world takes up their hearts and engrosses their affections when we see how all their Plots Designs Contrivances Desires are for the world and when they mind onely fleshly things as the Apostles phrase is Phil. 3.19 What I mean by the world none can be ignorant of that hath either read what wise men have written concerning it or hath heard the Word of the Gospel sounding in his ears For indeed it 's not the least part of our Commission to dehort and dissuade men from fixing their Affections on these sublunary objects and but that continual inculcating of the same thing would make our Auditors nauseate the most wholsom Lessons we could not do them greater service than by making such Dehortations the perpetual Subject of our Sermons All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life saith the great Divine 1 Joh. 2.16 Whatever outward object serves to gratifie sense whatever here below is most commonly desired and lusted after whatever makes for satisfaction of the flesh or of our sensual appetite all is comprehended under this name And indeed it is with these worldly comforts as it was with the garden of Eden some are for food some for tryal some to keep our bodies serviceable to our souls some to prove our souls whether they 'll rest on these broken Reeds or seek their rest and acquiescence in him that is the Creator of all And accordingly the Almighty thought fit to limit the use of these terrestrial felicities and to signifie in his Word that his intent in giving them was that they should be our servants not our masters that he design'd them as advantages to us not hinderances in admiring and adoring the immense goodness and bounty of God and that he appointed them for our use no farther than they would serve to promote his glory and the eternal felicity of our immortal souls But here we find men generally live the reverse of Gods designs and intentions and instead of using these visible comforts in order to a greater end make that their home which was intended only for their Inn and are for erecting Tabernacles to dwell there which God design'd only as a thorow-fare And to this unhappiness preposterous education which most men are subject to doth very much contribute For whereas we should be educated into Reason and a right apprehension of things we are usually educated into sense and deceptions and those that have the care of us and should teach us self-denial in these outward things and by that means engage our souls to fix on nobler objects do commonly present us with nothing but sensual satisfactions All their Discourses to us are of the World and of the magnificence greatness splendor and ravishing aspects of these outward gayeties and the first principles they teach us are how to please sense and to pamper our appetite and though now and then they teach us some little Notions of Divinity yet it is in such a sensual way that it amounts to no more than a formality and divertisement and being a thing that 's taught by the by it makes little or no impression upon our affections But whatever disadvantages men lie under upon the account of their sensual education one would think when they come to the full use of their reason and are capable of understanding the vanity emptiness unconstancy of these lower objects and of apprehending that they were only intended as Ladders to raise us into contemplations of our great Benefactor in heaven when they arrive to this ripeness of understanding come out of their apprenticeship set up for themselves become as it were their own masters and enter upon the possession of that estate which before was managed by others one would think I say they should then begin as there is commonly an alteration of our temper upon the alteration of our fortunes to rectifie those sensual principles which their Nurses and Tutors have shed into them and wash away the stains those fond Masters as indeed men may be kill'd by kindnesses and like that Olympian Victor be stifled with Posies have unluckily imprinted on their souls But alas there are so very few that having gone thus far stop and attempt to captivate their appetites to the obedience of Reason and Religion or seek to elevate their souls above the dung and trouble of the World according to the intent of their Maker that most men sink deeper and deeper into the gulf of sensual desires open the gates wider make the door larger for sensual satisfaction to enter in nay if it be modest and loth to enter compel it to come in and to give their spirits an infusion of carnality to water and keep warm the seed of worldly inclinations and find out wayes to encrease their Thirst to add heat to their Fever to provoke their sensual appetite to enlarge it self as Hell and fearing they have not been sufficiently or faithfully enough instructed in the enjoyment of these worldly felicities they try experiments and conclusions to find out new satisfactions and thus plunge themselves into the main Sea being charmed by the Sunbeams playing and glittering upon the water and the curling of the waves And the impressions which were made on the wax when soft and tractable remain when it 's grown harder by a continual hurry of worldly cares and businesses which they are content to admit of they make their souls the least object of their solicitude and were they ask'd as that profane Duke What they think of Heaven it's like they would answer in his language or think so or at least act as if they thought so That they have so much business on earth that they cannot think of Heaven Thus their very spirits become flesh and their souls turn to earth as well as their bodies Whence it comes to pass that their minds being altogether sensual impregnated with worldly cares and satisfactions and all their faculties employ'd in contriving how to get a greater share of earth than they have already or at least to keep and preserve what they have there is no room for this Consideration of their spiritual estate or condition They hearken to nothing with any zeal or attention or life that doth not carry either some worldly profit or pleasure with it and that which charms or wins them must be the musick of temporal interest Consideration how they shall be saved hereafter there is no Lands to be bought with it no Mannors to be purchas'd no Houses to be built no Countries to be conquer'd no Honours to be got by it It brings in no Riches it fills not their Coffers with gold and silver it doth not give them respect and credit with Princes and Men of Quality it doth not cover their Tables with dainties and delicacies it doth not furnish them with portions for their children It doth not feed their bellies nor put them into a condition to lie on beds of
Body A Soul that can build it's Nest among the Stars of Heaven walk through yonder Mansions and taste of the Rivers which make glad the City of God A Soul which can wing it self into the Clouds and survey the Crowns and Scepters laid up for those that dare despise the World and have their Conversation in Heaven A Soul which can enjoy a Paradise while the Body is in trouble and rejoice in him who is All in All while the fierce Winds are whistling about her ears The vast reach of these Souls we have their fitness to receive Divine illumination their strong desires after Immortality their secret actings without the help of a Body their hopes of Heaven their fears of Hell all proclaim the certainty of an eternal state or condition they are intended for This eternal state imprinted on our Natures discover'd to the Gentiles proclaim'd by the Son of God preach'd by Angels confirm'd by Apostles reveal'd to Christians believ'd in the World as it relates either to Bliss or Misery to Joy or Torment to Honor or Dishonor so how to enjoy the one and avoid the other must in all probability be the great object which God design'd Mens Souls should be chiefly employ'd about For as there cannot be a thing of greater moment than Eternity so he must be a Sot a Beast that can imagine that God who ever intends the noblest Creatures for the noblest Ends will give Men leave to busie themselves altogether about picking of straws and pleasing a few sensual Lufts when he hath given them Souls capable not only of labouring and seeking after but obtaining a Kingdom which fades not away And when we sweat and toyle and labour to make provision for twenty thirty forty years what do we do but proclaim our obligation to be infinitely more concern'd how to provide for that state which must never have an end And as it was the goodness and wisdom of God to make us capable of an everlasting duration so we should be injurious to both if we did not suppose that God hath order'd and appointed means whereby it 's possible to save our selves from the wrath to come He that takes a view of Gods proceedings and dealings with Men ever since the Creation of the World cannot but stand amaz'd at the cost and labour and pains and means and motives and arguments God hath us'd to make Men sensible of their everlasting interest and to engage them to a serious preparation for that World they must live for ever in This serious preparation must necessarily be a holy blameless spotless life for the means must ever be sutable and agreeable to the nature of the end And Heaven being a holy place perlect holiness reigning there it 's not to be imagin'd how perfection of holiness can be enter'd upon without a considerable progress in holiness here no man reaching the highest step of a Ladder without the lowermost and one might as well flatter himself that his Trade by such a time will bring him in Ten thousand pounds when he is so far from minding his Trade that he contrives only how to run with others into excess of Riot And indeed to plant this holiness in Men the means have been so various so numerous so potent before the Law under the Law and under the Gospel that one may justly admire the whole World doth not stand candidate for Heaven and all the Inhabitants of the Earth do not take the Kingdom of God by violence Before the Law the continual pleadings of the long-liv'd Patriarchs with sinful Men to improve the light of Nature that Primar of Divinity the many Visions Revelations Dreams Signs Wonders Voices from Heaven the Ministry of Angels Gods Patience Forbearance Long-suffering and sometimes Exemplary Justice the Examples of holy Men Gods love to those that honour'd him the signal blessings he bestow'd on those that made him their highest and chiefest good what were all these but so many calls and entreaties that Men would by holiness prepare for a future happiness Under the Law God was so far from being weary of using means and taking pains with Men in order to this end that he seem'd to have reserv'd those Ages for larger and fuller Demonstrations of his Power and Munificence and if the people of Lystra had any ground for their exclamation the Jews had far greater reason to cry out That God was come down to them in the likeness of men For while other Countries were left in darkness and like Moles suffer'd to wander in the shadow and vally of death they as if they had been made of purer Clay seem'd to be the Darlings of Providence and the Favourites of Heaven Heaven bow'd to them and under its protection they went as under a Canopy of State and might with greater reason than the Sultan have challeng'd that lofty Title The shadow of God And with that Persian Emperor stiled themselves Kinsmen of the Stars Their eyes saw Miracles almost every day and with their daily Bread they receiv'd daily Prodigies and in the midst of their Rebellion God like the Sun when smiling through a Cloud shew'd them a merciful Face not that he approv'd of their Impiety but because by these Beams he would warm their hearts into obedience Their Blessings came down upon them not in drops but in showers and their Prosperity like the Cinnamon Tree was so fragrant that strangers might smell it a great way off before they saw it The Waters of Life were continually flowing into their Bosomes and though God now and then frown'd upon them what Father would not sometimes chide his Son yet his Indignation which like Flints sent out Fire upon their penitential Tears strait way return'd to its former coldness The Rocks poured them out Rivers of Oyl they wash'd their Feet in Butter and one might say of their Land as he of the Isle of Rhodes They were bless'd with a continual Sunshine Their Prophets what mighty what powerful Men were they Men that like Lamps consum'd their own Oyl to light their Auditors to Heaven or like Silkworms spun out their own Bowels to deck their Hearers with Garments of Righteousness Where words could not prevail Tears were the means to supple and affect them and it seems there is not stronger Rhetorick in the World than these Here one Prophet spoke like an Orator there another like a Logician Here one endeavour'd by Eloquence to charm them there another by clear Reason to convince them Here one threatned there another promis'd Here one wooed there another thundred Here one came with a Scepter of Love there another with a Trumpet of War Here one offer'd his hand to save them there another made bare his arm of revenge Here one offer'd an Ark to those that desired mercy there another rain'd down floods of Curses to drown the obstinate Here one represented God with his Sword drawn a smoke going up out of his nostrils and devouring fire out of
seek not the good but the loss and desolation of my Soul I 'll seek the things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God I 'll set my affections on things above and not on things on earth I am dead to all these sublunary Vanities and my life is hid with Christ in God and when Christ who is my life shall appear then shall I also appear with him in glory Without such resolutions as these Consideration is lame and feeble it 's practical Consideration that must do the work and it is these resolutions make it so the necessity of which Consideration is the next thing I must endeavor to demonstrate CHAP. III. The absolute necessity of Consideration in order to a serious life Gods frequent commands to that purpose Our Reason and the power of Consideration we are furnish'd or endu'd with prov'd to be given us for this end Without it Men have cause to suspect that their Reformation is counterfeit WHat we have said hitherto is not a thing indifferent left to our liberty and discretion to mind or to neglect it as we shall see occasion If labouring after a better life if endeavouring to get a share in the incorruptible Crown of glory if attempts to compass the eternal felicity of our Souls if studying how we may be admitted into the Quire of Angels and enjoy the society of the First-born which are written in Heaven if contriving how we may arrive to that fulness of joy God hath both reveal'd and promis'd be indispensably necessary this Consideration must be so too If Self-preservation be not a thing indifferent Consideration cannot possibly be so For the great object of this Consideration is how we may preserve our selves from being undone for ever how we may guard our Souls from everlasting perdition how we may avoid the second death and how we may make our happiness lasting and durable proof against the gates of Hell and the assaults of that roaring Lyon who walks about seeking whom he may devour God that commands all the powers of Light and Darkness and hath the same power over us that the Potter hath over his Vessel and hath made us capable of being govern'd by Moral Laws and hath created us on purpose to be ready at his beck and may force us into obedience by plagues and thunders if we are loth to be courted by smiles and favours and afar off sees all the dangers we are subject to and knows what Armies of Enemies lie in ambush and watch our fall it 's he that peremptorily commands this Consideration A Sovereign Prince expects to be obey'd and he that dares refuse or slight his reasonable command is justly lookt upon as a stranger to Loyal principles and well may God who is All-wise and can do nothing that 's unreasonable expect submission to a precept so great so good so advantagious both to Soul and Body as will appear in the sequele Consider your wayes is a Law which God to shew he is in good earnest inculcates twice in the same Prophecy Hagg. 1.5 7. And for that the Dream is doubled it is because the thing is establish'd by God said Joseph to Pharaoh Gen. 41.32 The same we may say of repeated Exhortations And indeed when the famous Moses bids the people under his charge and care to keep the statutes and the commandments which God had graciously vouchsafed them that it might go well with them and with their children after them the great preparative he requires for this religious frame is Consideration Deut. 4.39 40. as if without this all attempts of obedience were vain and all endeavors to serve God in Spirit and in Truth were no more but water spilt upon the ground It was upon the same account that St. Paul as quick-sighted as the other peremptorily tells the Romans that they would never practically approve that good and acceptable and perfect will of God without they were transform'd by the renewing of their mind i. e. made a new improvement of their minds by Consideration For Consideration rebuilds the house that 's fallen to the ground makes the mind new removes old prejudices against a serious life and transforms the judgment into other thoughts and conceptions carries away the rubbish which oppressed the Soul and leaves it not till it becomes a new creature Rom. 12.2 What can St. Peter 1 Pet. 1.13 mean when he presses the Christians of those dayes to gird up the loins of their minds but this great Duty we discourse of Consideration as it is a convocation of our thoughts so it ties and unites those thoughts to the great object the one thing necessary and as it were girds the Soul that it may keep within the rules of the Word of God and may not run out into strange desires or inordinate affections but be more expedite and nimble in her Travels to the Land of Promise The truth is from the mind as from Aarons head the precious oyntment runs down to the skirts of our garments This is the great wheel which sets the lesser orbs a going and if that be impregnated with principles of goodness and seriousness and these enlarg'd and spread by Consideration the will and the affections will soon be persuaded to follow that star till it brings them to Bethlehem the house of mercy In our civil affairs it 's the mind must first be fully persuaded either of the necessity or conveniency or danger or advantage of things before any wise resolution can be taken and we may justly conclude that in spiritual concerns men begin at the wrong end if they do not season their minds with such reflections as may make a deep impression on the will and affections For that these may resolve to follow God and may be ravish'd with his love and apply themselves to his wayes and may hate every false path and detest their former exorbitances and deviations we must necessarily suppose there must be some spring to feed them which Spring can be nothing else but Consideration And because the more objects the more flowers this Consideration feeds upon the more effectual it is and the greater seriousness it produces and the most signal change it works the Holy Ghost therefore in order to this end particularizes several things and commands them to be taken in as promoters of this excellent work Hence it is that we are sometimes call'd upon to consider our latter end Deutr. 32.29 sometimes the works of God Eccles. 7.13 sometimes the last judgment or the great account men must give of their works whether they have been good or whether they have been evil Psal. 50.22 sometimes the testimonies of God the sweetness beauty perfection worth and excellency of them Psal. 119.95 sometimes the future reward that God hath promised to them that fear him 2 Tim. 2.7 sometimes the holy Life Example and Christian constancy and magnanimity of Christ Jesus Hebr. 12.3 sometimes Gods correction and chastisement together with
Printed for Sam Lownds neare y e Sauoy 1677. THE GREAT LAW OF Consideration OR A DISCOURSE Wherein the Nature Vsefulness and Absolute Necessity OF Consideration In order to a truly Serious and Religious LIFE is laid open By ANTHONY HORNECK Preacher at the SAVOY Psal. 119.59 I thought on my wayes and turned my feet unto thy testimonies Lactant. Lib. 1. Instit. Benè dicere ad paucos pertinet benè autem vivere ad omnes London Printed by T. N. for Sam. Lownds near the Savoy in the Strand M.DC.LXXVII IMPRIMATUR Octob. 25. 1676. Guli Sill R.P.D. Henr. Episc Lond. à Sacris Domesticis TO HIS GRACE Christopher Lord Duke of Albemarle c. Lord Lieutenant of the Counties of Devon and Essex Gentleman of His Majesties Bedchamber one of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter c. My LORD May it please your Grace I Dare not call this Address Presumption the usual Compliment men give to Persons of Honour in Dedications of Books but Duly and the greatest Service I can pay you It 's the cause of God and the cause of Mens immortal Souls I am defending in this Treatise a Subject which claims attention from all degrees of men and wherein the most puissant Prince is as much concern'd as the meanest Vassal It is a future estate and what becomes of men when their bodies do drop from them and what they must do to inherit that eternal glory which a merciful God hath been pleas'd to promise them that I intend to speak to and if there be such a thing as a retribution after Death and our Souls When they leave their earthly Tabernacles must come to an after-reckoning and appear before the dreadful Tribunal of a just and infinite Majesty certainly that man is unjust to himself and an enemy to his own preservation that dares neglect his preparation for that great and tremendous Audit and prefers not meditation on that last account before all the sensual enjoyments of this World My LORD We are fall'n into an Age wherein some few daring men indeed their number is inconsiderable compared with the more sober part of Mankind have presumed to mock at a punishment after death and term'd that a Bugbear deriv'd from the tales of Priests and the melancholy of contemplative men which the wiser World heretofore was afraid to entertain but with most serious reflections When the ripest and most subact judgments for almost six thousand years together by the instinct of Nature and Conscience have believ'd a future Retribution it 's pretty to see a few raw Youths who have drown'd their Reason in Sensuality and scarcely ever perus'd any Books but Romances and the lascivious Rhapsodies of Poets assume to themselves a power to controul the universal sense and consent of Mankind think themselves wiser than all the grave Sages that have liv'd before them and break Jests in their Riots and Debauchery's upon that which not only Christians but Jews Mahometans and Heathens the subtilest and most knowing of them have ever since we have any Record or History of their Actions and Belief profess'd and embrac'd with all imaginable Reverence And are not things come to a fine pass My LORD when Christianity the clearest Revelation that was ever vouchsaf'd to men hath been receiv'd confirm'd and approv'd of in the World above sixteen hundred years and the greatest Philosophers in many of those Countries where it hath taken Root have not dared to doubt of the truth of it the convincing power that came along with it proclaiming its Divinity and Majesty that these bold Attentates should now begin to arraign its Authority and put us upon proving the first Principles of it as if the World were return'd to its former Barbarism and we had once more to do with Infidels as if men had divested themselves of Humanity put on the nature of Beasts and were sent into the World to understand no more but the matter and motion of the Malmsbury Philosophy I confess I have sometimes blamed my self for accusing these Libertines of Atheism when I have understood what mortal Enemies they were to Lying and Nonsence for how should not they believe a God that cannot speak a sentence but must swear by him or the truth of the Christian Religion that put so remarkable an Emphasis upon 's Wounds and Blood or another World that do so often imprecate Damnation to themselves or the being of a Devil who do not seldom wish he may confound them Would not any man conclude That Persons who do so exclaim against every mistaken and misplaced word and are such perfect Masters of Sence and value themselves so much upon their Veracity must needs believe the existence of those things they make use of in their ingenious Oaths and Curses the pompous Ornaments which in this Licentious Age set off the Glory Wit and Gallantry of such accomplish'd Pretenders But though we must not be so unmannerly as to accuse these Wits of contradictions in their discourses yet any man that doth not love darkness better than light may soon perceive how faulty this way these Scepticks are there being nothing more common with them than to smile at the Notion of that God by whom they swore but just before and to raille that day of Judgment which they seem'd to acknowledge in their absurd wishes and imprecations Some have I known who in a serious Fit have been pleas'd to tell me That if they could be sure there was another World and a Retribution for Good and Evil none should exceed them in strictness of Conversation and exact piety of Life and I am so charitable to believe that these spoke the sense of most of the rest and that the imaginary want of certainty in this dubious Point diverts them from venturing on that innocence and purity which was the glory of the primitive Christians But may it not be requisite to enquire whether these Doubters have ever taken the right way to be satisfied If one that had never heard of such a City as Exeter should be told that a Friend of his lately deceased there had left him a Thousand pound and he should reply that if he were certain there were such a City he would repair thither and yet would not enquire of those that are able to inform him might it not be presumed that such an one had no mind to be satisfied And I durst appeal to the Consciences of these men that doubt of an after-retribution whether they did ever sincerely and impartially desire or endeavor to be satisfied about it Did they ever do what every rational man ought to do that is willing to be ascertained of the truth of a common report Did they ever put themselves to half that trouble to be convinced of the certainty of a future judgment that they put themselves to when they would know whether the Title of the Estate they would buy be good or no. Do not
for indeed a flash of Thinking is no more Consideration than a few wandring sparks can be said to warm a spacious Room and as in cold Weather Men do not get themselves a heat by a step or two but by such exercises as put the Body into a violent motion so neither will a careless thought now and then heat the heart within but Consideration which puts the Soul into a strong and vigorous motion or agitation is that which must kindle the holy fire and shed life into all the faculties of the inward Man Not to mention here that the word was originally us'd to express the industry of Astronomers who by diligent contemplation and observation of the stars their Motion Position Conjunction Influences c. gave a judgment of the several Phaenomena or appearances they met withall from whence it was afterward applied to Men who seriously and attentively ponder things of moment whether Civil or Sacred The Scripture usually expresses it by laying our hearts close to our wayes as if it were with Consideration as it is with Mens listening to a confus'd noise and laying their ears close to a Wall with design to get a more distinct knowledge of it And indeed without Consideration Eternal Life and our Duties in order to it appear no very great attractives Consideration clears up those Notions dispells the Clouds and Mists that dwell upon our Reason wipes away the Dust discovers unknown Worlds and makes even such things as were vulgar obvious before look with a new face they being found upon Consideration things of greater consequence of greater comfort of greater necessity of greater virtue and efficacy than before they were believed to be It is much with Consideration as it is with Microscopes and Magnifying Glasses what contemptible Creatures do some little Animals and the smaller sorts of Plants appear while beheld with our naked eye but view'd through Dioptrical Glasses what curious Fabricks do we spy How inconsiderable an Insect is a Flie How despicable a Creature is a Mite Yet he that through such Glasses beholds in them all the perfections of the largest Animals the multiplicity of their parts the variety of their motions and how curiously every limb is wrought how mathematically all their little members are framed and set together cannot but wonder at the spectacle and break forth into admiration of the immense Wisdom of their Maker Consideration is that Glass which represents spiritual objects in other colours than before were observ'd and detected in them Sin that look'd but with a faint red before through this Glass appears all Scarlet and Crimson Gods Laws which before were hardly regarded so much as humane Injunctions through this Glass appear so beautiful so rational so wise so wonderful so suited to an intelligent Nature that a Man with David cannot hold but must cry out O how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day The New Jerusalem which look'd but like an ordinary Building before when view'd through this Glass the Towers and Bulwarks of it are seen glittering afar off the Pearls and precious Stones it 's paved withall shine with more than ordinary lustre and that which look'd but dull and weak before now dazles the Spectators eyes with its oriental brightness But this will further appear if we enquire into the essential parts or necessary ingredients of these spiritual Opticks Consideration as it is the Sun that enlightens this Microcosme Man and irradiates the benighted faculties of the Soul so that it may have this virtue there is required and it cannot be Consideration without it Self-Examination Expostulation and strong Resolution I. Self-Examination That man who examines not his spiritual estate or condition whether he is that sinner that shall be everlastingly miserable whether the threatnings of the Gospel concern him whether he finds those qualifications in himself which the Son of God requires of all that shall be Heirs of glory whither he feels those things in his Soul which men that have a title to the great Inheritance are sensible of and whither he walks in that strait way and strives to enter in at that narrow gate the Holy Ghost doth speak of He that with Gallio cares for none of these things is so far from considering that he doth not believe the immortality of his Soul or another World For were his heart season'd with a sound belief of that future state he could not but enter into his Closet and reflect In this Bible in this Book which I do believe contains the Oracles of God and his peremptory Will concerning the salvation of men I find stubborn careless unconverted sinners adjudg'd to eternal torments I find God protest he will know none in the last day so as to shew them favor but such as dare deny themselves for Heaven and heartily endeavor to do the Will of their Father which is in Heaven I find God swear that men who prefer their Farms and Oxen and secular Concerns before his Injunctions and Commands shall never taste of the great Supper of the Lamb. Am I one of these stubborn unconverted careless men or no Why should I be afraid to ask such a question when there is no less than Eternity in the case If I am none of this number What means the bleating of Sheep and the lowing of Oxen in mine ears What means my earthly mindedness What means my living in wilful Contempt of so many commands of the Son of God I take no pains to be sav'd some little formalities and complements of Religion serve my turn and satisfie my Conscience I can put off the great God of Heaven with the Worlds leavings and throw him a dull heartless prayer at night when I have been wallowing in sin all day I am for no devotion that 's either expensive or troublesom to flesh and blood and such ejaculations as do not molest me in my pleasures and as my flesh can easily spare without any detriment in its satisfaction I am willing to lay upon Gods Altar I feel little or no sorrow for sin no remorse no compunctions when I offend a gracious God A temporal advantage affects and revives me more than all the joyes of Heaven If I do sometimes resolve to leave either my grosser vices or my more secret iniquities the next company or divertisement takes me off again and I make no more of breaking my solemn promises of better obedience than if God were a meer stock or stone that takes no notice of affronts and injuries Self-denial I am so great a stranger to that I know not what it means The graces and fruits of Gods Spirit Love Joy Peace Goodness Faith Temperance Meekness Patience Long-suffering have so little of my desires and affections that I think it but time and labour lost to bethink my self how to be Master of any of them Why should I flatter and deceive my self Why should I sooth my self into kind thoughts of my condition that is so
Christ hath made it It 's that which Heaven is entailed on and without which Men if they dare take the word of that Jesus whom they do believe to be the Son of God can look for nothing else but everlasting destruction Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 18.3 are the express words of him who came from Heaven to reveal his Fathers Will words which do not only import the absolute necessity but represent the nature and manner of true Conversion And if the words added by way of Explication be thorowly weigh'd it will appear to any rational man that that laborious Conversion which the Ministers of the Gospel press and recommend is no other but what Christ requires in order to salvation for what can be the meaning of this phrase becoming as little children but that men must learn to be children in malice 1 Cor. 14.20 pull down their passions watch over their inordinate affections overcome themselves and harbor no grudge no hatred no revengeful thoughts in their hearts against those that have offended them and like new born Babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that they may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2.2 i. e. with all humility and alacrity submit themselves to be guided and ruled and govern'd by the precepts and injunctions of Christ in the Gospel without disputing or contradicting his commands though levell'd against flesh and blood as much as children leave themselves to the guidance and direction of their Nurses and have neither strength nor will nor malice to oppose the will or order of those that do lead them Not that Christ forbids examining either the Divinity or reasonableness of his Doctrines and Injunctions No God is not afraid to have his Will tried and examin'd by right reason for as it is the effect of the highest reason so it must needs be most agreeable to reason it being impossible that truth can be inconsistent with truth and therefore Christ doth so little discourage men from trying the Divinity of his Sayings and Commands by the rule of right reason that in several places he bids the Pharisees and whoever were his Adversaries to judge impartially of the Arguments he gave for the divine original of his doctrine And without all peradventure this liberty every man hath to examine and satisfie himself whether the injunctions of Christ and his Apostles were things that dropt from heaven or no. But then where men are convinc'd or have sufficient reason to be convinc'd that these Precepts are the peremptory Will of God concerning their salvation as any person who is not a Changeling or meer Natural may find upon due examination and inquiry if he will there God expects most justly that all pretences and excuses and carnal reasonings should fall and the Soul submit readily to the yoke of Christ and resign its will to Christs Will though it cannot for the present comprehend the true reason of some commands and suffer itself to be acted and guided by these Laws without contradiction or opposition or tergiversation denying and renouncing every apprehension or suggestion that would sollicit or tempt it to start aside from sincere obedience and all discourses that would dash or impede its willingness and readiness to embrace them And indeed this is all we mean by true Conversion viz. ceasing to obey the dictates of the World the Flesh and the Devil and endeavouring seriously to live up to the precepts of the Gospel without asking our lusts or vain desires whether they are willing to it or no a sincere resolution to get from under the yoke of sin and to make the Lord Jesus who bought us with his own blood our Supreme Ruler and Governor And since there can be no Government without Laws and we never heard of any other Laws Christ gave but what we have in the Gospel we cannot and dare not but conclude that to live up to these Laws of the Gospel is true Conversion And indeed the primitive Christians took no person to be converted that did not make these Laws the great Rule of his Life and shew'd by his Actions that he priz'd and esteem'd and valu'd these Laws above all the Orders and Decrees and Constitutions of the greatest Monarchs When we do entreat and admonish men to be converted what do we do but persuade them to mortifie their members which are upon the earth Fornication Uncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry and to put off Anger Wrath Malice Blasphemy and filthy Communication of their Mouths and to put on Bowels of Mercy Kindness Humbleness of Mind Meekness Long-suffering so as to forbear one another and forgive one another To let the Word of Christ dwell in them richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing with grace in their hearts unto the Lord and whatever they do in word or deed to do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks unto God and the Father through him To be poor in spirit to be meek to hunger and thirst after righteousness to purifie their hearts to follow peace with all men as much as in them lies To be patient under Slanders Reproaches and Persecutions To live in a sense of future Joyes and of an everlasting Recompence To avoid all apparent occasions of Evil even things that are harmless in themselves if they provoke or tempt to Sin To avoid Swearing in their ordinary Discourses and Communications to love their Enemies to do good to them that hate them to pray for them which persecute them and despitefully use them To give Alms without any sinister ends to pray without affectation of vain Applause or laying any stress upon the length of their prayers To fast without ostentation to lay up their treasure in Heaven to trust Gods Providence in their respective Callings and Conditions to love him better than the World to use the World as if they used it not to seek first Gods Kingdom and his Righteousness Not to judge rashly but to forsake their greater sins before they find fault with the lesser transgressions of their Neighbors To walk in the strait way and take pains for Heaven To avoid Hypocrisie and to manifest their Profession by their Lives both to hear and to do what they hear and to bring forth Fruits mete for Repentance and to let their Light so shine before Men that they may see their good Works and glorifie their Father which is in Heaven To be faithful unto Death and to hold out to the End and to suffer for the testimony of Jesus if God think fit to call them to it and to do good though they have no prospect of a present Recompence To feed the Hungry and cloath the Naked and visit the Sick and to hope and to believe that they shall be rewarded at the Resurrection of the Just. These are the
dehorts and discourages them from being accessary to their own ruine He gives them time and space to repent he caresses them with his Heaven he can do no less in justice than prepare a Hell for the stubborn offender this is the only way to vindicate the honour of his Law but then he would have him shun that Tophet and walk in the way that leads to Life and promises him to rejoyce over his Repentance and to crown his serious endeavours with all that 's rich and glorious All the Mercies Afflictions Judgements Providences he sends upon him are to disswade him from walking in the way to destruction He wooes the proud Creature to his dying day and stands between him and eternal anguish while the wretch faucily thrusts the Eternal God away and will storm the fatal Gate God would hold him but he breaks loose from him and flings himself into the Devils Arms and then sure it is not God that so much that condemns him to everlasting horror and anguish as himself But if it were not so that there is such a punishment threatned in the Gospel is beyond dispute And this threatening to be sure is not like the Ceremonial Law which was but a shadow of things to come and so fell of it self when the substance appear'd In this threatening there are no Types and therefore we can look for no Abolition This is God's peremptory determination this way he is unalterably resolv'd to proceed and most certainly God is not a Man that he should lye or a Son of Man that he should Repent His Word is engaged and the Honor of his Veracity concern'd to see this threatening executed should God dispense with it it would follow that God either did not know what he did when he made this sanction or that he repents of it as unjust or that he did not foresee the inconveniences which were like to ensue upon the execution of this threatening all which consequences are monstrously absurd and unreasonable The terms and conditions upon which Eternal Salvation is offer'd are so reasonable and so just and I may say so easy that the wilful neglect of them deserves no less than loss of the great Salvation God offers were the conditions God requires in order to everlasting Bliss attended with unconquerable difficulties did God require a thousand Rivers of Oil or the Sacrifice of out First-born or dragging the Cattel upon a thousand Hills to his Altar did he require us to wade through stinking Ditches full of Leeches and venemous creatures as the enemy of Mankind is said to advise some of the Indians did he injoyn us to suffer our selves to be crush'd to death under Chariot-wheels as some of the Heathens of Indostan doe out of respect to their Idol Jagannath indeed then to neglect this promis'd felicity would admit of some excuse the difficulty of the enterprize would qualify the crime and the omission be capable of some slight Apology But when God requires no more but a practical Belief and submission to those rules His Son came down from Heaven to teach us the observance whereof advances our Temporal Interest as well as our Spiritual keeps us in health and in a good temper makes us live quietly and contentedly even in this present World where the duty is profit and obedience brings its present reward with it there to slight an incorruptible Crown of Glory common reason will tell us that we justly loose it He that will not accept of the greatest Treasure imaginable if he may have it but for asking we our selves confess it's pity he should ever enjoy it and then when a practical Belief of the promises and threatenings of the Gospel is all the trouble God desires us to be at in order to endless Felicity the condition being so facile so equitable we cannot if we our selves were to be the Judges but acknowledge that we deserve never to possess it if we despise or neglect so reasonable a condition The high quality of the person offended certainly makes a fault the greater He that kills a King commits a greater crime than he that kills a Peasant And if the dignity of the person injured aggravates the sin it may justly aggravate the guilt and punishment too And therefore he that hath affronted his Prince and Soveraign deserves to lye in Jayl longer than he that hath wrong'd his equal or inferior and consequently he that offends and wilfully without need and malitiously and for many years and in despight of all the Courtship of Ministers to leave off offends an Infinite Eternal Incomprehensible God why should not the offence amount to a demerit of Infinite and Eternal punishments Certain it is that the obstinate sinner slights an Eternal Redemption and had he liv'd for ever he would without all peradventure have sinn'd for ever and since the Man that would have committed Treason is deservedly executed for Treason why should not he suffer Eternally who if he had liv'd here to all Eternity would have affronted God and abused him to all Eternity The more I reflect on the nature of sin the more dreadful it appears to me If I think of God's Wisdom I see how sin controuls that as if God had made very foolish Laws to govern Mankind by if I ruminate on God's Power I see how sin mocks that as if all his threatenings were but Bugbears and God did threaten more than he could perform If I cast my Eye upon God's Truth and Veracity I see how sin would make him a Lyar changeable unfaithful inconstant to himself if I take a view of his justice I see how sin would dash and abolish it for in that it makes the sinner hope for impunity when he hath affronted his Maker as much as he can what doth it but enervate God's Righteousness shake off God's Government and prompt the sinner to resist and fight with him whose Eyes are like flames of Fire and whose Feet are as Brass glowing in a Furnace and that such a continual contempt of the Almighty should justly and deservedly pull down perpetual torments is a thing not at all contrary to reason Nay for ought I see the sinner makes nothing of Eternal Damnation while he lives here the loss of 50 or 100 l. shall fright him more than Everlasting banishment from the gracious Presence of Almighty God whereby he tacitly confesses that the punishment is very slight and inconsiderable and what wrong doth God do him in inflicting a punishment upon him which by his own acknowledgement is so trivial and so slight that hee 'l sooner endure it than the loss of a Friend or Relation nay many times wishes for it in his common discourse as if it were some pleasure to see Eternal Flames about his ears How soon would Consideration of such Arguments as these undeceive the worldly wretch that talks he knows not what when he finds fault with ' God's dooming careless wilful obstinate sinners to unquenchable fire But its want
Hosts my Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh cryeth out for the living God when shall I come to appear before thee when shall I shake off this clogg of the flesh and praise thee day and night in thy Temple when shall I be freed from this Earth and Dross and do thy Will O my God without Lett or Interruption O my Soul dost thou believe such a Heaven where no good shall be absent and canst thou be hunting after the husks and empty shells of sensual pleasure how little do the Inhabitants of that New Jerusalem mind the pomp and grandeur of this world they have nobler objects to mind and more delightful employments to take up their minds and thoughts didst thou live more in this Heaven O my Soul how wouldst thou look down upon this Earth as an inconsiderable trifle how little wouldst thou regard what man can do unto thee how contentedly mightst thou part with all that the world counts dear and precious for Christ his sake as knowing that there is laid up for thee the Crown of Righteousness which the Righteous Judge will give to thee one day and not only to thee but to all those that love his appearance Look upon the Primitive Martyrs O my Soul they broyled in Flames but loo'kd upon that Heaven and smiled St. Stephen hath a thousand Stones flying about his Ears but looks upon that Heaven and the Glory of God appears upon his face Abraham sojourns in the Land of Promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob but looks for a City which hath foundation and goes on triumphing Moses suffers affiiction with the people of God but hath respect unto the recompence of reward and esteems the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the Treasures of Egypt The Apostles are scourged and beaten for the testimony of Jesus but look upon this Heaven and depart from the Council rejoycing because they were counted worthy to suffer for the Name of the Lord Jesus St. Paul five times of the Jews receives forty stripes save one thrice is he beaten with rods once he is stoned thrice he suffers shipwrack a night and a day he is in the deep in journeyings often in cold and nakedness but what ails the Man he sings his heart dances for joy under all these troubles O my Soul he saw he saw that his light affliction which was but for a moment would work for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory O my God give me but my portion in this Heaven and I desire no more Come what will come Sword Fire Imprisonment Hunger Thirst Nakedness Disgrace Reproach Perils by Sea and Perils by Land Enemies Devils Friends Poverty Sickness Exile c. Here is a Jewel will counterballance all O give me but a room in that great House made without hands Eternal in the Heavens and then cut burn torture and afflict let storms and tempests come I 'll fight against them with my Title to that Inheritance which fades not away this shall quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil this shall bear up my Head above water this shall hush all my discontented thoughts this shall be my refuge in a storm my hiding place in flames my portion in poverty my pillow in great anguish my liberty in prison my cordial in temptations my Elixir in a swound my prop when I stumble my Laurel when it thunders my Rock in persecution my Safeguard in destruction my Light in the midst of darkness my Goshen in this Egypt my Ship under the fiercest Billows my Shield when I am assaulted my Helmet when I am in danger my encouragement when I do resist my Crown when I conquer my Manna in the Wilderness my Food in the Desart my Rose to smell to in a Dungeon my Guide in my journey my Pole-Star in my voyage my Staff in my Pilgrimage my Song in my misery my All when Death and Hell conspire unto my ruine VI. It makes a man prudent and discreet in secular affairs and businesses Consideration as it is a very great improvement of Mans Reason so it cannot but be very useful to him in governing his secular affairs with discretion Consideration makes a man master of his Reason and that man must needs act more wisely that hath his reason at command than he that makes it a slave to every flattering passion and since it is confessed that the fear of God hath that influence upon all humane affairs that it disposes a man to a wise and prudential management of them Consideration must of necessity be of the same Virtue and Efficacy for this fear of God is the immediate product of Consideration I deny not but men wise in Spiritual are not always so in Temporal concerns for either their scrupulous Consciences or fear of having their hearts carried out too much after the world or their giving themselves wholly to Heavenly employments may make them careless and unmindful of things belonging to this world but still in its nature and tendency this circumspection in things which concern a Christians Soul is able to shed wisdom and discretion into his carriage and behaviour to things which appertain to this present life hence from a man who seriously considers he hath a Soul to be saved you may expect great order in his Family a prudent foresight of dangers and a moderate care to shun them great temper in discourse and exact justice in his dealings and rendring to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honor to whom Honor as the Apostle's phrase is Rom. 13. 7. In all probability it was the attentive consideration of his Spiritual concerns that made David both valiant and prudent in matters as he is call'd 1 Sam. 16. 18. and to what can we ascribe Joseph's and Daniel's discreet Government of themselves and their secular affairs but to that Piety and Goodness which by long and serious consideration they had setled in their Breasts When 〈◊〉 mans wayes please the Lord he makes even his very enemies to be at peace with him i. e. He doth not only by an extraordinary providence turn their hearts towards him but infuses wisdom and discretion into his Soul so to behave himself towards his enemies that they cannot but bury their hatred and return to their former friendship and civility Prov. 16. 7. He that considers his ways with reference to his Eternal state and condition his ways cannot but please the Lord and such wisdom if he stand not in his own light will surely fall to his share and hereof we need no other proof but common experience The man who truly minds his everlasting interest and so considers the account he must give to God when this life is ended as to provide for that great and dreadful Audit thinks himself obliged to use what cautiousness he can that he may not wrong
his God his Soul and his Neighbor and this cautiousness cannot but make him prudent in his Secular Vocation hence such a man hath commonly his Wife Children and Servants in better order than other men and mingles that sweetness and kindness with his gravity or severity that they may have encouragement to love him and dread offending a far greater Master in Heaven there is not that discontent that emulation that ill language that backbiting that luxury that extravagance that tumult in such a mans Family as is to be observed in Houses where little of God and Eternity is regarded Such a person spends in his house no more but what is decent and convenient and so provides for those of his own Houshold as not to forget doing good to the Levite and to the Widow and to the Fatherless his Speech is commonly with Grace seasoned with Salt full of meekness and gravity and therefore less offensive and he takes heed that it may not be laid to his charge that he hath bestow'd more to feed his pride and luxury than Christs distressed members and in publick affairs or places of great Trust such a man as minds first Heaven and then Earth usually discovers far greater wisdom in management of State affairs than those who first mind Earth and Heaven when they have nothing else to do for his Principles lead him so to carry himself to man as not to affront his God and to advise his King to nothing but what is truly great and glorious and beneficial for the Realm he governs and as a Prince may confide in such a person more than in a sensual Man so he hath reason to believe that all things will prosper better in his hand than in the others because he first seeks the Honour of God and then the happiness of his King and the Honour of that Nation he is a member of which is a thing so pleasing to God that there is nothing more frequent with him than to bless such honest endeavours and to crown them with success and prosperity And certainly he that can consider how to keep himself from the everlasting evil may with greater ease prevent temporal mischief and danger which depend upon the imprudence of his actions he that can row against the Stream may with greater facility row with it he that can chearfully goe up the Hill will find no great difficulty in going down he that can do that which his Nature hath more than ordinary aversion from may more easily doe that which his nature hath a strong byass and inclination to and he whose mind will serve him to turn away the ever-burning wrath of Almighty God cannot want judgement and prudence to prevent the wrath and anger of those men he converses withal and he that can by serious consideration make sure of a Seat in Heaven cannot want power to consider how to manage the Estate God hath given him in this world to Gods Glory and his neighbors good and though men that are very considerate in their Soul concerns doe not always use that prudence we have mention'd in the concerns of this present world yet it is sufficient that if they will make use of that light and those arguments which their reason thus improved by consideration doth furnish them withal they may most certainly arrive to this wisdom and discretion in secular concerns and businesses which we have been speaking of Indeed it 's very rational that he that exercises his reason much and examines the nature ends causes circumstances and consequences of things as he must do that seriously considers the things that belong unto his everlasting peace should arrive to more than ordinary wisdom in other things and that he that 's prudent in the greater should be able to proceed prudentially in lesser matters that he who is faithful in much should be faithful in a little also and that he who is just in the true Riches should be very just in the Mammon of unrighteousness too as we read Luk. 16. 10 11. CHAP. VII A pathetical Exhortation to men who are yet strangers to a serious religious life to consider their ways wilfulness of their neglect how dangerous it is How inexcusable they are how inhumane to God and their own Souls How reasonable God's requests are and how justly God may turn that power of consideration he hath given them into blindness and hardness of heart since they make so ill a use of it c. ANd now Reader whoever thou art that doest yet wallow or allow thy self in any known sin and art not sincerely resolved to close with the terms of Christs Eternal Gospel let me adjure thee by the mercies of God not to reject or superciliously to despise what here we have propos'd As thou art a man and owest civility to all creatures that have the signature of man upon them be but so kind and civil to this Discourse as to allow it some serious thoughts Either thou hast a rational Soul or thou hast not if thou hast let me entreat thee by the Bowels of Jesus to consider whether this present world be all the Sphere that God intended it should move in If it be not and if how to secure the happiness of the world to come be the chief thing this thy Soul is designed for why wilt thou frustrate God in his expectation why wilt thou goe contrary to all creatures and not prosecute the end for which thy Soul was made and shed into thy Body That there is such a thing as a life to come and an Eternity of joy and torment the one promised to a strict and Heavenly conversation the other threaten'd to a loose and careless or sensual life cannot be call'd into question by him that shall impartially reflect upon the premisses it 's certain the things which concern that other life are not discover'd by our sences and therefore thou canst not hope to be affected with them that way It 's thy reason only that can and must apprehend that future state and so apprehend it as to work upon thy affections But which way is it possible thy reason should so apprehend it as to fright thee from thy evil courses except it be improv'd by consideration Sinner I do here in the presence of God conjure thee by all that 's Good and Holy by the interest and welfare of thine own Soul by all the Laws of self-interest by the Revelations of the Son of God by all that God ever did for Mankind by that love which transcends the understandings of Men and Angels by the groans of those miserable Souls which are now in Hell by all the joys of Paradice by the testimony of thine own conscience by all the motions of God's Spirit in thy Heart by all the mercies thou dost receive from Heaven by that allegiance thou owest to God by that Faithfulness thou owest to thine own Soul I do most seriously conjure thee to tell me whether thou art not able to