and it shall go well with thee to all Eternity an end will shortly be put to the Christians weary days on Earth his best is to come 2 Cor. 5. 1. and 1 Thess 4. and last Wherefore comfort one another with these Words ye shall ever be with the Lord. Hence saith Job when his Friends censur'd him his Estate and Relations fail'd him yea his Body ready for the Grave Job 19. 25. I know my Redeemer liveth and that tho after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet shall I see God And upon this account you read 2 Cor. 4. 16. to the end of the flourishing Joys and Comforts of those afflicted Christians while they by Faith looked not to the things seen that are temporal but to the things not seen which were eternal Sinners have but there Hope here and a very uncertain Tenure of their Enjoyments all 's but at utmost for Term of Life and that 's but as a Vapour but the Saint is a Freeholder for ever and ever Christ makes a Jointure for Eternity and settles it upon every one that beareth his Yoke in time And thus now I have finished the Proof of this Doctrine That it is good for a Man to bear Christ's Yoke There remaineth only that Branch of it to be cleared viz. That it is so especially in time of Youth Now this I shall dispatch in few Words and I wish they may be piercing and reach the Consciences of all this Assembly of Young People this Day that you may stand fully convinc'd of the Truth preach'd and go home and give Glory to God acknowledging That to bear the Yoke in time of Youth is the summary of all Good Wherefore ponder but these two Things 1. The time of Youth is the fittest and most acceptable time to bear the Yoke 2. That in time of Youth to bear the Yoke is the most commendable Practice 1. That this is the fittest and most acceptable time to bear Christ's Yoke in and this will appear if you consider that the time of Youth is the freest time freest from bodily Infirmities and worldly Distractions The Wiseman doth elegantly set out the Infirmities of old Age in Eccl. 12. 2 3 4. all which Youth is free from for in Youth the Blessing of Life is in its Verdure and Flower thy Body strong for Service thy Spirits quick and vigorous thy Mind freest from Cares and Incumbrances which afterwards in a married State usually invade and loads both Hand and Head and Heart too So that the Obligation now in time of Youth to bear the Yoke is greatest and should make the deepest Impression on thy Mind Besides this Age is the fittest to receive Instruction as being more tender grown Sinners are more stiff and untractable as we see by Experience Now upon this Consideration it is good to come under Christ's Yoke in Youth before the Heart and Neck become so stiff and obdurate that there is no bowing them to the Yoke we should endeavour to prevent the Devil and his Temptation all we can and lay hold of all Advantages for Heaven and Salvation now you cannot reach this by any thing you can do like coming under the Yoke of Christ betimes this is a sure Rule the earlier the time the easier the Yoke will be not only because your Sins will be the fewer your Burden the lighter but because the evil days of Sickness and Death are coming a main Eccl. 12. 1. Youth is prone to delay and say I am but a Child as yet I have time enough but if you will go into Church-Yards and measure your little Body you will find as short if not shorter Graves and Coffins than would fit you Moreover the time of Youth is most acceptable to God Is it sit O young Man that God should accept the Devil's leavings That thy Youthful Vigor and Spirit should be given to thy Lusts And when these are spent in the Service of Sin so that nothing but Skin and Bones remains then to offer these to the Lord. The most acceptable Sacrifices under the Law were young Bullocks and the First-born and the First-Fruits c. So now God desires the first ripe Fruits 2. It is good to bear c. because this is the most commendable practise in time of Youth This is the chief Glory of that Age and it is that which most glorifies God and credits the Gospel and is one of the greatest blessings the Church enjoys in the World when she can say with the Church of old Take us the little Foxes for our Vines hath tender Grapes Again how gloriously do their Names shine like Stars in the Firmament of the Church And with what Honour doth the Holy-Ghost in Scripture make mention of their Names that have listed themselves under Christ's Yoke in time of their Youth 1 Kings 18. 12. 2 Chron. 34. 3. 2 Tim. 3. 15. and ordinarily such prove the most eminent Instruments of Service and Blessing to the Places where they live Again it is a most comfortable Evidence of Sincerity to bear the Yoke in their Youth it argues that you love esteem and value God's Service above the World and that it is not extorted meerly from the fear of Hell as Psal 78. 34 35. And as many when they lie sick and are ready to die O then they are marvelously concern'd for their Souls and all is no more than as an Iron in the Fire or a Mariner in Storm like Jonah's Gourd or a Morning Cloud But now in time of Youth and Health when besieged with 1000 Temptations to Sin O then to acquit your selves as Loyal Subjects to Christ under his Yoke and Banner how glorious how commendable is it And thus I have accounted for the second General Head viz. To clear it up that to bear the Yoke in Youth is the summary of all good And now I come to the third and last General Head proposed to be treated on and that is 3. To give you some Motives and Directions to excite and assist you to bear the Yoke of Christ in the time of Youth First for Motives wherein I fear there is but too much cause to insist for altho in lesser and lower Matters where the least Overture of Gain or Pleasure appears Men need no Motives to excite them our Natures are presently affected we are all upon the spur no Stone left unturned yet in Soul-concerns such as I have been treating on viz. the bearing Christ Yoke in Youth Alas we are like a Company of Stoicks as if we had no Passions about us ferventissimi in terrenis frigidissimi in caelestibus as one hath it we are red hot for Earth but Key cold for Heaven Wherefore to excite you in order to recover your Souls to Christ and his Yoke Consider 1. The Paucity of Conversions and coming under Christ's Yoke in these sinful times of Ours as also the awfulnes of such a Consideration Ah Friends let me tell you Conversion-work is no common thing we
of Belial a Rout of Rebels a Brood of Vipers Confederates with the Devil against God Psal 68. 21. 7. Consider Christ bore our Sins in his own Body on the Cross 2 Pet. 3. 24. And so he bore the Wrath of God and the Curse of the Law to deliver us from it O then How ready should we be to bear his easy Yoke 8. If you bear not his Yoke it is unreasonable you should bear his Name upon you 2 Tim. 2. 19. 9. Consider If you bear his Yoke in time of Youth he will bear you up in time of Death when Flesh faileth Psal 73. 25. 10. Consider If you refuse to bear his Yoke this Sermon will bear witness against you at the Day of Judgment Direction 1. Would you bear Christ's Yoke then bear with Hardships break through all Difficulties bear the Smitings of Faithful Friends without and Conscience within for Sin esteem it a Kindness bear with and be glad of Convictions of the Spirit and the Interdictions of Providence in sinful Paths When you find your vile Hearts opposing difficult Duties as secret Prayer Self-examination c. confess the Naughtiness of your Hearts say Lord here 's a Duty that my wicked Heart stands averse to O create in me a new Heart change my Nature and then oppose the necessity of it against the difficulty in it say I must take pains in coming under and bearing of the Yoke or I must suffer the pains of Hell for ever O my Soul which is hardest Repent or perish turn or burn coming to Christ and his Yoke or departing accursed into Everlasting Fire isn't Hell a more terrible Word than repent and believe Is not the stroke of Vengeance worse than the Yoke of Repentance Can the Devil name any thing in Christ's Yoke so hard as we can prove all things in Sin to be and all Places in Hell to be Sure Physick is better than Poyson letting Blood than a Mortal Stab through the Heart It 's better to be preserv'd in Brine than rot in Honey and whet this on your Heart that there is no Remedy Sin must have Sorrow here or for ever Wherefore be nor Slothful in Business but fervent in Spirit in secret Duties take heed of three things 1. Of being Slite and Formal 2. Sluggish and Slothful 3. Too short and hurrying The Lord bless this to you 2. Would you bear the Yoke in Youth be not fond of Heshly Youthful Pleasures if you belong to God he 'll make you rue it bitterly your sensual Pleasures are Satan's Traps whereby he takes and trapans Multitudes of young Ones to Hell If the love of Games Sports Plays Meats Drink take thy Heart thou wilt never endure to take Christ's Yoke 3. Labour to get and when got to keep and preserve a tender Conscience for want of this when I was young I suffer to this Day O never make light of any the least Sin but keep at the utmost distance from the appearance of Evil. 4. Accustom thy self to continual Reverent Thoughts of God's Omnisciency and Omniprescency 5. Keep out of Evil Company Wisdom it self hath told you a Companion of Fools shall be destroyed Prov. 13. 20. 6. Study the Duties of thy particular Calling art thou a Servant keep thy self free from Injustice and Defrauding it is a Sin will make a fearful Noise in Conscience when awaked But I may not enlarge Wherefore to close all O young People to day while it s called to day harden not your Hearts but hear his Voice c. Take my Yoke upon you c. I have spread it before the Lord in secret and now I declare it to you that I should esteem it a rich recompense before I go hence and be no more seen if through the Cooperation and Blessing of God I might Yoke in some of you yea all your Souls to Christ this day O how easy would it make my Pilgrimage my Passage through this Vale of Tears I would not go with the Guilt of the blood of any Soul of you upon me O that this may be the day of God's Power I know it is the Lord alone that can convert a Soul But let me tell you I would never despair of that Soul's Conversion that is brought on its Knees incessantly to cry with Ephraim Turn thou me and I shall be turned O it s a blessed sign when Sermons end in Groans and Tears Lord I must be converted or condemned I will not let thee go without thou bless me The Lord say Amen FINIS
coming under Christ's Yoke to save and secure your Immortal Souls from the Damnation of Hell Can their remain then any Doubt in this thing viz. The importancy and weight of coming under Christ's Yoke and that betimes or making over our precious Soul to Christ in an everlasting Lease or Bond when you are a lost Soul for ever if you do not and there remains no way but one with you even eternal Damnation unless you thus comply with God's established way of Life and Salvation as he hath plainly declared in the Gospel O then with what continual Solicitude and Carefulness should you mind and attend this one would think that it should swallow up your Thoughts Night and Day and that to talk of Indifferency and Remissness in this Case should be esteemed and entertained as talk of folding the Arms and betaking your self to sleep in case you were in a Ship that was ready to sink or an House that hath taken Fire So likewise one would think in so weighty a case to talk of Difficulties that there is a Lion in the way were a strange Impertinency and trifling when such an absolute necessity lies upon you in good earnest without delay to come to Christ and yield Subjection to his Yoke or be sentenced to an everlasting Destruction from his Presence 2 Thess 1. 8 9. to comply with and stand to his gracious Terms or fall into the Hands of a Sin-revenging living God Now since it s thus I make a solemn appeal to you young People before the Lord of Heaven and Earth this Day whether ever condemned Malefactor trembling under the fearful expectation of a shameful Death had more just cause supposing he received some hints that upon his Submission a Pardon for Life might be obtained to esteem it a Business of the most important deepest Concernment speedily to seek and humbly to sue for the King's Grace and Mercy than you have to Day while it 's called to Day to look upon it as the most serious awful Business that ever your Thoughts could converse with viz. to come in and comply with this way which God hath provided for and proposed to you not only as the best but the only way So that if this be refused there is no other you have no other Choice eternal Death lies upon the Neglect of it The Lord awaken you this Day to consider it You and I must at the Judgment of the Great Day stand accountable for this Sermon I have insisted the longer upon it because of that abounding Sloth and Aversion of our backward Hearts hereunto Which in course leads me in the seventh Place to tell you 7. That it is necessarily requisite on your part in order to come under Christ's Yoke to understand that since things are as you have heard surely it is no time for sitting still when you have a Business of that Infinite Weight and Importance depending which must be done or you undone for ever but to be up and doing that you may escape the final Doom of Unbelievers and Impenitent Sinners There remains not the least Doubt but that in this Case Diligence and Care is the Duty of all and every Mothers Child here but who almost among us is there that is stirring and striving in the diligent use of Means viz. Retiredness from a vain World deep Musings and Soliloquies servent and frequent Wrestlings in Prayer vehement Desires firm and fixed Resolutions c. O! what a wretched Stillness and Carelessness is there to be found in your Closets and Consciences as to these things Tears are fitter than Words to lament it There is a Jesus that hath come to seek you when all were lost that hath done much to save you when all were undone and under the condemning Sentence of God's fiery Law He bore the Yoke of your Guilt that a way might be made to restore you to his gracious and easier Yoke of Service which was so necessary with respect to your Fallen State that he could not love and save you had he left it out and suffered you to follow the Inclinations of your own corrupt and wicked Hearss and let you had your Wills in a course of Rebellion and Sin Now pray what have you done towards securing the present and eternal State of your miserable Souls in coming under his blessed Yoke After all that Christ hath done his Agonies bloody Sweat his Death on the Cross where are thy Prayers Tears Cares Fears Tremblings When did'st thou go apart and solemnly set thy self to meditate and commune with thy own Heart about the State of thy poor Soul using some such Soliloquy as this viz. O my Soul How is it with thee What State art thou in of Nature or Grace What are thy Wants thy Ails thy Maladies Art thou in Christ or Christless What are thy Dangers Temptations Sins Hast thou fled for Refuge under Christ's Cross When was the time thou did'st close with his Person Did'st thou ever sincerely like and comply with his Terms Can'st thou come up before God's Tribunal and stand to it that thou hast made a free Surrender of thy Self to him and with a Loyal Heart given thy Neck to his Yoke Will thy Evidences hold Weight in God's righteous Ballance Or are they light false and deceitful like Flowers on a dead Corps or Varnish on a rotten Post Was 't thou ever throughly made sensible of humbled for and by renewing Grace quickned raised out of that Gall of Bitterness and Bond of Iniquity wherein thy Original Guilt did entomb thee This sort of Soliloquies is called in Scripture communing with ones own Heart making a diligent Search there Psal 77. 6. And then upon a Discovery of an yet abiding and remaining in the Chaos of corrupted Nature a solemn Enquiry is to be made O my Soul what hast thou been doing How hast thou spent thy time till now Did'st thou never hear or read of this thy vile State of Apostacy and Enmity Wast thou never called upon to turn and live e're this time Have not thy Parents many a time told thee thou wast conceived and brought forth in Sin and wert a Child of Wrath by Nature and that thou must be born again or perish Have not God's Ministers told and taught thee this altho thy Parents had not What if Death had come and haled thee out of this World to the Judgment-Seat in all thy Guilt and Sin Hast thou not seen many as young as thy self snatched away O how could'st thou divert and drive away Melancholly Thoughts of thy present Sin and approaching Misery and turn to Sports and Mirth and Follies and the vain Pleasures of a transitory deceitful World O! What a desperate Hazard hast thou run all the Days and Nights thou hast been in this World O foolish wretched Soul who hath bewitched thee thus to forget thy self yea to undo and destroy thy own and only Darling Self thy Soul which the whole World could'st thou gain it would be infinitely
For the former nothing can be more unquestionable and plain if you do but survey what hath been largely spoken of the Nature of Christ's Yoke and the bearing of it All which amounts to this viz. That on his part it is no other than a restoring Apostate Man to the Image and Favour of God again the bringing you under the Gospel and there by his Word and Spirit to open your Eyes to renew you in the Spirit of your Minds to slay the Enmity to circumcise your Hearts to love the Lord your God to alter and change that Hellish Bias that was on your Wills whereas otherwise you would run upon your own Ruine and soon be made the deplorable Spectacle of a Sin-revenging Justice So that the very Nature and Use of Christ's Yoke on his part is a main part of your Happiness and true Felicity for pray tell me what miserable Wretches were you continuing under the Power of a carnal Mind that is not cannot be while such subject to the Holy Law of God the most material Branch of which Law is to love and delight in the Blessed God wherein so much of Heaven it self lieth that without it Heaven would be a kind of Hell for their could be no Agreement and so no Enjoyment what Communion can Light have with Darkness Or Christ with Belial Can two walk together i. e. take delight in living together that are not agreed I have read of the Irish Earth that no Venemous Creature can endure to to live upon it But my Brethren the Irish Earth would better brook a Toad than Heaven a carnal Mind or a carnal Mind Heaven O young Man What wilt thou do with that carnal corrupt Heart of thine It is impossible while such to obey this Law of Love which if thou can'st not obey Woe to thee living Woe to the dying for enter Heaven and enjoy God thou never can'st if thy Heart before hand be not fram'd to love and take Complacency and Delight in him and this can never be till Christ's Yoke and Government take place in and over you the first and chief Branch whereof on his Part Is to circumcise your Hearts to love the Lord your God Deut. 30. 6. And therefore nothing can be more evident than this that to bear the Yoke of Christ is the summary of all that is truly good And it will be no less evident if you survey on our part the nature of coming under and bearing this Yoke which is no other than a yielding our whole selves to God Rom. 6. 13. Or a cordial unfeigned surrendring upon the Gospel-Proclamation which may be shadowed forth thus suppose in a well-govern'd State there should be a Conspiracy among the Subjects and instead of continuing in a Dutiful Subjection they hatch Rebellion and it breaks out openly Now in this Case the Law proclaims them Rebels and justly condemns them to a shameful Death but the Prince out of his Grace and Mercy puts forth a Proclamation of Pardon upon their throwing down their rebellious Arms and returning to their Obedience Now as in all Similitudes some difference is allowed so it must be here be sure for amongst Men it may so happen that the Rebelling Party may be the stronger or upon equal ground and so may stand upon their own Terms treat and capitulate with their Swords in their Hands having Strength to defend themselves and subsist without Peace with or a Pardon from their Prince But now here it is otherwise between the Great and Almighty God and poor sorry rebellious Man God is infinitely powerful justly provoked able to destroy wretched Rebels both Soul and Body in a Moment Now in this State of Things I demand of thee poor Sinner art thou able to contend with the Almighty Can'st thou subsist or live without Peace with him Should he come forth in a way of Wrath and Vengeance where would'st thou appear or shew thy Traitrous Head Surely in thy State of utter Impotency thou darest not say thou art in any capacity of meeting God in the Field well notwithstanding all this Disparity yet the High and Lofty One whose Name is Holy against whom you have sinned he who stands in no need of you nor your Subjection nor your Salvation it is he that sendeth forth a Proclamation of Pardon and Peace founded in the Blood of his own Son and that at a time when you lay in your own Blood and Filth of Sin and all was lost and when you were Enemies whom in Justice he might have sent to Hell in all you Gore and Guilt Rom. 5 6 7 8. And when there could have been no remission without the effusion of the Blood of Jesus then did he commend his Love to you and spared not his one and only Son but delivered him up to the Death for poor Sinners and entereth a new Covenant issueth out the Gospel-Proclamation viz. That notwithstanding all your Sin and Unworthiness and that dreadful Charge and Sentence of the Law that lieth against you yet hath the Great God made rich Provisions of Mercy upon your Return and Submission for your gracious Reception and Remission he hath found out a Ransom viz. the Price of his own dear Son's Blood and hath set him forth in the Gospel To be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood Rom. 3. 25. So that let the Wicked now forsake his evil ways and turn in unto this strong Hold and make Peace and he shall make Peace I will have Mercy I will abundantly pardon tho his Sins be as Scarlet I will make them as white as Snow I will not only forego all the Advantages my Justice had against him but will be pacified towards him and embrace and receive him to favour and reward him with an eternal weight of Glory as if he had never offended and rebelled against me O Infinite astonishing Condescention of the Blessed God! thus to beseech rebellious Sinners to be reconciled to him in his Son Certainly you will say if there be the least spark of Ingenuity towards God or drop of Tenderness and Care left in you towards your own Souls O wonderous O joyful News enough to melt down a Stone unspeakable are the sweet Bonds and dear Obligations lying on us to surrender our selves upon this Proclamation Why now be it known to you ye young Ones that your coming under and bearing this Yoke is no other thing in the nature of it on your part Thus an hearty yielding subjecting of your Minds to Christ as your Prophet saying Lord Jesus I yield here is my Mind bring into it what Light thou pleasest and so of your Wills and Life subjecting the same to him as Priest and King to be your Atonement and Peace to save you from your Sins and govern and rule you by the gracious Scepter and Yoke of his sacred and sweet Precepts I now refer it to your selves whether this be not the Summary of all that is truly good If any should object
Yoke of Christ earlier in their Youth Jer. 31. 18. 19. Ephraim bemoaned himself saying I have been as a Bullock unaccustomed to the Yoke I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the Reproach of my Youth Job 13. 26. Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the Iniquities of my Youth O young People did you but know what some have suffered and undergone crying out in the Day-time thy Hand O Lord lieth heavy on me and in the Night-time their Sore running grievously upon this account surely you would be awakened to other Apprehensions about the necessity of an Early Coming under the Yoke For my own part I have passed the Days of my Youth but the bitter remembrance of my Vanity Pride Self-conceit Idleness and foolish mispending of precious Time c. will stick by me and like a Goad stick in me so long as I live So that as is reported of the Jewish Rabbies that they use to say concerning the Great Sin of the Isrealites worshipping the Golden Calf that after it there never was any remarkable Judgments befel that People of the Jews but there was an Ounce of the Calf in it that is there was a Lash in it for that Sin such have been my Thoughts that to this day I never met with any bitter strokes in the Course of God's Holy Providence towards me but that place of Ephraim and Job runs in my mind which I mentioned but now Thou makest me to possess the Iniquities of my Youth It may be some of you may be apt to think and say he is a good Man would my Soul was in his Soul stead and condition Alas Alas you know not what you say the Heart knoweth its own Bitterness a Stander by a Stranger doth not It 's true I bless the Lord who gave me Councel at length and for what ever he hath done for me wrought in me O Eternity it self is little enough to praise him I am sure it 's his own and not of me Oh no let me be vile in my own Apprehensions as low as Hell whether I had certainly run had the Lord left me to my self But all I say is O that I had bore the Yoke earlier in my Youth I could repeat it from my very Soul a thousand times O that I had c. Those Words of Augustine have often affected me Sero â—e amavi Domine O Lord too late have I loved thee The Heart-searching God knoweth if my Heart deceives me not that I could wish I had born the most torturing racking Pains and Miseries of this Life rather than delayed so long to come under Christ's Blessed Yoke But why do I thus run out in publick on this Subject it may be some may think it were fitter for the Closet than the Pulpit Well! be it known to you my private Recesses have been no Strangers to these things But who can tell what good the Lord may do by it as since the Preaching of it I praise the Lord I have had an account of one that hereby was awaken'd Is there any Evil in declaring it for one that has heedlesly run upon a Rock and suffered Damage to call out to others that are failing the same Course to stop and tack about least they fall into the same Distress So for me that to the 19th Year of my Age was Foolish and Disobedient c. to call out to you that have not as yet fulfilled those Years or if you have exceeded them that you would proceed no further in your foolish and trfling Delaies I see there be many of you that are are just entring the Teens well hear it for your Good you are in the Posession of a Jewel which some here would give the whole World for if they had it supposing they had their Eyes opened to see the Cheats of Sin and Youthful Pleasures c. The Lord make you wise for Eternity 4. Consider what a World of Suitors you above all others have Jebovah Father Son and Holy Spirit Court and Councel you hence a great part of the Scriptures are penned for your Sake God hath a kindness for your Age and makes his first Applications to you he covets the beginning of your Strength and you may therefore be assured that what he seeks he will accept if you come in and yield to his Yoke But it 's probable some be ready to object if he so much desire us why don't he he conquer and convert us Answ O take heed of replying against God least your Bonds be made strong know it therefore the way wherein he will be found and let out of his powerful Spirit and Grace is the way of fervent frequent Prayers redeeming Time waiting diligently at Wisdom's Gates and watching against the Enticements of Sinners in all which there is Infinite Mercy and Grace and after all will you dare to Blaspheme his Wisdom in appointing and his Mercy in affording you these Means and then cast out your Foam against the God of Heaven and say why don't he convert me O if you understood all you would rather stand admiring and say why has he not damned me Is it fit a Holy God should be thus reproach'd by so mean a Worm as thou Or is it reasonable you should expect that he should force you against your Wills Moreover Satan the World and the Flesh are desirous of your Age the Devil knows your Weakness want of Experience proness to put off the thoughts of Death and Judgment what Folly is bound up in your Hearts c. Hence he is very busy with Youth as being very desirous of the Male in your Flock O then what need had Youth to bestir themselves least so subtile and malicious an Enemy blind them to their own Perdition 5. Consider what an Advantage you have above old Sinners First as you have more hope in your present Case you have not so often grieved the Spirit nor repulsed so many Checks of Conscience nor stifled so many Convictions nor is Sin grown so old and deeply rooted in you by a long Custom as it is in others Which Secondly is a mighty Advantage in your turning to God viz. preventing the Power and Plague of an evil Custom Jer. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopean change his Skin c. It 's an amazing thing to consider how some that have accustomed themselves to that beastly Sin of Drunkenness have thereby been brought so under its Power as in despight of all Arguments the bitter Cries of a starving ragged Family the Danger of Arrests the Flashes of Hell in their Consciences that by times have met with Reproofs of Ministers c. yet have still continued in that Sin to their Destruction O young Man you have this Advantage above old Sinners you may avoid the Plague of an ill Custom a Plague I think a Man had better never been born than to be under 6. Consider what you are till you come under the Yoke you are Children
bear the Yoke of Christ in the time of Youth is the summary of all that is truly Good In the handing of this Doctrine I shall speak to these three things I. To open what Christ's Yoke and the bearing of it is II. To clear it up to you that to come under and bear it in time of Youth is the summary of all that is truly Good III. To close all with some Motives to excite and Rules to direct young Ones to come under this Yoke and to bear it in their Youth I. To open what this Yoke of Christ is To set this in its clear light Man is to be considered in a double Relation 1. As a reasonable Creature and 2. As a wretched Sinner Now answerable to both these Christ's Yoke consists of two parts 1. Moral 2. Evangelical 1. The Moral part of this Yoke chiefly respects that Duty which Man as a reasonable Creature oweth to God as his Creator and that is to serve and obey him as his Rightful Lord and to love him as his chiefest Good Now this still belongeth to us For Man as a Creature lieth under an eternal Obligation to love and serve his Creator neither ought you to entertain the least thought as if Jesus Christ the Son of God the Saviour and Redeemer of lost Souls when he came into the World did ever abolish or dissolve this Obligation and Bond of Duty to be in Subjection to our Creator O no that would have been as if Christ came to supplant his Father and dethrone him of his Authority and Government over Man O let this be far from any of us to think as besure it was from any design or purpose of our Blessed Redeemer when he came into the World For you read expresly that he came to redeem us to not from God Rev. 5. 9. and when he suffered for us the just for the unjust it was to bring us to God 1 Pet 3. 18. i. e. that he might bring poor Apostate Man back to love serve please and enjoy his God again And this brings me to the second Part of this Yoke 2. The Evangelical Part of Christ's Yoke which chiefly respects Man's Duty considered as a wretched Sinner And that he is as soon as he begins to be as the Psalmist acknowledgeth Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me Psal 51. 5. Now this State and Condition of Man superinduceth a new Yoke which tho it was none of that which Man in Innocency was called to bear yet now Man having sinned and fallen from that Estate God in Christ out of his abundant Mercy calleth him to bear Remember whence thou art fallen and repent c. Rev. 2. 5. The Gospel Part to Christ's Yoke principally stands in its Commands and Precepts of Repentance Faith Self-denial and sincere Obedience as you may see in these following Scriptures Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Math. 3. 2. And Jesus preaching the Gospel saying the Kingdom of God is at hand Repent ye and believe the Gospel Mark 1. 15. Repent and be converted that your Sins may be blotted out c. Acts 3. 19. But now God commands all Men every where to repent Acts 17. 30. And our Saviour saith I am not come to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance Math. 9. 13. And in Luke 13. 3. he saith Except ye repent ye shall perish And so likewise for Faith without which it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. 6. And God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life John 3. 16. And when the poor trembling Jaylour cried out what shall I do to be saved the Apostle said Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Acts 16. 30 31. And to this purpose you read That this is the will of him that sent me saith Christ That every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting Life John 6. 40. And again This is his Commandment that we should believe on the Name of his Son 1 John 3. 23. And our Lord severely threatens That if we believe not we shall die in our Sins John 8. 24. And that he who believeth not shall be damned Mark 16. 16. And so for Self-denial and Obedience Jesus Christ affirmeth If any Man will come after me he must deny himself Math. 16. 24. and Luke 9. 23. And that Christ is the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him Heb. 5. 9. And the Gospel-threatning runs That Christ shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in Flaming Fire taking Vengeance on them that obey not the Gospel 2 Thess 1. 7 8. And hence it is that the Children of Disobedience in Sacred Writ are called Children of Belial i. e. Qui nullis legum vinculis teneantur such as are without Yoke Masterless who are not will not be held by the Bonds of Christ's Commandment So that it is evident that by the Yoke of Christ is meant his Commands to repent believe and obey the Gospel all which have no other tendency but the Good and Happiness of fallen Man Quest But here it may be demanded why this is called a Yoke since its chief end and design is to make Man happy Answ That it is for the Good and Happiness of Man is most certain as you will see in its proper place But then it is here to be considered that it is not now with the humane Nature as it was when it first came out of the Hands of God but a quite different thing It is now become apostate and corrupt since the Fall The carnal Mind is Enmity against God it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be Rom. 8 7. It hates to be reformed loves to wallow in the filth of Sin as the Swine in the Mire It is so woful daily Experience sheweth it as well as Scripture So that now Repentance Faith Conversion c. tho it be no other than the recovery of a lost Soul to God yet it s irksome and tedious to our corrupt Natures like plucking out a right Eye or cutting off a right Hand It is a pleasant thing to behold the Sun but it is a torment to a sore Eye Food is pleasant to the Healthy to the Hungry but loathsome to the Sick Alas by Nature we are sick unto Death and love Darkness rather than Light there is an aversness to Self-Reflection especially in time of Youth O how backward and unwilling are Youth to retire and consider their Sins and take pains with their Hearts to get them affected with their Danger they cannot endure the Yoke of Conviction of Sin and Reproof for Sin nor to be restrained their vain Company and sensual Pleasures but as Zophar saith Man is born like the Ass his Colt Job 11 12. exceedingly given to ramble and run a stray eagerly bent
upon carnal Sports and Vanities So that upon this Consideration the Commands of Christ are called a Yoke and that for these two following Reasons First Upon the account of that Reluctancy and Opposition that is since the Fall wofully and deeply rooted in our Natures against Obedience and Subjection to the Commands of Christ in the Gospel A Yoke you know is used to tame and subdue the unruly Creature and to bring it into Subjection So the Yoke of Christ serveth to humble and bring down the Proud and stubborn Spirit of Youth it holdeth an hard and strait Rein on the Neck of those furious and foolish Lusts which in that Age are usually Jehu-like impetuous and violent in order to stop them in their mad Carrear and course of Sin it being the very Picture and Property of Youth by Nature to affect an uncontroulable Liberty to run where they please do what they list and walk after the Imagination of their own Hearts submitting to no Government save that of their own Lusts As the Wise Man intimates in that Ironical taunt of his Rejoice O young Man in thy Youth and let thine Heart chear thee in the days of thy Youth and walk in the ways of thy Heart and in the sight of thine Eyes all this is marvelously chearing O it goes swiftly and swiftly down with Wind and Tide of Youth 's corrupt Nature but then comes in the pinching gauling Yoke in the reer of the Text Know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment Eccl. 11. 9. as if he had said O young Man at thy peril proceed pursue those forbidden Pleasures but wisely stop in time consider in order to thy speedy Repentance what a fearful fatal end they will certainly bring thee to if thou stop not if thou turn not for God will bring thee to Judgment for all and therefore remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth before the Evil day of Death and Judgment seize thee as it followeth in the beginning of the next Chapter Now what need all this line upon line precept upon precept to bind us to the blessed Service of Christ were it not for that cursed Reluctancy and Opposition that is in our corrupt Natures against it And indeed I cannot but think our Saviour in using the Metaphor of a Yoke to set out his sweet and sacred Government by designeth the humbling of the best of us all even of the regenerate themselves for as much as we daily need to be yoked to his Service by reason of the Remainders of Corruption in us My Brethren what a Reproach doth it lay us under that the Service of our Redeemer which in it self is the most pleasant employment in the World and among the Inhabitants of Heaven where holy Souls are perfectly freed from the Reliques of Sin it is their Felicity and Glory that our Saviour who never miscalleth any thing should with respect to us call it a Yoke surely it calleth us to loath our selves and say after him Rom. 7. 23 24. I see a Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin that is my Members O Wretched Man that I am c. Alas there is yet Flesh in us lusting against the Spirit in this Life which still needs the Yoke of Christ to be subduing and mortifying of it I dare appeal to all who have spiritual Life and Sense in this thing whether they do not find it so what else meaneth that Hue and Cry that is ever and anon raised in the Soul against indwelling Sin O Cursed Sin what Mischief hast thou wrought in me what Miseries hast thou brought on me the hidings of God's Face the weakning my Grace the breaking my Peace the grieving away my Comforter the deadning distracting my Heart in Prayer c. Hence O Wretched Man that I am c. Alas whensoever I set upon any thing that is good I find something within me opposing more then than at any time enticing and drawing off my Heart a bitter Root springing up to trouble me Hence O the Hurries Tumults and Distractions many times in the most Spiritual Duties Alas the Canaanites are yet in the Land lying in waite to make new Breaches between God and the Soul and to fill it with renewed Doubts and Fears So that there is no time to be secure to cast off the Yoke until we put off this Earthly Tabernacle Indeed sometime through Grace the renewed Soul findeth at an Ordinance such Heavenly Influences and Incomes of Light and Love as enlarge the Heart set it at liberty like the Chariots of Aminadab to run the ways of God's Commandments Psal 119. 32. and as the Spouse saith when the King sitteth at the Table my Spicknard sendeth forth its Pleasant smell then stay me with Flagons comfort me with Apples for I am sick of Love She sings as if she had put off her Yoke her Harness and ended her Warfare and took down her Harp and should no more need her Militant Graces of Repentance and Self-denial but alas how soon doth a fit of Security overtake her and then her Beloved was withdrawn and gone and she mourns Thus it is with renewed Souls when the Spirit of the Lord which is like the Wind blowing where it listeth blows and breathes draws and shines in making free and fresh Discoveries of the Love of Christ through the Lattice of an Ordinance to the Soul then there is Life and Liberty to run the Heavenly Race as if no Clog no Yoke were on it the Love of Christ constrains it 's like a Corner of Heaven a Penuel the Soul seeth that of the Glory of a Christ as sets it a singing Lo the Winter is past and gone the Summer is come c. Cant. 2. 11. But as Bernard saith Rara hora brevis mora sapit quidem suavissime sed gustatur rarissime Tho there are such Seasons wherein Gracious Souls are surprized with these sweet Illapses of the Spirit as a Comforter yet they are rare and but of short continuance by and by the Feast is over the Ordinance ends the Blessing got but Jacob goes away halting Corruption that lay dormant like a Thief in the House waiting for the Sleepiness of the Inhabitant soon rouzes up and is at its old work again lusting against the Spirit it grows unruly and rebellious so that there is need for the Yoke still and a Reinforcement of Prayers Tears Self-denial holy Diligence and Watchfulness to yoke down the Flesh those Remanders of Pride Passion Unbelief c. let the best speak if they do not find it so Ah blessed Lord thy Yoke is of constant use Sin is so deeply rooted in us and so often has deceived us that without thy Yoke we should soon run astray like Children of Belial And this may suffice for the first Reason why it is called a Yoke Secondly It is called a Yoke in respect of Labour A
Yoke is an Emblem of Labour it 's true indeed our Saviour saith His Yoke is easy but pray don't mistake that Expression it no ways imports as if Christians may be idle No my Beloved tho Christ's Yoke is easy yet it is not a Yoke of Idleness Tho praised be the Lord it is not an Iron Yoke of Cruelty yet it is a Yoke still for Duty and as it is a Yoke it imports the necessity of Labour and Diligence O that the Self-deluding Soul-cheating Lazy Professors of this secure Age were but convinced of this those who deem Christ's Service to be no other than an heap of good Wishes also those who think it stands only in a Circle and Course of dull and drowsy Performances to pray hear sing Psalms c. and I wish there were but so much done by some but our blessed Saviour fully detecteth the insufficiency of these in those two great Instances of the Pharisee in the Temple Luke 18. and the young Man in the 19th of Math. All these saith he have I done from my Youth and yet he was never brought under Christ's Yoke never throughly convinced of the Sin of his Nature never knew what Poverty of Spirit brokenness of Heart pangs of new Birth meant never entred the strait Gate of Regeneration And O that this were not the sad condition of far the greater number among us under the Gospel Alas what shall we think of those who are wrapt up in Ignorance blinded by the God of this World all quiet while the strong Man armed keeps the House no Outcries what to do to be saved others who tho they profess high hear and know much yet live idly and unprofitably are at ease pampering and indulging their beloved Lusts making continual Provision for the Flesh to fulfil it in its Lusts who cannot endure to have their Corruptions crossed but hate Reproof and make their Profession of Christ to be a Cloak to their loose and licentious Practises Surely these are as far from the Yoke of Christ as they are from that great mark of true Christians They that are Christ's have crucified the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts Gal. 5. 24. Hence we read of work of Faith the labour of Love and the Patience of Hope 1 Thess 1. 3. Wherein you have a Figure which Rhetoricians call Hypallage i. e. the Work of Faith for a working Faith the Labour of Love for a laborious Love and the Patience of Hope for a Hope patiently waiting that like an Anchor holds out all Storms Temptations Conflicts Hence also it is that the Kingdom of Heaven is said to suffer violence aend the violent take it by force Math. 11. 12. My Brethren there is no part of Christ's Service but calls for labour to repent to believe to love to hope c. and therefore it 's called a Yoke which brings me to open the other Branch Namely Quest What the bearing of this Yoke is Answ In the general the bearing of this Yoke is no other than a cordial and unfeigned Subjection to Jesus Christ in the Gospel to answer to his Calls to open at his Knocks to accept of his Offers to believe his Reports to obey his Commands Or if you can conceive it better by other Terms to bear his Yoke is our sincere and hearty consent that He and He only bear rule over us But this being the main of our Duty it requireth a more distinct and particular opening generalia non pungunt wherefore I shall consider these two Things 1. What is necessarily requisite to it 2. What is essentially contained in it Answ For the first of these it is necessarily requisite to the bearing of Christ's Yoke that a Man come first under it This is so plain and obvious that it needs no more Proof than it meets with Objection and Doubt and that is none at all that I know of For as the Apostle in another Case makes his Appeal to common Reason Rom. 10. 14. How can they believe on him of whom they have not heard So may I in the present Case How can a Man bear the Yoke unless he come under it This carrieth its own Light in it So that under this Head it only remaineth needful to consider what is requisite to the coming under Christ's Yoke Now to give a right and clear Answer hereunto two things must be considered 1. What is requisite on God's part 2. What is requisite on our part 1. In order to a Man's coming under the Yoke there is requisite on God's part both the Wheel of his Providence and the Arm of his Power The one to bring a Sinner under the Gospel and the other to draw a Sinner under the Yoke For as our Saviour saith No Man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him John 6. 44. But where and what is this drawing why the very next Verse answers it fully It is written in the Prophets and they shall be all taught of God every Man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me v. 45. So that this drawing is no other than God's teaching a Sinner by his Word and Spirit under the Gospel Dispensation Now that this is necessary is evident from the full Testimony of Scripture and the free Confession of all that ever were converted and brought under the Yoke of Christ Psal 110. 3. Phil. 2. 12. Eph. 2. 1 10. James 1. 18. And as to the Apostle's Query 1 Cor. 4. 7. Who maketh thee to differ from another He propounds it not by way of doubt but concludeth upon the Testimony as well he might of every regenerate Person that it was God and not Man And my Beloved whoever shall take a right Survey of the Depth of that miserable Apostacy Man is sunk into by the Fall together with all its Effects in that Darkness Filth Folly Bondage Power of Lusts Enmity Rebellion Prejudice against God all which is attended with a Senseless Stupidity so far from being convinced of the evil of so wretched and vile a State as for the most part likeing and approving the same I say whoever surveyeth this aright may justly stand amazed that ever there should spring up in any Age of the Church a Pelagius a Patron a Pleader for the power of Man to make himself to differ from another The Lord awaken us to right Apprehensions touching this Point viz. the necessity of the Arm of God's Power to draw a Sinner under Christ's Yoke Alas without this How can of Darkness such a Soul be made Light in the Lord and the Dead hear the Voice of the Son of God and live How should Satan called the strong Man be cast out or the stony Heart in a Sinner's Breast be taken away or the Enmity in a carnal Mind be slain or the stout fierce Rebellion in the Will quell'd and conquered All which must be done if ever a Soul be brought under the Yoke of Christ Alas there is
of Water O the astonishing height and depth of this Grace especially when you shall consider the readiness of our compassionate Redeemer to impart of this Fullness to poor undone Sinners that come to him and this is also necessary to know and understand in coming under his Yoke for unless the Soul be perswaded of this it will be clogged with such insuperable Difficulties and Discouragements and loaded with such innumerable Doubts and Fears as that it will have little heart to move towards or venture upon Christ and his Yoke Wherefore he is stiled a merciful and faithful High-Priest who knows how to have compassion on the ignorant and them that are out of the way Heb. 2. 17. and ch 5. 2. How readily did this Merciful Jesus impart of his Fullness to poor Sinners in the Days of his Flesh upon their coming to him and how affectionately did he invite the heavy laden in the day of their trouble for Sin to come unto him Math. 11. 28. and how pathetically did he weep over obstinate Jerusalem that would have none of him to reign over them Luke 19. 41 42. how lovingly did he treat that froward and perverse Woman of Samaria saying If thou knowest the Gift of God and who it is that saith unto thee give me to drink thou would have asked of him and he would have given thee living Water John 4. 10. And in the 5th of John 40. how doth he breath out his Grief at our backwardness to come to him saying ye will not come unto me that ye might have Life In a word never was the full Breast of a tender Mother more desirous of being drawn than Christ in whom all Fullness dwells is willing and ready to let out Supplies of Grace and Mercy to poor Sinners now this is necessary to be known in order to our coming under his Yoke Which leads me in the fifth place to shew you That 5. You are to understand if ever you come under Christ's Yoke what his Terms are on which he who is able to save is willing to bestow himself and all his saving Benefits upon you Here now I would by no means be misunderstood as if by Terms I intended any thing of Merit or any degree or shadow of it as if what we do could commend us to God For my part I do freely acknowledg that I know of no Merit of Ours but that of Hell and Damnation but for that of Salvation it must be for ever left entirely to the Blood of Christ which alone could make satisfaction to the Justice of God So that by Terms or what lieth upon you to do you must by no means think to recompense God or hope thereby to compound with him and make amends for the Wrongs your Sins have done and so piece up a Peace between his offended Justice and your guilty Souls O no this would be the direct way to loose all your Souls your Prayers Services and Hopes for ever he is too Great too Holy a God to be dealt with on any such Terms it was no less a Price than the costly precious Blood of his own Son that could expiate your Guilt and make your Peace but then if ever you come savingly to share in the Blessing of Peace and Pardon purchased by that Blood it is necessary that there be an effectual application of it to your Souls and that can never be without a Union between him who shed that Blood the Lord Jesus and you whose undone Case required so Great a Sacrifice Now there can be no Union without Faith whereupon the infinitely Wise and Holy God in his Love and Grace hath by the Constitution of the Gospel established and appointed his Son Jesus as the only center of Union between himself and poor Sinners and also Faith as the great Instrument and Term of Union between his Son and Sinners in order to their actual Interest in the Benefits of Justification Reconciliation Adoption c. purchased by his Death O then How may they return ashamed who have nursed up a parcel of blind Hopes and vain Confidences of Pardon and Heaven Saying God is now their reconciled Father Christ has died and never consider the indispensible necessity of Faith as the only way and means of Union with Christ but all this while have continued under the Power of Unbelief and Love of Sin in their unregenerate State as if Christ had died and shed his Blood in kindness to their Sins and his Name had been called Jesus to save them in and not from their Sins O Damnable Delusion to talk of hopes to be saved by Christ in your wretched unsensibleness of your lost and sinful Condition by Nature in your Ignorance and Pride and constant neglects of so great Salvation Ah poor Creature see how thou hast befooled thy self and cheated thy Soul with such carnal groundless Presumptions Look ye Sinners as the Sin of our first Parents could never have hurt us except there had been a Union with their Nature by Generation so the Redemption wrought out by Christ will never benefit us except there be a Union with him by Faith in the time of our Regeneration and effectual Calling Let Christ be never so able and willing to save Sinners yet according to the Tenor of the Gospel not one adult Person that ever was in the World from Adam to this Day or ever shall be to the end of this World can ever be saved by Christ in their Unbelief and Impenitency Mark 16. 16. Luke 13. 3. Now this is necessary to acquaint your selves with if ever you come under Christ's Yoke viz. the necessity of coming to Christ by Faith out of a deep sense and feeling of your Sin and Misery repairing to him and casting your miserable selves down at his Feet spreading your Case before him imploring his healing Blood to be sprinkled on your guilty Souls intreating his Holy Spirit to cure you of your blind Minds and hard Hearts And this brings me in the sixth place to tell you 6. That in order to your coming under Christ's Yoke you must understand that it is the Greatest and most Important Business you have to mind and attend in this World viz. Compliance with God's established way and means of Life and Salvation or your coming under Christ's Yoke by Faith accepting of Christ as thy Saviour and Lord with humble Reverence and Thankfulness entirely resigning surrendring and subjecting your self to the governing Power of Christ Pray what have you Life and Time in this World for but this Can you soberly and reasonably think it was to mind and attend the Trifles and Toys of this foolish and deceitful World in which you have no long abiding place and out of which you must shortly and may suddenly be removed Have you not an Immortal Soul that must be eternally saved or damned as soon as thy Mortal Body is dissolved And can you tell any other Terms Or do you know another way besides this of
below its worth and would prove in the end a breaking ruining beggerly Bargain Math. 16. 26. O what hast thou done Had there been no hope no help in a sent and sealed in a slain and crucified Jesus Or had'st thou never heard of him or had a Call to come to him or an Offer made of him Why then thy Sin had not been so henious and thy Sloth so odious but to stand idle under the Gospel which as it telleth thee thy Sin and Danger so it directs thee to Christ thy only Help and Remedy and yet to sit still all thy Days unconcerned tho unconverted and under the Wrath of God who out of Christ is thy Enemy and telleth thee so Psal 7. 11. on purpose to awaken thee to a sense of thy Danger and to chase thee to fly for Refuge out of thy Sins to Christ whose merciful Arms stand open still to receive thee and yet to this day how madly hast thou O my Soul despised a precious Saviour and refused his pleasant Yoke while by thy sinful Ease and Idleness thou hast ventured to cast thy self under the cruel Yoke of thy Lusts and that old Soul-murdering Serpent the Devil O how heavy a Guilt lieth upon thy Conscience within thee And how dreadful a Charge lieth against thee in the Court of Heaven above thee And yet O astonishing Mercy thou art still under the Offers of Grace it is not yet too late to obtain Mercy upon thy present Return O joyful Tidings But now O my Soul thou hast heard these things what are thy Resolves for time to come What! to go on as thou wast wont in thy Sloth and carnal Security God forbid that would be a fearful thing indeed to go on in a neglect of such a Saviour and so great a Salvation against so many Gospel-Arguments in Rebellion and Opposition to so Great and God that professeth if thou remain stubborn and gainsaying he will turn thee into Hell and the longer thou goest on in Sin here the greater shall thy Torments be there O my wretched Soul tho thou could be contented to go on in Sin all thy Days on Earth can'st thou be contented to suffer for them to all everlasting in Hell What mean'st thou therefore to demur and hang back from coming under Christ's Yoke What are his Demands unreasonable it's only to yield that he should rule over thee and thou art happy for ever sure nothing can be more reasonable and dost thou not yet stir O up in good earnest quickly resolve Halt Halve Hover no longer but say as the Lepers If we stay here we die c. 2 Kings 7. 3 4. So if I stay under the Yoke of Sin I certainly perish if I get under Christ's I shall surely live for ever Well tho I have been a wretched Prodigal I will arise and go and cast my self prostrate before him and say Lord Jesus tho thou don't want a Sinner yet I vile Sinner want a Saviour tho thou don't need a Servant yet I need a Service and none but thine the Service of my Lusts have e'en ruin'd me Thus breath out thy Desires and Resolutions and tell him thou hast been a Child of Belial too long already humbly beseeching him to accept and pardon thee as being now resolved never to live as thou hast done in Disobedience but in Subjection and Loyalty and art therefore come in on purpose to offer and yield thy Neck to his blessed Yoke Thus you see how requisite our utmost Diligence is in this great and necessary Duty treated on of coming under the Yoke of Christ Without Self-reflexion or bethinking our selves as it is called in Scripture 1 Kings 8. 47. there can be no judicious Self-resolution to come under this Yoke and without Diligence and Self-denial be sure there will be no suteable and serious Self-Reflexion For Proof whereof I should not need if you would but put it to proof within your own selves And as he ingeniously proved that there is Motion against one that denied it by rising out of his Chair and walking up and down so your own Hearts without me would make this clear if you would but solemnly set a-part a Portion of Time chosen for this very purpose to hold a Debate Conference and Communication within and with your own Souls and when you have done so then to enter upon it with great seriousness and retiredness becoming the nature of so weighty a Work as the setting up a Court in thy Conscience citing thy self before it's Bar searching ripping up thy Heart and Life thy State and Course sitting in Judgment on and talking close and home with thy self till thou stand'st convicted that thou art the guilty Person condemned by the holy Law of God and that Sentence is already pass'd and must be executed upon thee John 3. 18. compar'd with the 36th Unless thou come under the Yoke of Christ and hereupon the Affections are moved and the Will is resolved to yield to his Yoke Now I say if you would but make Tryal and Experiment of this your selves would soon acknowledg and testify that our utmost Diligence is requisite in this Affair O! it is no easy matter to come Home to a Mans self it 's a secret inward and retired Action that hath no Observation no Ostentation from without and our Hearts are bitterly set against it There is nothing through the whole course of Religious Duties that our Wicked Hearts do so naturally oppose as this External Acts of Religion as falling down on our Knees lifting up our Hands uttering of Words in Prayer reading of Chapters hearing Sermons and the like all these are easy to this Ah my Brethren sad Experience witnesseth this I appeal to your own Hearts if they will but speak the Truth and I beseech you to put them to it whether they had not rather spare and spend 20 Hours in publick Attendances as hearing praying singing c. than one in secret Retirement to search and see how matters stand between God and our Souls O that we could bewail it we love to be inquisite about others and their Affairs and in the mean time neglect to consider and enquire about the State and Affairs of our own Souls I have the longer insisted on this because it is a Sine qua non a Duty without which it is not possible you can ever come under the Yoke of Christ without this there can be no right believing repenting and obeying the Commands of Christ Which are the main Essentials of bearing his Yoke and which according to my purposed Order falls next under Consideration having opened what is necessarily requisite to the bearing Christ's Yoke 2. Quest What is essentially contained in it I shall briefly and yet I hope clearly answer and open it under these following Heads First There is contained in it an intire and Loyal Subjection of our Minds and Understandings unto his heavenly Doctrine and Wisdom as he is as our Prophet to teach
us by his Word and Spirit the Will of God for our Salvation renouncing to lead to our own Understandings and set up our own Conceits as our Rule verily accounting all that Wisdom and carnal Reason to be but meer Foolishness which lifteth up it self against any Truth of Christ in the Gospel As for instance it is one of the great and most concerning Truths of Christ Luke 13. 24. Strive to enter in at the strait Gate for many I say unto you will seek to enter and shall not be able Now when the Mind gives a free and full assent to this Truth as it is in Jesus not listning to any that shall rise up in opposition to the Wisdom of this great Prophet and say what need so much ado about this striving The Gate and way that leads to Heaven is smooth and broad but on the contrary heeds it hides it in the Heart by Faith that it may thereby be excited quickned to Diligence in striving the more earnestly This is one main Ingredient in coming under and bearing the Yoke Hence you read Eph. 4. 21 22. and John 10. 27. Of learning the Truth as it is in Jesus and of Christ's Sheep hearing his Voice and following him not a Stranger And in 1 Cor. 2. 14. speaking of the natural Man i. e. a Man unsubdued to the Yoke of Christ That he receives not the things of the Spirit of God Young People naturally receive not the Truths that directly and more especially concern them such as Eccl. 12. 1. 2 Tim. 2. 22. To remember their Creator to know the Scriptures to flee Youthful Lusts to hearken to Instruction c. but foolishly imagine it is time enough to mind the Concernments of their Souls herein now consists Rebellion to Christ's Yoke when the Mind attends not but holds in Unrighteousness stifles resists these Truths On the other hand when the Mind becomes studious to know opens yields to the light quarrelleth not with it but welcomes reverenceth and receiveth it as becometh a meek tractable and humble Disciple pondering and revolving such Thoughts as these I may never have the like Advantage again savingly to know the things of my Peace it cannot be too soon to hearken to Instruction it may be too late if I now trifle my Danger is great I stand upon the brink of Eternity and hereupon as the new born Babe desires the sincere Milk of the Word that he may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2. 2. looks into the Scriptures and then looks up to Heaven and saith Lord What I know not teach thou me and wherein I have done Iniquity I 'le do so no more I confess my Blindness Darkness Dullness Foolishness I am a poor ignorant erring Creature none more apt go astray But there 's none can teach like thee thou hast the Key of David that openest and none can shut c. thou hast the Eye-Salve for the cure of blind Hearts O take away the Vail that is upon my Heart and write thy Law there anoint my Eyes with the heavenly Unction of thy Holy Spirit open my Understanding that I may see the wonderous things contained in thy Law give me to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven c. Thus a sound and sincere Mind seeketh and savoureth the Truths of Christ and herein consisteth its Subjection to his Yoke the Understanding is subdued to the Wisdom of Christ in his Prophetical Office so as that when at any time he shall please by his Word and Spirit to let into the Mind the light of any Truth it yields quietly and readily to the Authority and Power of that Truth will not dare not invent Excuses to defeat its Erraud be it never so hard to cut off a right Hand Lust c. but saith Amen Lord be it so I am content thou should'st use the severest Methods for slaying my Corruptions O let it be done whatever it cost me any thing Blessed Jesus rather than Sin unsubdued O let thy Word King it over my Lusts and be enthron'd in my Heart accordingly when it falleth like a two edged Sword upon such a Sin the sound and submissive Mind willingly lies under the Blow and saith more of this good Lord strike again and again lay the Ax of this Truth to the Root of my Heart Lust and down with it Root and Branch What then shall become of those whose Minds are so far from a ready compliance with the Truths of Christ as a Prophet as that they rebelliously controul him in his Office It may be he hath come in such a Sermon and by his Spirit hath directed the Arrow of Conviction to such a Man's Conscience and thereby instructed him how ready he is to assist in getting off Sin 's Yoke and putting on Christ's Well! what has been the Carriage and Behaviour of this Wretch under this why instead of siding and taking part with the Light of the Spirit in this Truth of Christ he has sided with Satan and his own Corruption labouring to extinguish this Candle of the Lord and to blow out this Light of Conviction and set his Lust in battel array to fight against the Truth and will rather part with his Blood and Life than with his Sins O this is high and open Rebellion against Christ The Lord keep you young Ones from it This then is the first thing contained in bearing Christ's Yoke viz. Subjection of the Understanding and Mind to the Truths and teaching of Christ the great Prophet of his Church 2. It containeth in it a subjection of the Will to Christ both to obey him as King and fiducially to receive and trust in him as the Great High-Priest who alone was able to make Atonement and Reconciliation for Sin by his once offering up himself a Sacrifice to satisfy Divine Justice Now herein chiefly consists our Subjection to Christ's Yoke when the Will is won over to a full consent to receive and obey him both as Jesus and Lord Col. 2. 6. This answereth both the great Design and Intendment of the Gospel of Christ and also the Exigency of our lost and undone State when the Will comes up to a true Closure to say as in Isa 26. 12 13. O Lord thou wilt ordain Peace for us for thou hast wrought all thy Works in us O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had Dominion over us but by thee only will we make mention of thy Name Also in Acts 9. 6. And he trembling speaking of Paul at the time of his Conversion or coming under Christ's Yoke and astonished said Lord What wilt thou have me to do Hence Psal 110. 3. we read Christ's Subjects are said to be a willing People in the Day of his Power And Acts 11. 23. Barnabas exhorteth to cleave to the Lord with full purpose of Heart There is indeed an imperfect ineffectual Work often found in young People Agrippa-like Acts 26. 28. Then Aprippa said unto Paul almost thou perswadest me to be
Lustre and Glory doth this reflect and cast upon the bearing of the Yoke of Christ Under which the Soul is delivered from the intolerable Yoke of Guilt Now the Man may dwell at ease and in patience possess his Spirit all 's well Sin is pardoned if Death comes the next remove is to Life Eternal 2. To bear Christ's Yoke is good in respect of that comfortable Sense he may now have of his Adoption My Brethren coming under Christ's Yoke is coming into his Family he is now no longer a Fugitive a Vagabond a Foreigner a Stranger as he was before without God without Christ an Alien from the Covenant having no hope but now in Christ Jesus you who were sometimes afar off are made nigh by the Blood of Jesus yea Fellow-Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God Eph. 2. 12 13. compar'd with ver 19. O how good is it then to come under the Yoke of Christ and so be under the blessed Order Rule Care and Provision of his Family There 's bread enough and to spare in your Father's House You may conclude upon Paternal Care and Affection Psal 103. 13. As a Father pitieth his Children so the Lord c. Jer. 31. 20. Is Ephraim my dear Son my Bowels are troubled for him Your Heavenly Father in case of Danger hath a Bosom for your Refuge and in case of Miscarriages he hath Bowels to pity you he will say it 's a Child of mine I won't cut him off Temptation has been too hard for him Corruption has run him down The Spirit was willing but the Flesh was weak I 'le visit his Sin with Stripes but my loving kindness I will never take away Again you may conclude upon Access to God as to a Father with a Child-like Boldness Sin was that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that great Gulph betwixt God and you now Sin being pardoned the Partition-wall is removed and there is no Bar to Communion but within you a sweet Spirit of Adoption and above you an eternal inheritance kept in Reversion for you But O! the sad Condition of those that never came under this Yoke of Christ they lie abroad open and expos'd to all the Miseries of this Life and Pains of Hell for ever while out of Christ they are of their Father the Devil and can look for no Childs Portion from Above but from Beneath Is it not then Good to bear this Yoke betimes 3. It is Good in respect of Freedom from the Yoke of Sin 's Dominion O young Man do but think what an Hellish Life the Service of thy Lust is its Commands are always unreasonable cross to the great End of Creation Preservation Redemption c. and sometimes they are cross one to another So every Sinner till he come under Christ's Yoke is miserably haled pull'd this way and that way an Ambitious Lust calls him up Stairs a Covetous Lust calls him down a most fearful intolerable Thraldom The Lord open your Eyes that you may see and escape it e're it be too late But now when a Man comes under Christ's Yoke he is no longer under the Law but under Grace and so no Iniquity shall have Dominion over him Rom. 6. 14. His old Sin-mates may call and knock till they are weary the answer now is Ego non sum ego and with David Psal 119 115. Depart from me ye evil Doers for I will keep the Commandments of my God I am a Companion of all them that fear thee I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous Judgments ver 63. and 106. This is through Grace now the final Resolution of one under Christ's Yoke and now the Heart is fixed till now it was halting between two and you know a Man can never be quiet while unresolved but now being united to Christ he is at his Center Râ—th 1. 16 17. Millions of Gold and Silver can't draw him thence Cant. 3. 4 I held him and would not let him go Poor Judas wanted this therefore his Friends his Money his Chapmen could give no quiet but under Christ's Yoke the Soul is at rest As a Woman when married all her troublesome Suitors have now done their Solicitations O how good is it then to bear Christ's Yoke 4. It is good in respect of acceptation of our Persons and performances Eph. 1. 6. He hath accepted us in the Beloved It is a fearful case for a Man's Person and Duties to be rejected of God yet this is the very case of every Child of Belial i. e. without Christ's Yoke O it 's none but those that yield Subjection to Christ that find acceptation with the Father Believers their Duties tho attended with much imperfection like lame Mephibosheth yet being themselves under Christ's Yoke they are not despised the Father sees his Sons Name and Image on them and so tho there is much Alloy in the Mettal yet it passeth in the Court of Heaven And is it not then good to bear Christ's Yoke c. 5. It is good in respect of that Peace of Conscience which it possesseth the Soul with O what a Paradise of Pleasures are the Reflexions of a good and peaceable Conscience Now bearing Christ's Yoke hath a direct tendency to it Psal 119. 165. Great Peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them And as many as walk according to this Rule Mercy and Peace shall be upon them Gal. 6. 16. When a Man subjects himself to this Yoke he meets with Rest and Peace in his own Conscience My Heart saith Job shall not reproach me so long as I live Ah poor rebellious Sinners do but suffer your own Consciences to tell you all they know and it is enough to make your Ears to tingle and your Hearts to tremble yea to make you Magor-Missabib an Afrightment and Terror round about Felix his Throne could not secure him Alas that negative Quiet the Children of Disobedience have at present is but the effect of their Ignorance an Hours Sickness may break it and then their Conscience of Guilt appeareth like Hell and as the Hand upon the Wall to guilty Belshazar O the tremblings misgivings intolerable Torments that such do undergo after a wretched Course of Obstinacy and Opposition they would not have Christ reign and now they begin to feel Despair to reign in their Breasts and such a Tempest to arise in their Consciences as is ready every Moment to carry away and sink down all to Hell Soul and Body This Storm was breeding and gathering all the time of Rebellion against the Lord they were treasuring up Wrath as the Apostle stiles it Rom. 2. 5. and the Great God held his Peace and was silent Sentence against their evil Works was not speedily executed Hence they bless themselves and say they shall have Peace and on they go with more Violence and Presumption than ever Well what 's the Fruit and Consequence hereof Why an angry Majesty riseth up and
talk in a customary manner of Conversion the Lord be merciful to us and it s much to be feared for the most part it is but Talk Had we Ministers a clearer realizing view of the Truth of Matters between a Holy God and Multitudes of the Professors of this Age it were enough to make us with Ezekiel stamp with the Foot lie on our Side and eat Dung and with weeping Jeremiah to cry out O that our Head were Waters c. and with Isaiah to cry aloud and lift up our Voice like a Trumpet to shew Professors their Sins mournfully complaining who hath believed our Report To whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed Ah I fear the Lord is angry his Spirit retired and withdraw'n from our Assemblies a Spirit of Carnality has broke out and brought forth a Spirit of Division in these Days of Liberty Church-Members many prove rotten and are become like Salt that hath lost its Savour we grow Bulky instead of Holy run out into Leaves and Stalk instead of Fruit hollow instead of hearty the honour of our Profession is laid in the Dust Ministers die away apace grey Hairs are on us but who lays it to Heart O that this were not our Case Verily unless the Lord of Hosts had left among us a Remnant we had been as Sodom and as Gomorrha Isa 1. 9. And a Remnant there must still be or the ruin of the Land is near My self with many others are upon the Brink of Eternity and will be removed from you by Death shortly wherefore you young People had need beware and tremble at any further delays of your Conversion and coming under Christ's Yoke in such Days as these wherein our Iniquities are increased over our Heads and reach up to the Heavens and there is so much of a dead Formality reigning among Professors and so little of the Power of Christianity It is sad to see how some young Men descended of Religious Parents are so yok'd to Evil Company c. That Parents Tears Sighs Groans melting Intreaties and Expostulations are weak as Water cast upon the Ground and their Childrens Lusts strong as Goliah or the Sons of Zerviah too hard for all so that one may almost as soon draw a Camel through a Needle-Eye or pull one Limb from another as draw or pull them from their Cups and Evil Companions Moreover it is lamentable to consider enough one would think to turn this Place into a Bochim how many Yokeless Christless young Men and Maidens and Children are here before the Lord this Day and that are like so to live and so to die after all our Endeavours to save them O do not think I am uncharitable the Searcher of Hearts knoweth what my Hearts Desire and Prayer hath been and is for you and how glad I would be in this Matter to be mistaken O young People Presumption is the reigning Sin among you in this secure Age both in City and Country Conversion is another manner of matter than many apprehend there is according to Scripture much required to make it sound and bespeak it saving The Lord keep you from Flatteries and Deceits in this thing so that it is upon this Consideration that we manage our present Intreaty to come under the Yoke and what can be more awful Wide is the Gate and broad is the way to Hell and many saith Christ go in there but strait is the Gate c. Ah how bitter is it to think how many are now yoked in Chains of Darkness with Devils for refusing Christ's Yoke the last Year How numerous is your last Year's Printed Bill of Mortality near one and twenty thousand that have died in and about this great City and it is computed by some that the one half according to the Term and Date of Man's Life set down in Psal 90. 10. had not lived out half their Days now as many of these as died unconverted whether Young or Old are now perished and are past all hope of recovery to all Eternity But now what if many of you that have escap'd the last Year and now are hearing me should be found going after them in the same Steps of Impenitency and Unbelief refusing the gracious Yoke of Christ and so before this New-Year is finished you should have finished and filled up the measure of your Sins and be turned among them into Hell too would not that be a Woful and Dreadful thing Verily Sirs it 's bitter as Death to see some of you just of the same stubborn Temper making light of all that God or Man say to you on you go still in your former Course of Undutifulness Pride c. Notwithstanding the warnings of Providence the threatnings of Vengeance the checks of Conscience the waitings of Patience and all the melting Methods of Divine Clemency and Indulgence yet mad upon your Youthful Lust trifling in the momentous concerns of your precious and immortal Souls and you seem as if you were resolved to continue so my earnest desire is that it may not be so with any of you here this Day But yet I am not without Jealousies and Fears least this Sermon should leave divers of you as very Belialites i. e. refusing the Yoke of Christ as it found you Well! the Lord be witness between you and I whether I have not set Life and Death Good and Evil before you and whether if any of you should perish you perish for want of warning or no 2. Consider how uncertain the youngest of you are of out-living the present New-Year Young Man what is thy Life Is it not as a Vapour Jam. 4. 14. It is wholly conceal'd from every Soul of you whether the present Day may not be your last and a Writ of Ejection be served upon you before another Day Luke 12. 20. It is but a slender weak Thread that ties thy Soul and Body together viz. The Breath that goeth out of thy Nostrils if that be once stopt which may soon be thou art gone hence and must return no more Ah how many now in the beginning of this New-Year are big with Projects and Purposes about the World that will be numbred with the Dead and be laid in the Dust before the half of its Month's be numbred and accomplished Certainly a serious Consideration hereof is enough to enforce and constrain you without one Moments delay to come under the Yoke of Christ It was Augustine's Speech that he would not for a Million of Worlds be an Atheist one half-hour because he knew not but God might take him away in that half-Hour of Atheism O young Man awake now out of this sinful Security and flie for Refuge to Christ and his Yoke since thou knowest not but thy next time of Sleep thy Soul may be required and thou may'st awake no more 3. Consider how many of God's own Children walk in the bitterness of their Souls to this very day in bearing the reproach of their Youth for not bearing the