and said thus that then he was lying in his Bed of Sickness and Languishing As yet more fully appears by what is after Written When he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness ver 9. And then afterwards mention is made of his Going up to the House of the Lord ver 22. Which he was not able to do whilst he was there And as it is elswhere Written The Lord will strengthen him upon the Bed of Languishing Thou wilt make all his Bed in his Sickness Psal 41. 3. Now these things are Written in the Book of the Lord for our Hope and Comfort for our Learning and Admonition that we should also sometimes in thought and supposal throw our selves before hand upon a Sick and Dying Bed That is put the case and imagine it so to our selves before we come to lye upon it in Deed and Reality For we shall never be the sooner sick in Conceit for thus doing but only thereby we may be the better strengthened in the Soul and Inner Man against and at the very time when our outward Body shall be actually Languishing in the Bed For to this agree two alike Speeches of the Antient Heathen Pliny which are near to the same purpose and signification The one whereof is This is the sum of all Philosophy which was given to regulate and make better the manners of Men If we would be so in our Health as we profess and resolve we will be when we are sick The other saying is a little
also are formed out of the Clay to come down to the plainness and simplicity of thy Worship As for mine own part I do abhoâ— such a Thought with the utmost Indignation from the very bottom of my Soul but I cannot help the Talk Esteem and Reproach of others But lest it should seem somewhat too trivial to menâ— tron or rehearse these things We may read somewhat alikâ— to this in 2 Sam. 6. 14 15 16. And David danced beforâ— the Lord wiâ—h all his might and David was girded with 〈◊〉 linen Ephod And as the Ark of the Lord came into the City of David Michal Saul ' s Daughter looked through a Wiâ—â— dow and saw King David leaping and dancing before thâ— Lord and she despised him in her Heart and came out tâ— meet him and said How Glorious was the King of Israel who uncovered himself to Day in the Eyes of the Handmaiâ— of his Servants as one of the vain Fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself David was here so far from being discouraged at this sarcastical kind of Saying that he 〈◊〉 more confirmed in his Duty I will play before the Lord will be more vile then thus and will be base in mine own Sight and of the Maid-Servants which thou hast spoken of of them shall I be had in honour Even so will I Preach Righteousness in this little Congregation for that no more are gathered together that is the Sin and Fault of those who refuse to come it is their Stubbornness and Disobedience their Pâ—ide and Abomination of Heart however Vile or Base I shall be thought of by others for it knowing and believing that where Two or Three are gathered together in his Name and in his Fear there God and Christ will be in the midst of them But God hath chosen the foolish things of the World and base things of the World and things which are despised hath God chosen 1 Cor. 1. 27 28. All those afore-mentioned Imaginations of Pride will vanish and disappear utterly and seem as nothing upon a Death-bed Which time is hastening upon them as it hath been already fulfilled as to those of foregoing Generations as to the Rich and Chief of the People As a Dream when one awaketh so O Lord when thou awakest thou shalt despise their Image Psal 73. 20. The Lord of Hosts hath purposed it to stain the Pride of all Glory and to bring into Contempt all the Honourable of the Earth Isa 23. 9. When Pride will profit them nothing but rather sink them down into the lowermost Hell and Riches with all their Vaunting will do them no Good As Socrates that real Martyr for the one God against the vain Polutheism of the Gentiles told his Judges immediately after they had passed the Sentence of Death upon him I go away to die but ye to live a little longer but which will be the better for us God knows My Answer is alike to this scornful Reproof of those that are at ease and the contempt of the Proud concerning this matter I am resolved by the Divine Grace to go on in this manner of way Reproach it in as pitiful and mean a manner as you will and ye will continue a little longer in your Contempt of Gods Word and Commandment in your going on according to the fashion and course of this World and in the way of the Multitude but which will be better for us at last God knows But the same Word of God which speaks not one Tittle of Good of this kind of Conversation and manner of Acting doth make known to me that as long as I continue faithful in his Service and am not weary of well-doing for in due Season we shall reap if we faint not If I fear not the Reproach of Men nor am afraid of their Revilings Then the same God who chose David before Michals Father and before all his House to appoint him Ruler over Israel the People of the Lord he also may choose me to reign in his Kingdom before such Scoffers and Reproachers of me only for serving God in the Word of his Ministry and of the Saints and Servants of the Lord I may be had in Honour in the day of Eternity when such like shall be thrust down into shame and everlasting Contempt and become an hissing to Angels and Men. In a word Let People do so in all the several things pertaining to God as they will wish they had done when they come to be Sick unto Death or in a dying Day or as soon as they are let slip into Eternity Remember this great End and thou shalt never do amiss SERMON II. ON Isaiah XXXVIII 2 3. Then Hezekiah turned his Face toward the Wall and Prayed unto the Lord And said Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a Perfect Heart and have done that which is good in thy sight and Hezekiah wept sore THere is not a Sentence or Word in Scripture but what is observable and somewhat may be gathered from thence Yea the very Iota's Points and Stops thereof are to be heeded and attended unto for some meaning and signification may be also drawn and conceived of according as they are and do stand And so when we here Read that Hezekiah turned his Face towards the Wall and Prayed unto the Lord some Use and Word of Instruction is hereby conveyed and made known unto us namely that in our Worship of the Invisible God whether it be Publick or Private we should turn our Face to the Wall that is as saith the Psalmist Turn away mine Eyes from beholding Vanity and quicken me in thy way Psal 139. 37. This we should do at all Times and in all Places but yet more especially in and amidst the Worship of God we should turn away our Eyes from so much as beholding other Men and Women not looking about as the manner of many is at every one that comes into the Church or Congregation Nor yet should we stare about on this side or that side to observe other Peoples Devotions to the neglect of our own Nor yet should we look about what Vestments Clothes or Apparel such an one or such an one is in In a word we should turn away our Face from all outward and other Objects unto the Wall which being the same still and there being no great variety therein will not distract the Mind nor yet much divert it from its being more intent and fixed on its proper Object the Vnseen God whom we there come to bow down before and worship in our Soul And this I speak for your own Profit and that you may attend unto the Lord without Distraction 1 Cor. 7. 35. It is the manner of some to shut their Eyes in Prayer to hinder and prevent themselves the more from Wandring and Distraction in looking on outward Objects But Satan who hinders still can and also doth fill the Mind with other Thoughts and inward
yet as to this the Rule is safe herein to do as Moses did who was admonished of God when he was about to make the Tabernacle For see saith he that thou make all Things according to the Pattern shewed to thee in the Mount Heb. 8. 5. And now that the Old Dispensation is abolished we are to see that we Order all Things in our Worship according to the Pattern shewed to us in the Gospel That we may in our Worship which is a great thing relating unto that God with whom we have to do walk before God in Truth I do believe and speak after my Judgment that there is not a way of Worship now in this Nation nor yet on the Earth which is exactly according to the Scriptures of Truth in all things and in all things according to the Pattern shewed in the Gospel And I suppose it will be so seen at the Day of Judgment wherein it will be Found and Rehearsed That all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God Rom. 3. 23. So the several Churches and Congregations the several Saints and Servants of God have somewhat erred and come short of the Spirituality and Truth of his worship as it was in the Mind and Ordaining of God and as might be apprehended from out of his Book for it may be observed now a-days that in each Sect or Party however they are Nicknamed Distinguished or Termed there is something which is good and true and again there is somewhat which is Erroneous and Savours of Men. Now as to all this the faithful and knowing Soul as â—he Soars up above all the Ordinances of Religion as they are managed now a-days by the Worldly Priesthood they seeming to her cold dull low and fâ—at and she apprehends somewhat above them and is for higher and more excellent attainments So the same knowing and faithful Soul is vexed and dissatisfied That she knows not where on this Earth the People do worship God in all thigns exactly according to the mind of the Spirit Nor where â—er self may turn to the People of a Pure Language that â—hey may Call upon the Name of the Lord with one Consent Zeph. 3. 9. And she doth thirst and desire earnestly that she might once Worship the Lord God her Invisible Creatour so in the Congregations of his People as they were in the Days of a Old But where are they so now And she hath great Thought and Earnestness of Heart when that time will again come when it shall be fulfilled what is Written Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in the Days of Old and in former Years Mal. 3. 4. Tho' here again it is to be thought that as long as we are on this dark and corrupt Earth we shall never come to worship the Fatheâ— in Spirit and in Truth still we ought to endeavour and to do the best that ever we can till we come to fall down on our Faces before him in Heaven the Habitation of his Holiness where we shall see all things in the light of the Lord. What will satisfy this perplexity and doubt and desirâ— of Soul as to this great thing in the mean while shoulâ— be to this Effect and Purport As the Lord saith unto 〈◊〉 the Inhabitants of the Earth Eschew Evil and do Gooâ— 1 Pet. 3. 10 1. So let him or they that love salvatioâ— and would go to Heaven be sure to do this as much 〈◊〉 ever they can Avoid errour and receive and follow the truth in all the several instances thereof As God himselâ— speaketh on this wise If thou shalt learn to separate tâ— Precious from the Vile and to put a difference between 〈◊〉 Holy and Profane then shalt thou be meet to come unto 〈◊〉 Altar So here it may be reasoned and applied if thâ— knowest and also shalt carefully and constantly do tâ— same to take out the truth from that Multiplicty 〈◊〉 Errour which is abroad in the world like as is the gathâ—â— ing of Gold or Silver from out of the Dross or Honâ— from the Wax If thou knowest to put a difference between truth and falshood so as to gather and receive 〈◊〉 first into thy heart and cast away and not admit the 〈◊〉 ther sort then thou shalt be meet for to come with 〈◊〉 ceptance on the Altar of the Lord Thou shalt enter iâ— his City the Holy of Holies the highest Heavens 〈◊〉 to his presence and to his own Divine Majesty Be 〈◊〉 to observe this Rule in the worship of God Eschew 〈◊〉 falshood and errour therein and receive and do accord 〈…〉 to the truth according to the very best of thy Knowledge and Understanding and with all thy Heart 〈◊〉 and Will and then thy worship will be accepted with the Lord and in thy worship also thou wilt walk before the Lord in Truth Another Explication of walking before the Lord in Truth is to walk in such a way as is Butted and Bounded in his word which is Truth This seems to be the most proper Acceptation and Understanding thereof for to make Gods written Word and Revelation our Guide and Rule throughout the whole Course of our Life is a walking before the Lord in Truth and it is the true and right way to Heaven as to go through or by such and such places is the way to such a City or the like The Word and Truth of God are near one and the same thing Sanctify them through thy Truth Thy word is Truth John 17. 17. And so the walking according to the Word of God or the having our Conversation according to the Gospel is to walk before God in Truth And so it is reciprocally To walk before the Lord in Truth is to walk according to the VVord of God Every Variation or Deviation from it is a false way Therefore I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be Right and I hate every false way It was both a Puzzling and also a sudden Question of Pilate What is Truth To me it seems to be the expressing forth the Nature of things as they are with the Connexion between themselves and how they pertain to us Men. Things again are divided into things present and things to come Now to know the very Nature of both these and how they belong unto and are to be had by us What is Good for us and what is Evil for us so as to choose the Good and Refuse the Evil this is Truth Here again to make a Right Judgment and Choice for our selves so as to pursue the best of Ends viz. Future Blessedness and Glory by Lawful and Right means This a walking before the Lord in Truth And so it may be conceived of in other like Instances As to the Second Particular What it is to walk before the Lord with a perfect heart Paul gives the Character of some Jews that they had a Good mind towards God And here Put and Conceive
Creatour is as directly opposite and contrary to the having a Good mind towards God as Darkness is unto Light It is also contrary unto a Perfect heart for this is an Imperfection to a Witness Yea such an Imperfection that unless it be remedied and taken away it will lay the Creature in Punishment and Misery As for mine own Part although in my common or week Day Life and conversation I have spoken and done Many Things which are contrary unto different from and not according to the Pure VVord of God yet I do not therefore dare to Hate or Reproach that same Word Nor yet for none doth so as to the VVord abstractedly to the Person of him who ministreth or speaketh forth the same VVord against this my Sin and Errour For I know this would make the Guilt of my Sin seven times yet Greater and Consequently Uengeance would be taken on me sevenfold when the Lord comes to Punish the VVorld for their Evil and the wicked for their Iniquity But I Judge it safe to lay my Hand upon my Mouth and hold my Peace and where I see my self faulty to Endeavour to mend And where I have not already attained neither am already Perfect Phil. 3. 12. There to Go on to Perfection Heb 6. 1. Avoiding the Errour and deceit of the VVorld herein of always Purposing and Resolving and not performing accordingly or of complaining and yet not mending But we should still Press forwards and Undeavour Unfeignedly so to do Not to attain unto absolute Perfection is the Infirmity of the Flesh but not to endeavour after it is the fault and failure of the Spirit Here again it must be acknowledged that to walk before the Lord with a Perfect Heart is sooner said then done For it is the whole which God requires of Man It being the first and Great Commandment Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God With all thy Soul and with all thy Strength and with all thy Mind This Particle All being Annexed to all the Faculties and Powers thereof makes it a Perfect Heart For so it is where is all or the whole of a Thing Besides this Appeal which Hezekiah makes unto God in his Pining Sickness not by way of self Commendation but as a stay and support to his Mind under that outward Evil of Body The Spirit it self gives a very Good Character of him And he did that which was Right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his Father did He trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that after him was none like him among all the Kings of Judah nor any that were before him 2. Kings 18. 3 5. So that his doing according to all that David his Father did who was a Man after Gods one heart in all Things saving the matter of Vriah the Hittite Thus in reality and in Truth Hezekiah did walk before the Lord with a perfect Heart By this also may be seen that the Spirit of God keeps a Register of each Man or VVomans Life And God who is no Respecter of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh Righteonsness is accepted with him Who accepteth not the Person of Princes nor regardeth the Rich more then the Poor for they are all the Work of his hands doth in alike manner keep a Book Put thou my Tears into thy Bottle are not these things noted in thy Book Wherein the several deeds here done in the Body of all the Particular Men and Women of all Generations and Countreys from the greatest of them unto the least of them are written and noted all one as we see it written thus and thus of the several Kings of Judah and Jerusalem how they did carry it towards the Lord God for so we may read it thus or thus recorded of the Inhabitants of the Earth in the Scriptures of Truth There is an Emphatical and Pertinent Scripture to our present purpose in Hos 10. 2. Their heart is divided now they shall be found faulty A divided heart is not a perfect heart and as long as it remains thus divided we hence see that it will be found and pronounced faulty that is defective or wanting in the sight Estimation Judgment and Account of God And yet alas Is not this the case of us all or of most of us Is not our heart divided one part is towards God and another part is for the World and for the Men and Things therein According to what Paul speaketh of himself So then with the mind I my self serve the Law of God but with the flesh the Law of sin Rom. 7. 25. He that doth not observe and feel the like within himself is Blind Ignorant and knows nothing as he ought to know Doth not one part of our heart Savour the things of God And again another part of our heart doth Savour the Things of Men. I discern and experience it so in my self Now this is but a divided heart which God in Hosea finds fault with And when he saith in the Proverbs My Son give me thine heart It may be truly reasoned and concluded that he will have a whole heart or none And hereupon the word of Instruction and Exhortation arises on this wise that this same divided heart must be cut off Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your hearts that ye be no more stiff-necked or rather changed and renewed that all the heart may be brought into intire obedience Subjection and Conformity to God till it becomes a good and perfect heart which He is well pleased with and delights in and will accept off for want whereof it is that we neither find God nor yet doth he hear our Prayers The heart hankers after some Carnal Lust or other Sin or Act of Disobedience Consider of this throughly and amend thy ways and thy doings O my Soul and therefore the Lord hath withdrawn himself and hides his Face and doth not manifest himself unto us as He dâ—d in former Days But your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his Face from you that He will not hear Isa 59. 2. So that where we cry and the Lord doth not hear or where we do not find such an Answer and Return to Prayer as we have experienced heretofore there let us examine our selves whither there be not some Sin or Iniquity which is the Cloud that hinders that our Prayers do not pass through in us which God is displeased with Here our heart is divided and found faulty for with some part of it it obeys or serves some Sin or Lust O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had Dominion over us Isa 26. 13. And we do not seek or serve him our whole heart But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God thou shalt find him if thou shalt seek him with all thy heart and with all thy Soul Deut. 4. 29. And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall
Saith the Apostle James who spake by a true Gospel Spirit Be Afflicted and Mourn and Weep Let your Laughter be turned to Mourning and your Joy to Heaviness Humble your selves in the sight of God and He shall lift you up James 4. 9 10. And then by consequence if we do all this The Lord who shall turn our Captivity as the Rivers in the South will again turn our Mourning to Laughter and our Heaviness to Joy According as is promised by his Spirit which spake through the Evangelical Prophet And the Ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with Songs They shall obtain Joy and Gladness and Sorrow and Sighing shall flee away Isa 35. 10. Our Saviour Jesus Christ the Author and Finisher of our Faith in whom all the Gospel doth center doth assure and promisâ—â— the same in those afore-quoted words of his wherein also He doth Recommend to all that are Christians indeed this State of Weeping now with that true Word of Encouragement for ye shall Laugh As also He tacitly finds fault with and threatens where People Laugh now for they shall Mourn and Weep So that the way to Happiness hereafter is by Mourning and Weeping here As again Laughter and Merriment now I only speak here of the Laughter and Merriment of the World which arises from the things thereof is the way to misery hereafter Behold in this Gods Thoughts are not as Mans Thoughts For herein they are contrary to the Thoughts of the People of the World who if they see any one to serious and Godly herein they conclude him to be Melancholy and Miserableâ— whereas as sure as Gods Word is true this is the only way to the true Blessedness But contrariwise it is as to the Merry Mâ—n of the World for in the Judgment and Estimation of God if we take a view oâ— them by the Glass of his Word and go into the sanctuary and see the end of these Men Surely thou didst set them in slippery Places Thou castedst them down into Destruction Psal 73. 18. As the pleasant and purling streams of Jordan do empty themselves into the Dead Sea So all their sinful Mirth and Laughter will End and Terminate in endless Howlings Seeing that these things are so What manner of Persons ought we to be in all Gravity of Spirit and Serious Conversation Even with the same Hezekiah Like a Crane or a Swallow so did I chatter I did Mourn as a Dove Isa 38. 14. For as to this the sweet Word of Promise speaks on this wise And the Days of thy Mourning shall be ended Isa 60. 20. Which again according as our Mourning hath been will be made up in a Proportionable Cup of Consolation and Rejoycing And tho' as afore-observed of some Constitutions that they cannot Weep or shed Tears So here it may be when People are in Health Wealth and Prosperity when they have the World at will as we commonly Phrase and Understand it and all things are smooth and easy with them When their Eyes stand out with Fatness they have more then heart could wish Psal 73. 7. When they are Puffed up with sensuality and the Good Things of this Life then indeed they cannot so easily be in a State of Weeping and Mourning But here again as it was commanded in Old Time that they should not come near their Wives when they were in their solemn times of approaching and drawing near unto the Lord God And as now under the Gospel the Apostle delivereth the Rule unto Husbands and Wives Defraud ye not one the other except it be with consent for a Time that ye may give your selves unto Fasting and Prayer So in like manner it may be Reasoned and Inferred That we should sometimes abridge and deny our selves even the Lawful Comforts and Enjoyments of Life that we may the more afflict our Souls and so come to be in a due Posture and Frame for a State of Weeping and Mourning FINIS SERMON V. Isaiah XXXVIII 4 5. Then came the Word of the Lord unto Isaiah saying Go and Say to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy Father I have heard thy Prayer I have seen thy Tears Behold I will add unto thy Days Fifteen Years IF we consider throughly and Weighfully in our Minds these three following Scriptures Thus saith the Lord Let not the Wise Man Glory in his Wisdom neither let the Mighty Man Glory in his Might let not the Rich Man Glory in his Riches But let him that Glorieth Glory in this that he Vnderstandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord Jer. 9. 23. 24. For what Nation is there so Great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all Things that we call upon him for Deut. 4. 7. And Jesus lift up his Eyes and said Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me and I know that thou hearest me always John 11. 41 42. Put and conceive all this together and it will hence appear that the Greatest Priviledge Honour and Excellency and Benefit which can accrue to any Man on this Earth is for God to hear his Prayer To be nigh unto him in all things that he Calls upon God for and herein the Righteous and so any one is more excellent then his Neighbour according as he knows and understands more of the Lord God We see evidently now that some do Account of and set by themselves because they Joyn House to House and lay Field to Field and because they Wax Rich and abound therein Who because they are Purse Proud and have more Money than such and such of their Neighbours and Acquaintance their hearts are not only lifted up above their Brethren but I had almost said above the Lord their God also For forsooth they refuse and disdain and are ashamed to come to the place of his worship and of hearing his word for the Plainness and Simplicity thereof and because that only some few Poor People do come there Have any of the Rulers believed on him So it hath been alike asked more than once or twice by some of my Carnal Kindred who walk in the Vanity of their mind having their Understanding darkened as to the things of God and as to the true method of the Dispensation of his Kingdom Do any of the substantial and Rich sort of the People come to hear thee I cannot Answer as to any of them but if any of the Poor of the Flock or those Poor despised ones in the world whose Prayer God heareth Thus saith the Lord the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy one to him whom Man despiseth 〈◊〉 him whom the Nation abhorreth Isaiah 49. 7. Do come here to this Assembly it is more to me as I consideâ— these things when I go into the sanctuary and take 〈◊〉 View and Estimate thereof from out of the Glass of thâ— word than if Kings and Princes Lords and Ladies 〈◊〉 other Rich and Honourable Men and Women did comâ— to