unconverted man is of all men on the earth in the saddest vilest miserablest condition Why Because he is spiritually dead dead spiritually dead A wounded man is in a tedious condition and a diseased man is in a languishing condition but what is a wound to death what is a disease to death Me morienti mori Death is the Sun-set of all comfort Death is the drowning of a little world Death is the very Hermitage of forgetfulness and loathsome corruption Death is the lowest and vilest condition what then is a spiritual Death No Death like the spiritual Death O my friends consider spiritual Death either in comparison in its proper complexion Consider this death or in the consequents of it surely no Death no condition is so dismal as it 1. In comparison with any other In comparison with other death Death This is the worst this is the heaviest There is the Death of our Goods and Estate into which Job fell of our Name and Reputation into which David fell of our Bodies and natural Life into which Lazarus fell of the Soul the immortal soul of man into which every unconverted sinner is fallen Now what is a dead Estate to a dead Soul Or what is a dead Name to a dead Soul Or what is a dead Body to a dead Soul It is not so much as the death of a Dog to the death of a Man Every unconverted man hath a dead soul a converted man may have a troubled soul but the unconverted man hath a dead soul sin hath slain his precious soul If the soul be dead what is alive What is that man whose soul is dead In all other deaths something is alive if Goods be gone the Name lives if the Name be gone the Body lives if the Body be gone the Soul lives But if the Soul also be gone what lives 2. In it self Why spiritual Death is a total privation of God In iâ— self of Christ of Grace no life of God no life of Christ no life of Grace is there in any unconverted person none at all Ah poor wretch what art thou and what is thy condition who art thus dead A total corruption diffusion possession with sin S. Austin affirms That the very Vertues of the Heathens were but splendida peccata meer flowers on a dead man And Solomon The sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord. What a gastly sâ—ght would it be to open a grave and see the dead body run over with crawling worms and a general putrefaction over all the parts And truly so it is with the soul of an unconverted person it is the filthiest nastiest corruptedst may I say Câ—â—â—on Luther said once So many sins so many hells surely I may then say So many Sins so many Deaths The unconverted man is full of sin his heart is full of evil so Soloman He is filled with all unrighteousness so Paul affirmeth Job was filled with botches yea but he was not filled with sins and Lazarus was filled with sores yea but he was not filled with sins and Davids soul was filled with complaints and Christs soul was filled wich sorrow yea but it was not filled with sin Every unconverted mans dead soul is filled with living sins as a good mans soul is filled with dying and dead sins and a soul full of living sins is much like a soul filled up with Hel-fire There is no evil so evil as sin and no sin so evil as living sin and no living sin so evil as a fulness and an onliness of living sin 3. In the consequents of it I will name but three of them In the consequents of it 1. All the guilt of all those sins lie on him alone 2. All the wrath of God looks on him the sentence of curse 3. An eternal death may soon befal him 2. Then no marvel that publick and private admonitions counsels No marvel that admonitions reproofs counsels prevail not with most men reproofs prevail not with the most of men We Ministers preach and we think we preach Religion and with evidence enough of Reason and deliver things fairly and plainly and convincingly and now we wonder at it that men should hear such clear and undeniable truths and not be moved and perswaded And Parents give admirable counsels and instructions to their Children and no good comes of them c. Why Sirs are not unconverted men dead men And what can all our undertakings alone considered do unto dead men Assuredly unless the Lord of Life himself will speak these counsels and these admonitions unto sinfull men they will never hear them so as to be stirred so as to be moved so as to be converted by them they will remain in their sinfull condition and obstinate wayes to eternity 3. Then it is of Gods meer mercy and pity and power if ever It is Gods mercy that any soul is converted thy poor soul be converted Never ascribe it to thy excellency what excellency is there in a dead man to thy power what power is there where there is no life to thy self preparations what active disposing or preparation can a dead man afford The dead sinner is the meer object of purest mercy and the dead sinner is without all strength if ever his souls lives then to Christ must that life own it self and to Divine Mercy and Power c. The next Use shall be for Trial or Examination Since every unconverted man is spiritually dead let 's therefore search our Vse 2. Trial Whether we be spiritually dead Four Tokens of it hearts in what a condition they are Are not many of us yet dead in sins and trespasses spiritually dead men There are four Tokens of a man spiritually dead 1. Vnsensibleness Where there is no life there is no sense of all sinners the unsensible sinner is in the most deadly condition Tanto pejor quanto insensibiliter saith Austin Do what you will to a dead man he is Unsensibleness unsensible of it call to him he hears not put the sweetest perfumes to him he smels not kick him cut him burn him he feels not although he be full of loathsomness he perceives it not Now I beseech you mind this Trial for verily if spiritual unsensibleness prevail upon you you are spiritually dead If spiritual sense be the first evidence of Life then è contra spiritual unsensibleness is a sure evidence of Death And what spiritual sensation is yet wrought in you There are sins upon sins mountains upon mountains in your hearts the least of them hath been an heavy burthen to a living soul but what hast thou ever felt of thy sinfull heart and life There is in the Ministry of the Gospel no less than riches of Mercy freeness of Love glories of Heaven tendred to you but what do you perceive in it Didst thou never yet feel and cry out of a body of Death O here here is a dead heart an ignorant heart a
to take heed of sinning though mixt with pleasures and delights Consider these motives Motives 1. What thing that is wherein thou doest take pleasure Why What is that wherein thoâ— doest take pleasure what is it O man that hath enticed thee and what is it O man which in thee is so enticed It is sin that hath enticed thee and it is thy soul which is thus enticed by sin Sin enticeth thee then which no evil is worse thy soul is enticed then which no part in thee is so precious And wilt thou adventure that precious soul that immortal soul which must live for ever wilt thou adventure it for a sin for one draught of sinfull pleasure Wouldest thou adventure all thy earthly estate for one draught of Beer as Esau did his for one mess of pottage Thou wouldest not Yet wilt thou adventure the eternal being of thy soul for one minutes pleasure of sin Though thy sins be pleasant in thine eyes yet they are odious in Gods sight though thy sins do delight thee yet they do grieve him they do incense and provoke him Hast thou nothing to take pleasure in but that which provokes thy God and will damn thy soâ—l 2. Thou mayest enjoy thy pleasures without sin Hast thou not Thou mayest enjoy thy pleasures without sin a Wife to delight thee an Husband Children many outward comforts not a God not a Promise not a Christ that thou longest onely for forbidden fruit 3. Is sin a thing to take pleasure in did it not shed the bloud of Is sin a thing to take pleasure in Christ doth it not break a righteous Law transgress an holy Will grieve the Spirit of God cast the clouds of threatnings over our heads bring down all our Judgements on body kindle our terrours in Conscience heap up all our wrath against the day of wrath is this the thing of thy pleasure call you this a delight If one should say unto thee Be drunk commit filthiness and within an hour after thy whole body shall be roasted in a fire or thy skin shall be flead off thee or every bone in thy body should be distinctly broken in pieces wouldst thou now sin And what are these punishments to sins themselves and what are these punishments to those of Conscience or to that of Hell 4. God can easily shorten thy pleasures of sin and he hath many God can easily shorten thy pleasures of siâ— waies to do it First Is not his Word of mighty power is it not a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart can it not divide twixt the marrow and the joint Is it not a light and a fire Is it not the sword of God a two-edged sword able to pierce and that with quickness and that with sharpness Or Secondly if yet thou be able to maintein thy sins and by the strength of sensual pleasures to beat off the purest convictions and revelations and pursuits of the Word cannot the Spirit of God drive home the sharp displeasure of God cannot he break through the midst of all thy resolutions and delights and so enter into thy conscience can he not in a moment awaken that drouzie conscience can he not inliven that seared conscience can he not injoin it to stand up and act its accusing power when he hath irresistably inlightned it and set the great sins of thy delight before thee and when conscience is deeply wounded where then are all thy pleasures O it will be as bitter then unto thee as hell the wrath of God felt and the guilt of sin felt and the terrors of Conscience felt O how will they drown thy pleasures sink thy spirits and if God be not the more merciful confound thy soul Yet this God can do and he can easily do it if he saith but the word My wrath be upon him Conâ—cieâ—ce arise and accuse him it is done and then where are thy dâ—lights Those sins of thine unto which thou hast been enâ—iced by a little false pleasures even they alone shall rise up and be the sufficient punishment for all their pleasures Or Thirdly He can shorten thy pleasures by many Judgements he can lay such a disease upon thy body or such a loss on thy estate or such a rottenness on thy name or such a vexation upon thy spirit or such a madness in thy mind or such a cross in thy delight that thou shalt find no more pleasure in any thing Or Fourthly Can he not send forth the King of Fears that which thou least thinkest of and which will make thy joynts to tremble Death it self upon thee Hath not He the Keys of Life and Death and when life is gone where then are the pleasures of thy sin Sin makes way for death and death to a wicked man though it makes not an end of his sinning yet it makes a full end of the pleasures of sinning thou shalt never rejoyce in the way of thy wickedness more thou shalt never taste delight more neither lawfull delight nor unlawfull delight And cannot God do this suddenly and art thou able to withstand him art thou greater then he 5. Thy pleasures of sin will end in bitterness Read the Scripture Thy pleasures of sin will end in bitterness see whether it be not so and I beseech thee tell me hast thou not found it so already canst thou not say That thy sin hath been an evil thing and bitter Canst thou not say What fruit have I in those things whereof I am now ashamed Two things remember There is a certainty of bitterness for former sinnings Eccl. 11. 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment 2. Thou knowest not the manner of that bitterness The sinning that is thy work but the punishing of thy sins that is Gods work thou hast taken the pleasures which sin delivered unto thee and thou must now take the bitterness which God will inflict on thee And canst thou tell 1. When the Lord will begin to account with How sudden thee either to night or to morrow thou art not secure a moment Secondly How the Lord will begin with thee whether How great in thy body or in thy soul or in both in conscience or estate Thirdly How far the Lord will extend the cup unto thee perhaps How endless it shall be in thy hand a cup of fury and trembling and amazing horrour and whether he will have thee to drink to the lowest dregs of his wrath how knowest thou This bitterness after thy pleasures may be purely judicial which shall not be tempered with any comfort nor yet at all with the hope of any mercy it may be an endless displeasure from God Object Yea but we mean to repent hereafter and so we
and last Use shall be for Exhortation to set upon Vse 3. Exhortation to consideration and comparison What is required to enable us thereto Knowledge these two works of Consideration and Comparison Here let me propound two things unto you respecting the practical exercise of them Qu. 1. What is required to enable a person rightly to consider and to compare c. I conceive thus 1. There must be knowledge Right Consideration and Comparison are works of an illightened mind to understand the proper nature and distinction of things necessarily requires knwoledge For Ignorance can neither consider nor distinguish therefore study the Word and other Books to understand what objects are of which you are to consider 2. There must be some Wisdome For every Understanding cannot find out things Wisdome nor is able to make their differences of vileness or excellency as David said of the Works of God that a brutish man understands them not c. Psal 92. 5 6. that we say of persons onely enlightened That if they have not spiritual Wisdome to compare things or to consider of them they will never by the evidence of the vileness of Sin or excellency of Grace be drawn to Repentance 3. There must be Retiredness or Sequestration You must separate your selves as Solomon Retiredness speaks Tumults of business or violence of noise distract the thoughts and alienate them utterly disabling to consider 4. You must gather your selves together You must strive against division in mind be carefull to unite and to center your thoughts Gathering our thoughts together not suffering your selves to be scattered or blown away from your self 5. You must pray unto God to open your eyes Prayer to see and to give a judgment to discern and to unite your hearts and enable them to go through the work for verily you shall find much reluctancy and opposition of spirit to such a work Quest 2. In what manner we are to consider and to compare c. I Answer 1. The Rules for a right consideration so In what manner we must consider and compare The Rules for right consideration Do it in a free time Do it with a full time as to occasion Repentance are these 1. Do it in a free time there are times wherein a man is most unapt for such a work as this as when very sick in body or under some passion of grief or fear or loss Now the soul is in a Tumult it cannot see things aright nor judge aright Take a calm time for all works of moment either to know or to judge thy Estate 2. Do it with a full time The matter is weighty not the work of a day as they spake concerning the separation in Ezra it was not a work to be done in one day Nor is this of sound Consideration a business which can be hastily done and well done you must do it deliberately and seriously for there are many sins and many circumstances to be considered of and to be weighed and judged c. 3. Do it throughly Do not begin a little and then give over leave not till you come to the bottome see the worst Do it throughly of it and the utmost of it if ever you will see the good of it You are never a jot the worse by seeing how bad you are but you may be the better all the dayes of your life for it You must be faithfull to your own soul not to pass over any sin that you can well conceive your self guilty of 4. You must do it orderly Consider not of all sins in a Lump but break your Do it orderly thoughts And as they in Judgment consider of one Cause and then of another so do you of your sins what are your chief sins in affection or practice or inclination and so go to other c. in their order time place c. 5. You must do it so long Do it till your heart begin to Relent until your heart begin to relent and grows tender and soft Ah! how vile and abominable and wretched c. and then strike in with God by Prayer and Confession c. And this is a way to bring you to Repentance Secondly the Rules for Comparison If you would so compare Rules for comparison of the sinful and converted state Compare them in their proper nature and effects the miserableness of the sinfull with the happiness of a converted condition so as to be brought to Repentance then 1. You must compare them in their proper natures and effects not by that which is accidental but by that which is natural there may be some trouble to a converted estate and some delight upon an unconverted estate these then are preternatural they arise not from the things themselves but are contingent accidents But compare the real natures and fruits of the one with the other and then you shall see reason to leave the one and to choose the other 2. You must compare them by a proper Compare them by a proper Rule Rule not standing in point of definitive sentence what your own heart or what the World approves but onely what God in his Word doth sentence to be most vile and miserable and what he pronounceth to be most good and comfortable The Rule of Comparison must ever be pure impartial and perfect 3. You must have so much faith also as to believe what God saith Believe what God saith of either state of either estate For though you should refer the decision unto him yet if upon his resolving you are resolved to quarrel against it and dispute the truth and validity and say yet It is otherwise we will not believe that our sinfull course is so bad and so dangerous alas you will never repent while you live But you must resolve of this that the Word shall captivate your thoughts and shall discover and set the differences of estates and so you may be occasioned to repent 4. You must take an humble and firm resolution to take and follow that way which God discovers Resolve to follow that way Gâ—d discovers to be best unto you for the best and to decline that way which God discovers to be bad and damnable i. You will betake your selves industriously and stedfastly unto all the ways and means by which you may be strengthened to leave your sins and to walk with God in newness of obedience LUKE 15. 18. I will arise and go to my Father These words contain in them the other fundamental part of Repentance appearing in the Prodigal viz. The Resolution of his Will To apprehend evil is somthing but to leave it is the The Resolution of the Prodigal safest thing to see a better condition shews that the eye is opened but to go to our Father this shews that the heart is changed This Resolution of the Prodigal is set forth partly by the 1. Matter of it which is very compleat it contains
there take forth directions for your lives how contrary soever to your own conceits and delights 4. A faintness of spirit If you make the work absolutely impossible A faintness of spirit you do but cool and quash resolutions There is a need of bellows not waters for tender sparks for no man will attempt a hopeless work or that which he knows will certainly prove fruitless Do not side with such thoughts as these I shall never be able to get victory over such strong sins and long corruptions Or I shall never be able to do what the Lord requires so much and with such affections nor shall I ever bear such reproaches losses disgraces indignities Never consult with flesh and bloud in a case of holy Resolution nor credit Satan about the leaving of sin but if thou wilt consult with what may fear and dishearten thee consult also with what may encourage and quicken thee Though thy sins be strong yet they are conquerable onely true Grace is invincible It is possible for a sinfull nature to be altered and renewed and therefore it is not impossible for any sin to be subdued Though thy own strength be insufficient yet Christ's is not He who hath commanded thee to combat with Sin hath likewise promised to conquer sin if thy duty be active he is able to work in thee both to will and to do if thy duty be passive he can give thee not onely to do but to suffer for his sake if thou must not be less then a Sufferer he can make thee more than a Conqueror Thy helps are far greater than thy discouragements there are more with thee than against thee Therefore fear not to resolve 't is a vanity to talk of another or fitter season you will be more unwilling to leave sin the more time you take to commit sin II. There are some things which you must in some measure Labour for possess if ever you would be brought to a penitential Resolution 1. Get as distinct a knowledge of sin as clear conviction as Clear Conviction you can It is our blindness which keeps us in service and the Will is usually perverse because the Judgment is greatly dark Did we know sin aright truly fully experimentally you have attained to Reasons enough why you should resolve against it Sin carries its own condemnation with it Sometimes the particular effects of sin do half perswade us to be Christians to leave the service of sin a stroke or two upon the Conscience do thus far prevail as to pause and stop If then we knew sin in the latitude of its bitter effects and in the intensiveness of them beyond all thoughts for bitterness and perpetuity as also that extreme vileness in the formal nature of it which is the vast womb and Ocean out of which these bitter waters do flow if we did know sin as the darkest blot and loathsome blur opposite to the truest Glory of purest Holiness and as the most deformed and highest Rebellion to the most equal Laws and Rules of Divine Soveraignty and as the very Eclipse and utter Inconsistence with all real Happiness and as the infallible and unavoidable Precipice of our intollerable and eternal Damnation At least this would be an occasional excitation if not a strong foundation upon which to raise a Resolution to quit and forsake it Sure I am the defect of this that men know not sin makes them bold and venturous obstinate and tenacious they will not desist from the practice of sin because they know not the evil of sin 2. You must get an hatred of sin else you will never truly and Cordial detestation effectually resolve against it All the actions of our lives are fed by the affections of the will these are in morals principia immediate vincentia and of all the affections as the Anatomists observe in the body two master-Veins Vena cava vena aorta so in the soul there are two which are Soveraign and bear sway one is Love and the other is Hatred that bears sway in matters elegible and practicable this in matters sinfull and declinable Resolutions against sin not rooted in hatred will slack like a deceitfull Bow and Resolutions to a better course not raised from love will be but as the morning dew It is hatred which makes us bent and peremptory againct evil and it is love which makâ—s us resolute and stedfast for good Hatred hath three properties in it against an evil Object Enmity Flight and Irreconcileableness And Love hath two properties in it Union and Adhaesion Ruth clave in love to Naomi and was seâ—ed in it never to leave her And Ephraim was strong in detestation and therefore peremptorily in resolution What have I to do any more with Idols 3. There must be Faith and then there will be Resolution Faith Faith 1. To believe the Word of God discovering and threatning an evil condition and course 2. To believe the excellency of a good Condition and Life and Rewards If thou didst indeed believe that sin would damn thee wouldst not thou resolve against it if thou didst indeed believe that the holy life were the happy life couldst thou by Faith see him that is invisible and the beauties of holiness which are hid from the World and those great consolations and rewards reserved for a pious heart and conversation thou wouldst quickly turn the Scale mâ—ke the choâ—ce and resolve 'T is true I must leave my sins but I shall gain my God their pleasures but I shall gain his delights I may forfeit the love of Friends but I shall find kindness of God I quit Earth but I shall get Heaven I leave but filthiness but guilt but misery but Hell I shall get holiness and peace and Christ and Comfort and Heaven I am insufficient but God is sufficient 4. Vehement Prayer that the Lord would give a heart willing Vehement prayer to forsake sin and willing to choose him and his ways For the purposes of our hearts are from him Resolution should be a Posâ—e of Prayers steept in prayer blown up by the breath of Heaven Psal 119. 5. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes v. 8. I will keep thy statutes O forsake me not utterly What you undertake without prayer you will forsake without câ—mfort All resolutions are best made which are made upon the knee of prayer Secondly The means to maintain and keep up this Resolution The means to maintain this resolution Let it not be presumpâ—uous but humble If you would attain to a solid and permanent Resolution then 1. Let your Resolution not be presumptuous but humble If you raise your Resolutions upon your own strength you will shortly quit them by your own weakness No spiritual frame or work is safe or strong which is reared upon it self alone it must not be less than a rock higher than our selves upon which we must build The wings bear the body of the
in the time of Performance An Unworthy person may lawfully bee an earnest Suiter He Nor take off Confidence in the time of Performantâ— may put up requests and also believe that God will grant them See it in the Church Isa 64. 6. We are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses as filthy rags c. Ver. 8. But now O Lord thou art our Father Ver. 9. Be not wrath very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever behold see we beseech thee we are all thy people So Psal 25. 11. For thy Names sake O Lord pardon mine iniquity for it is great He was sensible of the greatness of his sin yet puts up a believing Petition for pardon 3. Nor yet take off our expectation of the success Nor take off our expectation of the Success and fruit of Prayer Though a man hath sown his seed with an hand perhaps foul or lame yet he expects an Harvest We may expect a most gracious and proper and seasonable answer to our ptayers though we be most unworthy of the mercy or blessing which we do desire Though we know nothing in our selves to commend us to God yea though we know enough in our selves to condemn us before God to non-suit all our prayers if the answers were to be given according to our deserts yet we may not only request the Lord but should by Faith rely on God yea and expect an answer what the Lord will answer us and when he will perform his promise to us 2. But you may demand Why should not the sense of our unworthiness prejudice our prayings Sol. I will give you divers Reasons for it Arguments to confirm it Though we cannot Sue in our own name yet we may in the Name of Christ 1. Because though we cannot Sue in our own name yet we may Sue in the Name of Christ There may be a worthiness For us though not In us In the Old Law it was a dangerous presumption for any man to offer a Sacrifice without a Priest Lev. 17. 3 4 5. such a person was to be cut off in like manner it is most dangerous for any man to offer up his prayers to God without Christ to come in his own name it is the way to cut off our prayers God will not take any petition from us unless it come out of the hands of our Master of requests .i. Christ Jesus And again in the Old Law if the Priest did offer up the Sacrifice though it were not a rich sacrifice of a Bullock or a Sheep if it were but a pair of Turtle Doves nay if it were but the tenth part of an Ephah of fine flour it was available for the person it was accepted Levit. 5. intimâ—ting unto us That it is not our own names not any excellencies in us which make way for the acceptance or the answer of our prayers they are accepted for his sake in whom our persons are accepted and therefore you read in Rev. 8. 3. of the Angel that stood at the Altar having a golden Censer who had much incense which he offered with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which was before the Throne The golden Altar and the golden Censer and much Incense make all accepted and ver 4. The smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angels hand It was the Angels Incense which made even the prayers of the Saints to ascend .i. the meritorious intercession of Christ which giveth acceptance and audience to our Petitions as he is a sufficient Redeemer so is he a sufficient Intercessour and therefore our own Unworthiness must not prejudice or discourage us for as much as the name of Jesus Christ is enough to implead God withall 2. Secondly When we come to God in Prayer we come to one who is of a most liberal and gracious Nature therefore our God is of a most liberal and Gâ—acious nature unworthiness should not discourage our petitions That God is of a liberal Nature is unquestionable he is abundant in goodness and truth so Moses He will give grace and glory so David He giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not so Jam. 1. 5. Water comes not from the clouds as from a Pump a bountiful and noble Nature stands not on desert it finds principles enough within it self to shew kindness But which is yet more the Lord hath not only a nature full of goodness and most propense to give but also he hath a gracious Nature which dispenseth all good upon free terms not for our sake who receive but for his own sake only who gives As Gods liberality appears in giving many times before we ask and sometimes in giving more then we ask and sometimes in giving a better thing then we ask so his graciousness appears in not considering how worthy we are what Causes and Arguments we can bring but in a a free dispensation of his mercies to us without all desert or causality on our parts The whole cause of the mercy is only in mercy as in Deut. 9. 6. The Lord thy God doth not give thee this good land to possess it for thy righteousness for thou art a stiff-necked people The gift then was gracious no desert of it nay a desert of the contrary Come saith the Prophet ye that have no mony come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without mony and without price Isay 55. 1. If God doth not sell any of his mercies if he will take none of our coyn if he doth not stand upon a price but only upon the asking and on the acceptation of his gifts then our Unworthines doth not prejudice our prayers 3. We do not only advance the name of Christ and the name of divine Comming with the sence of unworthiness advanceth the name of Christ and is a necessary concomitâ— an â—cceptâ— Prayer Grace by comming with a sense of our Unworthiness but it is the necessary concomitant of acceptable prayer There are two singular Graces which must exercise themselves in prayer one is Faith by which we go in the name of another another is Humility by which we go out of our selves When Abraham prayes his form was humble I who am but dust and ashes When Jacob prayes his form was humble I who am not worthy of all the goodness and truth c. He hears the desire of the humble This poor man cried unto the Lord and he heard him When we pray to God we are said to fall down at his footstool not only our bodies but our souls also must fall down at his footstool And when do our soules fall down Then when they are fully affected with the sense of their own unworthiness If we would pray acceptably we must pray humbly If we would pray humbly we must be sensible of our own Unworthiness 4. God hath rejected the Prayer of such who have rested upon
it hath put off your own 2. To see a need of this righteousness and to prize and desire to be found in it above and before all other the Laodiceans must see that they are naked and then buy Raiment Rev. 3. 3. To unite us to Jesus Christ It must work in us both estimation for our judgments and acceptation for our wills so that it must make us one with Christ and so we come to be cloathed with the Garment of Christ But perhaps you can rest upon your own good meanings works innocency You are rich and need not to borrow any Garment you are united to your lusts and will not part with them for Christ nor for all his Ornament 3. This Robe This Robe and that of holiness are inseparable of righteousness and that other of holiness are inseparable It is granted that inherent holiness is not formally the same with imputed righteousness it is granted that the one is in Christ the other is in us that the one is perfect the other is imperfect that the one is meritorious the other though it be precious yet it is not meritorious Yet as the light and heat of the Sun though the one be not the other yer they go together so the Robe of righteousness and the Robe of holiness go together the new Garment is only to be seen upon the new man Therefore you read that Christ is made not only Righteousness but also Sanctification Righteousness this is a grace without us whereby we are advanced Sanctification this is a grace wrought within us by which we advance and glorifie God that respects the State this the nature of the person As Grace must reign through righteousness to eternal life Ro. 5. 21. So also holiness must reign to everlasting life Ro. 6. 22. The one as a cause the other as a means Now then as if thou canst discern any light in the morning thou concludest that the Sun is risen so if thou canst discover any true holiness in thy heart thou maist conclude that the Sun of righteousness is risen the appearing of holiness is a sign of the rising of righteousness Yea the Prophet speaking of the Sun of Righteousness saith He shall arise with healing in his wings Mal. 4. 2. to intimate That where righteousness comes there holiness comes Ah! dost thou find no change in thy Nature in thy Judgment in thy Mind in thy Will in thy Affections why as sure as the Lord lives thou hast not yet put on this Robe of righteousness Doth Christ present thy person unspotted before God and doth he thinkst thou leave thy heart with all its spots and filthiness And put a Ring on his Hand This is the second favour conferred on the penitent Prodigal by his Father A Ring is such a piece of substance which is put on the finger partly for Ornament and partly to testifie Nuptial union and conjunction S. Chrysostom doth conjecture that the Ring in this place is Nuptiarum insigne quibus Christus Ecclesiam Sponsat an embleme of the Espousals twixt Christ and his Church So that then we have this Proposition to insist on That God gives unto the penitent person a precious Faith by Doct. 2. Gâ—d gives the penitent person Faith by which he is married to Christ which he is Espoused or Married unto Christ There are three things which being explained will give up unto us the full sense of this Assertion 1. What it is to be married unto Christ 2. That Faith doth Espouse and Marry a person unto Christ and what faith that is and in what respect 3. That the penitent person hath this faith Quest 1. For the first of these What it is to be Espoused or What it is to â—e married unto Christ Married unto Christ which is here signified by putting on the Ring Sol. They who write of Marriage do conjecture that these six things concur unto it 1. Mutuus Consensus a mutual Consenting 2. Mutuus Contractus a mutual Contracting 3. Mutua Obligatio a mutual Obliging 4. Mutua Conjunctio a mutual Union and Conjunction 5. Mutua Potestas a mutual faculty or Right 6. Mutua Societas a mutual use or Society Translate this from a Civil to a Spiritual consideration and then to be married to Christ implyes 1. A Consent to take or accept of Christ Though knowledg of persons be necessary and â—it yet it is not sufficient to marriage It implyes A Consent without conâ—ent for marriage ought to be a voluntary transaction of persons and in it we do in a sort give away our selves but then this is not without our selves yea and therein we do elect make choice for our selves and therefore consent is a necessary concurrence to marriage Now this consent is nothing else but a free and plain act of the will accepting of Jesus Christ before all other to be its Head and Lord. Christ offers himself in the Gospel unto a person I am the only Saviour of sinners and Lord of all designed to be Priest Prophet and King art thou willing to accept of me canst thou like of me before all others dost thou so dost thou make choice of me for thy Saviour and Lord 2. A Contracting of the Soul with Christ Contractus is nothing A mutual Contract else but consensus explicatus a contract is a consent expressed in words but then they must be words proper to make Marriage They must not be verba dubia dubious words as I will marry none but you but verba clara affirmativa affirmative I will marry you for the Rule of the Casuists is good Consensus non datur per meram negationem And as they must not be verba dubia but affirmativa so they must not be verba futura conditionata hereafter or upon such a condition but verba de presenti I now accept or take c. Then a man is Married unto Christ when he doth freely and absolutely and presently receive the Lord Jesus Not I would have Christ if it did not prejudice my worldly estate ease friends c. Or hereafter I will accept of him when I come to dye and be in distress but now when Salvation is offered now while Christ tenders himself I now yield up my heart and life unto him 3. An obliging of the Soul to Christ for ex contractu oritur vinculum A mutual Obligation some call this traditio or resigâ—atio and therefore Marriage is a Knot or Tye wherein persons are mutually limitted and bound each to other in a way of Conjugal separation from all others and this in Scripture is called a Covenant So when any one Marries Christ he doth therein discharge himself in affection and subjection from all that is contrary to Christ and solemnly Covenants and binds himself to Christ alone He will have no Saviour and no Lord but Christ and to him will he cleave for ever Simpliciter indissolubiliter persona statu
proud heart an unbelieving heart an heart in which there is no good in which is all evil Ah poor man thou art a dead man no feeling no complaining no crying out of thy heart against all those many many vile and notorious sins 2. An universal and constant coldness If life be gone heat is gone the Feet are cold and the Hands are cold and the whole An universal and constant coldness Body is cold and the very Heart is cold too A living man may have cold hands and feet but he never hath a cold heart for life is there and heat is there Why there is no one converted man under heaven but he hath some heat in him though not much in some of his actions yet certainly some in his heart O saith he I approve of what is good and I would do good and I delight in the Law of God after the inward man I believe Lord help my unbelief But now an unconverted man hath 1. A cold heart unto any spiritual good Suppose he be at Prayer and at Sermon why but he hath no heart to or in these duties he hath no mind to these works no delight in them or in the Sabbath or in a Fast and though his body be present yet his heart is afar off it goes after his covetousness 2. And this Coldness is universal There is not any one spiritual Duty unto which his heart is not dead or cold He will tell you when he hears Catechizing I should like Preaching and so when he hears Preaching I could like Praying and so when Praying comes I could like Reading and when Reading comes I could like Meditating and when that comes I could like Practising and when Practising comes I could like Understanding But he dissembles he loves not one Duty at all his heart to these is like a sick stomack that seems to like any thing but what it hath but indeed likes no meat 3. And it is also constant I confess even a good and converted heart may find sometimes more actual indispositions to good than at other times and sometimes a greater measure of dulness and deadness but an heart constantly cold from one end of the year to another all the life long still to loath spiritual services never to attain unto a delightfull and affectionate communion with God This is a Token of a dead soul 3. Where the Word preached is but a dead Letter unto the hearer Where the Word preachâ—d is but a dead Letter certainly that man is in a dead condition If our Gospel be hid 't is hid to them that are lost saith the Apostle So may I say If our Gospel be dead it is so onely to them that are dead The Gospel is the great Trumpet of Christ the Silver Trumpet by which he raiseth the dead as at the last he shall raise the dead by the Voice of the Trumpet this is that by which Jesus Christ quickens and pulls a soul out of its sinfull condition 1. It lets in light to see that condition 2. It affects Conscience to feel it 3. It puts in Faith to go to Christ to fetch life Yet many men are not wrought on at all by the Gospel preached Unmoveableness is the token of a dead man 4. A delight in dead things and in dead works plainly declare A delight in dead works a dead condition Paul in Ephes 2. 1. tels the Ephesians that they were once dead but how did that appear See vers 2. In time past ye walked according to the course of this world And vers 3. Ye had your conversation in the lusts of the flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind 1. In dead things Dead men are heavy and descend to the earth worldly things are the Optima and the Vltima of an unconverted heart Who will shew us any good Psal 4. If that of Paul Col. 3. 1 2. If ye be risen with Christ then seek those things that are above and set your affections on things that are above be a true sign of a living raised man then è contra to seek to settle affections on things below is a true sign of a dead man 2. In dead works These opera mortua mortifera And truly nothing doth more discover a spiritual death than a delight and a service of sin certainly such a man is yet an unconverted man The last Use shall be for Instruction unto several Duties I will but glance a them 1. Have as little society with wicked men Vse 3. Instruction Have as little society with unconverted men as may be as may be for they are dead men Would any man living have a dead man to be his companion There is a two-fold Society with men 1. One is necessary in respect of our Relations or of our Commerce and Trade which cannot well be avoided 2. Another is arbitrary in respect of our Election avoid this do not make choice of wicked society There are two Reasons to hearken to this advice One is You shall never get any spiritual good by their society a wicked man is an unprofitable man Can any one gather Figs of Thorns or Grapes of Thistles Who is the better for a dead man Another is You shall receive much hurt by such society The Jews were unclean if they did but touch a dead body It was the practice of a Tyrant once to tie a dead man to a living man that the filthy savour of the dead man might infect and destroy the life of the living man O you who are to marry your children take heed of marrying them to the dead and you who are Free-men take heed of embracing society with the dead There are three notorious mischiefs will ensue hereupon 1. Dead society will by degrees bring you into a deadness of heart wicked company will certainly abate your zeal and holy affections as waters do the flaming fire 2. Dead society will quench your Life in spiritual Duties they will not onely interrupt but mitigate your sweet and wonted society with God and good men 3. Dead society will in time corrupt you to dead works Remember Solomon 2. Lament and bewail thy unconverted Friends and Kindred Lament thy unconverted friends You read that David wept for Absalom O Absalom my son my son c. and you read that Christ wept for Lazarus being dead and you read of both of these weeping also for those that were spiritually dead David Psal 119. Rivers of tears run down mine eyes because men keep not thy Law Christ came near to Jerusalem and wept over it saying Oh if thou hadst known even thou at the least in c. Wouldst not thou weep to see thy Fathers or Mothers or Sisters or Brothers dead body carrying out to the grave and say Alas my Father alas my Brother alas my Child How then canst thou refrain tears for their dead souls Why doest not thou pity the dead and unconverted soul of thy Father
c. At a Funeral Feast there is no mirth because the Master of the house is dead Ah weep over thy Father over thy Son the Master of the house is dead his precious soul is dead Thy pity can do a dead body no good but it may do a dead soul some good especially if you take in the next Duty which is 3. Pray for the dead I mean not in the Popish sense they Pray for the Dead you know pray for souls departed supposing them to be in Purgatory where the pains as they say are intollerable equal to them in Hell and the souls are deprived of the vision of God and therefore their Priests and others often pray for them and upon the Graves they inscribe Pray for the soul of such a one and on his soul Jesu have mercy But this is a wicked superstition We acknowledge no Purgatory and no need of Prayers for souls departed yet we hold Prayers requisite for one another whiles we are upon the earth And because some are dead whiles they live O pray to the Lord for them Lord Jesu have mercy upon the soul of my Husband Child Wife O convert them quicken them from the dead suffer them not their poor souls to die for ever When Steven was to die he prayed for those that were spiritually dead When Christ was dying he also prayed for them And Monica the Mother of Austin prayed for him and all of them were heard Object But I have prayed but yet no good comes of it Sol. Pray still as long as there is life and as long as there is prayer there is hope It will be an excellent comfort to thee and eternal happiness to thy friend if thou canst at length by thy prayers prevail with God to deliver that one soul from death Use the means by wâ—ich you may be quickned 4. If the Lord hath opened any of your eyes but to see what your spiritual condition is that you are yet in your graves yet dead in treâ—passes and sâ—â—s my advice unto you is this Go use the means by which your dead souls may be quickned Object Why but this is ridiculous to bid a dead man do work go stir do any thing Sol. I answer 1. There is a difference twixt a man corporally dead and a man spiritually dead The former can do no action whatsoever neither spiritual nor civil nor natural the latter though he can do nothing in spirituals yet for the other he may and can 2. You must distinguish twixt a spiritual action and an action which brings to a spiritual means He cannot convert his own heart yet he hath power to hear the Word which can 'T is true that a wicked unconverted man cannot exert any one spiritual action nevertheless he hath liberty and power to go to Church and hear a Sermon Why use this power and this liberty to come to the Pool where the Angel stirs to come to the Ordinances where God is pleased to quicken and raise the dead 3. When thou art under a spiritual Ordinance thou art under the voice of Christ himself who hath said That the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live And truly let me tell thee That the Voice of Jesus Christ in his Word hath not only a power to find a lost man but also to quicken a dead man I have finished the first Proposition out of these words viz. Luk. 15. 24. That the unconverted man is a dead man I now proceed to the second which is this That every converted man is a living man When the sinner Doct. 2. Every converted man is a living man is converted he is then made alive Conversion is a Sinners Life So the Text This my son is alive again It is reported of Similis Captain of the Guard to the Emperour Adrian that he retired from the Court into the Countrey seven years before his death and caused this to be written on his Tomb Hiâ— jacet Similis cuâ—us aet as multoruâ— annorum â—uit ipse septem duntaxat annos vixit For so many years only was he converted We count the length of our lives from the time of our birth and we must count the life of our souls from the time of our new birth said Hierom. It is frequent in Scripture to stile converted persons living persons or persons made alive Rom. 6. 13. Yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead Chap. 8. v. 10. If Christ be in you the spirit is life because of righteousness Gal. 2. 20. I live saith Paul Col. 2. 13. You who were dead in your sins hath he quickned For the advantagious discussion of this Point I shall briefly open unto you 1. What Life that is which the converted sinner attains unto 2. How it may appear that he is invested with such a Life and why 3. Then the useful Application of all this unto our selves 1. What Life that is wherewith the converted man is invested What is the life of a converted sinner A four-fold life Natural Sol. I speak only of that Life incident unto man which is four-fold 1. Life natural which is a power to move and act I count not my life dear unto me said Paul Act. 20. 24. All that a man hath he will give for his life Job 1. This is the Life of Nature and every man good or bad enjoys it 2. Life connatural which is a prosperous fruition of our Lives Life connatural with peace contentment and comfortable successes in the external matters and affairs of our life This also is possibly incident to all sorts of men 3. Preternatural which is a death Preternatural rather than a life A sinfull life a life acted under the power and motion of sinfull lusts I was alive once said Paul Rom. 7. In this respect wicked and ungodly men only are alive 4. Supernatural Supernatural a divine life a new life a life in Christ and from Christ and to Christ Of which there are two parts and they are proper only to converted persons 1. There is the Life of Grace which they enjoy in this world 2. There is the Life of Glory which they enjoy in the world to come called often in Scripture eternal life The Text speaks of the first of these The The life of Grace is The life of Justification converted sinner is invested with the Life of Grace And this again is branched into the life of 1. Justification for when a sinner is justified he is then in the condition of life The unjustified man is a dead man for he lies under the sentence of death and the justified man is a living man he is passed from death to life the Lord takes off the sentence of eternal death from him He shall not die for the sins which he hath committed for I have pardoned all his sins and now he shall live and not die saith the Lord. 2. Sanctification
Nature say the Philosophers God say we allots unto them Therefore living Christians are compared to a sucking and thriving child which sucks and growes by sucking And to living branches that grow into more strength and in Scripture True Grace which is the same with spiritual life it is of an increasing and growing nature Christ compares it to a grain of Mustard-seed which is little at first but in time growes and spreads exceedingly and Solomon compares it to the Sun which riseth more and more to the perfect day Paul commends the Corinthians that they did abound in all Grace and praies for the Philippians that their love might a bound yet more and more in knowledg and in all Judgment And he himself forgat what was behind and pressed forward and counted himself not to have apprehended O you who take your selves to be alive do you grow in grace Many men grow worse and worse under the means of Grace many grow in notions but they do not grow in Grace many grow into new opinions but they do not grow in holy affections But do you grow in Grace and do you grow in all Grace and do you grow according to the means of Growth Alas many men decay apace and many men like pictures retain the same dimensions sin is no more weakned after forty years living then at the first their old sins retain their old strength and their faith receives no augmentation they are no more able to trust on God for their bodies nor to rely on Christ for their souls then heretofore The barrenness and unfruitfulness of Christians is an unspeakable dishonour to the Gospel and an evident testimony that they have but a form of Godliness without the power of it I might now have shewn you that true spiritual Growth is 1. Especially an inward Growth 2. And a general Growth 3. And the Growth comes in by the Growth of Faith 4. And appears best in the Growth of humiliâ—y 5. A spiritual cry or breath is another sign of spiritual life There is a spiritual breath If a man can but groan and breath that man is a living man When Paul was converted Ananias was sent unto him as to a chosen Vessel Behold said God unto him he prayeth in Zach. 12. 10. The Spirit of Grace and of Supplication are joyned for the one never goes without the other But will some reply This cannot be a sure sign of spiritual life for a wicked man may pray and cry to God we read of their Prayers and cries in Scripture often I grant it But 1. There is a difference twixt a spiritual cry and a natural cry their cries arise from natural principles but not from a spiritual principle 2. It is the cry of a distressed man but not of a renewed man 3. It is a cry for natural and outward good but not for spiritual and everlasting good 4. And when they cry for mercy and heaven it is not that mercy may bring them into an holy communion with God but only that mercy may keep them from wrath and Hell 6. Lastly A spiritual manner of working is an infallible evidence There is a spiritual manner of working of a spiritual quickningâ— When the Lord converts a man and makes him spiritually alive he now works spiritual work 1. By Spiritual Rules 2. From Spiritual Principles in the strength of Christ by Faith and from love 3. With Spiritual Affections willingly cheerfully and delightfully 4. For Spiritual ends 1. By Spiritual Rules To as many as walk according By spiritual rules to this Rule peace be on them Gal. 6. 16. A dead and unconverted man lives by the Rules of his sensual Lusts or the customes of the World or the wisdome of carnal policy sin rules him and men rule him and his profits and pleasures rule him But when the man is converted now God rules him he stands in awe of Gods Word and lives as 1 Pet. 4. 2. To the Will of God His actions intentions desires steps are measured by the word t is not An libet but An licet The word lets him out and brings him in Whether the living Creature went thither the Wheeles went so c. 2. From spiritual Principles O Sirs From spiritual principles a man may do much work which we call spiritual from a Carnal and low principle self-Love vain-Glory Education a quick Conscience may set out much But the living Christians work arises from union with Christ all is done in the strength of Christ and Faith fetcheth strength from Christ to pray and to preach and to mourn and to repent c. 3. With spiritual affections With spiritual affections There is a connaturalness twixt a spiritual heart and a spiritual work Thy word was the rejoycing of my heart I was glad said David when they said unto me let us go to the House of the Lord. I delight saith Paul in the Law of God after the inward man It is good for â—e to draw near to God There are affections in the works of a living man his works drop out of his heart another mans fall out of his parts 4. For spiritual ends So that Christ may be glorifyed we live For spiritual ends unto the Lord unto him that dyed for us Whatsoever ye do do it to the Glory of God that God in all things may be glorifyed through Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 4. 11. Obj. But will some say if these be signs of the life of Complaints of the want of all these Grace of one being made spiritually alive then I am in a sad condition For 1. I find much sin still living in me 2. And I find very dull if not dead affections and I find 3. Exceeding impotency to what is good 4. And I cannot find that old appetite and those old â—ervent crieâ— of Prayer which here 〈◊〉 I found 5. And as for grow hunder spiritual means O my heart sinks to behold the rich seasons of Grace and my barrenness and unfruitfulness under them Sol. I should Answered be â—â—â—th that any truly living Soul should go away with a sad heart therefore give me leave to answer thy fears 1. Generally 2. Then distinctly 1. Generally thus 1. Such complaints as these ordinarily Generally are the language not of the dead but of the living When shall you hear such inditâ—ments from a base lewd sin-loving and serving person O no these are the complaints of an heart that is spiritually sensible and spiritually tender and spiritually jealous and which would not be deceived in its spiritual condition 2. If such complaints as these be attended with inward humblings and abasings of the heart and with desires and endeavours of help assuredly they are the Testimonies of a living man Who shall deliver me O wretched man was the complaint of living Paul 3. If thou canst not at all times find every one of the forenamed Symptomes of life yet if at any time thou canst find
to Grace and Christ 3. There is the highest contrariety in actions and courses that ever was to see a man pull down what he built up and There is the highest contrariety of courses and actions to build up what he pulled down to be mad against Christ and then presently even besides himself for Christ to scourge and revile Paul and Silas and presently after honour and embrace and almost adore them To reproach the Saints and their wayes and suddenly to admire them and value them and their paths as worthiest of our dearest love and society 4. And a little And a little grace to produce all this very little Grace to produce all this That one drop should sweeten the great bitter Ocean that one little spark should cause all this flame A very little Engine should move all the World and level the Mountains a little Grace to enter the Throne and to turn all the soul round about That Moses little Rod should divide the Sea and melt the Rock a little Ant tumble down a Mountain that the Grain of Mustard-seed which is the least of seeds should grow into a Tree That a very little Grace should transform the most rebellious heart humble the most proud heart quicken the dead purisie the most vile affections conquer the Gates of Hell overthrow sin dispossess Satan should beget such a River of Grief kindle such a flame of love such a zeal for God tenderness in Conscience such a strength to do and suffer to believe life in death joy in sorrows hopes in despair raise so high as to love them that hate us bless them that curse us pray for them that despightfully use us and do good for evil 3. True Conversion is an inward change When It is an inward change a dead man is made alive this is done by the infusion of an inward principle of life the cloathing of a dead man is one thing and the quickning of a dead man is another thing it is one thing to plaister an old house and it is another thing to build a new house Conversion may be considered two wayes either 1. Extensively So it is a change even of the life and outward actions of men it is a cleansing of the flesh as well as of the spirit it is a sanctifying of the body as well as of the soul It is a putting off the former Conversation Eph. 4. 22. 2. Denominatively So it is an inward change the Prophet calls it a washing of the heart Wash thine heart O Jerusalem Jer. 44. 4. The Apostle calls it a transformation by the renewing of the mind Rom. 2. 29. and a Circumcision of the heart Rom. 2. 29. St. John calls it a laying the Ax to the root of the Tree Mat. 3. 10. Ezekiel calls it the giving of a new heart and of a new spirit Ezek. 36. 26. Every converted man hath a changed heart we say in nature that Cor est primum vivens It is true also in Grace the first work of quickning and converting Grace begins in the heart of a sinner The heart first fell from God and it is the first that turns unto God The heart is the first Seat of Sin and it is the first Throne of Grace Sin is the wound and disease of the heart and Grace must bring the Plaister thither sin is first in the heart and most in the heart dominion is there the poyson is there bring in the heart prevail with it and you bring in all the man An outward change without an inward change is 1. But Hypocrisie The Hypocritical Pharisees made clean the outside of the Cup bùt not the inside a golden profession and a rotten heart this is but Hypocrisie 2. But Vanity it is to lap the Boughs and leave the Roots which can send out more it is to empty the Cistern and to leave the Fountain running which fills it again 3. But self and soul-deceit What a foolish fancy is it to think my self a converted man because my Tongue is quiet and yet my heart doth curse Whether every internalchange be an evidence of true conversion Four internal changes may be in man unconverted A change from ignorance to knowledg God because my body is honest when yet my heart burns and boils with lust because my hands strike not and yet my heart is full of malice and revenge and murder Quest But here a single scruple may be propounded viz. Whether every internal change be an evidence of true Conversion To which I answer it is not there are four Internal changes which may be in a man unconverted 1. A change from ignorance to knowledg The man who was an ignorant sinner may become a knowing sinner and yet remain still an unconverted sinner for a man may hate the good which he knows and love the evil which he knows neither of which can consist with true Conversion 2. A change from error to truth Many Fâ—om error to truth a man forsakes the Popish Religion and embraceth the Protestant Religion his opinion and judgment of things may be altered and yet his sinful heart may not be altered he may hold justification by faith only and yet his heart be utterly void of saving faith he may deny merit unto the works of Repentance and yet his heart never truly repent he may hold the true and right Government of Christ in his Church and yet that Government of Christ may never be set up in his own heart 3. A change from security to trouble and perplexity It is possible that a great From security to trouble sinner who was as senseless as the Rock may now be as trembling as the Leaf and his conscience troubled as the Sea and yet his heart not converted Cain was troubled so was Pharaoh so was Saul so was Judas yet none of them converted There is a trouble which riseth from a quick conscience and there is a trouble which riseth from quickning grace this latter is an evidence of true Conversion the other is not 4. A temporary change or A temporary change rather a transient diversity in the affections It is possible for some scornful person to hear the Gospel preached by some John Baptist as Herod did with joy and to hear some Paul as Felix did with trembling who formerly scorned all preaching yea this man may be in a great changeableness yet never be truly changed divine truths may fall upon him with that evidence and efficacy as to shake his heart stir his affections excite his resolutions and yet after a little while as the cold doth on Water that is heated all these workings expire into nothing his old incorporated familiar lusts prevail over them and work them wholly out till the inward change be a change of the heart it is not a truly converting change 4. Lastly true Conversion is an universal change When It is a universal change a dead man is quickned the soul is not only
the Word of Conscience of Death The third Use shall be to exhort and entreat us to stir up all our hearts to beg of God to work in them this admirable change by Vse 3. Exhortation to beg of God to work this change Conversion I read in Scripture that the blind man cryed out Jesuâ— thou Son of David have mercy on me and again Thou Son of David c. and all this was for a change in his eyes and I read that Naoman took a great journey into the Land of Israel and all was to be cleansed of the Leprosie of his body And why will we not take a little pains to have our hearts and souls changed by grace Consider seriously 1. That a man is not excluded No other want excludes from heaven This want certainly excludes us from heaven for any other want not for want of wisdome or parts or riches or dignities 2. Thou art certainly excluded from heaven the door is shut up against thee if thou be not converted and changed the holy God will never look upon thee and thou shalt never look upon that holy God in his holy place The unclean person was shut out of the Camp and no unclean thing shall ever enter into heaven 3. It is thy duty thou art It is thy duty to be changed bound to be a converted and changed person every man is bound to hate and forsake his sins and to come back and love and serve his God did God make thee to serve thy lusts hath he preserved thee all this while to sin against him Is this the fruit of thy dreadful Covenant which thou hast made with him 4. What wilt thou get by keeping thy sins or any one of them What wilt thou get by keeping thy sins Be perswaded To beseech the Lord to change thy heart Be perswaded therefore at least unto two things 1. To beseech the Lord to change and convert thy heart even thine also remember well 1. None can change a sinner but God The Musician must tune the Instrument 2. It is no sin to beg of God a Conversion from sin No no thou canst not put up a more acceptable request Lord I am weary of my sins I would dishonour thee no more I would be good I would serve thee thou only canst change me and enable me for thy Mercies sake do so and heal and turn me so shall I be healed and turned 3. God hath changed and converted great sinners was not Manasses so M. Magdalen so Paul so the Corinthians so Why venture toward his mercy seat who can tell but he may do so to thee 4. He hath changed sinners who have not sought him and will he refuse it for them who do seek it of him if he many times be found of them that seek him not will he deny to them who seek 5. You have his promise to do this very converting work for you He will give his holy Spirit to them that ask him Luk. 11. 13. I will give a new heart and a new spirit Ezek. 36. 26. Behold he calls thee he tells thee that he is willing to convert thee why then art thou not willing to receive it to have it done do not say thou art a sinner God never did convert any but a sinner nor does he promise to convert any who is not a sinner 6. Did ever any beg this and failed of it Lord said one to Christ If thou wilt thou canst make me clean what saith Christ to him doth he not answer him at all Doth he say I cannot Or doth he say I will not O no his answer is and it is a present answer I will be thou clean 2. To come to the Word and come for this end that God may convert and change many came Come to the word for this end to the Pool of Bethesda to look on it and an impotent man came thither to be cured in it and there he was cured many come to hear the Word to mock at it and many come to get some notions from it and many come to catch the Minister at it but he who comes for this very end to be converted and changed by it I believe he shall first or last attain his end the word shall convert and change him The word is sometimes compared to a Glass which discovers Jam. 1. 29. and sometimes to a Laver which washeth and cleanseth Psal 119. 9. even the young man who of all other is most unruly and wild is converted by it The Power of God goes with the Word of God and the Grace of God comes by the Word of God it is Vehiculum Spiritus canalis Gratiae Thousands have been converted by it and so maist thou Hath God converted and changed thy heart hearken then to Vse 4. Counsels to the converted a few counsels 1. Take heed of sinning after Conversion Do not sin against grace received if thou dost thou wilt weaken and lame thy strength wilt darken thy heaven wilt perplex thy conscience wilt shew thy self more ungrateful then any man no wicked man can have such an aggravation of sin upon him as thou hast 2. Honour God with that Grace which thou hast received Conversion fits and enables a man for Gods Service and Glory And they began to be merry Luke 15. 24. These words are as the Banquet after the Feast they are the close and the reckoning that is brought in upon the lost Son being brought home The case is wonderfully altered with him all is altered when the sinner is altered when he was wandring from his Father he ran up and down the Country and wasted all his estate among Harlots he shifted himself to his very skin and out he is turned amongst the Swine and no man regarded him the poor wretch wanted Father and House and Cloaths and all Comforts and was upon his last Leggs at the very point of starving and famishing But now being found and returned home all mercies come in unto him there 's a Father to embrace him and an House to entertain him and Raiment to cloath him and Friends to welcome him and a feast to rejoyce him And they began to be merry As formerly you have had the nature of Conversion so in these you have the fruit of Conversion When Jesus Christ was born there was great joy and when a sinner is born again hereupon also ariseth great joy The Proposition on which I intend to insist is this That Conversion brings the Soul into a joyful a very joyful condition They began to be merry Mirth is the accent of joy Doct. 7. Conversion brings the soul into a very joiful condition it is an emphatical joy but when did they begin to be merry why as soon as it was said This my Son is alive and this my Son is found now they begin to be merry Conversion may be considered three wayes 1. Antecedenter For the precious qualities and works which