Absolom unto his House So tho God sent unto me by his Spirit reasoning within me once and again Come do thou approach unto me and give up thy self only and immediately unto the Work of the Ministry which I had created thee for and set thee apart for it this He did once and again but I would not come for fear of displeasing my Kindred according to the Flesh But at length God sent a fit of Sickness on my Body which might have cut it down and destroy'd it whereas Commission was then given to shake only the Tree of my Life Whereupon I lying upon a sick Bed and liable unto Death every Hour altho my Sense and Understanding were preserv'd intire and then considering yet more throughly of this matter I vowed unto the Lord which I desire to remember and observe the longest Day I have to live that if it pleased him to grant me a Recovery and Reprieve I would set aside such and such Hours in each Day for the searching out and Contemplation of his Eternal Truths which should be all unto that end according to what is written Restore unto me the Joy of thy Salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit Then will I teach Transgressors thy ways and Sinners shall be converted unto thee Psal 51. 12 13. Some of which have made up and composed those several Books I have written and published unto the World The only drift and design whereof is according to that Covenant and Direction which was given to the true Levitical Priesthood To turn many away from Iniquity Mal. 2. 6. and to turn many unto Righteousness Dan. 12. 3. which also are the two only Principal Ends of all our Speaking or Preaching by word of Mouth But here I have observed a Gradation or going on by steps for my first beginning herein was to testifie unto my Father's House lest they come to the Place of Torment for which I receiv'd evil Intreaty and unkind Usage from them for no other Reason but because that I did from the Word of the Lord and not out of mine own Head Rebuke sharply those that sinned but there did arise in the Hearts of some a Rancour and Indignation against it they being then of the like Temper and Disposition with those of whom it is written They hate him that rebuketh in the Gate and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly Amos 5. 10. and at length they would not hear the word of the Lord from my Mouth any more Then I preached to this Town and Neighbourhood in the House of one who is now a Widow where at first my Ministry was well accepted with the greater part I then commending my self to the Hearts and Consciences of my Hearers nevertheless for this things sake I was above Eight Years since removed from my Father's House Who at my going forth thrusted me out of his Gate and at the very same time tauntingly said That God would be as much Glorified by my going away as if I stay'd Whereby was that Scripture litterally fulfill'd Your Brethren that hated you that cast you out for my names sake said Let the Lord be glorified but he shall appear to your Joy and they shall be ashamed Isa 66. 5. And then the Lord called me from seeking to convert a Family and a Parish into the way of his Commandments if I could not as of my self for we are not sufficient of our selves to think much less to do any thing but our sufficiency is of God by the Words of his Grace and Truth be instrumental towards the turning a whole Nation from Iniquity unto Righteousness But alas the Devil and the Spirit of Disobedience hath worked and doth yet so strongly work in the Children of Men that I have hitherto been worsted and foiled in all these For ye are in no wise to think that because the most and greater part have not been obedient to the Word therefore it was not the Word or Work of the Lord in the Ministration whereof I was employ'd for this would be to contradict the Scripture and what hath in like manner happen'd to the other Ministers and Prophets of the Lord in former Generations and Countrys Saith Jeremiah From the thirteenth year of Josiah the Son of Amos King of Judah even unto this day that is the three and twentieth year the word of the Lord hath come unto me and I have spoken unto you rising early and speaking but ye have not hearkned And the Lord hath sent unto you all his Servants and Prophets rising early and sending them but ye have not hearkened nor inclined your Ear to hear Jer. 25. 3 4. Then I said I have laboured in vain I have spent my strength for nought and in vain yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with my God And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob again to him tho Israel be not gather'd yet I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength Isa 49. 4 5. Moses and the Prophets Christ and the Apostles and all the faithful Ministers and Preachers both in that and in all the several successive Generations ever since have labour'd in this Work of the Lord to bring Jacob again unto him to bring Mankind into the way of his Commandments and that they might have Respect unto all his Statutes Psal 119. 6. and not keep some and neglect others as the manner of many is Which tho' they have effected of some few yea very few peculiar People about one in an hundred in the several sorts and denominations of Christianity yet it hath not as yet been so accomplished since the Days of the Creation as to the Multitude and Generality of People These indeed have been brought over so far as to outward Worship for all People will walk every one in the name of his God or it may be some more have come further to a partial Observation of the Law but not unto universal and constant Obedience unto all the Words of the Law and Gospel without turning aside to the Right Hand on to the left Saith another Servant of God who was by him employ'd also in this same Work of teaching Transgressors thy ways and that Sinners may be converted unto thee but because of contrary Success therein he crys out Let not those that wait on thee O Lord God of Hosts be ashamed for my sake Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake O God of Israel because for thy sake I have born Reproach shame hath covered my Face I am become a stranger unto my Brethren and an Aliant unto my Mothers Children for the zeal of thine House hath eaten me up and the Reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me Psal 69. 6 7 8 9. By which last may be perceiv'd the exceeding sinfulness of Reproach for to Reproach any one who doth handle the word of God
of him and obey his Voice From the last Words of my Text for I lift up my Soul unto thee the best Instruction that may be learnt from thence is That ye should always have your Hearts lifted up and praying unto God especially in such like Petitions Cause me to hear thy loving Kindness in the Morning cause me to know the way wherein I should walk and then seek out of the Book of the Lord and read and in Subordination to that and as guided thereby follow and obey the Dictates of thine own Conscience We live in an Ignorant and Men-pleasing World wherein they Excuse the Rich and Condemn the Poor in his Cause But admist all the manifold kind of sayings and talk of others amidst the Strife of Tongues Psal 31. 10. or that Advice and Reproach even from the Religious also every and each Person is to guide and steer his own Actions by the Word of God and the Dictates of his own Conscience According to what that teaches and manifests from within and not according to what others say so we are to move and act There is but little in the Opinions and Talk of People but every Man's Judgment cometh from the Lord. That which is highly esteem'd among Men is an Abomination in the sight of the Lord and so contrariwise it runs that which is lessen'd and despised amongst Men provided it be agreeable to the Word of his Holiness is highly esteemed in the sight of God The Reason whereof is because the common Multitude of Men even of the outward Worshippers Religious and Professors also for that of Luke 16. 15. was spoken in Reference to the Jewish Nation who were all of them Worshippers of the Father are not nor have they been as yet brought in Conformity to the great and perfect Rule of Righteousness in Scripture and they do not understand the Things of God as his Saints and Servants did of old time or as themselves shall yet do when they are let slip from out of this Flesh But Abraham said Son remember that thou in thy Life time receivedst thy good things and so the departed Soul will remember the several Steps and Passages of this Life And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the Wilderness Deut 8. 2. And so we shall remember all the way which the Lord led us these Threescore Years and Ten or so many Years as we lived in this Wilderness of the Earth as also we shall then remember and discern when we were in the way of God which was the way wherein we should walk and when we were not If we could know as much in this Life as we shall know in the next Life we should never do amiss or miscarry as to futurity If we would so do in all things as we shall wish we had done when we come to die and are let slip into Eternity we should never go much astray from the way of the Lord. Our Duty to God in many Places of Scripture is called the way and the way of the Lord which here in the Text is called the way wherein we should walk From whence this plain Inference necessarily arises That to obey and serve God is to do as we should do It is a Walking in the way wherein we should walk For a Creature to do as he should do is to obey and serve the Lord. But besides this general Explication and Assertion there being diversities of Gifts and differences of Administrations and diversities of Operations 1 Cor. 12. 4 5 6. given to the several Creatures And the Son of Man hath given to every Man his Work and commanded the Porter to watch Mark 13. 34. So that besides the general Service of God and keeping his Commandments there is some distinct and particular Work according to the Gifts given them and according to their condition and manner of Life wherein the several Men and Women are to glorifie and serve the Lord according to their several Trade Degree or Rank People stand in the World Whoso shall hear or read this may somewhat conceive what is his particular Work which God hath set him to do and I do in part know and apprehend what is mine Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk for I lift up my Soul unto thee Now to apply all this to my Preaching and your Hearing After that Paul had seen the Vision immediately he endeavoured to go into Macedonia assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the Gospel unto them So I reflecting and looking back upon my manner of Life from my Youth up which know some of my Neighbours and by my Preaching unto some of my Father's Servants at Eleven or Twelve Years of age and in the hearing of the then Godly Schoolmaster of this Town as also by the whole Drift Bent and Tendency of my Mind ever since which the Lord hath made to be seriously given and inclined from all this I assuredly gather that the Lord who created my Soul thus had called me that is by his having enabled me so to do to preach the Gospel that is to preach and publish the Truths thereof unto the People of this my Generation And when my Parent had designed me for the Study and Practice of the common Law I remember and observ'd many times that as the Law-books lay open before me and whilst I was outwardly reading in them my Mind at the very same time would be so intent and running upon Divine and Spiritual Things even the Things pertaining to the Kingdom of God that I could not mind and be fixedly intent on the Law Whereupon I did several times think Do not I strive against the very Bent and Call of God in me which would have been if I had applied my self to the Study of the Law of Man when I should have given up my self unto the Study of God's Statutes It would seem Arrogancy and Boldness of Speech if I should apply unto my self what God said to Jeremiah Before I formed thee in the Belly I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the Womb I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a Prophet unto the Nations Yet the Lord himself who shall rehearse all things from the beginning of the World and calleth all his Creatures by Name in the Day that He shall write up the People He will make known how much there was in this of my having been sanctified from the Womb. But when after that Thought of Heart Do I strive against the Bent and Call of God in me yet I did not obey this same Call so as like unto Timothy To give up my self wholly and only unto Reading and Study of the Scripture until as when Absolom sent for Joab he would not come therefore he said unto his Servants see Joab's Field is near mine and he hath Barley there go and set it on Fire Then Joab arose and came unto
Finisher of our Faith Some say that he is a good Man and others have said nay but he deceiveth the People This last Reproach hath been handed about or otherwise they would never have dissuaded People from coming to hear me So far it is true some do secretly wish that I was gone out of the Country yea many in this Island had rather I was gone out of the World By the way if their Spirits now are so impatient and restless that they cannot endure a single Troubler of Israel how then will they endure when their Souls fly out of their Bodies it is but a short Respite and Reprieve between if they should be with the whole Company of Prophets and Apostles who were so to their Age and Country what I am accused of now Neither they nor my self have troubled Israel but those Men only have troubled it who have forsaken the Commandments of the Lord. Some very few others in this Neighbourhood had rather perhaps that I stay longer among them for their Souls Good and Edification by their attending on my Ministry in this place But beloved of whom I hope Salvation to speak a short Word unto ye I have no greater Joy than to hear that my Children walk in Truth John 3. 4. For what is our Hope or Joy or Crown of Rejoycing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ for ye are our Glory and Joy 1 Thes 2. 19 20 This is my Hope my Comfort my Joy and my Crown that every one of you are not gainsaying and disobedient Despisers and non-hearers although far the greater Multitude of the Inhabitants of this Town and Neighbourhood are Ye might convince them in the mean while as ye will be Witness against the others at the last Day Furthermore then we beseech you Brethren and exbort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and please God even according to all the words of the Gospel without adding one Word or diminishing from it so ye would abound more and more The same Paul saith on this wise concerning another Minister of the Gospel Receive him for he also worketh the work of the Lord as I work So my dear and beloved Fellow-Christians I would have ye to know that whensoever I go from hence notwithstanding the contrary Reproaches of many People I do work the same Work of the Lord which I do here in this place Namely by the words of God's Grace and Truth which are committed to my Ministration to endeavour to convert Sinners and to make them a People prepared for the Lord. But there I do it more by writing and publishing the Copies thereof which is the more lasting and remaining Good Here it is by a living Voice and by Word of Mouth Again of this ye are not ignorant that in other Cities Towns and Villages there are the like Creatures of the same God as ye your selves are and alike Sheep of the one and everlasting Shepherd who hath us Ministers for his under-Shepherds and these Sheep are to be fed instructed and exhorted in the Words of Eternal Life So that ye may be contented and satisfied for they also are Children of the Stock of Abraham and Flesh of your Flesh and Bone of your Bone altho' one who was a Burning and Shining Light in his Generation and some of ye were willing to rejoyce in his Light for a season should be removed to another place for the much yet greater ends of the Gospel and for the yet more Universal and lasting Publishing and Propagation of the Eternal Truths of God For the Souls of such of ye as shall be saved will be saved nevertheless whither I go away or stay if ye remember and continue mindful of the things that have been spoken and particularly if ye obey and observe the very last Direction which I Intend to leave with ye As also in the latter Days when ye shall consider it more perfectly than I can now declare it unto ye then ye will glorifie God on my behalf and also be well pleased therewith and have good Will towards me in my making the better Choice as to obey the Call of God and prefer the greater things pertaining to his Kingdom before the less This common thing of good Will is a thing that the Ministers of the Gospel do very often want signified by that relative kind of Speech Glory to God on the highest on Earth Peace and good Will towards Men. But as to the Souls of them in this Town and Neighbourhood who shall perish they would still continue Despisers and Non-hearers Reproachers and Blasphemers stubborn and perverse be Blinded Rom. 11. 7. and Snared Isa 8. 14. at the Word of my Ministry and there would be a stumbling Block hindering them from coming to hear it altho' I should continue here all the remaining evil Days of my Pilgrimage which I intend not to do As Robert Bolton call'd for his six Children up when he lay upon his Death-bed and utter'd this his last Saying unto them Take heed that none of ye do meet me at the Judgment-seat of God in an un-regenerate Heart so in this my Farewel-Sermon I warn and testifie unto all the Inhabitants of this Town and Neighbourhood let those that hear carry out this Word to them that do not hear take heed that none of ye do meet me at the Judgment-Seat of God in an un-regenerate Heart nor yet in the Spirit of despisal and refusal to hear the Word of the Lord nor yet in the Spirit of Reproach Stubbornness and Perverseness nor yet in the Darkness of Ignorance which most People are now in And which shews for these are the Fruits and Effects thereof that your Hearts as yet are Un-regenerate Unsanctified and Unrenewed and your foolish Hearts are darkned Which perhaps altho' they are not in every part yet it is so in some part thereof for ye are not as yet turn'd unto the Lord your God with all your Heart and with all your Souls and with all your Mind without the Exception or Reserve of any Lust Humour or Will of your own And ye are not as yet given up to follow the Lamb who is the Way the Truth and the Life and consequently the Conducts and Leadings of Divine Truth whither soever it goes but such do turn unto the Lord with some of their Heart but not with their whole Heart This Word is proper and belongs unto those of the several Professions Sorts Sects and Names of Religion inhabiting among us as they are commonly called or distinguished by Church-People Presbyterians Quakers The name of it nor yet your listing your selves in either of the Parties nor yet your confining your selves only unto it will not save ye nor any of ye But it must be pure and undefiled Religion before God thro' his Gracious Acceptance thereof it must be by true Primitive and Universal Christianity the way wherein our Fathers
A SERMON Preached unto the Inhabitants of the Town of Thornbury in Glocestershire on March 20. 1697 8. Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning for in thee do I trust Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk for I lift up my soul unto thee Psal clxiii 8. THE great Thought and Searching of Heart in Man the Reasonable Creature is God-ward or towards God And this again divides its self two ways that is to say whither God be angry or in favour with us and accordingly as we have a Fear Sence and Apprehension of One or the Other so we are either Troubled or else Contented We are troubled if we believe that the Invisible God over us hath Anger Wrath and Displeasure against us so on the other hand we are contented as we think that we have his Favour or Loving Kindness Although Solomon saith truly No man knoweth either love or hatred that is of God by all that is before him Yet it is an usual thing with Corrupt and Ignorant Man as he is Man a little tincture whereof even David the Servant of the Lord here had to judge of the Love or Hatred of God towards them according to the delightful or afflicting things which happen unto them in this World As sure as Scripture is true which is as certain as that the Word of God is true which again is as certain as that God himself is true This is a fallible yea it is a mistaken Rule to judge by For the Scripture saith expresly Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son which he receiveth Which same chastening for the present seemeth not joious but grievous Heb. xii 6 11. As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Rev. iii. 19. And so again it is on the other hand The men of the world have their portion in this life and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure They are full of Children and leave the rest of their substance unto their Babes Psal xvii 14. Their eyes stand out with fatness they have more than heart could wish Psal 1xxiii 7. The Tabernacles of Robbers prosper and they that provoke God are secure into whose hand God bringeth abundantly Job xii 7. Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things Luke xvi 25. And yet all this while it is certain that they who receive their good things in this Life the prosperous Sinners had not the true Favour of God Again it is certain that such who did fear before him although they received their evil things here and were plagued all the day and chastened every morning Psal 1xxiii 14. Yet these had the favour and loving kindness of God who whom he loves he loves with an everlasting love resting upon them all the same while though perhaps they were not sensible thereof For such a thing is possible yea it is common that as many wicked sinful People who are hardened ignorant and unbelievers and under the Displeasure yea they have the wrath of God abiding on them John iii. 36. Although in this Life-time they are not sensible of as much for they do not know and feel it So again it is on the other hand there is amongst us many a Soul that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light Isa 1. 10. Although they are really and indeed beloved of God yet they have not at the same time a sence of his Love and Favour the want whereof makes them to mourn and to be in the Spirit of Heaviness But in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel the Mystery of God should be finished as he hath declared to his Servants the Prophets Rev. x. 7. for indeed the whole way and method of the Dispensation of his Kingdom towards us Men is all Mystery It is given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven but to them it is not given Mat. xiii 11. Amongst other things which might be named and instanced in it is one part of this Mystery That his Servants and the Righteous should receive evil things from the hands of God and yet at the very same time God hath a Love towards them And so again the Sinners and Children of Disobedience receive good things from the hands of God and yet at the very same time the Lord is displeased with them God is angry with the Wicked every day although at the same time he sendeth Rain upon the just and unjust and is kind to the unthankful and to the evil This may even now be somewhat understood in the Sanctuary and from out of the Book of the Lord by those who are spiritually wise and discerning by such who believe and know the things of God but it will yet be more clearly seen at the end of Time when the Mystery of God shall be finished But in the mean while it is usual with the mixt Multitude and Common sort of People who judge by Appearance and not Righteous Judgment to esteem such stricken smitten of God and forsaken Isa 1iii 4. as if they were forsaken and hated also by the God who made the World because the World Frowns upon them and because they are in low Estate and seem outwardly miserable therein If I say I will speak thus behold I should offend against the Generation of thy Children No such matter for as the Friendship of this World is Enmity with God so when the World is cross and athwart and at Enmity with such an one it is rather a sign that God is a Friend unto him Said Jesus Christ the first Born amongst many Brethren the Son of God himself who was in the World and the World was made by him and the World knew him not He came unto his own and his own received him not This same Jesus Christ said unto his Disciples and Followers and Servants of all Generations and Countries If the World hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you If ye were of the World the World would love his own but because ye are not of the World but I have chosen you out of the World therefore the World hateth you So that the Hatred of the World provided that we be all along followers and doers of the thing that good is is rather a sign and evidence of the Love of God towards us because herein we are more conformed and likened unto him who had this Voice from out of the Cloud Thou art my beloved Son this day have I begotten thee And yet this same Beloved Son of God for there was in him also somewhat which savours of Men to evince and demonstrate that he was really come in and made Flesh when he came to endure the Rage of the Wicked Men of World and was Crucified by them then also he betwrayed forth Human Infirmity and Weakness in taking up that saying My God
my God why hast thou forsaken me Therein also thinking after the manner of Men that because he then came to feel Pain and Torment as if thereupon God who is all Blessedness had forsaken him And so in like manner David a Man after God's own Heart who spake forth the Words of our Text as it is written But they like Men have transgressed the Covenant so herein he spake like a Man For because of his Enemies which he mentions three times in this short Psalm of whom he complains ver 3 4. He prays for Deliverance from them ver 9. and for the utter Cutting off and Destruction of them ver 12. He also thought as if God had withdrawn his loving kindness and had none towards him for if he had he would not suffer him to have such Enemies But in this last David did err not knowing or rather not consisidering the Scriptures and the Power of God and the way and method of the Dispensation of his Kingdom towards us Men. God suffers them to have Enemies to hold his Servants in Warfare and Tryal David was not so much then destitute of the loving of kindness of God but he was destitute of the sense of the loving kindness of God which is evident from the very manner of expressing it Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the Morning Intimating thereby that there was such a thing as the loving kindness of God towards him but it was afar off and out of Hearing And therefore he Prays unto God to cause him to hear it and then it must be brought nearer and be sensible for Hearing is a Sense unto him Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning is a Relative kind of Speech which doth presuppose absence and want thereof inasmuch as a Man doth not pray for but rather give thanks for what he hath already But either David did not at all or at least not so much hear the loving kindness of God as he would desire for and therefore he puts up this Prayer unto God in this manner Why a sense and hearing of the loving kindness of God would be as so much Stay and Support as so much Armour and Defence against the Incursion and Assault of his Enemie He had some Apprehension of thus much from the following Words which he drops for in thee do I trust Which again presupposes some Fear he was in and some Danger he was subject unto as to both of which he did trust That the Invisible God would save deliver and preserve him from them Thus much may be surely gathered and reasoned That if God hath a loving kindness for any one he will never suffer him to utterly perish and tobe wholly miserable I do not say That God will not suffer him so much as to be struck but he will not suffer him to be destroyed that is not to be made by them eternally miserable His Enemies may possibly hunt and seek after him but they shall not totally overcome nor prevail against him for ever David doth here Pray like one who had the Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and of Might the Spirit of Knowledge and of the fear of the Lord Isa xi 2. For he knew that if he had once the loving kindness of God he had all which could be desired and what was necessary for Safety and Deliverance from Men and Devils and therefore he fitly and properly Prays for that in the first Place Thy loving kindness in the Morning As Morning thoughts are commonly most fresh and lively so then he was most troubled and doubtful and his Heart did misgive him and meditate Terror lest he should miss thereof and not have it As the same David saith When I wake I am still with thee Psal cxxxix 8. And as the Spirit saith The Lords Mercies are new every morning great is thy faithfulness Lam. iii. 23. Because that every Morning God doth as it were give us a new Life so if when we wake Morning after Morning he wakeneth Morning by Morning our Heart is still with God and it is always and altogether with him and if we then can perceive and hear his loving Kindness O Good God! how sweetly and contendedly might we pass the remaining few and evil Days of our Pilgrimage here on Earth But chiefly therefore it is that we do not hear and perceive this loving kindness of God in the Morning yea God withholds and denies his loving kindness unto us because of what is intimated in the following part of the Verse we do not know the way wherein we should walk which sometimes is for want of Understanding thereof but more commonly for want of Will and Readiness to do the same And therefore both these Petitons are fitly and properly connected together and they follow and succeed one another Cause me to hear thy loving Kindness in the Morning for in thee do I trust Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk for I lift up my Soul unto thee For the sake of the latter part of this Verse it is that I have chosen this Text to discourse on unto ye at this time and I do intend to apply it as to my Preaching and your Hearing as it hath been used in this Place It is a seasonable Petition to put in and use in our Prayers that God would direct us in all Difficulties and when we are in a Strait and Doubt that He would cause us to choose the right way Then the Captains of the Forces and all the People said unto Jeremiah the Prophet Pray for us unto the Lord that the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we should walk and the thing that we may do Jer. 42. 3. Cause me to know the way whorein I should walk for I lift up my Soul unto thee We may lawfully yea we ought to pray what we have a Promise for and as to this Matter the Word of Promise speaks on this Wise What Man is he that feareth the Lord him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant Psal 25. 12 14. His secret is with the Righteous Prov. 3. 32. Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his Servants the Prophets Amos 3. 7. If in any thing ye be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you Phil. 3. 15. And all thy Children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the Peace of thy Children Which last comes somewhat near unto and confirms the Doctrine of the Text which is this Then it is that God causes us to hear his loving Kindness when he also causes us to know the way wherein we should walk For here Isa 54. 13. is brought in as the effect of being taught of the Lord Great shall be the Peace of thy Children From whence it follows That we have great
faithfully and truly only upon the account of that this is to Reproach God himself and to Reply against God Rom. 9. 20. or as the Marginal Reading there is An answering again and disputing with God which is a sign of a sawcy and disobedient Servant This place of Psal 69. is interpreted of Christ in Rom. 15. 3. and John 2. 17. But all the Reproach Shame and Strangeness which David sustained in his own Person was because those Transgressors he had to deal withal would not be taught thy ways and the Sinners would not be converted unto God The like hath been also fulfill'd in me for herein I speak the Truth I lie not my Conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost as I will a verr the same at the Judgment-seat of God what Shame Strangeness and Reproach I my self whose Mouth now speaketh unto ye and whose Name is hereafter written have sustain'd either in this Nation or in this Parish Neighbourhood and County when I was a Reproach among all mine Enemies but especially mark that Adverb especially among my Neighbours and a fear to mine acquaintance Psal 31. 11. it hath all been because the People of this Nation have not obey'd that Word of the Lord which I have set before them Those in Haggai 1. 12. and in Ezra 10. did obey it but we read more often in Scripture that the Multitude and the Rich and Mighty People would not And so neither have the People of the House of my Nativity and Habitation obey'd that Word which I have formerly spoken unto them neither have the Generality and Multitude of the People of this Town and Neighbourhood obey'd the Word which I more lately preach'd unto them for if they had they would have heard the Word of the Lord at my Mouth but they refused to hearken This evil people have refused to hear Gods words Jer. 13. 10. Behold this is the Return which in the Presence of two or three of his Servants and where two or three are gather'd together in his Name he is in the midst of them which I make unto the Lord God of Israel for him to judge thereof when the great Day of his Judgment is come It may be seen in the Gospel what we are to do when our Ministry is not receiv'd but rejected in such a place Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said it was necessary that the Word of the Lord should first have been spoken unto you but seeing ye put it from you and judge your selves unworthy of Everlasting Life lo we turn to the Gentiles for so hath the Lord commanded us Acts 13. 46 47. And so my Countrymen and Neighbours I would I were the same in common Conversation so as to stand in God's Counsel Jer. 23. 22. and on his side in like manner as I am when I am either writing or preaching his Word it was necessary that the Word of the Lord should have been spoken to ye by me his Creature who was born in this Parish For God who doth nothing in vain doth not set a Light on an Hill or in such a place and give Gifts unto Men for no purpose but rather to give Light unto those round about and near unto it But seeing that the Inhabitants of this Town and Neighbourhood are herein like the Pharisees and Lawyers who rejected the Counsel of God against themselves and seeing that the Scripture herein is fulfill'd A Prophet is not without Honour but in his own Country and amongst his own kin and in his own House Mark 6. 4. By the way think not therefore that ye shall escape without Sin herein because your Refusal and Neglect and Contempt of the Ministration of the Word as it hath been by me used doth fulfil the Scriptures For Judas fulfill'd the Scriptures yet the same Word of Truth saith It would be good for him if he had never been born And ye put away my Preaching the Word from ye wherein the Words of Eternal Life are declared little do ye think that by Conseqence which the Holy Ghost knows Herein ye judge your selves unworthy of Everlasting Life Lo we turn to some other place where it may be better receiv'd for so hath the Lord commanded me Go and preach the Gospel to other Cities Towns and Villages for thither also I am sent But into whatsoever City ye enter and they receive you not go your ways out into the Streets of the same and say even the very Dust of your City which cleaveth on us we do wipe off against you Notwithstanding be ye sure of this that the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you Luke 10. 10 11. Altho' I am to take heed of any thing of Self intermixing for the wrath of Man worketh not the Righteousness of God yet when I have seen so few come to the House where I then preach'd the Word I have been moved with secret Indignation thereat so that I was thereupon put in mind yea I am yet afraid that I am herein secretly Rebellious and Disobedient because I do it not to despise the Shame and venture the Reproach so as to go forth into the very Heart and midst of the Town and there speak forth preach and proclaim what Words I have to deliver and make known unto them that dwell therein For there is a two-fold Reason of Teaching in our Streets Luke 13. 26. which would be according to the Method of God and the Scriptures of Truth that is when either People would not admit such Preachers of the Gospel into their Houses for to preach therein or they made choice of it of set purpose for a more publick Notification of the same Word and that it may turn to you for a Testimony Luk. 21. 13. If I had already or should yet do so which I may probably unless more do come to this place of Hearing the Word then now do it would render the stubborn Inhabitants of this Town and Neighbourhood that Disobedient and Gain-saying People who are now Reproachers and Blasphemers of my Ministry more inexcusable and make their Sin of not Hearing his Word more sinful at the Judgment-seat of God A Son honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master If then I be a Father where is mine Honour and if I be a Master where is my fear saith the Lord of Hosts unto you O Priests that despise my Name and ye say wherein have we despised thy Name Mal. 1. 6. So if I should go to the several Inhabitants of this Town and Neighbourhood and tell them that they despise God and they despise his Name They will be apt to answer God forbid Wherein do we despise God and despise his Name To which my Reply again is That herein they despise God and they despise his Name by their despising his Word and the Ministration thereof as it hath been here truly and faithfully used and held forth By the way it is a fearful thing to despise God For saith
what the Spirit saith in Eccles 8. 2. and against them that turn aside the stranger from his right Mal. 3. 5 Now the Stranger there meant was either an Heathen who also was an Idolater or a Proselyte of the Gate and here God speaks against turning him aside from his right in like manner it may be truly reason'd and apply'd against turning aside a Papist from his Right As the Prophet Malachy was no Heathen nor Stranger only because he did by the Spirit deliver and make known the Commandment of God to be on this wise so I am no Papist altho' I make known also and affirm the Will and Commandment of God to be on this wise as I have here receiv'd and learn'd it from his own Word of Truth I shall not here mention many more Particulars to illustrate and confirm the Truth of what I have written about these things But as it is written The foolishness of Man perverteth his way and his Heart fretteth against the Lord. So I would just observe That the Disobedience of many People because they have acted contrary thereunto yea of the Religious and Professors also have fretted against the Lord because he hath given such Declarations of his Will and such kind of Commandments as in Mal. 3. 5. afore-mention'd and these following To turn aside the Right of a Man before the Face of the most High to subvert a Man in his cause the Lord approveth not Lam. 3 35 36. From whence again it may be truly reason'd and inferr'd That the more like any Man is unto the Mind of God the supream and only Good thou art of purer Eyes then to behold Evil and canst not look on Iniquity the better that Man is so by Consequence we are the better Men and more like unto God and God doth better love and approve of us if we do not approve of such kind of Doings neither as the Lord approveth not for indeed it is according to the Law of God and the Laws of this Realm as also to Right Reason for this is necessarily tending unto the Welfare Peace and Order of all Communities and Societies of People living in a Nation or Countrey together that every one should have and enjoy his civil Right and respective Property both in his Lands or Goods of whatever Opinion Perswasion or way of Worship in Matters of Religion he or they be of Thou shalt in any wise set him King over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose one from among thy Brethren shalt thou set King over thee thou mayst not set a Stranger over thee which is not thy Brother Deut. 17. 15. In all this we have not dealt falsly in thy Covenant neither have our Steps declin'd from thy way So it stands at this day I have at sundry Times in several Years preached the Word amongst ye and stretched forth my Hands unto a Disobedient and a Gainsaying People Ye know that I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have shewed you and taught you publickly in this place and I would have done it from House to House but that my time was taken up in writing the Truths of God though herein again I have been guilty of many Omissions and Neglects for I might have more discoursed on that Subject as touching their not hearing the Word to those whom I have occasionally made Visits unto or been in Company with I have testified both to the Jews and also to the Greeks Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ I have preached both to the Godly and to the Ungodly to the Nominal and also to the real Christians Repentance from dead Works and that they should turn to God and bring forth fruits meet for Repentance I have also preached Faith in Jesus Christ as ye are my Witnesses And so ye are likewise That I have inculcated over and over the Doctrine of Universal Obedience That is To have respect unto all God's Statutes Psal 119. 6. And to have all his Judgments before us and not to put away his Statutes from us Psal 18. 22. nor yet any of them Yea I have more than once or twice set my Seal and in this place deliver'd my Testimony against Partial Obedience that is when either Priests or People are Partial in the Law which in Mal. 2. 9. God finds fault with and reproves them for and they keep some of the Commandments of God and neglect others as the manner of many is who call themselves Christians altho it is a dangerous and Soul-destroying Deceit Herein I have been peculiar and distinct from other Congregations for this same Doctrine of confirming all the Words of God's Law to do them Deut. 27. 26. Is not so much preached therein as it should be I am sure it is not so much practised by the Hearers and Members thereof as it ought to be And now behold I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem I mean to the chief City of this Nation not knowing the things that shall befal me there save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every City saying that Bonds and Afflictions abide me I speak this by way of surmise because those things have heretofore befaln me in that place But none of these things move me neither count I my Life dear unto my self so that I might finish my Course with Joy and the Ministry which I have receiv'd of the Lord Jesus to testifie the Gospel of the Grace of God I must at length unavoidably taste of Death one way or another At first indeed I have a melancholy Prospect before me namely of Poverty and further Imprisonments for I believe this before the Scene will yet turn with me I believe God that it shall be even so as it was told me howbeit we must be cast upon a certain Island Acts 27. 25 26. I believe God that it shall be even so as hath been shew'd to me before-hand in my Mind how that it should be with me also as it was with his Servant Job and the latter end of my Life should be more than my beginning howbeit according to his Method and Workings of old I must undergo greater and sorer Troubles than I have as yet endured Before He doth quicken me again and bring me up again from the depths of the Earth Psal 71. 20. But I trust in the living God that he will proportion his Invisible Protection unto the Danger I may be subject unto and his Deliverance according to the Trouble and Suffering I may be involved in and his Relief suitable to what my Need shall be As old Hilarion did say when he was tempted to deny Christ These eighty six years I have served him and found no harm in him and shall I deny him now No I will not do it So for some Years last past I have trusted on God hitherto and it was then well enough with me blessed be his Name for it and shall I distrust him now No I
walked who now are at Peace thro' which as a Means ye are to hope that your Spirits may be saved in the Day of the Lord. Jesus A confirming all the Words of the Law and Gospel by your doing of them But whosoever shall do and teach them even the least Commandments the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 5. 19. And it is thro' this thing even that mention'd in the foregoing Verse The setting your Hearts unto all the Words which Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles have testified unto Mankind unto this Day which ye shall command your Children to do all the Words of this Law And then it follows thro' this thing ye shall prolong your Days even so to a blessed Eternity in the Land even the new Heavens and the new Earth where Righteousness dwells whither and when ye go over the Jordan of this Life to possess it There is no other way or name given under Heaven whereby they must be saved than that of Christ Jesus and the Observance of all things whatsoever he hath commanded us Whatever Reproaches and false Sayings have been uttered against my Person or Ministry tho' here it may be expected I should take up such a kind or form of Speech Father forgive them for they know not what they do I pray God lay not this Sin to their Charge But since Christ and his Apostles spake after this manner so much Light and Grace so much Knowledge and Revelation have came into the World that People now may know what they do herein namely that themselves who reproach and speak falsly are as so many Instruments in the Hands of the Devil for to resist let and hinder to defeat spoil or render of less Effect the Ministry of such a Servant of the most High God who doth only Teach the way of Salvation So that if we should still pray and ejaculate after this manner it may seem to encourage others in a like course of sinning and Teaching Rebellion against the Lord for so did Shemaiah the Nehelamite in giving out as if Jeremiah his Prophet was mad as ye may read in Jer. 29. 26. 32. so that instead of my praying Father forgive them for they know not what they do I pray God lay not this Sin to their charge I shall here use and apply as to them other Words of Christ and his Apostle But I say unto you that every idle Word which there signifies false or reproachful Words as appears by the Verses immediately foregoing that Men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment Mat 12. 36. Who shall give an account to him that is ready to judge both the Quick and Dead 1 Pet. 4. 5. We are not allow'd to pray nor will God hear but according to Truth How then can I pray Father forgive them for they know not what they do when the Times of that Ignorance which God winked at are long since past But now in this Gospel-day more Grace and Knowledge have appeared unto the World So that either People do know or may know which is near one and the same thing what they do and whom they have Reproached and Blasphemed and against whom they have exalted their Voice even against the Holy One of Israel when with their Mouth they have reproached and spoken falsly of his Minister and Servant especially as he was in the Ministration of his Word and when their lying Lips did speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the Righteous Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good Report if there be any Vertue and if there be any Praise think on these things Those things which ye have learn'd and received and heard and seen in me do and the God of Peace shall be with you Phil. 4. 8 9. Wherefore I take you to record this Day that I am pure from the Blood of all Men for I have not shunned to declare unto ye all the Counsel of God For as may be reason'd from Joshua 8. 35. there should not be a Word of all that God hath commanded in the Scriptures which his true Ministers should shun or refuse to declare and make known unto the People I am not he that is set over ye after the Law of a Carnal Commandment or according to the established manner of the Country But as God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers after that Miracles then Gifts of Healing Helps 1 Cor. 12. 28. so by the Gifts given and committed unto me I may come in for an Helper in the Work of the Ministry And by my constant Warning of the Inhabitants of this Town and Neighbourhood against all manner of Sin and Transgression and by laying open the Unreasonableness and Danger thereof I shall somewhat ease that Account which he is to give for the Souls more immediately and especially committed unto his Charge Notwithstanding all the Labours that are used in this Parish and the Parts adjacent to prevent it whosoever for all that shall perish at last yet I take you to record again that I am pure from the Blood of all Men because I have not refused to declare unto them all the Counsel of God that came into my Mind and which was against their Sin Iniquity Transgression Hypocrisie Disobedience and Ignorance all which and the like do drown Men in Destruction and Perdition And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the Word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an Inheritance amongst all them which are sanctified I commend you especially to the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation and to its Teaching us that denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World So that whosoever of you shall deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and shall live Soberly and Righteously and Godly in this present World he or she and such only shall obtain and inherit Salvation in the next World I commend you also to the Teaching of the Spirit of God there is no Teaching like the Teaching of the Spirit and Lord evermore give us this Bread Lord evermore give us the Teaching of thy Spirit and there be sure to obey its Voice and to do always according to those Dictates of Duty and Motions of Good the Spirit shall from Time to Time suggest and put into your several Minds Remember to observe this Rule even to do and put in Practice all the Good that ye shall ever think of or what shall be in the Power of your Hands for to do But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any Man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is no Lie and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him And now little Children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have Confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming 1 John 2. 27 28. As ye and my self do constantly to our Lives end observe these last Rules and Directions here deliver'd however we shall be divided and separated one from another on this Earth in matter of Place But we Brethren being taken from you for a short time in Presence not in Heart 1 Thess 2. 17. for such of us as are obedient unto the Word in Heart and Affection we shall be together still for Godly Hearers will remember a Godly Teacher after he is removed from them as also he will remember such Hearers as were attendant on and obedient unto the Word of his Ministry in such a Place yet such of us as do these things If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them and blessed are those Servants whom when the Lord cometh he shall find so doing shall meet again at a blessed Resurrection Amen so be it saith my Soul Richard Stafford FINIS LONDON Printed in the Year 1698. and are to be Sold unto such who will receive the Truth in the Love thereof Advertisement THese are to give notice That I have several other Practical Sermons or Discourses of mine own composing lying by me in Manuscript which if they who have the Plenty or Competency of this Worlds Goods would according to their several Ability thus Consecrate some part of their Gain and Substance unto the Lord Micah 4 13. so as to be ready to Distribute and willing to Communicate towards the outward Labour and Charge of the Printing and Publishing of them it would be for the Glory of God in making known his Truth Isa 38. 19. and for the Edification and Benefit of his Church and People and consequently it would be a good Work in such Persons who shall be helpful and any ways assistant herein for which they would be rewarded by God in the Life that is to come Charge them that are rich in this World that they do Good that they be rich in good Works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for themselves a good Foundation against the Time to come that they may lay bold on Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6. 17 18 19. This is a Faithful Saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good Works these things are good and profitable unto Men Titus 3. 8.