excellencie is there in that soul which is united to a Saviour It is called the life of God Eph. 4.18 Surely no life can be more honorable than the life of God yet in their measure the sanctified ones live the very same life that the glorious God the fountain of all true honor liveth David though a King thought himself honored by being Gods subject and therefore as others before their works mention those titles which belong to them and speak their honor David stileth himself before the six and thirtieth Psalm a servant of God as his most honorable title Constantine and Valentinian two Emperors subscribed themselves Vasallos Christi Socr. A Psalm of David a servant of the Lord. If it be such an honor to serve an Earle a King what is it to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Godlinesse is called a walking with God Gen. 5.24 a conversing or having fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ his Son 1 John 1.3 For God to walk and converse with us is his greatest humiliation but for us to walk or converse with God is our highest exaltation The righteous saith the wise man who had judgement to set a due price upon persons is more excellent then his neighbor Prov. 12.26 Let him live by never so rich or great men yet if they want grace they are not comparable to him Sumus Domini non tantum in Genitivo singulari sed etiam in Nominativo plurali Luth. The godly man hath the most honorable birth he is born of God John 1.13 the most honorable breeding he is brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord the most honorable Tutor and Teacher the good Spirit of God John 14.16 the most honorable Attendants the glorious Angels the most honorable employment his main work is to wait upon God The most honorable Relations A King for his Father 2 Cor. 6. ult A Queen for his Mother Gal. 4.26 The excellent of the earth Psal 16.3 Lords in all Lands Psal 45.16 Higher then the Kings of the earth Psal 89.27 Those Worthies of whom the world is not worthy for his Brethren Hebr. 11. Numa second King in Rome though an Heathen could say That he held it an higher honor to serve God then to rule over men The Jews say That those seventie souls which went down into Egypt were more worth then all the seventie Nations of the world beside If the glorious Angels in heaven are more honorable than the Devils sure I am it is holinesse that maketh the difference The most gaudy and goodly fruits of moralitie springing from the soil of nature manured and improved to the utmost The Heavens bespangled with those glittering Stars and adorned with that illustrious Sun are nothing glorious in comparison of the heart of a poor Christian that is embroidered with grace It is godlinesse alone that addeth worth and value to all our civil and natural things as the Diamond to the Ring Nothing doth really debase and degrade a man but sin and nothing doth truly advance or innoble the soul but holinesse Job scraping himself on the dunghill and Jeremiah sinking in the mire were more honorable and glorious than Ahab and Ahaz on their Thrones with their Crowns If the respect we have from others makes us honorable then they that are most precious in Gods sight are most honorable Isai 43.4 If it be some internal excellencie that makes men honorable then they that have the Image of God must be most honorable It is worthy our observation that sin is so ignoble and base that those wicked ones who love it most are ashamed to own it openly but because of the excellencie of holinesse will set that forth for their colours their banners though indeed they fight Satans battels That forlorn hope for hell 2 Tim. 3.5 of covenant-breakers blasphemers men without natural affection yet they will have a form of godlinesse though they do sins drudgery yet they are ashamed of their base master and therefore wear the Saints livery having a form of godlinesse Nay the Devil himself will appear in Samuel's mantle and transform himself into an Angel of light But holinesse is so excellent that God is pleased to esteem it as his own beauty and glory How often is he called The holy One of Israel The Angels ascribe holinesse to him by way of eminencie Holy Holy Holy Isai 6.3 we read not in Scripture of any of Gods other Attributes thrice repeated to shew that the Dignity of God consisteth in this And so doe the Saints in heaven praise him for it as his Excellencie Rev. 6.10 and the Saints on earth Exod. 15.11 Holinesse is the character of Jesus Christ The Image of the infinitely glorious God nay it is called the divine nature Surely then they that have most of it are most honorable and they which want it how full soever they are of all other excellencies are base and contemptible Secondly As this spiritual life is most honorable so it is most comfortable There is no life so pleasant and delightful as the life of a Saint The merry grigs and jolly gallants of the world whose sinful mirth is worse than madnesse will needs tell us that godlinesse makes men mopish and melancholy that when once we salute Religion we take our leave of all delight and consolation whereas indeed there never was true peace born but it had purity for its parent All other is spurious and illegitimate But the world like the Primitive Persecutors put Christians into the skins of Beares and Buls and then bait them as if they were really such And the hand of the Devil is in all this who like the Indians maketh great fires to fright Mariners from landing at such Coasts as would be most for their comfort and contentment Believe Reader the true and faithful Witnesse His wayes are wayes of pleasantness and all his paths are peace Prov. 3.17 It is not sanctity but their want of it or mistake about it which maketh them sorrowfull It is confest Saints may be sad they doe not cease to be men when they begin to be Christians It was in thy company it may be O sinner No wonder Fish cannot sport themselves when they are out of their element Birds do not sing on the ground but when they are mounting on high towards heaven And probably their hearts were heavy out of compassion to thee whom they observed to be hastening to hell and dancing merrily over the very pit or destruction and easeless misery Thou seest their sorrows sometimes thine eyes may behold their tears but thou dost not see their joys thy heart cannot conceive them Saint Austâ—ne relateth concerning an heathen that shewed the father his idol gods saying Here is my God where is thine and then pointing up to the Sun he said Here is my God but where is thine I shewed him not my God saith Austine not because I had none to shew but because he had no
you are of his honor that was so tender of your eternal welfare how you testifie your thankfulnesse to him for all the bitter agony and ignominy which he suffered for you You shall shortly never more have the least opportunitie though you would give a thousand worlds for it to do any thing in for Gods glorie your own or others good Work therefore the work of him that sent you into the world while it is the day of your life for the night of death is hastening on you wherein you cannot work Up and be doing as a Christian as a Magistrate and the Lord be with you Sir I have no more to speak to you but that the Hearer of prayers may hear often from you that I may take heed to the ministrie which I have received of the Lord and fulfil it and to assure you that my prayers at the throne of grace shall be that you and your religious Consort may continue to dwell together as fellow heirs of the grace of life and your hopeful Children may be planted with and grow up in grace till they shall be transplanted into the true Paradise the Kingdom of Glorie This through the help of heaven shall be the petition of Your real Servant in the ever blessed Saviour George Swinnocke Febr. 15. 1658. 9. Christian Reader THere are two thing which should be of highest regard with us a serviceable life and a comfortable death and they are both so inseparably conjoyned that in vain do we hope for the one without the other which of these is to be preferred was a doubt which put the Apostle to an Anxious disquisition on the one side there was service on the other side there was gain if he lived he should preach Christ if he dyed he should enjoy Christ and remain with him for ever therefore Paul was at a stand and knew not what to determine Surely he had an holy heart that could thus set duty against enjoyment and think his service worthy to come into competition with his spiritual and eternal interests that which made Paul so indifferent and incurious as to the means was the resolved fixing of his scope his end scope was Christs glory now 't was all one to him how God would use him to such a purpose as a man that is resolved upon a journey taketh the way as he findeth it fair or foul t is enough that it leadeth him to his journeys end so Christ might be glorified either by his Ministry or by martyrdom Paul was indifferent 't was enough that Christ should be glorified none have such an unfeighned respect to Christs glory but those that live in the communion of his life mens tendency is according to the principle by which they are acted carnal men that act by their own life and live upon their own root bring forth fruit to themselves water riseth no higher than its fountain but those that have life from Christ use it for him to them to live is Christ as they live in him and by him so they live for him and to him We need then to take all occasions to press men to get into Christ that they may live in the communion of his life and in the strength and influence of it be carryed out to his glory this is that which will make life serviceable and death sweet and to this we need to be pressed by all kinde of arguments both those which are taken from Gods relation to us as also those which are taken from our expectations from him Rom. 14.8 We are the Lords by every kinde of right and title and therefore owe all manner of service to him even though nothing should come of it but they that do the Lords work will not want his wages though he might require our service out of meer soveraignty yet he condescendeth to propound a reward and that so full and ample that it should ravish our hearts every time we think of it These considerations which I have here loosely discoursed of are notably improved in the ensuing treatise which being communicated to me by a friend of the Author I could not but return it with this Character that 't is a discourse grave and judicious and yet quickened with such warmth and vigor of illustration as that it may be of great use to awaken men unto more seriousness in the great concernments of their souls among which nothing can be more momentous than our living in Christ that we may live to him and then with him for evermore this being signified I leave thee to the work it self which I cannot but judge to proceed from one both of a good head and heart and profess my self Thine in the service of the Gospel Tho. Manton THE PREFACE and EPISTLE TO THE READER Especially of the Parish of Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire and Borden in Kent as also the occasion of this Treatise I Have sometime considered with my self not without some remorse and grief of spirt the multitudes of men and women that even in those places where the Word of God is plainly and powerfully taught run headlong in the broad way which leadeth to destruction And indeed if my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night though every tear were a tear of blood I could never sufficiently bewail the slain of the daughter of my people of that Parish to which the providence of God hath called me That the lying vanities of this world should by most be so greedily pursued and the reall mercies relating to a better world so wretchedly despised that a brutish flesh which must shortly be food for wormes should be so highly prized and constantly gratified and an angelical spirit the soul which must live for ever so basely slighted and unworthily neglected that every soul-damning lust should be so heartily embraced and the soul-saving Lord but coldly and complementally entertained that the road to Hell should be so exceedingly filled and the way to Heaven almost wholly unoccupied Surely this ought to be for a bitter lamentation and O what sea of blood is enough to bemoan this horrid wickednesse It hath seemed to me therefore a matter worthy of diligent enquiry what special Malefactors should be indicted for these many soul-mischeifs and soul-murders which are committed amongst us And truly by that acquaintance which I have with the Word of God and experience of the soul-affairs of men I find though many Accessaries might be named that ignorance ought to be arraigned and condemned as one of the principals The people perish for want of knowledge Hos 4.6 Inner darkness is the beaten path to utter darkness to the blackness of darkness for ever Men in this mist of ignorance like ships run upon those rocks which split them eternally As the Indians prefer every toy and trifle before their Mines of Gold so they every sensuall sinful pleasure every foolish perishing creature before the beautiful Image of God the
he answered that when he was a common Friar he went dejected by looking downward for the keys of the Abby which now he had found and therefore left that posture So when an hypocrite hath the temporal good thing he desireth for that usually is most desired by him he hath his ends and his prayer an end too Or if God do not hear him presently he will not submit patiently but often flingeth away in a rage with that wicked King Why should he wait upon the Lord any longer If there come not in present profit he will give over his trade as Tully said to his Brother That he would pray to the Gods but that they have given over to hear Whereas a godly man will cry in the day and not be silent in the night he will direct his prayer to God und look up Psal 5.3 He will pray and wait wait and pray as you see beggars in some places they will beg and knit knit and beg and continue still begging and knitting So a right beggar at Gods door he will pray and work work and pray he will believe and pray hope and pray read and pray wait and pray he knoweth that it is not good to limit the holy One of Israel but it is good that a soul should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God Lam 3.26 A Divine giveth me this Simile which doth excellently illustrate our present subject Take some draught horse Mr. Car. on Job 27. and he will draw when the load is coming Of Carolus Magnus it is said Carolus plus cum deo quam hominibus loquitur but if he feel it not coming he will trample and not draw but take a horse of a right breed and put his traces to a tree or a post he will strain and strain and die upon the place before he will give over though nothing comes So a rotten Christian if he find no present gain coming he gives over duty fearing all is lost but a right Christian will pray continually 1 Thess 5.17 whether God hear him presently or no he knoweth that both the command of God and his own wants call upon him never to give over Besides this spirit of prayer abides in him for ever John 4.14 and 16. Examine thy heart by these marks faithfully and do not by flattery or self-love or rather self-hatred deceive thy soul no deceit like soul-deceit but passe sentence upon thy self impartially and if thou findest thy condition good blesse God keep close to Jesus Christ and labour that thou mayst walk worthy of the Lord Col. 1.10 even unto all well-pleasing The great and extraordinary priviledges bestowed on thee do call aloud for gracious and extraordinary practices from thee How exemplary shouldst thou live among men who art to live eternally with God What singular things wilt thou do for that God for that Saviour that hath done such singular things for thy soul Can any love be too much Can any labour be too great Can any honor be too high Can any service be too holy for that God to whom thou art by millions of eternal obligations thus infinitely infinitely bound O let the fruitfulness of thy heart and life in holiness proclaim thine abundant thankfulness for such mercies as for weight and worth exceed the very thoughts of Men and Angels How abundant shouldst thou be in the work of the Lord when thou knowest that thy labour shall not be in vain in the Lord When thou art confessing thy sins meditate on the choosing calling love of that God against whom thy sins are committed and try whether the heat of that burning love will not thaw thy heart and dissolve it into tears when it is most hard and icie When thou art backward to a duty that hath some difficulty in it consider Jesus Christ was not backward to his bitter bloody sufferings for thy sins As the Souldier told Augustus when he denied his petition I did not serve you so at the battel of Actium So say to thy soul Jesus Christ did not serve thee so when he was to drink the cup of his Fathers fierce wrath for thee and see whether such melting perswasions will not prevail with thee to subject thy self to the hardest precept When thou art departing away from â—od by any sinister course or insincere carriage remember who thou art one that art called not to sin but sanctity not to uncleanness but holiness As Antigonus being invited to a place that might probably prove a temptation to sin asked counsel of Menedemus what he should do He bade him only remember he was a Kings Son So do thou remember thine high and heavenly calling and do nothing unworthy of the God that hath enrolled thy name in the Book of Life that hath ransomed thy soul with the precious blood of his Son and hath sanctified thee by the effectual operations of his Spirit but walk worthy of the vocation wherewith and whereunto thou art called Eph. 4.1 It is an excellent meditation of Eusebius Emissenus Though the Devil saith he should be damned for many sins and I but for one yet mine would exceed the Devils impiety they never sinned against a God that became an Angel for them they never sinned against a Mediator that was crucified for them but miserable and wretched I and it s wonderful that my heart melteth not when it thinketh on it I have sinned against a God that became a Man for me against a God that died an ignominious death for me against a God that hath left me an example of love and holinesse I am more unworthy then the Devils Consider it Friend no sins admit of higher aggravations nor are matter of deeper provocation then the sins of those that are interested in Gods special distinguishing affection In a word for I had not thought to have told thee so much it was for the sake of others principally that I penn'd this piece since it shall be thy reward to be like an Angel in happiness ever to behold the face of the Father let it be thy work and endeavour to be like an Angel in holiness to do the will of God readily heartily and universally But if thou find upon a thorough search that thou art a stranger to this spiritual life if conscience sent to enquire bring in its verdict that this purifying praying Spirit dwelleth not in thy soul Let me beseeth thee in the fear of the Lord to bethink thy self what is like to become of thee for ever One of the Martyrs put his finger into the candle to try how he could endure the fire in which he was afterwards to be burnt do thou but read over again the former use of information and consider whether thou art able to undergo that losse and that terrible intolerable eternal wrath of an omnipotent God which is therein declared and by Scripture proved to be the portion of all that live and dye in thy condition Suppose thou shouldst
they are of such exceeding importance that if thou art once perswaded to them my work will be half effected and because delayes and laziness are the two great gulphs in which such multitudes of souls are drowned and perish I shall speak the more to them My first request to thee is that thou wouldst presently set about the affairs of thy soul We say of things that must be done De rebus necessariis non est deliberandum there needeth not any deliberation about them Is not this the one thing necessary to prepare for the last hour to make sure of thine everlasting well-fare In re tam justa nulla est consultatio If thou believest the word of God thou wilt not give the flesh so much breath as to debate it muchless wilt thou as Felix did put off the thoughts of righteousness and judgement to come till thou art at better leisure till thou hast a more convenient season What more weighty work hast thou to do then to work out thy own salvation Is the following thy calling hoarding up an heaps of earth feeding cloathing that flesh which shall shortly be food for worms is any of these half so necessary as thy provision for eternity If thou art old its high time to begin to prepare for thy latter end Thou hast the feet of thy body almost already in the earth in the grave and hadst thou not need have the feet of thy soul thy affections in heaven Thou hast but a little time to converse with men doth it not behove thee to be much in communion with God Death often possibly knocketh at thy door by the hand of sickness and warneth thee to look after another habitation for thou art to be turned out of thy house of clay Dost thou take warning what wilt thou do if thou shouldest dye before thou didst ever begin to live If the Sun of thy life should set before the Sun of righteousness hath arisen on thee all the while thou livest thou art dead and thou livest long to add to thy torments as others have died soon to hasten them Thou art but like stubble laid out a drying to burn the better in hell all the while thou continuest a stranger to the new birth Thou hast every day been treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath been gathering as it were more wood to increase those flames in which thou if thou thus diest shalt live for ever Because judgement against an evil work is not speedily executed therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his dayes be prolonged it shall not go well with the wicked Eccles 8 11 12 23. The sinner an hundred years old shall be accursed Isa 65.20 I have read of the Circassians a kind of mungrel Christians that they divide their time betwixt the Devil and God dedicating their youth to robbery and their old age to repentance How much time hast thou spent in the service of sin how little time hast thou left the service of God and thy soul Is it not high time for thee to number thy dayes and to apply thy heart unto wisdom speedily Old sinner dost thou not tremble to think that there is but a step betwixt thee and death nay betwixt thee and hell O the time and talents and opportunities which thou hast to reckon for more then others Happy happy had it been for thee to have been turned out of the wombe into hell rather then to dye an old man and not a babe in Christ If thou hast a sparke of love to thy self mind thine inward change presently least thy change come even death and send thee to unchangeable misery If thou art young Honor adolescentum est timorem Dei habere Ambros de offici mind the gathering the Manna of godliness in the morning of thine age present the first fruits of thy life to that God who desireth the first ripe fruits Exod. 3.19 The firstlings are his darlings Gen. 4.4 and that cloth will keep colour best that is died in the Wool the vessel will sente longest of that liquor with which it is first seasoned let thy soul like Gideons Fleece drink up betimes the dews of grace As young as thou art thy life is every moment at the mercy of the Lord There is a saying that in Golgatha there are skulls of all sizes In the Church-yard thou mayest see graves of all sorts and some of thy very length thou art concerned therefore to remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth Aquinas telleth us the young man hath death at his back the old man before his eyes and that is the more dangerous enemy that pursueth thee then that which marcheth up towards thy face This calleth for the greater care and watchfulness In the Isle of Man the maides spin their winding sheets the first thing they spin do thou in youth and health ponder and prepare for thy death lest as young and strong as thou art death trip up thy heels and throw thee and it prove thine everlasting overthrow Besides canst thou imagine that such a sinner deserveth favor who cometh in to serve God at last when he can serve his lust no longer Is it equal be thy own judge to give the flower of thine age the spring of thy life the best of thy time thine health and strength to the devil and thy brutish flesh and to give the dregs the snuffe the bottom of all this to the infinitely glorious God whose creature thou art at whose cost and charge thou livest every day and night and who calleth upon thee for thy service not for the need he hath of thee but because of the need thou standest in of him all whose happiness doth consist in the pleasing and enjoying his Majesty Whoever thou art of what age soever either set speedily about thy soul-soul-work or answer these few questions the Lord shall put to thee or be speechless and without excuse at the day of Christ First Hath not God waited upon thee long enough already wouldst have him whom the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain who hath millions of glorious Angels waiting on his Majesty to wait on thee miserable worme alwayes I tell thee all the while thou art sinning his eyes behold thee his heart is incensed against thee and his hand can reach thee and avenge him on thee every moment How many hath he sent into hell that never tasted of his patience as thou hast done The angels sinned and were not waited upon one hour for their repentance yet how many years hath he endured thee with much long-suffering and still waiteth upon thee that he may be gracious unto thee Isa 30.18 The last oath thou didst swear he could have cursed and rotted thy tongue The last time that thou wentest prayerless to thy rest he could have sent thee to little ease to the place
God may imprint what he pleaseth Lord what wilt thou have me do The other instance is in the cruel rough hard-hearted Jaylour After the earth-quake and the heart-quake which God had caused he springs trembling in and fell down before Paul and Silas crying out Sirs What shall I do to be saved Acts 16. 29 30. Observe now the man is heart-sick indeed he is willing to take the most bitter pills As if he had said Sirs Do but tell me what I must do for salvation though the terms be never so hard the conditions never so unpleasant the price never so much the pains never so great yet I will submit to any thing to all things for salvation What must I do to be saved When the Israelite first sets out towards Canaan there is a mixt multitude of carnal affections which desire and endeavour to bear him company now because God knoweth that the land is too good for such evil inhabitants and besides that they will cause many mutinies in the way he brings therefore the Israelite into the wildernesse to humble him and to cut them off Before the soul be throughly humbled it dodgeth with Christ it plaies fast and loose off and on this it liketh and that it disliketh this part of the yoke is uneasie this burthen is too heavy and such and such commandments are grievous fain it would have Christ and his precious promises but loth it is to forego its old friends its beloved lusts but when God is pleased to take the sinner by the throat and to shake him out of his security by shewing him sin and wrath in their colours making him sensible of the one and terrifying him with a fearful expectation of the other laying him at the pits brink within the smoak of hell within the smell of that brimstone within the sorchings of that eternal fire which is prepared for the Devil and his Angles now the sinner seeth that God is in earnest and therefore dareth not halt or halve it any longer now he is in a boisterous storm and casteth all those goods his darling-sinnes into the sea perceiving that he must perish if he do not God is necessitated to launce mens wounds and put them to pain because otherwise they cannot be cured When the metal is thus melted God may cast it into what mold he pleaseth O thrice happy is that heart which hath been deeply and truly humbled it shall hold out in those tempests wherein many others shall make shipwrack of faith and a good conscience Thirdly 3 Direction Application of Christ if thou hast been faithful in following my former advice to get thy mind enlightned to see and thy heart throughly humbled for thy sin and misery thy next work is to rest and rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ for pardon grace and salvation To look upon him as one appointed by the father given by himself sanctified by the spirit and revealed in the word of truth the Gospel to be the onely and al-sufficient Saviour of lost souls It is now the proper time for thee to cast thy soul thy sins thine eternal estate upon the infinite meritoriousnesse of the blessed Redeemer Experience sheweth that it is very easie for an unbroken sinner to presume but surely it is very hard for an humbled sinner that hath had all his vilenesse and unworthinesse displayed before his eye and the infinite wrath of God like a mountain of lead oppressing his conscience to believe and therefore I have prepared some choice cordials for such fainting spirits which I shall give thee anon But my work now is to beseech thee broken heart that thou take heed of thinking to lick thy self whole I know the Devil and thy heart will be both busie and diligent to get thee to make a Christ of thy contrition and a Saviour of thy humiliation O how unwilling is man when he hath shipwrack't his soul to commit himself naked to the sea of Christs blood how earnest is he to have the chains and jewels of his earthly affections along with him This spiritual life is a liâ—e of Faith and indeed upon this the whole almost of thy work dependeth Fide regenâ—ramur resipiscontia non solum fidem subsâ—quitur sed ex ea nascitur Calv. and to swim out upon the rotten boards of his own works Reader now therefore especially if thy soul be in a flame be careful out of what well thou drawest thy water to quench it This is one of the chiefest nay the chiefest of all fundamentals in Religion and therefore it behoveth thee to be very tender Now thou art nigh drowning neer sinking in the Ocean of divine fury thou hadst need to make sure that the bough or stake or what ever it be by which thou holdest be strong enough and able to bear thy weight It is likely nay it is certain if thou art humbled as aforesaid thou prayest thou mournest thou sighest thou loathest thy self for thy wickednesse thou admirest God for his forbearance thou longest after help and deliverance be sure that thou do not look on these as so much money wherewith thou maiest purchase thy pardon and buy off thy guilt for believe it if thou doest as white as thy silver is it will draw black lines instead of wiping off thy old score thou wilt thereby run further in debt Evangelical humiliation is required not so much to make thee acceptable to Christ as to make Christ acceptable to thee It is a good evidence of the beginnings of sanctification but it is a bad advocate for thy justification It is as truly dangerous to appear before God in the rags of thy own righteousnesse as in thy sinful nakednesse If ever thou receive the blessing of pardon and love from thy heavenly father it must be by appearing in the garments of thine elder brother He maketh his acceptable but it is in Christ the beloved Eph. 1.6 Nothing but perfect righteousnesse will pacifie Gods anger or satisfie his justice or please those eyes which are purer than to behold the least iniquity And this righteousnesse is onely in Christ who was made sin for thee that thou mightst become the righteousnesse of God in him 2 Corinth 5. ult Do not therefore when thou ceasest to be an Athiest begin to be a Papist in relying upon thy good works for though God will not save thee without them yet he will never save thee for them Shepherds Sincere Convert p. 107. Edit 5. Canst thou saith an eminent Minister now with Christ make thy self a Christ for thy self Canst thou bear and come from under an infinite wrath canst thou bring in perfect righteousnesse into the presence of God This Christ must do else he could not satisfie and redeem And if thou canst not do this and hast no Christ desire and pray till heaven and earth shake till thou hast worn thy tongue to the stumps endeavour as much as thou canst and others commend thee for a diligent
shew of trading with God to which their stirred consciences will by no means yield would willingly compound and give Christ a part and the world and flesh the other part But as Christ is worthy of so he will have all acceptation The gods of the Heathen are good fellows and share their honour among themselves but this Lord over all who is God blessed for ever will not give his glory to others he will not suffer that superlative esteem trust and love of the soul to be bestowed upon any but himself o◠to be divided betwixt himself and any other He will allow no superiour nay no equal As Alexander answered Darius when Darius sent to him about peace because there were Empires enough in the world to satisfie them both The whole world could endure but one sun but one Alexander So the heart of man must have but one General but one Commander in chief and that must be Jesus Christ Truly Reader I hope that these things will not discourage thee from the wayes of God Do but rationally consider them Is it not most just and equal that since all these things come freely from him that they should be laid out purely for him Thou givest thy servant a little meat and drink and mony or rather God by thee and what service dost thou require of him Thou art instrumental under God to the birth and breeding of thy children and what duty dost thou expect from them Art not thou ten thousand times more engaged to Jesus Christ for every bit of bread and breath of air for every nights sleep and days supply for every mercy that thine enjoy for every moments abode on this side hell for every soul-favour and body-kindness In him thou livest movest and hast thy being the light doth not so much depend on the Sun as thy life and all thy comforts depend on Christ Now be thy own judge what service what obedience may the Lord Jesus look for at thy hands If the world or the flesh could do half so much for thee thou wer't more excuseable then now thou art in doing so much for them Again when the question ariseth Whether Christ or the flesh Christ or the world should have thy greatest esteem or love or trust or the most of thy time and strength and talents One would think thou shouldst be ashamed to put such a question or at least that the very mention of it would be a sufficient answer to it Alas what are all the honours and pleasures riches and relations delicates and diadems of the whole world to Jesus Christ but as pebbles to pearls dirt to Diamonds dross to gold nothing to all things there is surely no comparison The whole world of heaven and earth doth not so far excell a feather as Jesus Christ doth the whole world Besides this request of mine should rather encourage thee in regard this absolute resignation of thy self to Christ tendeth to the perfection and happiness of thy soul Thy misery by thy fall is chiefly in this that thou hast thereby lost the Image of God Thy want of conformity to him is the cause why thou hast not communion with him Beasts do not converse with men nor trees with beasts because they do not live the life of each other Sense must fit trees to converse with beasts and reason must fit beasts to converse with men and grace and holiness must fit thee to converse with God When thou once livest the life of God as this unreserved soul-resignation or sanctification is called Ephes 4.18 thou mayst then bathe thy soul in his love Now this is the way to it The life of Christianity consisteth in an hearty dedication of thy self and all thou hast to Christ When thou hast done this thou art a Christian indeed The excellency of every thing standeth in two things Dr. Reyn. on Hos 14. Sermon 7. first the perfection of beautie in which it was made and the perfection of use for which it was made now the beauty of man consisteth in this that he was made like unto God Gen. 1 26. and his end and use is this that he was made for God first to serve him and after to enjoy him for the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself therefore to recover the Image of God which consisteth in knowledge righteousnesse and true holinesse to work to the service and glory of God to aspire to the possession and fruition of God must needs be mans greatest good By what hath been largely spoken before in this Use thou mayst perceive that there is no going to heaven per saltum by leaping out of a dirty and stinking jakes into the presence of the glorious God There is a being made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Coloss 1.12 Operatione acceptatione divinâ idonei constituimur ad participandam sortem sanctorum Davenant in loc which is by sanctification As cloaths are by lighter colours fitted to receive a deep Scarlet dye so thou must by this spiritual life of holiness be fitted for the eternal life of glory Observe 2 Cor. 5.5 the Apostle tells us He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing i. e. heaven is God Man is a rugged piece of timber an unhewn stone now the stone must be polished and the timber squared before it can be fit for the heavenly building wrought for it Joseph when he was sent for to Pharaoh out of prison changed his Rayment and trimmed himself and then appeared before the King And as there must be Regeneration or the beginning of grace so there must be a proficiency or growth in grace to prepare the soul for the weight of glory * Mr. Strong Holinesse the way to happiness pag. 45. There is a double right which every child of God hath to heaven 1. Jus haereditarium an hereditary right and that is at regeneration when he is put into Christ and made a Co-heir with him of his Inheritance having grace begun in him which shall be perfected in glory and was given as a principle ordained to such a perfection 2. Jus aptitudinarium and that is a right of fitness whereby we are qualified to receive such a mercy and that as an heir hath a right of inheritance in his non-age but he hath not a right of fitness till he come to years and be able to manage his estate when he hath received it Reader in both these respects there is a necessity that thou presently make a deed of gift of thy self and thy all unto Jesus Christ and that thou never more look upon thy self or any thing thou hast as thine own but as a servant intrusted with them for thy Masters use and advantage Well Reader I suppose thou dost ere this fully understand the conditions upon which thy soul may be contracted unto Christ My work is to treat with thee about this marriage I am commanded by the Lord as Abrahams Steward
men come to be prickt at the heart Acts 2.37 That thou must believe or perish and how shalt thou believe on him of whom thou hast not heard Rom. 10. As ships will ride a long time in a road-steed when they might be in the haven for this end that they may be in the winds way to take the first opportunity that shall be offered for their intended voyage So do thou ride in the road of Gods Ordinances waiting for the gales of the Spirit thou knowst not how soon that wind may blow on the waters of the Sanctuary and drive the vessel of thy soul swiftly and land it safely at the haven of happinesse of Heaven Direction If thou wouldst attain this spiritual life be frequent and fervent at the throne of grace Prayer that the God of all grace would infuse grace into thee and breath into thy soul the breath of this spiritual life As Abram pleaded for Ishmael Gen. 17.18 O that Ishmael might live before thee so do thou for thy soul O that my soul might live before thee And â—s the Ruler for his son Lord come down quickly ere my soul die yea ere it die eternally Go to God with a sense of thy own unworthiness and iniquities that though thou comest to his Majesty for the greatest favours yet thou art lesse than the least of all his mercies acknowledging that thou hast sinned hainously against heaven and before him and art unworthy to be called his son Confesse thy original actual heart life sins with their bloody aggravations and intreat him to pardon and purifie thee O with what humility reverence and self-abhorrency should such a guilty prisoner approach the Judge of the whole earth Arraign accuse and condemn thy self and thy sins if ever thou wouldst have God to acquit thee Pray also with a sense of thy own impotency and weaknesse That though there be a necessity of humiliation if ever thou wouldst escape damnation yet thou canst as soon fetch water out of a rock as teares from thine eyes or sorrow from thine heart for thy sins till the wind of the Spirit bloweth those waters will never flow It is God that must give to thee a poor Gentile repentance unto life Non minus difficile est nobis velle credere quam cadaveri volare Beza Confess p. 22. Acts 11.18 That thou must believe or thou canst not be saved yet thou canst as easily cause iron to swim as thy soul to believe in the Son of God Faith is the gift of God Phil. 1.29 Zeph. 8. It is as hard a work to believe the Gospel as to keep the Law perfectly Nothing lesse than omnipotency can enable the soul to either As thy first birth and generation so is thy second birth and regeneration from the Lord. Men and meanes may be instrumental and subservient but their efficacy and successe dependeth on God As Protogenes when he saw a line curiously drawn in a Painters shop cried out None but Apelles could draw that line so when thou seest the new Creation thou mayst say None but a God could doe that When thou hast through the strength of Christ wrought thy heart to some sense of thy weakness and unworthiness then look into the Scriptures and fetch arguments from Gods own mouth weapons from his own Armory whereby thou mayst prevail with him and overcome him Beseech him to consult his glorious Name and gracious Nature mind him that he is the Lord the Lord God gracious merciful long-suffering abundant in goodness and truth forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Exod. 34.6 Tell him that he delighteth not in the death of sinners that he taketh more pleasure in unbloody conquests in the chearful services than in the painful sufferings of his Creatures That he had much rather have trees for fruit than for the fire Say Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving kindness and after the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out mine offences Psal 51.1 O thou that art rich in mercy for the great love wherewith thou lovest souls quicken me in Christ that by grace I may be sanctified and saved Since thou delightest in mercy be pleased Lord to delight both thy self and thy servant by extending thine hand of mercy to pluck me out of this bottomlesse depth of misery Intreat God to consult his own Honor as well as his gracious Nature Mind him that if he condescend to convert and save thee he shall have the glory of his patience in waiting thus long to be gracious the glory of his providence in causing all things to work together for thy good the glory of mercy in pitying and pardoning such a greivous sinner the glory of his justice in that noble satisfaction it shall have from the death of his Son the glory of his power in bringing such a rebellious heart into subjection unto Jesus Christ Intreat his Majesty to consider that he may pardon and cleanse thee through Christ without the least diminution to his glory nay that far more revenues will come to his crown from thy salvation then from thy damnation That the forced confessions of them that perish as of Malefactors upon a wrack do not sound forth his praises so much nor so well as the joyful hearty acclamations of his saved ones Say Lord if thou suffer me to continue in my filth and pollution and never wash me by the blood and spirit of thy Son and suffer me to perish eternally thou art righteous but Lord if I perish I shall not praise thee thy glory will rather be forced out of me with blows as fire out of a flint thou delightest to see poor creatures volunteers in thy service The damned do not celebrate thy praise Psal 30.9 they that go into the infernal pit give thee no thanks The living Psal 88.10 11. Isa 38.19 the living they shall praise thee they that live spiritually and they that live with thee eternally O what Hosanna's and Halelujah's what honor and glory and blessing and praise do they give to the Lord and to the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne for ever O let my soul live and it shall praise thee Thine is the kingdom and power do thou work within me by thy grace and thine shall be the glory Desire God to consider his own promise as well as his praise Urge his own word That they that ask shall receive that seek shall find that knock shall have heaven opened That if men know how to give good gifts to them that ask how much more will the Father in heaven give his holy Spirit to them that ask That he will circumcise the hearts of men and women to love him Deut. 30.6 That he will put his fear into their hearts and they shall never depart away from him Jer. 32.40 That he will write his Law in their hearts Ezek. 31.33 Go in to him when thou art full of heaviness as Bathsheba did to David and say 1
yet he doth not see the wealth the infinite riches that lye buried in them So wicked men see the waters the afflictions the conflicts but not the wealth the comforts the inward joy of the children of God Thirdly as this spiritual life is the most honorable and comfortable so it is the most profitable life no calling bringeth in such advantage as Christianity godliness is profitable unto all things 1 Tim. 4.8 There is an universal gainfulness in real godliness Plutarch telleth us that the Babylonians make above three hundred several commodities of the Palme-tree but there are many thousand benefits which godliness bringeth no Merchant ever had his vessels returned so richly laden as he that tradeth heaven-ward Observe Reader after the Apostles affirmation his full confirmation of it Godliness saith he is profitable unto all things It hath the promise of this life and that to come i. e. It hath heaven and earth entailed on it and therefore it must needs be profitable It giveth the Christian much in possession the promise of this life but infinitely more in reversion the life that is to come The promises of God are exceeding great for their quantity and precious for their quality promises and they all belong to a godly man he is called an heir of the promises Heb. 6.17 Whensoever the tree of the Scripture is shaken whatsoever fruit of those precious promises falleth down it falleth into the lap of a godly man If at any time that box of costly ointment be broken and sendeth forth its fragrant sent and vertue it is to the refreshment only of the Saints Godliness is profitable to thy self If thou art wise thou art wise for thy self and if a scorner thou alone shalt bear it Prov. 9.12 The sinner is no bodies foe so much as his own the murdering peices of sin which he dischargeth against God miss their mark but do constantly recoyle and wound himself The Saint is no bodies friend so much as his own others fare the better for his great stock of grace but the propriety in all the comfort of all and the profit by all is his own It enables him to give away the more at his door but how rich a table doth he thereby keep for himself Godliness is profitable for thy children the just man walketh in his integrity and his children are blessed after him Prov. 20.7 personal piety is profitable to posterity yet not of merit but mercy Though grace come not by generation but donation and though God hath mercy on whom he will yet the seed of the Saints are visibly nearer the quickning influences of the spirit then the children of others When God saith he will be a â—od to the godly man and his children I believe he intendeth more in that promise for the comfort of godly parents then most of them think of Acts 2.36 Gen. 17.7 The children of believers are heirs apparent to the covenant of grace in their parents right Godliness is profitable in prosperity it giveth a spiritual right to temporal good things a gracious man holdeth his mercies in capite in Christ that is his tenure as Christ is a co-heir of all things he being married to him by this spiritual life is a co-heir with him he enjoyeth earthly things by an heavenly title and one peny enjoyed by special promise is far more worth than millions which ungodly men enjoy by a general providence as the beasts of the field do their provender It is godliness that causeth a sanctified improvement of mercies Grace alone like Christ turneth water into wine corporal mercies into spiritual advantages The more God oiles the wheels the more chearfully and swiftly he moveth in the way to heaven the more showers of heaven fall down upon him the more fruitful and abundant he is in the work of the Lord as we see in that gracious King Iehosophat 2 Chron. 17.5 6. The Lord established the Kingdom in his hand and all Iudah brought presents unto him and he had riches and honor in abundance and his heart was lift up in the wayes of God Mark the more Gods hand was enlarged in bounty the more his heart was enlarged in duty The more highly God thinks of David the more lowly he thought of himself 2 Sam. 7.18 Outward mercies to a believer are a ladder by which he mounteth up nearer to heaven Thus godliness like the Philosophers stone turneth iron and every thing into gold but the want of this spiritual life causeth a cursed hellish use of mercies ungodly men like the spider suck poison out of those flowers out of which the Bees the Saints suck honey Their mercies are like cordials to a foul stomach which do but increase the peccant humor He feedeth on such plenty that he surfeits himself because of their abundance Job 21.7 8 9 to 14. Therefore they say unto the Almighty Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes like the Israelites they make of the jewels which God giveth a golden Calf and worship that in stead of God Godliness is profitable in adversity it maketh a Christian like a Rabbit to thrive the better in frosty weather The child of God learneth the better for the rod Before he was afflicted he went astray but now he keepeth Gods word Psal 119.67 Well may grace be called the divine nature for it can bring not onely light out of light spiritual comfort and good out of outward good things but also light out of darkness good out of evil gain out of losses life out of death It will like Sampson fetch meat out of the eater like the Ostrich digest stones like Mithridates fetch nourishment out of poison When wicked men like Ahaz in their distress sin more against the Lord as fire the more it is kept in in an Oven the more it rageth so doth corruption but godly men far otherwise are by the fire of affliction the more refined and purified for their masters use Godliness is profitable to thee while thou livest In doubts it will direct thee as a light to thy feet and a lanthorn to thy paths In dangers it will protect thee by setting thee on high and giving thee for a place of defence the munition of rocks in wants it will supply thee by affording thee bread in the word when thou hast none on the boord and money in the promise 1 Tim. 4.8 which is by thousands the better when thou hast none in thy purse in thy pain it will ease thee in disgrace It will honor thee in sorrows it will comfort thee in sickness it will strengthen by causing thee to count the crosses of this life as nothing and unworthy to be compared to the pleasures and glory which shall revealed in all distresses it will support thee and make thee more then a conqueror over all through him that loveth us Rom. 8.37 Lastly godliness will be profitable to thee when thou diest death which is the terrible of terribles to
riches and honor Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace She is a tree of life to all that lay hold upon her and happy is every one that retaineth her Prov. 3.13 14 15 16 17 18. ANd now Reader I have done this large Use of Exhortation which is of such infinite concernment to thy precious soul but what thou wilt do or what use thou wilt make of it I know not Could I have told what other holy bait to have laid which had been more likely to have caught thy soul it is probable I should have laâ—d it I appeal to thy conscience whether tâ—ere be not unspeakable weight and unquestionable truth in the particulars which are laid down Well what sayest thou to them and what effect have they wrought upon thee Art thou resolved through the help of heaven speedily and diligently to practice the directions which I have from the Almighty God injoyned thee Is it not a thousand thousand pities that such endlesse matchlesse happinesse should be so gratiously offered by God and so unworthily neglected by men that an empty perishing world should be so eagerly pursued and heartily embraced when the unsearchable riches in Christ the Image of the blessed God eternal weight of Glory are basely undervalued and wretchedly despised Good Lord what teares of blood are sufficient to bewail this monstrous unthankfulness Friend if thou art truly resolved to obey the counsell of God thou wilt have cause to blesse that Providence which called me to this task and I may rejoyce in thee and thou in me at the day of Christ But if thou either delayest the work till thou art more at leisure or dalliest about it doing it as if thou didst it not I am sure the greatest wrong will be to thy self for behold thou sinnest against the Lord and be confident thy sins will sooner or later find thee out I come in the next place to my last Use which will be of consolation If they who have Christ for their life shall have gain by their death what comfort is here to the new born Creature Here is wine indeed to make glad the heart of every one that is holy Reader art thou sanctified and alive in Christ then thou art freed from all the misery which is mentioned in the first Use as the portion of the ungodly I may say to thee as Gryneus when he had been reproving and threatening sinners would turning to the Saint say Bone vir hoc nihil ad te Good man all this is nothing to thee Though they are losers thou shalt be a gainer by death Come but with the mouth of faith and thou mayst suck much honey from this combe thou mayst draw much milk of consolation from this breast to thee to die shall be gain Surely here is enough to ballast thy soul and keep it steady in the most tempestuous condition and to ballance and weigh down the greatest the heaviest affliction Hierom comforted the Hermite that was in a wildernesse sad and pensive Meditare coelum tam diu non eris in eremo If thou hadst hope only in this life thou wert of all men most miserable but because thou hast hope beyond this life thou mayst be of all men most comfortable Should such a man as I fly Nehem. 6.11 Should sucha a man as thou fear that art heir to a Crown to a Kingdom Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock it is your Fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom In thy greatest losses this may support thee that death will be thy gain by giving thee possession of a life which will make amends for all If an heathen could say It is unbecoming a Roman spirit to cry out I am undone while Cesar was safe sure it is more uncomely for a Christian to complain as if he were undone when his soul is safe his eternal estate is secure For thy help I shall digest this Use into this method briefly First to shew thee against what it is comfortable Secondly wherein it is comfortable For the first It is comfortable first against the opposition of the world The world will hate thee because thou art not of the world John 15.19 She is a Paradise to her children and lovers but a Purgatory to aliens and strangers Whilst thou art in the stormy sea of this world thou art a ship bound for the Streights He that goeth towards the Sun shall have his shadow following him but he that goeth from it shall have it flie before He that goeth towards the Sun of Righteousnesse shall be sure to have these shadows these afflictions at his heels Infinite Wisdom seeth fit to imbitter the breasts of the creatures to wean thee from them Trouble upon earth is one legacie which thy Saviour hath left thee In the world ye shall have trouble John 16. ult The Souldiers were to have his garments Joseph was to have his body His Father was to have his soul He had his crosse left and that he bequeaths to his Disciples But be of good chear he did not only leave thee his crosse but hath also made thee heir to a Crown He never lookt over the threshold of Heaven Bish Hall Heaven upon eâ—rth Sect. 14. that cannot more rejoyce that he shall be glorious than mourn in present that he is miserable Oppose thy future felicity to thy present misery thy happinesse at death to the hardships thou meetest with in life thiâ— will be the way to counterpoise the temptation and to keep thee from fainting in tribulation whilst thou lookest not at the things which are seen which are temporal but at the things which are not seen which are eternal 2 Cor. 4. I have read of one Giacopo Senzaro an Italian who having been long in love and much crossed about his match filled a pot full of black stones only one white stone among them and being asked the reason answered There will come one white day meaning his marriage day which will make amends for all my black dayes So whatsoever poverty nakednesse hunger cold pain shame losses thou undergoest here in this world how many soever thy black dayes are of trials and troubles of persecutions and opposition thou mayst say there is one white day of death one long day of eternity coming which will make amends for all It was a brave speech of Luther when he was demanded where he would be when the Emperor should with all his forces fall upon the Elector of Saxonie who was the chief Protector of Protestants He answered Aut in coelo aut sub coelo either in heaven or under heaven Why shouldst thou be discouraged at any losse considering thou hast a treasure in heaven a more enduring substance At any disgrace considering thou art heir to a Crown of glory At any pain or sorrow when thou art entitled to fulnesse of joy and pleasures for evermore No storm should disquiet thee that shall shortly enjoy an everlasting calm What a