out at evening to Receive according to what he hath done then must the naked soul alone appear before its Judge and be accomptible for all that was done in the body and be sent before till the final Judgement to remain in happiness or misery till the body be raised again and joyned to it In this appearance of the soul before God it seemeth by Scripture that there is some Ministery of Angels for Luk. 16.22 it is said that the Angels carried Lazarus that is his soul into Abrahams bosom What local motion there is or situation of souls is no fit matter for the enquiry of mortals and what it is in this that the Angels will do we cannot clearly understand as yet But most certain it is that as soon as ever the soul is out of the Body it comes to its account before the God of Spirits 2. At the end of the world the bodies of all men shaâ—l be raised from the earth and joâ—ned again to their souls and the soul and body shall be judged to their endless state and this is the great and general Judgement where all men shal at once appear The same power of God that made men of nothing will as easily then New make them by a Resurrection by which he will add much more perfection even to the wicked in their Naturals which will make them capable of the greater misery even they shall have immortal and incorruptible bodies which may be the subjects of immortal woe 1 Cor. 15.53 Iohn 5.28 29. Of this Resurrection and our Appearance at Judgement the Angels will be some way the Ministers As they shall come with Christ to Judgement so they shall sound his Trumpet 1 Thes. 4.16 and they shall gather the wicked out of Gods Kingdom and they shall gather the Tares to burn them Mat. 13.39 40 41. in the end of the world the Angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the Furnace of fire Mat. 17.49 50. FOR the sixth particular What Law is it that men shall be Iudged by Answ. That which was given them to live by Gods Law is but the sign of his will to teach us what shall be due from us and to us Before we fell he gave us such a Law as was suitable to our perfection when we had sinned and turned from him as we ceased not to be his creatures nor he to be our Lord so he destroyed not his Law nor discharged or absolved us from the duty of our obedience But because we stood condemned by that Law and could not be Justified by it having once Transgressed it he was pleased to make a Law of Grace even a new remedying Law by which we might be saved from the deserved punishment of the Old So we shall be tryed at Judgement upon both these Laws but ultimatly upon the Last The first Law commanded perfect Obedience and threatned Death to us if ever we disobeyed the second Law finding us under the Guilt of sin against the first doth command us to Repent and Believe in Christ and so to return to God by him and promiseth us pardon of all our sins upon that Condition and also if we persevere everlasting Glory So that in Judgement though it must first be evinced that we are sinners and have deserved Death according to the Law of pure nature yet that is not the upshot of the Judgement For the enquiry will be next whether we have accepted the remedy and so obeyed the Law of grace and performed its Condition for pardon and salvation and upon this our Life or Death will depend It is both these Laws that condemn the wicked but it is only the Law of grace that justifieth the righteous Obj. But how shall Heathens be judged by the Law of grace that never did Receive it Answ. The express Gospel some of them had not and therefore shall not directly be judged by it but much of the Redeemers mercy they did enjoy which should have led them to repent and seek out after Recovery from their misery and to come neerer Christ and for the neglect and abuse of this they shall be judged and not meerly for sinning against the Law that was given us in pure innocency So that Christ as Redeemer shall judge them as well as others though they had but one Talent yet must they give an account of that to the Redeemer from whom they received it But if any be unsatisfied in this let them remember that as God hath left the state of such more dark to us and the terms on which he will Iudge them so doth it much more concern us to look to the terms of our own Iudgement Obj. But how shall Infants be judged by the Gospel that were uncapable of it Answ. For ought I find in Scripture they stand or fall with their parents c. on the same terms but I leav each to their own thoughts VII FOR the seventh Head VVhat will be the cause of the day to be enquired after VVhat the Accusation and what the Defence Answ. This may be gathered from what was last said The great Cause of the Day will be to enquire and determine who shall dye and who shall live who ought to go to heaven and who to hell for ever according to the Law by which they must then be Iudged 1. As there is a twofold Law by which they must be Iudged so will there then be a twofold Accusation The first will be that they were sinners and so having violated the Law of God they Deserve Everlasting Death according to that Law If no defence could be made this one Accusation would condemn all the woâ—ld for it is most certain that all are sinners and as certain that all sin deserveth Death The only defence against this Accusation lyeth in this Plea Confessing the charge we must plead that Christ hath satisfied for sins and upon that consideration God hath forgiven us and therefore being forgiven we ought not to be punished To prove this we must shew the pardon under Gods hand in the Gospel But because this pardoning Act of the Gospel doth forgive none but those that Repent and Believe and so return to God and to sincere Obedience for the time to come therefore the next Accusation will be that we did not perform these Conditions of forgiveness and therefore being Vnbelievers Impenitent and Rebels against the Redeemer we have no right to pardon but by the sentence of the Gospel are lyable to a greater punishment for this contempt of Christ and Grace This Accusation is either true or false where it is true God and Conscience who speak the truth may well be said to be the Accusers Where it is false it can be only the work of Satan the malitious adversary who as we may see in Iobs case will not stick to bring a false Accusation If any think that the Accuser will not do so vain a work at
he hath a grimmer face to shew you when temptations have conquered you and torments must succeed As those that write of Witches say he appeareth at first to them in some comely tempting shape till he have them fast tyed to him and then he beats them and affrights them and seldom appears to them but in some ugly hew Believe it poor sinners you do not hear or see the worst of him when you are merry about your sinful Pleasures and Rejoycing in your Hopes of the Commodities or Preferments of the world he hath another kind of Voice which you must hear and another face to shew you that will make you know a little better whom you had to do with You would be afraid now to meet him in the dark what will you be to live with him in everlasting darkness Then you will know who it was that you entertained and obeyed and plaid with in your sins 3. And as the Text tells us that it is a fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels So it telleth us that is An everlasting fire It had a beginning but it shall have no end If these wretches would have chosen the service of God they would have met with no difficulty or trouble but what would have had a speedy end Poverty and Injuries would have had an end scorns and abuses would have had an end fasting humiliation sorrow for sin watching and fighting against our spiritual enemies would all have had an end But to avoid these they chose that ease that pleasure which hath brought them to that torment which never will have end I have said so much of these things already in my Book called the Saints Rest that I will now say but this much It is one of the wonders of the world how men that do believe or think they do believe this word of Christ to be true that the wicked shall go into Everlasting fire can yet venture on sin so boldly and live in it so fearlessly or sleep quietly till they are out of this unspeakable Danger Only the Commonness of it and the known wickedness of mans heart doth make this less wonderful And were there nothing else to convince us that sinners are Mad and Dead as to spiritual things this were enough That ever the greatest pleasures or profits of the world or the most enticing baits that the Devil can offer them should once prevail with them to forget these endless things and draw them to reject an Everlasting Glory and cast themselves desperately into Everlasting fire Yea and all this under daily warnings and Instructions and when it s told them before hand by the God of Truth himself For the Lords sake Sirs and for your souls sakes if you care not what Ministers say or what such as I say yet will you soberly read now and then this 25. Chapter of Matthew and Regard what is told you by him that must be your Judge and now and then bethink your selves soberly whether these are matters for wise men to make light of and what it is to be Everlastingly in Heaven or in Hell fire 2. We have seen what is the Penalty contained in the sentence against the ungodly The next thing that the Text directs us to is the Cause or Reason of the Sentence vers. 42 For I was hungry and ye gave me no meat c. The Reason is not given expresly either for their sin against the Law of works that is Because they were sinners and not perfectly Innocent Nor yet from their unbelief which is the great sin against the Law of Grace But it is given from their not expressing their Faith and Love to Christ in works of mercy and self-denyal And why is this so 1. We must not suppose that these words of Christ do express the whole Judicial process in every point but the chief parts It is supposed that all men are convicted of being sinners against the perfect Law of the Creator and that they are guilty of Death for that sin and that there is no way but by Christ to obtain deliverance But because all this must be acknowledged by the righteous themselves as well as by the wicked therefore Christ doth not mention this but that only which is the turning point or cause in the Judgement For it is not all sinners that shall be finally Condemned but all Impenitent Unbelieving sinners who have Rebelled finally against their Redeemer 2. And the reason why Faith it self is not expressed is 1. Because it is clearly implyed and so is Love to Christ as Redeemer in that they should have Relieved Christ himself in his members that is as it s expressed Matth. 10.42 they should have received a Prophet in the name of a Prophet and a Disciple in the name of a Disciple All should be done for Christs sake which could not be unless they Believed in him and Loved hâ—m 2. Also because that the bare Act of Believing is not all that Christ requireth to a mans final Justification and Salvation But holy self-denying Obedience must be added And therefore this is given as the Reason of their Condemnation that they did not so obey We must observe also that Christ here putteth the special for the general that is one way of self denying Obedience and expression of Love instead of such Obedience in general For all men have not ability to relieve those in misery being perhaps some of them poor themselves But all have that Love and self-denyal which will some way express it self And all have hearts and a Disposition to do thus if they had ability without such a Disposition none can be saved It is the fond conceit of some that if they have any love to the godly or wish them well it is enough to prove them happy But Christ here purposely lets us know that whoever doth not Love him at so high a rate as that he can part with his substance or any thing in the world to those uses which he shall require them even to relieve his servants in want and sufferings for the masters sake that man is none of Christs Disciple nor will be owned by him at the last XI THE next point that we come to is to shew you the Properties of this Sentence at Judgement When man had broken the Law of his Creator at the first he was lyable to the Sentence of Death and God presently sate in Judgement on him and sentenced him to some part of the Punishment which he had deserved But upon the Interposition of the Son he forbore the rest resolving on a way that might tend to his Recovery And Death is due yet to every sinner for every sin which he commits till a pardon do acquit him But this Sentence which will pass on sinners at the last Judgement doth much differ from that which was passed on the first sin or which is Due according to the Law of worâ—s alone for 1. As to the Penalty called the Pain of
sleepily now but O that you would consider how the review of them will then awake you You now make light of the warnings of God and man and of all the wholsom advice that is given you but God will not then make light of your contempt Oh what cutting Questions will they be to the hearts of the ungodly when all the means that were used for their good are brought to their remembrance on one side and the temptations that drew them to sin on the other side and the Lord shall plead his cause with their consciences and say Was I so hard a Master or was my work so unreasonable or was my wages so contemptible that no perswasions could draw you into my service was Satan so good a Master or was his work so honest and profitable or was his wages so desirable that you would be so easily perswaded to do as he would have you Was there more perswading Reason in his allurements and deceits then in all my holy words and all the powerful Sermons that you heard or all the faithful admonitions you received or all the good examples of the righteous or in all the works of God which you beheld Was not a reason fetcht from the love of God from the evil of sin the blood of Christ the Judgement to come the glory promised the torments threatned as forcible with you and as good in your eyes to draw you to holiness as a Reason from a little fleshly delight or worldly gain to draw you to be unholy In the name of God sinners I intreat you to bethink your selves in time how you will sufficiently answer such Questions as these You should have seen God in every creature that you beheld and have read your duty in all his works what can you look upon above you or below you or round about you which might not have shewed you so much of the wisdom and goodness and greatness of your Maker as should have convinced you that it was your duty to be Devoted to his will And yet you have his written word that speaks plainer then all these And will you despise them all will you not see so great a Light will you not hear so loud and constant calls shall God and his Ministers speak in vain And can you think that you shall not hear of this again and pay for it one day You have the Bible and other good books by you why do you not read them You have Ministers at hand why do you not go to them and earnestly ask them Sir What must I do to be saved and entreate them to teach you the way to life You have some neighbors that fear God why do you not go to them and take their good advice and imitate them in the fear of God and in a holy diligence for your souls Now is the time for you to bestir your selves Life and Death are are before you You have gales of Grace to further your voyage There are more for you then against you God will help you his Spirit will help you his Ministers will help you every good Christian will help you the Angels themselves will help you if you will but resolvedly set your selves to the work And yet will you not stir Patience is waiting on you Mercies are enticing you Scourges are driving you Judgement stayeth for you the Lights of God stand burning by you to direct you And yet will you not stir but lie in darkness And do you think you shall not hear of this Do you think this will not one day cost you dear IX THE ninth part of our work is to shew you What are those frivolous excuses by which the unrighteous may then endeavour their defence Having already shewed you what the Defence must be that must be sufficient to our Justification If any first demand Whether the Evidence of their sin will not so overwhelm the sinner that he will be speechless and past excuse I answ. Before God hath done with him he will be so But it seems at first his dark understanding and partial corrupted conscience will set him upon a vain Defence For Mat. 7.22 23. Christ telleth us that Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out Devils and in thy name have done many wonderful works And then will I profess to them I never knew you Depart from me ye workers of Iniquity And in Mat. 25.11 The foolish Virgins cry Lord Lord open to us And vers. 44. Then shall they also answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred or thirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not Minister unto thee And vers. 24 25. They fear not to cast some of the cause of their neglect on God himself Then he which had received the one Talent came and said Lord I knew thee that thou art an hard man reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed and I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth lo there thou hast that is thine It is clear then that Excuses they will be ready to make and their full Conviction will be in order after these Excuses at least as in their minds if not in words But what the particular excuses will be we may partly know by these Scriptures which recite them and partly by hearing what the ungodly do now say for themselves And because it is for their present benefit that I now make mention of them that they may see the vanity of all such Excuses I will mention them as I now meet with them in the mouths of sinners in our ordinary discourse And these Excuses are of several sorts some by which they would Justifie their estate some excuses of particular Actions and that either in whole or in part some by which they would put by the penalty though they confess the sin some by which they lay the blame on other men and in some they vvould cast it upon God himself I must touch but some of them very briefly The first Excuse I am not guilty of these things which I am accused of I did love God above All and my Neighbor as my self I did use the world but for Necessity but God had my heart Answ. The All-seeing Judge doth know the contrary and he will make thy conscience know it Look back man upon thy heart and Life Hovv seldom and hovv neglectfully didst thou think of God hovv coldly didst thou vvorship him or make any mention of him hovv carelessly didst thou serve him and think much of all that thou dâ—dst therein Thou rather thoughtest that his service vvas making more ado than needs and didst grudge at those that vvere more diligent than thy self But for the world How heartily and how constantly didst thou seek and serve it And yet wouldst thou now perswade the Judge that thou didst Love God above all He will shew
to particular acts much less take away its natural Freedom 6. And that till Habits attain an utter predominancy at least there is a Power remaining in the will to resist them and use means against them Though Eventually the perverse Inclination may hinder the use of it The three and twentieth Excuse I have heard from learned men that God doth determine all Actions Natural and Free as the first efficient Physical Immediate Cause or else nothing could Act. And then it was not long of me that I choose forbidden Objects but of him that irresistibly moved me thereto and whose Instrument I was Answ. This is a trick of that wisdom which is foolishness with God and to be deceived by vain Philosophy 1. The very principle it self is most likely to be false and those that tell you this to err Much more I think may be said against it then for it 2. I am sure it is either false or reconcileable with Gods Holiness and mans liberty and culpability so that its a mad thing to deceive your selves with such Philosophical uncertainties when the Truth which you oppose by it is infallibly certain That God is not the Author of sin but man himself who is justly condemned for it is undoubtedly true and would you obscure so clear a Truth by searching into points beyond humane reach if not unsound as you conclude them The four and twentieth Excuse But at least those learned Divines among us that doubt of this do yet say that the will is necessarily and infallibly Determined by the Practical Vnderstanding and that is as much unresistibly necessitated by Objects and therefore whatever act was done by my understanding or will was thus necessitated and I could not help it They say Liberty is but the Acting of the faculty agreeably to its nature And it was God as Creator that gave Adam his faculties and God by providential dispose that presented all Objects to him by which his understanding and so his will were unavoidably necessitated Answ. This is of the same nature with the former uncertain if not certainly false Were this true for ought we can see it would lay all the sin and misery of the world on God as the unresistable necessitating Cause which because we know infallibly to be false we have no reason to take such principles to be true which infer it The understanding doth not by a necessary efficiency Determine the will but morally or rather is regularly a Condition or necessary Antecedent without which it may not Determine it self Yea the will by commanding the sense and phantasie doth much to determine the understanding As the eye is not necessary to my going but to my going right so is not the Understandings Guidance necessary to my willing there the simple Apprehension may suffice but to my Right willing There are other wayes of Determining the will Or if the Understanding did Determine the will Efficiently and Necessarily it is not every act of the understanding that must do it If it be so when it saith This must be don saith it importunatly yet not when it only saith This may be done or you may venture on it which is the common part which it hath in sin I am not pleased that these curious Objections fall in the way nor do I delight to put them into vulgar heads but finding many young Schollars and others that have conversed with them assaulted with these Temptations I thought meet to give a touch and and but a touch to take them out of their way As Mr. Fenner hath done more fully in the Preface to his Hidden Manna on this last point to which I refer you I only add this The will of man in its very Dominion doth be are Gods Image It is a self Determining Power though it be byassed by Habits and needs a Guide As the Heart and Vital Spirits by which it acteth are to the rest of the Body so is It to the soul The Light of Nature hath taught all the world to carry the Guilt of every crime to the will of man and there to leave it Upon this all Laws and Judgements are grounded From Ignorance and Intellectual weakness men commonly fetch Excuses for their faults but from the Will they are Aggravated If we think it strange that mans will should be the first cause so much as of a sinful mode and cannot answer all occuring Objections It may suffice that we are certain the Holy Majesty is not the Author of sin and he is able to make all this as plain as the Sun and easily answer all these vain Excuses though we should be unable And if we be much ignorant of the frame and motions of our own souls and especially of that high self determining principle Free-Will the great spring of our Actions and the curious Engine by which God doth Sapientially Govern the world it is no wonder Considering that the soul can know it self but by Reflexion and God gave us a soul to use rather than to know it self and to know its qualities and operations rather then its Essence The five and twentieth Excuse No man can be saved nor avoid any sin nor believe in Christ but those whom God hath predestinated thereto I was under an irreversible Sentence before I was born therefore I do nothing but what I was predestinated to do if God decreed not to save me how could I help it Answ. 1. Gods Judgements are more plain but his Decrees or secret purposes are mysterious And to darken certainties by having recourse to points obscure is no part of Christian wisdom God told you your Duty in his word and on what terms you must be Judged to Life or Death Hither should you have recourse for direction and not to the unsearchable mysteries of his mind 2. God decreeth not to Condemn any but for sin Sin I say as the Cause of that Condemnation though not of his Decree 3. Gods Decrees are acts Immanent in himself and make no change on you and therefore do not necessitate you to sin any more then his fore-knowledge doth For both cause only a necessity of Consequence which is Logical as the Divines on both sides do Confess And therefore this no more caused you to sin then if there had been no such Degree And its a doubt whether that Decree be not negative A willing suspending of the Divine will as to evil or at most A purpose to permit it The six and twentieth Excuse If it be no more yet doth it make my perdition unavoidable For even Gods foreknowledge doth so For if he foreknow it all the world cannot hinder it from coming to pass Answ. Must God either be Ignorant of what you will do or else be the cause of it If you foreknow that the Sun will rise tomorrow that doth not cause it to rise If you foreknow that one man will murder another you are not the cause of it by foreknowing it So is it
here The seven and twentieth Excuse God might have hindred my Sin and Damnation if he would Answ. And will you wilfully sin and think to scape because God doth not hinder you The Prince that makes a Law against murder could lock you up and keep you from being a Murderer But are you excusable if he do not We are certain that God could have hindred all the sin and death and confusion and misery that is in the world And we are as certain that he doth not hinder it but by forbidding it and giving men means against it And we are certain that he is Just and Good and Wise in all and not bound to hinder it And what his Reasons are you may better know hereafter In the mean time you had been better have looked to your own Duty The eight and twentieth Excuse How could I be saved if Christ did not dye for me He dyed but for his Elect and none could be saved without his Death Answ. He did dye for you and for more than his Elect though he Absolutely purposed only their salvation Your sins crucified him and your debt lay upon him and he so far ransomed you that nothing but your wilful refusal of the benefits could have condemned you The nine and twentieth Excuse It was Adams sin that brought me into this Depravedness of will which I can neither cure nor could prevent Answ. 1. If Adam cast away his holiness he could no more convey that to us which he cast away then a Nobleman that is a Traytor can convey his lost Inheritance or Honours to his son 2. You perish not only for your Original sin but for Rejecting the Recovering mercy of the Redeemer you might have had Christ and Life in him for the Accepting The thirtieth Excuse God will require no more than â—e gives He gave me not Grace to Repent and Believe and without his gifts I could not have it Answ. 1. God will justly require more than he giveth that is The improvement of his Gâ—fts as Mat. 25. shews He gave Adam but a Power to persevere and not Actual perseverance Yet did he justly punish him for want of the Act even for not using by his own will the Power which he had given him 2. It is long of your self if God did not give you Grace to Believe It was because you wilfully refused some preparatory Grace Christ found you at a great distance from him and he gave you Grace sufficient to have brought you neerer to him than you were you had grace sufficient to have made you better than you were and restrained many sins and brought you to the means when you turned your back on them Though this were nâ—t sufficient to cause you to Believe it was sufficient to have brought you neerer to Believing and through your own wilfulness became not Effectual Even as Adam had sufficient grace to have stood which was not Effectual So that you had not only Christ offered to you if you would but Accept him but you had daily and precious helps and means to have cured your wills and caused you to Accept him for neglect of which and so for not believing and so for all your other sins you Justly perish The one and thirtieth Excuse Alas man is a worm a dry leaf Job 13.25 a silly foolish creature and therefore his Actions be not regardable nor deserve so great a punishment Answ. Though he be a worm and as nothing to God and foolish by sin yet is he naturally so noble a creature that the Image of God was on him Gen. 1.26 and 5.1 Jam. 3.9 and the world made his servants and Angels his attendants Heb. 1.14 so noble that Christ dyed for him God takes special care of him He is capable of knowing and enjoying God and heaven is not thought too good for him if he will obey And he that is capable of so great Good must be capable of as great Evil and his waies not to be so overlooked by that God that hath undertaken to be his Governor When it tendeth to Infidelity the Devil will teach you to Debase man even lower than God would do The two and thirtieth Excuse Sin is no Being and shall men be damned for that which is nothing Answ. 1. It is such a mode as deformeth Gods creature It is a moral Being It is a Relation of our actions and hearts to Gods will and Law 2. They that say sin is nothing say Pain and Loss is nothing too You shall therefore be paid with one nothing for another Make light of your misery and say It is nothing as you did of your sin 3. Will you take this for a good Excuse from your children or servants if they abuse you Or from a Thief or Murderer shall he escape by telling the Judge that his sin was Nothing Or rather have death which is nothing as the just Reward of it The three and thirtieth Excuse But sin is a Transient thing At least it doth God no harm and therefore why should he do us so much harm for it Answ. 1. It hurts not God because he is above hurt No thanks to you if he be out of your reach 2. You may Wrong him when you cannot Hurt him And the wrong deserves as much as you can beare If a Traytor endeavour the death of the Prince in vain his endeavour deserves death though he never hurt him You despise Gods Law and Authority you cause the Blaspheming of his name Rom. 2.24 He calls it A pressing him as a Cart is pressed with sheaves Amos 2.13 and a grieving of him 3. And you wrong his Image his Church the publike good and the souls of others The four and thirtieth Excuse But Gods nature is so Good and Merciful that sure he will not damn his own creature Answ. 1. A merciful Judge will hang a man for a fault against man By proportion then what is due for sin against God 2. All the death and calamity which you see in the world comes from the anger of this merciful God why then may not future misery come from it 3. God knoweth his own mercy better then you do and he hath told you how far it shall extend 4. He is infinitly merciful but it is to the Heirs of mercy Not to the final Rejecters of his mercy 5. Hath not God been merciful to thee in bearing with thee so long and offering thee Grace in the blood of Christ till thou didst wilfully reject it Thou wilt confess to thy everlasting wo that â—od was merciful Had he not been so merciful thou wouldst not have been so miserable for rejecting it The five and thirtieth Excuse I would not so Torment mine enemy my self Answ. No reason you should Is it all one to wrong you and to wrong the God of Heaven God is the only Judge of his own wrongs The six and thirtieth Excuse All men are sinners and I was but a sinner Answ. All were not Impenitent Unbelieving
Rebellious sinners and therefore all are not unpardoned condemned sinners All did not live after the flesh and refuse to the last to be converted as you did God will teach you better to difference between sinners and sinners The seven and thirtieth Excuse But if Christ have satisfied for my sins and dyed for me then how can I justly suffer for the same sins will God punish one sin twice Answ. 1. Christ suffered for man in the Nature of man but not in your person nor you in him It was not you that provided the price but God himself Christ was not mans Delegate in satisfying and therefore received not his Instructions from us nor did it on our terms but his own It was not the same thing which the Law threatned that Christ underwent for that was the Damnation of the sinner himself and not the suffering of another for him it cannot therefore be yours but on Christs own terms He dyed for thy sin but with this intent that for all that if thou Refuse him thou shalt dye thy self It is therefore no wrong to thee to dye for it was not thou that dyedst before And Christ will take it for no wrong to him For he will Judge thee to that Death It is for refusing a Christ that dyed for thee that thou must perish for ever The eight and thirtieth Excuse But I did not Refuse Christ I believed aâ—d trusted in him to the lâ—st and Repented of my sins though I sometime was overtaken with them Answ. Had this been True thy sin would not have condemned thee But there is no mocking God He will shew thee then thy naked heart and convince thousands that thought they Believed and Repented that indeed they did not By thy works also will this be discovered that is by the main bent and scope of thy life as Matth. 25. throughout and Jam. 2. The nine and thirtieth Excuse I did many Good Works and I hope God will set those against my evil works Answ. Thy good works were thy sins because indeed they were not good being not done in sincerity of heart for God The best mans works have some infirmity which nothing can cleanse but the blood of Christ which thou hast made light of and therefore hast no part in If all thy life had been spent in perfect works except one day they would not make satisfaction for the sins of that day For they are but part of thy Duty Wo to him that hath no better a Saviour at Judgement then his own good works The fourtieth Excuse I lived in poverty and misery on earth and therefore I hope I have had my suffering here and shall not suffer in this world and another too Answ. 1. By that Rule all poor men and murderers and thieves that are tormented and hanged should be saved But as Godlyness hath the promise of this life and that to come so Impenitency and Wickedness hath the Threatning of this life and that to come 2. The Devils and the damned have suffered much more than you already and yet they are never the neerer a deliverance When thou hast suffered ten thousand years thy pain will be never the neerer an end How then can a little misery on earth prevent it Alas poor soul these are but the foretasts and beginnings of thy sorrow Nothing but pardon through the blood of Christ could have prevented thy Condemnation and that thou rejectedst by Infidelity and Impenitency His sufferings would have saved thee if thou hadst not Refused him But all thine own sufferings will yield thee no Relief So much for the answering of the Vain Excuses which poor sinners are ready to make for themselves Wherein I have been so large as that this part I confess is disproportionable to the rest but it was for these two Reasons 1. That poor careless souls might see the vanity of such Defences and consider if such a worm as I can easily confute them how easily and how terribly will they be all answered by their Judge 2. I did it the rather that godly Christians might the better understand how to deal with these vain Excuses when they meet with them which will be daily if they deal with men in this sad Condition X. WE have done with that part of the Judgement which consisteth in the exploration or tryal of the cause we now come to that which is the Conclusion and Consummation of all and that is to shew you What the Sentence will be and on whom And for this we must go strait to the word of God for our light it being impossible for any man to have any particular knowledge of it if Christ had not there revealed it unto us Indeed almost all the world do acknowledge a life after this where it shall go well with the good and ill with the bad But who shall be then accounted Righteous and who Vnrighteous and on what terms and grounds by whom they shall be Judged and to what Condition they know not The Sentence in Judgement will be 1. Either on those that never had means to know Christ 2. Or on those that had 1. For the former as it less concerneth us to enquire of their case so is it more obscurely revealed to us in the Scripture â—t is certain that they shall be Judged according to their Use of the means which they had Rom. 2.11 12 13 14 15 16. and the Talents which they received Mat. 25. But that it ever falleth out that he that hath but the One Talent of natural helps doth improve it to salvation or that ever they who knew not Christ are Justified and saved without that knowledge being at age and use of reason I find not in the Scriptures I find indeed that As many as have sinned without Law shall also perish without Law and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be Judged by the Law Rom. 2.12 But not that any are justified by the works of nature such as are here said to be without Law I find also that They have the work of the Law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and their Thoughts the mean while Accusing or else Excusing one another in the day when God shall Judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel Rom. 2.15 16. And I believe it is a just Excuse and not an unjust which is here meant But it will be but an Excuse so far as they were guiltless and that will be but in tanto and not in toto in part only and so not a full Justification A Heathens conscience may excuse him from those sins which he was never guilty of but not from all But no more of them 2. The case of those that have had the Gospel is more plainly opened to us in Gods word Their Sentence is opened in many places of Scripture but most fully in Matth. 25. whence we will now collect it There we find that Jesus Christ the Redeemer
in vain then to cry to hills to fall on you and the mountains to cover you from the presence of him that sitteth on the Throne It will be in vain now to Repent and wish you had not sleighted your salvation nor sold it for a little pleasure to your flesh It will be then in vain to cry Lord Lord open to us O spare us O pitty us O do not cast us into these hideous flames Do not turn us among Devils do not Torment thy Redeemed ones in this fire All this will be then too late Poor sinner whoever thou art that readest or hearest these lines I beseech thee in Compassion to thy soul Consider How fearful the case of that man will be that is newly doomed to the Everlasting fire and is haled to the Execution without Remedy and what mad men are those that now do no more to prevent such a misery when they might do it on such easie terms and now have so fair an Opportunity in their hands The time was when Repentance might have done thee good but Then all thy Repentings will be in vain Now while the day of thy Visitation lasteth hadst thou but a heart to pray and cry for mercy in faith and fervency through Christ thou mightest be heard But then Praying and Crying will do no good shouldst thou roar out in the extremity of thy horror and amazement and beseech the Lord Jesus but to forgive thee one sin or to send thee on earth once more and to try thee once again in the flesh whether thou wouldst not love him and lead a holy life it would be all in vain Shouldst thou beseech him by all the mercifulness of his nature by all his sufferings and bloody death by all the merciful promises of his Gospel it would be all in vain Nay shouldst thou beg but one dayes reprival or to stay one hour before thou were cast into those flames it would not be heard it would do thee no good How earnestly did a deceased Gentleman Luk. 16.24 beg of Abraham for one drop of water from the tip of Lazarus's finger to cool his tongue because he was tormented in the flame And what the better was he He was sent to Remember that he had his Good things in this life and that Remembrance would torment him more And do not wonder or think much at this that Christ will not then be intreated by the ungodly You shall then have a Remember too from Christ or Conscience He may soon stop thy mouth and leave thee speechless and say Remember man that I did one day send thee a Message of peace and thou wouldst not hear it I once did stoop to Beseech thee to return and thou wouldst not hear I besought thee by the tender mercies of God I besought thee by all the Love that I had shewed thee by my holy Life by my cursed Death by the Riches of my Grace by the offers of my Glory and I could not get thee to forsake the world to deny thy flesh to leave one beloved sin for all this I besought thee over and over again I sent many a Minister to thee in my name I waited on thee many a day and year and all would not do thou wouldst not Consider Return and Live And now it is too late my sentence is past and cannot be recalled Away from me thou worker of Iniquity Matth. 7.22 23. Ah Sirs what a case then is the poor desperate sinner left in How can I write this or how can you that read or hear it without trembling once think of the Condition that such forlorn wretches will be in When they look above them and see the God that hath forsaken them because they forsook him first when they look about them and see the Saints on one hand whom they despised now sentenced unto Glory and the wicked on the other hand whom they accompanied and imitated now Judged with them to everlasting misery when they look below them and see the flames that they must abide in even for evermore and when the Devils begin to hale them to the Execution Oh poor souls Now what would they give for a Christ for a promise for a time of Repentance for a Sermon of mercy which once they slept under or made no account of How is the case altered now with them who would think that these are the same men that made light of all this on earth that so stoutly scorned the reproofs of the word that would be worldly and fleshly and drunk and proud let Preachers say what they would and perhaps hated those that did give them warning Now they are of another mind but all too late Oh were there any place for Resistance how would they draw back and lay hold of any thing before they would be dragged away into those flames But there is no resisting Satans Temptations might have been Resisted but his Executions cannot Gods Judgements might have been Prevented by Faith and Prayer Repentance and a holy life but they cannot be resisted when they are not prevented Glad would the miserable sinner be if he might but turn to nothing and cease to be or that he might be any thing rather than a reasonable creature but these wishes are all in vain There is one Time and one Way of a sinners Deliverance If he fail in that one he perisheth for ever all the world cannot help him after that 2 Cor. 6 2. I have heard thee in a time accepted and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee Behold now is the Accepted time behold now is the day of salvation Now he saith Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the door and knock If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me But for the time to come hereafter hear what he saith Prov. 1.24 25 26. Because I have called and ye Refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my Reproof I also will laugh at your Calamity I will mock when your fear cometh when your fear cometh as Desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind when distress and anguish cometh upon you then shall they call upon me but I will not Answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord They would none of my counsels they despised all my Reproof therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices for the Turning away of the simple shall slay them and the Prosperity of fools shall destroy them But who so hearkneth to me shall dwel safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil I have recited all these words that you may see and consider whether I have spoke any other thing than God himself hath plainly told you of Having
shut not your eyes against the light and then try the issue Heb. 3.12 13 15 16 17 18 19. THE second Direction Labour diligently to have a sound understanding of the nature of the Laws and Judgement of God On what terms it is that he dealeth with mankind and on what terms he will Judge them to Life or Death and what the Reward and Punishment is For if you know not the Law by which you must be Judged you cannot know how to prepare for the Judgement Study the Scripture therefore and mark who they be that God promiseth to save and who they be that he threateneth to Condemn For according to that Word will the Judgement pass THE third Direction See that you take it as the very business of your Lives to make ready for that day Understand that you have no other business in this world but what doth necessarily depend on this What else have you to do but to provide for everlasting and to use means to sustain your own bodies and others of purpose for this work till it be happily done Live therefore as men that make this the main scope and care of their Lives and let all things else come in but on the by Remember every morning when you awake that you must spend that day in preparation for your Account and that God doth give it you for that end When you go to bed examine your hearts what you have done that day in preparation for your last Day And take that time as lost which doth nothing to this end THE fourth Direction Vse frequently to think of the Certainty neerness and dreadfulness of that day to keep Life in your Affections and Endeavours lest by Inconsiderateness your souls grow stupid and negligent Otherwise because it is out of sight the heart will be apt to grow hardened and secure And do not think of it sleightly as a common thing but purposely set your selves to think of it that it may rouze you up to such Affections and Endeavours as in some measure are answerable to the nature of the thing THE fifth Direction Labour to have a lively feeling on thy heart of the evil and weight of that sin which thou art guilty of and of the misery into which it hath brought thee and would further bring thee if thou be not delivered and so to feel the need of a Deliverer This must prepare thee to partake of Christ now and if thou partake not of him now thou canst not be saved by him Then It is these souls that now make light of their sin and misery that must then feel them so heavy as to be pressed by them into the infernal flames And those that now feel little need of a Saviour they shall then have none to save them when they feel their need THE sixth Direction Vnderstand and Believe the sufficiency of that Ransom and Satisfaction to Justice which Christ hath made for thy sins and for the world and how freely and universally it is offered in the Gospel Thy sin is not uncurable or unpardonable nor thy misery remediless God hath provided a remedy in his Son Christ and brought it so neer thy hands that nothing but thy neglecting or willful refusing it can deprive thee of the Benefit Settle thy soul in this belief THE seventh Direction Vnderstand and Believe that for all Christs satisfaction there is an Absolute Necessity of sound Faith and Repentance to be in thy own self before thou canst be a Member of him or be Pardoned Adopted or Justified by his blood He dyed not for final Infidelity and Impenitency as predominant in any soul As the Law of his Father which occasioned his suffering required perfect Obedience or suffering So his own Law which he hath made for the conveyance of his Benefits doth require yet true Faith and Repentance of men themselves before they shall be pardoned by him and sincere Obedience and Perseverance before they shall be glorified THE eighth Direction Rest not therefore in an unrenewed unsanctified state that is till this Faith and Repentance be wrought on thy own soul and thou be truly broken off from thy former sinful course and from all things in this world and art Dedicated Devoted and Resigned unto God Seeing this change must be made and these graces must be had or thou must certainly perish in the fear of God see that thou give no ease to thy mind till thou art thus changed Be content with nothing till this be done Delay not another day How canst thou live merrily or sleep quietly in such a Condition as if thou shouldst dye in it thou shouldst perish for ever Especially when thou art every hour uncertain whether thou shalt see another hour and not be presently snatch away by death Me thinks while thou aâ—t in so sad a case which way ever thou art going or what ever thou art doing it should still come into thy thoughts Oh what if I should Dye before I be Regenerate and have part in Christ THE ninth Direction Let it be the daily care of thy soul to mortifie thy fleshly desires and overcome this world and live as in a continual Conflict with Satan which will not be ended till thy life do end If any thing destroy thee by drawing away thy heart from God it will be thy carnal self thy fleshly desires and the allurements of this world which is the matter that they fed upon This therefore must be the earnest work of thy life to subdue this flesh and set light by this world and resist the Devil that by these would destroy thee It is the common case of miserable hypocrites that at first they list them selves under Christ as for a fight but they presently forget their state and work and when they are once in their own conceit Regenerate they think themselves so safe that there is no further danger and thereupon do lay down their Arms and take that which they miscall their Christian Liberty and indulge and please that flesh which they promised to mortifie and close with the world which they promised to contemn and so give up themselves to the Devil whom they promised to fight against If once you apprehend that all your Religion lyeth in meer Believing that all shall go well with you and that the bitterness of death is past and in a forbearance of some disgraceful sins and being much in the Exercise of your Gifts and in external wayes of Duty and giving God a Cheap and plausible obedience in those things only which the Flesh can spare you are then faln into that deceitful hypocrisie which will as surely condemn you as open prophanness if you get not out of it You must live as in a fight or you cannot overcome You must live loose from all things in this world if you will be ready for another You must not live after the flesh but mortifie it by the Spirit if you would not dye but live for ever Rom. 8.13