the Beasts of the Field the Fowl of the Air and the Fish of the Sea and whatever passeth through the paths of the Seas How easie is it for him to provide things of this nature who has so much who has all of them in his own keeping But far better Blessings than these he has in his hand to bestow and of the best Blessings he is most liberal When we knock at his door we should remember how rich he is whose all things are and that this Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him Rom. 10. 12. 4. God is Lord Redeemer of his People and a mighty Lord indeed he shews himself in the Redemption of them Jer. 50. 34. Their Redeemer is strong the Lord of Hosts is his Name he shall thorowly plead their cause that he may give rest to them Redemption supposes that redeemed ones were enslaved lost and under a Curse To redeem must needs be granted an high act of Mercy and Grace and of force and might likewise The Lord is a Redeemer by Power and Conquest he throws down the Dominion of Sin demolishes its strongest holds he thrusts Mammon out of the Throne of the heart he treads Satan under his Peoples feet in a Sense also he is a Redeemer by Commutation God became Man that he might stand in Man's room suffer in Man's nature and be Man's Surety and Saviour And he redeems by paying a price and that the Price might be of infinite value he gave no less than himself for those whom he has redeemed 1 Cor. 6. 20. Ye are not your own for yea are bought with a price therefore glorifie God which bought you in your Body and in your Spirit which are Gods And in Gal. 2. 20. He loved me says the Apostle and gave himself for me The Prey and the Captives are delivered out of the hands of that terrible Enemy the Prince of Darkness Believers are redeemed from the Curse of the Law by him who was made Flesh Sin and a Curse for them They may triumph indeed because the first death is unstung the Grave has lost its Victory and none of them shall be seized and hurt by the second death This Lord Redeemer How should he be attended upon How should sinful and lost Souls before they are lost past recovery being sensible of their danger come flocking to him in great numbers flying as a Cloud and as Doves to their Windows 5. God is Lord and Law-giver and all are bound to obey those Laws he gives them His Laws are the best that ever were given In the keeping of these Laws lies true Goodness and Sin which is incomparably the foulest and most pernicious and worst of all Evils is a Transgression of these Laws which God has delivered to us How often in the New Testament do we read of the Kingdom of God! And Kingdom implies a King and Laws and that there are Subjects who must obey the one and the other The Cross of Christ excludes not Christians Sufferings but their Sufferings are not expiatory of Sin as his were and the Obedience of Christ excludes not Christians Obedience but his was meritorious theirs is not How strictly soever some may take the Gospel and say 't is all Promises I am sure the Gospel as it represents it self takes in Commands Christ is a King to be obeyed as well as a Propitiatory Sacrifice to be rested on and he is the Author of Salvation to all them that obey him and they that obey not the Gospel which shews it has Laws to be obeyed shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Heb. 5. 9. 2 Thess 1. 8 9. Faith in Christ does not make Believers lawless nay the Apostle speaks with some vehemency Do we then make void the Law through Faith God forbid yea we establish the Law Rom. 3. 31. Indeed we are not under the Law i. e. under the Curse of the Law if we are true Believers nor under it as a Covenant Do this and live we are not to hope for Justification nor to fear Condemnation by it But the Law is a Rule which we are bound to act and walk according to and unto this Rule our Hearts and Lives with great Care and Conscience should be conformed And that these Laws may be the better observed the Lord and Law-giver must be more eyed He takes notice whether we yield Obedience and is most ready to assist us to obey And he should always be set before us both as our Observer and our Helper too Psal 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved 6. God is Lord who has power to save and to destroy James 4. 12. There is one Law-giver who is able to save and to destroy Who art thou that judgest another He has the power of Life and Death Death that is eternal Life that is everlasting He is the Lord of Hosts all Creatures are at his command and beck and are ready either to be the Executioners of his Wrath or to serve him in his gracious purposes and pleasure He is that mighty God who lifts up his hand to Heaven and says I live for ever I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand Deut. 32. 39 40. All sorts of Life are from God that of Nature Grace and Glory He can raise those that attend upon him from the brink of the Grave and rescue them out of the very jaws of Death Psal 30. 2 3. O Lord my God I cried unto thee and thou hast healed me O Lord thou hast brought up my Soul from the Grace thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down into the Pit 2 Cor. 1. 9 10. We had the Sentence of Death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God who raiseth the Dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us God is he who quickens and makes those Spiritually alive that were dead in sins and trespasses He reverses the Sentence of Death which the Law had passed upon them gives them a new Life and Nature and inables them to walk in newness of Life 'T is a mighty Voice attended with his powerful Spirit which raises the Dead in sin and makes them live to God John 5. 25. Verily verily I say unto you the hour is coming and now is when the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live And when this Spiritual Life is wrought 't is really eternal Life in the Seed and Blossom and into eternal Life at length it shall be ripened and perfected The sanctifying Grace of the Spirit is likened unto water because 't is of a cleansing refreshing and fructifying nature and this Grace shall still be acting and
increasing till it issue in glory John 4. 14. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of water springing up into everlasting Life And as all sorts of Life are from God so all sorts of Death he has power to inflict All Afflictions and Plagues when this Lord sends them do say Here we are The King of Terrors Death is God's subject and says I am ready to strike young or old high or low few or many as the Lord of all does give me Commission and Command And the second Death at God's righteous pleasure opens its everlasting doors to receive and eternally to swallow up all that he sentences thither Isa 5. 14. Therefore Hell hath enlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it Such a Lord the effects of whose love and anger are felt not only in this World but also in the other and indeed run parallel with Eternity should certainly be attended on with a great dread of offending him with the exactest care in every thing to please him 7. God is a Lord obeyed by the whole Creation but only Men on earth and Devils and damned Spirits in Hell These greater lights the Sun and Moon that rule the day and night are perfectly ruled by their Maker and rise and set at his command And to shew that he can stop the Sun in its swift motion at Joshua's intreaty he commanded it to stand still in Gibeon and the Moon in the Valley of Ajalon Josh 10. 12. Nay in the days of Hezekiah he makes the Sun to move backward and to return no less than ten degrees by which it had gone down Isa 38. 8. All the Stars of Heaven he calls by their names and they observe their courses according to his Ordinances The Sea does ebb and flow according to his appointment and keep within the bounds that he has set it when it roars and is most tempestuous The Storms and Winds fulfil his word and if he do but say to them Peace be still presently there is a great calm He calls for the Thunder and the Lightning and how terrible is the Voice of the one and the flashing of the other The Thunder is silenced and the Lightning extinguished at his pleasure All Creatures that glide through the Air or slide through the Ocean that feed and grow upon the Earth in their way and manner obey their Maker and Preserver's Will Fye Oh Fye upon Apostate Angels and Men that they should be the only Rebels Look upward downward on the right hand and on the left and the many Thousands of Creatures which your Eyes behold are so many instances of Obedience to God Why Oh why should not all we be ready to yield our utmost Service 8. God is a Lord who over-rules them that rebel against him though they break his Commands they cannot get from under his power but he can check restrain disappoint and destroy them at his pleasure The Seed of the Woman has been hated by the Serpents brood and they that have been born only after the Flesh have been strongly inclined to persecute such as have been born after the Spirit Gal. 4. 28 29. Now we Brethren as Isaac was are the Children of Promise But as then he that was born after the Flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now And so 't is likely to be still When Heathen Emperors and Kings were Converts to the Christian Faith the Prince of Darkness did not turn and change He always was and is and will be full of Malice against Christ the Head and against his true Members And those who are of their Father the Devil the Lusts of their Father they will do and they that are Saints must expect find their Hearts set against them and as far as they can their hands too But that Lord who is with his People is greater infinitely than the evil one 1 John 4. 4. Ye are of God little Children and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the World As Satan's Subtlety is nothing to God's Wisdom as his Power is small to God's Almightiness so his Wrath though never so great is a little and contemptible thing when the Love which God bears to his People is believingly considered The mightiest Men whom Satan employs to run down the Church of the living God shall never affect their wicked purpose the Church triumphs over her most surious Enemies looking unto her Mighty Helper Psal 46. 5 6 7. God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved God shall help her and that right early The Heathen raged the Kingdoms were moved They stirred up themselves with their united force and in their rage they would have devoured the Israel of God but He uttered his Voice and the Earth melted All these Enemies were dispirited and came to nothing and no wonder for it follows The Lord of Hosts is with us the God of Jacob is our refuge Selah Well may the voluntary Subjects of such a Lord attend upon him with forwardness and Faith since he has such an absolute uncontrolable Dominion over all his and their Enemies 9. God is a Lord infinitely above and better than any other Lords whatsoever As he is infinitely superior to all in Majesty and Greatness so also in Mercy and Goodness The whole Earth is full of Divine Goodness Psal 145. 9. The Lord is good to all and his tender Mercies are over all his works It is special and peculiar Kindness which is shewn to his Saints Psal 103. 11. As the Heaven is high above the Earth so great is his Mercy towards them that fear him What are other Lords if compared with God As for Mammon who has most of Mankind to be his Vassals his delights are low his Riches uncertain his all is Vanity Satan is a cruel Lord he is a Lyar who deceives a Murtherer who destroys all whom he can keep under his Power and Dominion And the Wages which Sin does give to them that serve it is eternal Death and the more diligent they have been in the Service of Sin and the more laborious Workers of Iniquity Hell will be so much the hotter their Sorrow and Misery so much the greater Are such Lords as these comparable to the Lord Jehovah whose Strength whose Love is everlasting What care does he take of all that are truly his Servants How mild and gentle is his Government His Kingdom is Righteousness and Peace and Joy It was a Pious Ejaculation of one of the Ancients Da Domine quod jubes O Lord give that which thou commandest His Servants are by himself created in Christ Jesus unto the good works in which he has commanded them to walk He teaches them by his own Spirit to do his Will Psal 143. 10. Teach me to do thy Will for
Help against Divine Anger Nay here the mightiest Man can be no Security Job 9. 13. If God will not withdraw his Anger the proud Helpers do stoop under him And those whom the Lord does undertake to comfort why should Man that shall dye dismay them Isa 51. 12 13. I even I am he that comforteth you Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a Man that shall dye and of the Son of Man which shall be as Grass And forgetest the Lord thy Maker that stretched forth the Heavens and laid the Foundations of the Earth His Power may well make the Fury of Oppressors contemptible But God's Power is irresistable as his Wrath is intolerable 3. They are to be reproved who prefer the worst Lords before the greatest and the best of all The true God is certainly the best Lord and Sin and Satan are the worst that can be served and yet how few has the former how many Servants have the later The Lord's Government is most gracious the Paths he requires us to walk in are Pleasantness and Peace Prov. 3. 17. But the Ways of Sin are quite contrary No Peace saith my God to the wicked Isa 57. 21. Whatever Sin in the beginning may seem its End is bitter as Wormwood sharp as a two-edged Sword and they that serve it their Feet go down to Death and their Steps will quickly take hold of Hell Shall I shew you the manner of Sin and Satan's Reign Their Vassals are put upon Cruel Hard Service and they must stick at nothing If the fulfilling of their Lusts call for it the Estate must be wasted Health must be endangered Repute and good Name must be disregarded Posterity must be beggared Life it self must be shortened and the precious Soul lost for ever rather than sin not be gratified and served Sin has a Law and what Command does it impose upon those that are subject to it Its Injunctions are such as these Fight against God and slight the Wrath of the Lord Almighty Mind neither thy Duty nor thy Safety Pursue Vanity and Vexation of Spirit but care not for the truest and eternal Blessedness Be sure to please thy Flesh and seek thy self and mind thy Carnal Interest though thou art in the worst Sense undone thereby Go on impenitently and securely in thy Wickedness till thou fall into Hell Flames Do all this and dye and damn thy self unto Eternity What hard sayings are these Yet Thousands and Millions hear and obey them It is amazing that those who have reasonable Souls should act so void of all sound Reason as to refuse his Service who commands them to be wise and safe and good and should chuse to be Fools and to be miserable 4. They are to be reproved who have begun to serve the Lord and afterwards forsake his Service and revolt from him These revolters shew a great Zeal and Forwardness in Religion many of them for a time they seem to have escaped the pollutions of the World and to have got the Victory over it and to have overcome the evil One but being again entangled and overcome themselves by Mammon and Satan they are a credit to these Masters and to their false and pernicious ways but they are a great dishonour to Religion and to the Author of it the Lord of Glory These revolters discover an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God which is so much caution'd against Heb. 3. 12. and if without Faith 't is impossible to please God how much must he needs be provoked by infidelity and with what Torments will their unbelief at last be confuted and punished together These Revolters quench a great deal of Light which has shined into them this aggravates the works of darkness unto which they return though they have under Conviction felt the Terrors of the Lord yet they venture more than ever to incense him in a special manner they grieve the Spirit of God and deeply wound their own Spirits But these Wounds are not felt at present their Consciences are seared Satan has fuller and faster possession of them fulness of sin quickly follows and the last state with them is worse than the first Mat. 12. 45. USE II. Shall be of Advice in these particulars 1. Hearken to the Lord inviting and calling you all to his Service There is room in his House for many Thousands more than are there and there is plentiful and abundant provision for their entertainment In my Father's House says the Prodigal when he came to himself there is Bread enough and to spare Luke 15. 17. Christ's Sacrifice of himself can put away multitudes of sins more than as yet have been pardon'd And though Millions of empty and lost Souls more come to him out of his fulness they may be all replenished and secure under the shadow of his wings His Messengers say to you Come himself says Come his Spirit says Come your Wants which none but he can supply speak aloud to you to go to him keep therefore no longer at a distance He is most ready to receive you graciously and to communicate grace of all sorts to you 2. Behold how willing this Lord is to pass by all past disobedience upon your believing and repentance The Apostle Paul was not upbraided with his persecuting Rage and Hellish Fury when once he submitted himself to the Lord and laid down his Weapons wherewith he had fought against God The Grace of our Lord says he was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love that is in Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 1. 14. and v. 15 16. he tells us that he the chief of sinners obtained Mercy that the greatest sinners hereafter may hope and expect Mercy upon their believing and Conversion Howbeit for this Cause I obtained Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a Pattern to them who should hereafter believe on him to Life Everlasting Whatever your Rebellions have been if now you be willing and obedient All shall be forgotten and forgiven Scarlet and Crimson Sins shall become white as Snow and Wool Isa 1. 18 19. 3. See where your Righteousness and Strength lies Jesus Christ the righteous is the Righteousness of them that do believe His Obedience and Sufferings can satisfie for and cover all your Disobedience and 't is through him alone that you attain the free Gift of Justification of Life He became obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross Psal 2. 8. and 't is by the Obedience of this one the second Adam that all as many can believe in him are made righteous Rom. 5. 19. And as in the Lord you have Righteousness so in him you have Strength too His Power must rest upon you else no good will be done by you Through his Strength all things may be done but he himself says without me ye can do nothing Joh. 15. 5. Never think by good Works to satisfie for bad ones The best Works have much amiss in them And
to make the highest earthly Enjoyments despised in comparison Thus the innumerable Multitude of Stars though never so glittering before do all disappear at the Sun rising Undistracted Attenders fix their Eye on God and the more the invisible God is seen the more all visible things will vanish into nothing The Psalmist had cast his Eye upon the prosperity of the wicked and began to admire it he comes into the Sanctuary of God and looking upon God he now wonders at his own Folly in admiring so poor a thing as a worldly happiness and the Temptation that was so strong is overcome Safety from the most dangerous Enemies is of the Lord they whose thoughts are upon his Name find it a strong Tower Satan and Mammon are less able to beguile them and the lustings of the Flesh become weaker and weaker against the Spirit and as they find sin more and more destroyed so they may behold the last Enemy Death without a Sting and the Grave as having lost its Victory 6. Attenders without distraction have most approbation from their own Consciences Conscience is a Monitor unto Duty and a diligent observer how 't is performed It will condemn Laziness it will commend labour of Love it will upbraid the Evil and Slothful with their vain Oblations but to the undistracted Attendant it will say Well done good and faithful Servant And how much Joy and Peace is there in the Testimony of a good Conscience 2 Cor. 1. 12. and we find a condemning and an approving Conscience compared together the condemning Conscience is the forerunner of God's Condemning and the approbation of the Conscience is the forerunner of God's Absolution 1 John 3. 20 21. If our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things Beloved if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God Duties come off with great comfort when we have been intent and affected when God has been attentive to us when we behold his Face shining and find his Hand open and Conscience bears us witness that we have been seriously and the Lord has been graciously minding what we have been doing 7. Attenders without distraction are most beneficial to others They have the most publick Spirits and all do fare the better for that interest they have in Heaven which they daily improve for all How much is the Church of God beholding to them who will not hold their Peace day or night who will give the Lord no rest until he make Jerusalem a praise on the Earth Isa 62. 6 7. When the wickedness of Israel had made a great breach for the Wrath of God to break in upon them to consume them Moses attends upon God and intercedes with such intention and concernedness and fervency that the Wrath of God is appeased and the ruine prevented though it was at the door Psal 106. 23. Therefore he said that he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach to turn away his Wrath lest he should destroy them Whole Nations reap the benefit of such undistracted and prevailing Intercessions The Apostle tells us that Elias was a Man of like Passions with others yet he was so intent and servent in Prayer that he opened Heaven and fetch'd Rain from thence and the Earth brought forth her fruit and an end was put to a terrible Famine which had lasted for several Years together Jam. 5. â—8 The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man avails much he prevails for others as well as for himself Lot was a righteous Man and vexed his righteous Soul because of the Sodomites unlawful Deeds 2 Pet. 2. 8. yet his Deliverance from Sodom's Flames is ascribed unto Abraham's intercession Gen. 19. 29. And it came to pass when God destroyed the Cities of the Plain that God remembred Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the Cities wherein Lot dwelt Saints should pray harder one for another and pray for them that are without with more earnestness that greater Multitudes may be called out of the World and brought into the Church and secured from the Perdition of ungodly Men. Undistracted Attendants upon God are Pillars to bear up what else would fall into ruine The Church the Nation in which they live the whole World is beholding to them as well as particular Persons for whom they are concerned and whom they bear upon their hearts before the Lord. I have done with the Reasons of the Doctrine In the fourth place I am to answer some Cases of Conscience about these Distractions in attending upon God that so Difficulties which are apt to perplex the Mind in this matter may be removed And CASE I. is this Whether the Thoughts cannot be off from God in the least when we attend upon him but there must be a culpable and sinful Distraction To this I answer 1. In all our holy Duties there should be a constant overawing sense of God upon our Spirits from the beginning to the end of them Slavish fear alienates the heart from God but Filial Reverence keeps the heart close to him That part of the Duty is lost in which the sense of God is banished 2. Something else besides God may be thought of in Duties and yet this is not Distraction To think of our sins when we confess them is our Duty and to recollect the circumstances by which they have been heigtned and rendred more exceeding sinful Isa 59. 12. For our Transgressions are multiplied before thee and our sins testifie against us for our transgressions are with us and as for iniquities we know them Our Wants also we ought to think of and the necessity of having them supplied and the all-sufficient Jehavah is sufficient to supply all needs whatsoever be the Wants never so great and many and the Persons that apply to him never so vast a Multitude The Blessings we desire ought also to be thought of Others also which we pray for may be in our Minds when we are before God with their Distresses under which we would fain be helpful to them by our Supplications on their behalf It was not Distraction in the Apostle but matter of thanksgiving to the Lord that when he was at the Throne of Grace Timothy was in his thoughts and remembrance 2 Tim. 1. 3. I thank God whom I serve from my fore-fathers with pure Conscience that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day 3. Our Thoughts must not run out so much upon the matter of our Duties but that there must be a quick and continual return to God the Object whom we worship We must not so much be thinking what we are praying for but we must ever be minding him whom we are praying to The Psalmist says Psal 142 2. I poured out my complaint before him I shewed before him my trouble He thought of his trouble but had also a sense he was before God who he
Trespasses dead to God and to any thing that is truly good employed in nothing but dead works and thereby fitted to destruction And how should your Thoughts be seized on by the obligation your Lord has laid you under in freeing you from Death and eternal Destruction by laying down his own Life a ransom for you Mat. 20. 28. When the Apostle said he determined not to know any thing save Jesus Christ and him crucisied 1 Cor. 2. 2. it shews upon whom his Thoughts were Our Thoughts at the Lord's Table should be fastned to Christ as he was to the Cross We should behold admire and be suitably affected when we behold him that is equal with God in the form of a Servant in the likeness of sinsul Flesh and humbling himself so low as to become obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross Phil. 2. 8. Let the worth of the Person suffering the Merit of the Sufferings themselves and the value of the Benefits thereby procured be believed and how can they chuse but be heedfully thought of 3. Take due notice that Christ when he was dying gave this charge to his Disciples that they should engage in this Ordinance as a Memorial of him Christ's Death was infinitely more than if all Creatures that have Life had lost their Lives to make an atonement Just when he was ready to make his Soul an Offering for sin he bids us to do this in remembrance of him 1 Cor. 11. 23 24. The Lord Jesus the same Night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he brake it and said Take eat this is my Body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me The command of such a Lord that Lord dying and dying such a meritorious Death and in that Death expressing Love which passes Knowledge and the Command given on purpose that he might still be and live in our remembrance if well weighed will make us mind what we are doing and prevent distraction 4. The Sacramental Elements and Actions being understood with their signification will be a great means to fix the Thoughts of the Communicants When your Eyes behold the Bread let your Faith behold the Body of Christ When you see the Bread broken believe that Christ was wounded and bruised for your Iniquities and bare them in his Body on the Tree When the Bread is given you understand what a gift of God Christ is When you take the Bread into your hands let your Hearts be open more fully to receive Christ himself and to receive still more from him And when you eat the Bread be sure to feed upon Christ the Bread of Life by Faith Rely upon his Crucifixion as your reconciliation for says the Apostle We are reconciled to God by the Death of his Son Rom 5. 10. And as Bread is the staff of Life so let this Bread of Life be your Souls stay rest upon Christ for spiritual life and strength more and more abundantly to be given you When you perceive the Wine given a part from the Bread think with your selves that your Lord's Life was indeed though not against his Will taken from him Body and Soul were separated though neither from the Godhead Look beyond the Wine to the Blood of Jesus believe it to be more precious than Gold that perishes and that being the blood of him who is God it can do away the greatest guilt and the foulest spots and stains of the sins of Men. When you drink the Wine believe the Cup of Blessing to be indeed the Communion of the Blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. Rest on this Blood to justifie you from all things for which the Law condemns you Rest on this Blood to pacifie your Consciences and heal the Wounds which sin has made there to purifie and heal all the Plagues of your Hearts to make you perfect in every good work and to open a way for you into the holiest of all Heb. 10. 19. not only to procure constant access to the Throne of Grace but an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom Thus you will be helped against distraction in this Ordinance If what is visible to the Eye the Heart understands and improves 5. That you may be the more serious in this Ordinance of the Lord's Supper remember therein you solemnly renew Covenant with the God of Heaven you give your selves from your selves to him and disclaim all other Lord's and Owners and profess to take him to be your Lord your God your Guide your All. Oh mind what you do that you may be sincere in doing it God has no pleasure in Fools Eccles 5. 4. who consider not with whom they have to do who consider not what evil they do when they do that which is good after a distracted and deceitful manner In this Ordinance the Broad-Seal of Heaven is put into your hand to confirm your Faith in the New Covenant and that you may with greater confidence expect the accomplishment of its Promises He that rests on Christ and hungers and thirsts after righteousness may rejoyce in this Ordinance more than a Bankrupt would do that receives an Acquittance sealed of the release of all his Debts and with it a Will and Testament sealed whereby a plentiful Estate is made over and assured to him And the Communicants solemnly profess a Restipulation they tie themselves faster and more strictly to the Lord there is nothing you have or are but is his Will and Heart and Thoughts are to be ever in his Service and at his Command 6. Be sensible how dreadful guilt is contracted when you are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord and this guilt comes upon you by distracted careless and unworthy receiving 1 Cor. 11. 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. The Communicant whose Heart cares not how distracted it is how does he contemn the Son of God his Blood and Benefits If he does not count them worth serious thinking of surely he does not think them worth his thankful acceptance How precious is the Blood of Jesus and what an heavy load is the guilt of such Blood 'T is sad not to be saved by the Blood of Christ but much sorer under the guilt of it to sink lower into Damnation Temporal Punishments that are inflicted upon receiving amiss may be terrible but how much worse are eternal Judgments Oh give your Hearts into God's Hand that he may keep and order them at the Table and afterwards the more there is of his help in the performance the less will there be of distraction and of your own infirmities USE V. Shall be terrour unto Sinners and Hypocrites all whose attendance upon God is void of care and full of allowed distraction They freely grant their Hearts a liberty and their navghty Hearts take it to be whatever they please and to run upon
whatsoever they have a mind to as if the Heart-searchers Eye had neither Sight nor Jealousie 1. The Duties of such whose Hearts thus run away from God are not steps towards Heaven but towards Hell If they hear the Word of God they understand it not the Gospel is hid from them and the God of this World blinds them 2 Cor. 4. 34. If they attain to some kind of knowledge of the truth they hold it in unrighteousness Sin grows stronger by their very Duties its power not at all impaired by them for thinking by their Duties to make some amends for their sins they are the more emboldned to commit iniquity When they have done their heartless Services God is the more angry with them Thus the Jews of old chusing their own ways and their Souls delighting in their Abominations and having no delight in God or in his ways the hatefulness of their Sacrifices is thus expressed Isa 66. 3. He that killeth an Oxe is as if he flew a Man he that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a Dogs Neck He that offereth an Oblation as if he offered Swines Blood he that burneth incense as if he blessed an idol Not only by impenitency and hardness of Heart but by heartless Duties the performers of them treasure up unto themselves Wrath against the Day of Wrath. 2. When terrible Calamities force sinners to cry with some earnestness for relief their Cries may be altogether in vain God may justly be as heedless of them in their distress as they were impiously heedless of him in their Devotions Thus he threatens when distress and anguish cometh upon them then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me nay which is worse he says I will laugh at their calamity I will mock when their fear cometh Prov. 1. 26 27 28. They deserve to be mockt at in their misery all whose Duties were a mocking of God to his very face The Prophet speaks to the same purpose Zach. 7. 13. Therefore it is come to pass that as he cryed and they would not hear so they cryed and I would not hear saith the Lord of Hosts And if he be deaf many times to sinners cries on Earth and will afford them no help Certainly in Hell he will be utterly regardless of their Miseries No Prayers are heard no Petitions are granted that come from that place of wo Luk. 16. 24. 27. 3. When Sinners and Hypocrites are in Hell what bitter Reflections will they have upon their Distractions and Negligencies in the Service of God here on Earth How terribly will Conscience reproach and lash them because in their Day they knew not the things that concerned their Peace Most wretched and self-destroy'd Fools Conscience will call them because it was no more in their Thoughts to fear and escape eternal vengeance because they were so eager after things on Earth which now can be enjoyed no more as to neglect the everlasting bliss and glory of the Heavenly Kingdom They that will not do their Duty to God now without distraction shall be forced without distraction to think of their misery to eternity The greatness of their woe will immoveable fix their Thoughts upon it When a Sinner in outer darkness shall thus reflect upon himself and his unconceivable deplorable and desperate case Oh what flames what terrours and agonies do I suffer What poysoned Arrows of the Almighty are within me How glorious is his power in my destruction How righteous though intolerable is his Indignation And what I do suffer I must suffer without any hope at all of any ease or end The undistracted thinking of all this cannot but make Hell to be out of measure hellish Knowing now the terrours of the Lord let all be perswaded to take heed of trifling with an holy and jealous God and of doing his Work negligently who will so severely punish all evil slothful and unprofitable Servants USE VI. Shall be of encouragement and comfort to Believers who would fain do more and better than they do and with less distraction serve the Lord. They should indeed go with a low Sail because of their leaky hearts which are so born down and hindred by indwelling sin when they are attending upon God and yet that they may not be quite cast down let their Eye be upon these grounds of Consolation 1. Let the Saints know that 't is from that Grace which is within them that their Distractions are burthensome to them As it is by the softness of the Heart that the remaining hardness of it is felt so it is by the Grace in the Heart that its Wandrings are perceived and being perceived become matter of trouble The Apostle speaks by way of encouragement 1 Cor. 10. 13. There hath no temptation taken you but such as common So say I Thy Distraction which is thy burthen is so far from proving thou hast no Grace that 't is common to all gracious Souls while Militant in this World and 't is part of their Militancy to be conflicting with distracted Thoughts and the stronger they grow in this conflict they are the more successful God has the renewed Will it consents to the Law of God that it is good and desires more undistractedly and with delight to do whatever is required 't is only remaining Flesh that is otherwise inclined The Apostles Reflection upon himself and what he did was not altogether without comfort Rom 7. 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with the Mind I my self serve the Law of God but with the Flesh the Law of Sin 2. God will not impute those Distractions to Believers which they desire so truly and earnestly to be freed from 'T is a good Rule Non imputantur si violenter importantur They are not imputed if they are violently brought into the Heart and their stay and abode there is not allowed of The Man that labours under the Palsie his Head his Hands do shake against his Will he does not shake either himself but wishes both were more steddy The Saints Distractions are against their Wills they do not willingly distract themselves the Lord does not call them Hypocrites for these and they miscal if they call themselves by that Name because their Hearts do sometimes start away from Duty against the Will and Purpose of them What Saint on Earth could stand if God should mark such iniquities and miscarriages as these Psal 130. 3. 3. Christ's Satisfaction and Intercession may comfort Believers under their Distractions and all their Infirmities Our Lord by suffering Death has made compleat satisfaction as for their other Iniquities so for the sins of their holy things God is so well pleased in the Son of his Love that very faulty and imperfect Duties being by him presented are well taken Oh what a difference is there between a Duty as it comes from us and as it has its defects covered with