branches thus inobled I know it is the matter of your Prayers and let me beg you to joyn thereunto your utmost indeavours by a strict and pious education the common want of which hath stained the present age with as debauched a Nobility and Gentry as ever any time brought forth And Madam if to all this you shall add the winning motive of your own example so walking in all the Precepts of Christ and in all the virtues of the Holy Spirit that they may be won into the ways of God by the beauty of your feet O what an honour and rejoycing would this be to you in the near approaching day of Christ Jesus How many children have been brought into love with the ways of God by the holy example of Godly Parents And many more have perished by the contrary who are now cursing the Parents that begat them and the loyns that brought them forth I no way doubt of your Honours ready acceptance of this Present how mean soever it be Seeing it is a great bravery of mind as well to accept little kindnesses from them that have no better within their reach as to confer great ones For as by the latter you oblige love so by the former you incourage duty Thus the full Sea stocks Clouds richly while they pay again but by drops We have a pattern of it in God himself who as he gives the greatest Boons so he doth not disdain the least returns though they are made in Mites Luk. 21.2 3. Goats hair and Rams skins are as acceptable an Offering from them that were no better provided for the building the Tabernacle Exod. 23.4 5. as Purple and Scarlet so as it came from a willing heart Madam it is for the compleating the Temple of God in your soul that this Offering is made and though it is neither Purple nor Scarlet yet such as it is it comes from as willing a mind as ever Israelite offered from him that brought Gold and Silver to him that brought Goats hair and Rams skins And if your Honour be dispositioned like my Master you will accept of payment in Mites where it is the utmost and the All that is within the reach of a short arm But though it cannot reach so far as I would Prayer can For how incapable soever we are of other offices of respect and gratitude yet in Prayers and good wishes we stand next to immensity and infiniteness And it is nothing less then the great things of both worlds summed up in the blessed injoyment of God himself here much and hereafter much more that can be an answer to his Prayers who without ceasing bows the knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for this Blessing for you Madam and your Honourable and Honoured Relations as becomes Stepney Novemb. 15th 1682. Madam Your Honours highly obliged and humbly devoted Servant Matthew Mead. The Epistle to the READER Good Reader THough thy concern lies not much in knowing the reason of the publication of this Treatise yet it may not be amiss to give thee this short account of it That in April 1674 A Gentleman who was till then a stranger to me came with an earnest request that I would undertake the Preaching of a Sermon yearly on every May-day to the younger people I desiring to know his reason why to them rather then to others and why on that day rather then upon any other he told me that it had often been the grief of his Soul to behold the vitious and debauched practises of Youth on that day of liberty And did hope that many might be induced either by their own inclinations or by the counsels of their Parents or Masters rather to spend their time in hearing a Sermon then in drinking and gaming c. by which means many might be converted and saved The design being so honest and the reason so cogent I was perswaded to comply with it and began upon the following May Day and so it hath been continued ever since and I may say it not in any boast but to the praise of the glory of the grace of God with great success On may-May-day 1680 I took the Scripture here insisted on for the subject of my discourse and having then shewed the great advantage of bearing the Yoke of vfflictions and also the Yoke of the Spirit in conviction of sin in youth I did promise God granting life and liberty to treat of the Yoke of Christ in conversion in the next Anniversary course But before that day came I was much sollicited both by young and old they best know why to make publick the first Sermon which I had so Preached and it was fairly transcribed and sent to me by several hands for that end which yet I judged very improper but to answer their importunity I did promise that when I had finished the subject I would comply with their desires And therefore finding that I could not compass my design in the second May-day course I did for some Lords days following insist on the same subject till I had finished it And that thou hadst it no sooner the Bookseller is accountable and not I. However if it may be of any advantage to thy soul in breaking off the yoke of sin and lust and bringing thee under the yoke of Christ it comes in good time and to good purpose And when thou findest this benefit by it then pray for him that loves thy soul and desires thy Salvation and therein is November 15. 1682. Thy Real Friend Matthew Mead. THE CONTENTS CHAPTER I. SOmewhat praeliminary The Yoke explained What it is Litterally taken what taken Metaphorically CHAP. II. Afflictions called a Yoke in what sense they are good and for whom CHAP. III. Shewing the difference between the Yoke of the Spirit and the Yoke of Christ What the Spirits Yoke is Why convictions are compared to a Yoke Why sinners must come under the Yoke of the Spirit Why it is good to come under it betimes CHAP. IV. Contains some counsels and directions to persons of several Denominations with respect to the Yoke of the Spirit CHAP. V. The chief Doctrine propounded Christ hath his Yoke Wherein it consists The nature and properties of this Yoke VVhy the commands of Christ called a Yoke CHAP. VI. Holdeth forth the reasons of the Doctrine CHAP. VII Holdeth forth the last reason viz. from the good of obedience It is a necessary good a profitable good an honourable good a comfortable good CHAP. VIII Answers some objections against Early Obedience CHAP. IX More objections against Early Obedience answered CHAP. X. Wherein the reasons of slighting Christ are inquired into the evil of it aggravated CHAP. XI Wherein the Tryal of our state is pressed with seven reasons for it CHAP. XII Several rules for the knowledge of our estate are laid down both negatively and affirmatively CHAP. XIII Sheweth the truth of our subjection to Christ by such things as are necessarily antecedent to it
convictions Secondly It may respect the earliness of being And that seems rather to be the sense of the place Vatablus renders it from his Youth taking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 early impressions upon the conscience by the convictions of the Spirit are a great good to the soul It is good to bear this Yoke betimes for three reasons 1. Because the sooner it is done the easier it is done the longer we are before we come under it the harder it will be to bear it The longer thou continuest in sin the harder it will be to bear repentance If thy conscience be so charged with guilt that thou darest not look into it at ten or twenty years old what will it come to if thou lettest it run on till fifty or sixty The longer the Debt stands in the Book the heavier the account when we come to reckon for all the arrears of so many years actual sins added to the grand Debt of original sin Therefore it is good to bear this Yoke in your Youth Strength to bear it is then greatest and the burden to be born is then lightest Guilt of sâ—n encreases by lying and new guilt daily added to the old makes the burden still the heavier therefore it is good to comply with the spirit of God betimes Reas 2. The sooner it is begun the sooner it will be done the sooner this Yoke is put on the sooner it will be put off For it is but for a time that the soul bears it but how long or how little while is uncertain Paul lay under it three days and nights Acts 9.9 Acts 16.33 the Goaler for ought I can find not above an hour the three thousand in Acts 2. not above the length of one Sermon But some now adays are held days and months and years according as the Case requires But the sooner we come under this Yoke the less while it is like to lye Reas 3. How rich do such grow in Grace that by early conviction pass through the new Birth betimes He that sets up soonest is like to get the fairest estate if be improve his opportunities Ford of Bondage p. 75. If one go to be an Apprentice when he is a man there is a double inconvenience in it First His service will be much more irksome and tedious Secondly The prime of his days will be gone wherein he should have been trading for himself had he been his own man Though the work of the Spirit be better late than never yet it is an unknown loss the soul sustains by a late work He loses much joy and peace the thought of his living so long without God becomes many times a new wound when the old is healed the after pains of the new birth do abide upon some to their dying day And in this Case there is but little comfort though the work be real He loses much sweet communion with God He loses many rich experiences He loses a great accession of Grace Growth in Grace is a work of time and he that hath but little time can make but little improvement He loses many opportunities of service Nay he loses much in the degrees of Glory Hadst thou had more time to sow thy Harvest would have been â—â—â—ater for as a man sows so shall he reap 〈◊〉 â—â—â—refore he that spends the best of his time in the service of the flesh if he should be converted at last which yet few are he is like to prove but a feeble Christian The more our opportunities of service are if improved and the more our seasons of communion are if used aright the richer must we needs be both in grace experience and comfort therefore it is the most thrifty course to be an early Convert to bear the Spirits Yoke in our Youth CHAP. IV. Containing some useful counsel and directions to persons of several denominations with respect to the Yoke of the Spirit THere are three sorts of persons I would speak somewhat to by way of counsel and direction in this matter First To such as have born the Yoke of the Spirit with good success to whom the Spirit of bondage hath at last become the Spirit of adoption who are passed from a state of fear and terrour into a condition of hope and comfort Your Duty lyes chiefly in these three things be thankful be humble be fruitful First Study thankfulness and give the Glory of this work to the Spirit of God We are very apt to ascribe too much to means to this or that Minister alas they are but poor Instruments Who is Paul and who is Apollo but Ministers by whom ye believed 1 Cor. 3.5 even as the Lord gave to every man They have but the place of Instruments God is the great Agent and therefore all supernatural effects are to be ascribed to him alone Neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth but God that giveth the encrease And therefore the Apostle Paul having called the Church of Corinth his Epistle in 2 Cor. 3.2 he doth in v. 3. call them the Epistle of Christ ministred by us written not with Pen and Ink but with the Spirit of the living God Ministers are but as Pens it is the Spirit of the living God that writes his Law in the heart by them and thus they become the Epistle of Christ and therefore let him that glorieth glory in the Lord. 1 Cor. 1.31 Is there not a cause Especially if it he considered 1. What a heart thine was when the Spirit of the Lord first took it in hand how hard how stubborn how dead how obstinate how long was the light opposed that shined in darkness and the attempts of the Spirit frustrated how great were the resistances made by it against Grace and how many the strong holds of Satan which were pulled down to bring about the Conquest Think how often the Spirits motions were slighted his counsels set at nought his strivings resisted Think how often he knocked how loud he called before he could be heard think how much unbelief how many confederacies with corruption what strong lusts what enmity to God and holiness lay in the way to obstruct the Spirits design O what a mighty power did he put forth to make sin a burthen and to fasten his Fetters upon the soul without which thy resistances had never been conquered nor thy thoughts brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.5 And hast thou not cause to be thankful 2. How many miscarry under the same convictions which have issued in a sincere conversion to thy soul Many by their sights of sin and Hell have been driven into utter despair as Cain and Spira Many have laid violent hands on their own lives as Judas many have stifled and sinned away their convictions and thereby have provoked the Spirit finally to withdraw and give them up to hardness of heart many have mistaken their convictions for
then they came to him 6. It teaches them to see the emptiness of the Creature and what a vain thing the World is In our ease and prosperity we are apt to surfeit by excess in sensual fruitions The lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life are the young mans Trinity Hence that of the Apostle 1 John 2.14 15 16. I write to you young men though the expression there hath a spiritual sense and what doth he write unto them Love not the world nor the things that are in the world for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life is not of the Father This is a rare Lesson for young men but how seldome do any learn it till they come into the School of affliction How have I known many young ones wholly given to pride and pleasure but when God hath brought them under the Rod fetter'd them with afflictions made their Bed upon the Brink of the Grave O how have they then cryed out of their follies their mispending precious time their neglecting God and their souls their regarding lying vanities and so forsaking their own mercies and what strong resolutions have they then made never to return to these follies again And these things are great Preparatories to conversion Now then if afflictions obviate those evils which through the corruption of our Natures are occasioned by prosperity if they are inlightening and helpful to great discoveries and if they are preparatory to Grace and conversion then surely it must be good for a man to bear the Yoke of affliction betimes CHAP. III. Shewing the difference between the Yoke of the Spirit and the Yoke of Christ What the Spirits Yoke is Why convictions are compared to a Yoke Why Sinners must come under the Yoke of the Spirit Why it is good to come under it betimes THE next sense in which I am to speak of this Yoke is that of conviction of sin to make way to the last Notion of it which more especially design to insist upon and that is the Yoke of Gospel obedience and subjection the one is the Yoke of the Spirit the other is the Yoke of Christ These two are not the same but very different Yokes especially in these four things First The Yoke of the Spirit is grievous the Yoke of Christ is not grievous 1 John 5.3 the Yoke of the Spirit is very heavy the Yoke of Christ is very light Matth. 11.30 Secondly It is the heaviness of the Spirits Yoke which makes Christ's Yoke easie It is not easie to all no they that never felt the Spirits Yoke to them Christ's Yoke is a burthen And therefore when Christ says My Yoke is easie it points to them whom he calls to come and take it up and who are they Why the heavy laden and weary ver 28. They who are wearied by the Spirits Yoke shall thereby find ease under Christ's Yoke Thirdly The Yoke of the Spirit is but for a time and then to be taken off and never put on again but the Yoke of Christ is always to be kept on never to be put off the soul is under a perpetual obligation to Duty and obedience to Christ Jesus Fourthly The Yoke of the Spirit is to prepare us for the Yoke of Christ for Christ's Yoke can never be put on till the Spirit by his Yoke hath fitted the neck for it The soul will never obey Christ till it be conquered to Christ and that will never be till the Spirit in conviction put his Yoke and Fetters upon it I shall now speak somewhat of the Spirits Yoke and if ever the Lord give such another Call to this Work then I shall speak of Christ's Yoke more largely And in speaking of the Yoke of the Spirit in conviction I would insist a little upon these four things First That the Spirit hath his Yoke Secondly Why the convictions of the Spirit upon the soul of a Sinner are compared to a Yoke Thirdly Every Sinner that shall be saved must come under this Yoke of the Spirit Fourthly Therefore it is good to come under it betimes and why First That the Spirit hath his Yoke There is such a thing upon the consciences of Sinners at one time or other as the Yoke of the Spirit As the Spirit hath his joys and comforts so he hath his Yokes and Bonds as he hath a liberty which he brings some into so he hath a thraldom which he brings some under And it is first bondage and then liberty He is a Spirit of liberty to none but to whom he is first a Spirit of bondage The Spirits Yoke described And if you ask me What this Yoke of the Spirit is It is that state he brings the Sinner into and holds him in before his conversion to prepare him for his conversion and that is a state of sensibleness of sin and wrath which flows from the convincing work of the Spirit The Spirit of the Lord whereever he comes to work a saving change doth first put his Yoke upon the Sinners neck that is he doth convince the soul of the evil of sin and of its liableness to the wrath of God and so fills it with fear and horrour so that the poor Creature looks upon it self as utterly lost and undone so long as it abides in that state This is the Spirits Yoke It is called so in Scripture Lam. 1.14 The Yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand they are wreathed and come upon my neck the Lord hath delivered me into their hands from whom I am not able to rise up Into their hands that is into the hands of sin and she was not able to rise up from under them Prov. 5.22 and why Because the Spirit had bound them upon her as a Yoke Secondly Why are the convictions of the Spirit compared to a Yoke First A Yoke is very heavy and burdensome So is sin when once the conscience is truly convinced of it Mine inquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burthen they are too heavy for me Psal 38.4 And therefore a soul under the sense of sin is said to be heavy laden Matth 11.28 Secondly A Yoke bows the Back by reason of its weight Hence is that expression of the kindness of God to Israel Lev. 26.13 I have broken the Bonds of your Yoke and made you go upright implying that the Yoke causes a man to bow and stoop under it so doth conviction of sin it bows the soul under it I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long Psal 38.6 Thirdly A Yoke is a galling wounding thing so is conviction O how it wounds with the sense of sin and dread of wrath Prov. 18.14 and a wounded Spirit who can bear Foarthly A Yoke is a taming thing It tames the wildest Beast so conviction tames the most unruly Sinner though he be never so raging
in his lusts yet when the Spirit of God doth but set sin close to the conscience O how pliable is he So it was with Saul he breathed nothing but threatnings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord Acts 9.1 but Christ no sooner smites him with a word from Heaven but how tame and pliable is he He trembling and astonished said Lord what wilt thou have me to do v. 6. And hence the convictions of the Spirit are fitly compared to a Yoke Thirdly Every Sinner that ever shall be saved must come under this Yoke of the Spirit he must be brought to a conviction of his lost estate There is a necessity for this and I will shew you why Reason 1. Because it is essential to sound conversion What is conversion but a turning from sin to God and how can a man turn from sin without a true sense of sin or how can he turn to God till he be made to see and feel the want of God therefore it is absolutely necessary Reas 2. It is the constant method of God with all that are capable of the work First He shews man his sin then his Saviour first his wound then his cure first his malady then his remedy first his danger then his Redeemer Gen. 3.10 15. Thus God began with Adam and Eve he first opens their eyes to see their sin and misery their nakedness and shame and then makes them a promise of the seed of the Woman God will have sense of misery go before the participation of mercy He look upon man and if any say I have sinned and it profited me not he will save his soul from going down to the pit and his life shall see the light Job 33.27 28. The Israelites are first stunâ— with the fiery Serpents Numb 21.6 8. and then the Brazeâ— Serpent is set up for them to look to for healing Peter's three thousand Converts werâ— first pricked in their hearts and then he applies the promise Acts 2.37 39. The Gaolâ— is first struck with a Spirit of trembling anâ— then Jesus Christ is held out to him for salvâ—tion Acts 16.29 31. Reas 3. God will not frustrate and makâ— void the use of the Law There would be 〈◊〉 conviction of sin no sight of the misery of natural state but for the Law therefore say St Paul I had not known sin but by the Law Rom. 7.7 How could he what should discover it to him Sin had not been sin but for the Law and therefore nothing can discover it but the Law which is Index sui obliqui 1 Joh. 3.4 for sin is a transgression of the Law The Spirit himself could not fasten this Yoke upon the Sinners neck but by the bond of the Law Rom. 5.13 for sin is not imputed where there is no Law Look how the Needle goes before to pierce the Cloth and so makes way for the Thred to sew it so the Law goes before to break the heart and so makes way for the Gospel to heal it The Spirit makes use of it as a School-master to bring us to Christ Gal. 3.24 Bonnerges makes way for Barnabas and John for Jesus Reas 4. The soul lyes under no promise of good from Christ till it come under the Yoke of the Spirit Then it is sensible of sin and sensible Sinners lye under the promise of Christ There is not one promise in all the Gospel made of Christ to a Sinner as he is a Sinner if there were it would be in vain For as such he could not receive it nor can it belong to him for he is under another Covenant Reas 5. Without this he can never set a true estimate upon the blood and Grace of Jesus Christ The Pearl of Pardoning Grace shall never be cast before Swine that wallow in their sins Though Christ be free of his bloud yet we shall see the want of it before we have it that we may know the worth of it when we enjoy it He discovers himself in such a way as the Sinner may prize him most and when is that but when sin lyes with the greatest load upon conscience When the Yoke of the Spirit is heaviest then redemption by Christ is sweetest When he sees his Case at worst then he prizes Christ most When he is made to know how wretched his state is then he considers how precious the bloud of Christ is Reas 6. Till the soul comes to bear the Yoke of the Spirit it can never be brought to close with Christ upon Gospel terms It is sense of sin and misery that must bow the soul to Gods conditions of mercy The reason why so many Sinners perish under the Call of Christ is not because they totally reject him but because they don't make a right close with him they don't come up to God's terms There are stated Conditions which every one that would have Christ and benefit by Christ must come up to and what are they Why he that would have Christ must have whole Christ Christ in all his Offices not only as Priest but as King and Prophet And this necessarily suposes a renouncing all sin and lust a resolute owning and adhering to his Truths and Ordinances and an unfeigned resignation of heart and soul to his will in all things This is the right receiving of Christ Now there are but few that can come up to this they would have Christ but they would not part with their lusts they would have a justifying Christ but not a sanctifying Christ a Christ to pardon and save them but not to purge and cleanse them There is such a close League between the natural man and his lust that till conscience be convinced and sin imbittered the soul will not be divorced and so long Christ can't be received therefore there is a necessity that every Sinner that would be saved should come under the Spirits Yoke Fourthly It is good to come under the Spirits Yoke betimes to bear the Yoke in a mans Youth A mans Youth may have a twofold respect either to the earliness of profession or to the earliness of being First To the earliness of profession Our first entrance into the ways of God is called in Scripture our Youth Jer. 2.2 I remember the kindness of thy Youth that is of her first espousals to God as the next words explain it It is a blessed thing when our profession of God and Religion begins in sound and thorow convictions It is good to bear the Yoke of conviction in the Youth of our profession For that profession of Religion that is not founded in conviction of sin will never hold out it cannot last long it is Seed sown in stony ground which though it may spring up for a while yet when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word it will wither away for want of depth of Earth to take root in Mat. 13.20 21. It is good therefore to found an early profession in sound
conversion resting in them and so perishing in the place of the breaking forth of children Hos 13.13 Now that others should eternally miscarry under those means that have been blessed to thy conversion that they should perish under the same convictions which have been to thee the pangs of the new birth O what mercy is this While some despair and others presume thou art brought by a sight of sin to close with Christ upon Gospel terms And hast thou not cause to be thankful 3. This Yoke of the Spirit being once taken off shall never be put on again thou shalt never come under it more Doth not the Scripture say as much Rom. 8.15 Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear In whomsoever the spirit of bondage once becomes a spirit of adoption he is never a spirit of bondage more in that soul If after he hath once sealed our adoption to us he should again impress fears of eternal wrath upon us he would herein be contrary to himself Object But are not many of the Children of God after Grace wrought full of fears and apprehensions of Hell and wrath Answ We must distinguish between bondage by desertion and bondage by the Spirit in conviction A Believer under desertion may be in bondage by his own spirit but not by the spirit of God When God doth suspend the wonted influences of Grace and comfort a mans own conscience may fill him with fears of Hell and dread of wrath but this is not from the suggestions of Gods spirit but from the mistake of his own He can never be a spirit of bondage more And is not this cause of thankfulness 4. How great the advantage is that comes by complying with and yielding to the spirit in convincing work For where he is complyed with in the beginning he carries it on to perfection If he convinces of sin and the soul fall under it by humiliation and repentance he will convince of righteousness too and so raise it up again by faith and dependance Nay by an early compliance with the strivings of the spirit when he first comes to discover to thee thy lost estate thou hast secured his presence for ever and he shall carry on this work of conviction so long as there is any one lust remaining A Believer hath need of the convictions of the spirit so long as he lives It is a mistake to think the convincing work of the Spirit is over when it hath discovered to a man his lost estate and so brought him to a close with Christ there is a great deal of convincing work yet to be done as there is a sinful estate so there is a sinful frame of heart Now though the Believer can no more need the convictions of the Spirit as to the former for his estate is changed yet he always needs them as to the latter Though he was convinced of the filthy nature and damning consequences of sin to prepare him for Christ and conversion yet there are convictions of necessary use to the carrying on and compleating the work of sanctification There is a great deceitfulness in sin more than the Believer ever yet saw and therefore he wants conviction of that There is a great power in remaining lusts to draw the heart from Christ he wants further conviction of that There is a gradual secret hardening of heart which in-dwelling sin works to even in the regenerate he wants further conviction of that Nay how many secret spiritual lusts hidden and close corruptions are there in the heart which at first entrance into a state of Grace the Believer never saw they lye in the heart undiscerned till the Spirit comes in with further light So that a Believer always needs the convincing work of the Spirit it is essentially necessary to the perfecting of Grace and holiness Now he that yields to the convictions of the Spirit at first doth thereby secure them to the last He shall never cease enlightening striving counselling so long as there is any one lust remaining His influences shall abide till he hath got the mastery of every sin and judgment be sent forth to victory over every corruption He dwelleth with you Matth. 12.20 and shall be in you John 14.17 O what cause of thankfulness have such as have born the Spirits Yoke with success Secondly Your Duty is to be humble Remember your Bonds so doth the Church Lam. 3.19 20. Remembring mine affliction and my misery the Wormwood and the Gall my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me One excellent means to cure spiritual pride is to look often back to the days of your soul distresses therefore God when his people were settled in the promised Land often remembers them of their wilderness state that they might not pride themselves in their present possessions Deut. 8.2 Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee in the Wilderness to humble thee And ver 3. He humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger And ver 14 15. Beware lest thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery Serpents and Scorpions and drought where there was no water that he might humble thee No man will be lifted up under his present mercies that doth but seriously and frequently reflect upon his lost estate and the means and manner of his deliverance O think often of the sighs and sorrows the tears and terrours the griefs and groans of thy sinking Spirit in the Day when the Arrows of God stuck there How long thou hast formerly lain at God's foot begging for one Drop of the bloud of Christ to pardon sin one Dram of Grace to secure thy Estate one glympse of comfort to refresh thy wearied and heavy laden spirit and then be proud if thou canst Thirdly Labour to be fruitful This is the great end of the Spirit in all his convictions He convinceth of sin to break off the Sinner from it he convinceth of righteousness that the Sinner may seek after it and he convinces of the necessity of holiness that he may get it and grow up in it so that ye sin against and frustrate the whole design of the Holy Ghost in his work in the heart without this For ye are therefore made free from sin and become servants to God that ye might have your fruit unto holiness Rom. 6.22 And the same Apostle tells you cap. 7.4 Ye are become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that ye should bring forth fruit to God Labour therefore to be fruitful for this is that which secures the Spirits influences to your great advantage Every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit John 15.2 Secondly This Doctrine affords matter of counsel to such as never were under the
like sense of sin and sight of a lost estate So that there is mercy even in being under the Spirits Yoke And therefore Secondly Do not be unsensible of the mercy of being under the bondage of the Spirit though it is not a Case that hath comfort in it yet it is a Case that hath mercy in it And no present misery of any condition should make us to overlook the mercy of that condition You see sin in its filthy nature and damning guilt and thereupon are filled with dread and fear and is not this a mercy Though to do sin is the most unprofitable work yet to see sin is the most profitable sight For so long as sin is unseen Christ will be unsought The remedy is never desired till our misery be discerned and felt Your conscience is full of trouble and you are weary and cry out under the burthen of your soul-troubles and is not this a mercy How shall the burthen of sin be removed if conscience be not troubled under it The more the Sinners conscience is at peace the more sin is in power The strong man armed keeps that house Luke 11.12 Besides it is the design of God that sin shall be the trouble of every Sinners conscience sooner or later here or in Hell Hell is full of troubled consciences there is not one soul there but lyes under terrour of conscience for sin for that is the worm that never dies Mark 9.44 And is it not a mercy to be troubled for sin here rather than in Hell Here the trouble is but for a season there it will be for ever Here the end of your trouble for sin is peace and comfort Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning Psal 30.5 But in Hell your trouble will end in desperation and everlasting horrour Whatever therefore your troubles are yet reckon it for a mercy that God hath brought you to a real sense of your sin and misery for that this is the only way to drive you out of your selves to Christ You had been undone but for this undoing Thirdly Do not be weary of the Spirits operation in his carrying on the work of conviction lest by growing weary of his work you make him weary of working There are two things Sinners express a great weariness under viz. the Word and the Rod. To sit long under the Word or to lye long under the Rod O what a weariness is it Now to be weary of these is to be weary of the Spirits work for by these he calls and knocks and strives to make his voice to be heard and therefore they often go together and hence you read of chastising and teaching Psal 94.12 The Rod prepares us for hearkening to the Word and the Word teaches us to understand the Rod and therefore the Spirit sometimes uses them together He binds them in Fetters and holds them in Cords of affliction and then shews their work and their transgressions that they have exceeded Job 36.8.9 10. and so opens their ear to discipline and commands that they return from iniquity Why then should any be weary of the Spirits work And yet that it is so is most evident For why do Sinners so many ways stifle the motions of the Spirit in the soul sometimes looking on spiritual troubles as mere melancholy sancies and as such shake them off Sometimes they are stifled by shame lest others should think them mad and distracted Sometimes they are stifled by declining that Ministry that deals most with the conscience and will not let them alone in sin Sometimes by running into idle debauched company that scoff away the troubles of a convinced conscience Sometimes by over business in worldly matters The cares of this World choke the Seed and it becomes unfruitful Matth. 13.22 And is not this a great sin it is murder to destroy a Child in the womb I charge you young ones with this sin this day before the Lord. And I will prove you guilty of it For what is the reason that the Word preached hath so little success that so few of you are converted from your sins and lusts to Christ I tell you this is the reason You have stifled the motions of the Spirit of God in your souls you have resisted and quenched him you have broken his Yoke from off your neck and do ye understand what ye do Do ye know the mischief of this sin It drives the Holy Spirit out of the heart You say to him depart Job 21.14 you are weary of his striving to make you weary of sinning It greatly gratifies Satan For his design is to harden the heart against the impressions of the Spirit and so lead Sinners to a Hell through a Fools Paradise It provokes the Lord to give you up to your own hearts lusts and vile affections Rom. 2.24 26. And I am perswaded that it is the Judgment that many of the young Generation of this day lye under It provokes him to take away the Gospel And I am afraid that this Judgment is at the door for why should God continue it to a Generation that slight and reject it And wo to such as shall be found to have had a hand in sinning away the Gospel It is this sin that makes Hell hot indeed It will be one of the saddest reflections in that state for a damned Sinner to recal the many sweet motions of the Spirit which in his day of Grace he had In such a Sermon how was my heart touched and my conscience awakened But all came to nothing In such a sickness how did the Spirit of God deal with me and set sin home and made it a burthen What promises and resolutions did I then make to shake off sins to leave my former wicked courses but it came to nothing Had I then yielded to the strivings of the Spirit and hearkened to his calls and counsels I had never felt these flames But my slighting God breaking the Spirits Yoke by resisting and quenching his motions this is that which hath brought this endless misery upon me O what a dreadful thing is it to be weary of the Spirits work when he comes to convince of sin Quest But when may a man be said to be weary of the Spirits work Answ First When he cannot endure an awakening convincing Ministry nor searching truths but declines those Doctrines that interrupt him in the way of his lusts and disturb the quiet of his conscience as Felix did Paul's Sermon of righteousness and judgment to come because it made him tremble the Doctrine came too close to his conscience and therefore he dismisses the Preacher to a fitter season Acts 24.25 Secondly When he is over-hasty for peace and comfort then he is weary of the Spirits Yoke This is the Case of most they are no sooner under the sense of sin but they must have comfort The Arrows of the Almighty are sharp and when they go deep do cause an unspeakable
It is true that a hearty resignation to God and a serious imbracing Religion by an unfeigned subjection to Christ always finds acceptance with the Lord Joh. 6.37 Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out There is a double Negative in the Greek which serves to make the promise strong and to incourage faith against all doubts and fears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will not not cast him out The promise doth not only import the safety of the estate of such as are in Christ but the welcome reception of all that come to Christ As he will not cast them out that are once united to him so nor will he keep them out who desire truly to close with him whenever it be sooner or later when ever the heart is willing God is ready A sincere obedience shall find acceptance at any time but the earlier we come the kinder shall be our reception and the greater our welcome and it must needs be so First Because we resist the fewer calls and invitations of God which are the expressions of his love and good will to sinners and as nothing provokes God more than when his love is slighted so there is nothing he is more pleased with than when the Soul is won by it to a readiness of obedience and that which pleases God heightens our acceptation Secondly We save God the labour to speak after the manner of men of using other means in which he less delights there are methods which God doth not love to be found in the use of which yet he is constrained to use for our benefit he hath his thorn hedges to stop our course reduce our wandrings and bring us to himself hence we read of his strange works and his strange acts Hos 2.6 7. Isa 28.21 Things which God delights not in but is forced to by the stubbornness of the Creature that he that will not hear the word and who hath ordained it may be made to hear the rod and who hath appointed it Mic. 6.9 Now by early imbracing the ways of Christ we happily prevent God in that work which is so contrary to his disposition as being more inclined to mercy than wrath Thirdly We gratifie him in the thing he loves and that is an early obedience Under the Law all Sacrifices were required to be young Deut. 15.19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctifie unto the Lord thy God And Exod. 22.29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors Mark It must be the firstling of the herd and the firstling of the flock and the first ripe fruits and the first liquors And why but to teach us by these Types how pleasing to God a timely conversion is and that if we would present our selves an acceptable Sacrifice to him it must be by an early subjection to the Yoke of Christ He loves a young Abijah a young Josiah a young Timothy a young Saint for a Sacrifice Joh. 20.2 Chap. 21.20 John is called the Disciple whom Jesus loved Joh. 13.23 And why did Jesus love none other of the Disciples but him Yes he loved them all and that both living and dying Joh. 13.1 Having loved his own which were in the world he loved them to the end But yet he loved John above all the rest and the reason that is given of it by some is because John was brought to Christ betimes of all the Disciples he was youngest when he took up the Yoke of Christ he loved Christ first and therefore Christ loved him best and as he had the highest affection for him so he made the greatest revelations to him All which shews the gracious acceptance of his early obedience It addeth greatly to the value of a gift when it is given readily and at first asking So when we give up our selves to the Call of God without shifting and hucking without demurrs and delays it puts a great value upon our obedience and makes it the more accepted with God Long standing off greatly provokes God and grieves the Spirit though we yield at last Many do by their lusts as Pharaoh did by the Israelites Exod. 5.2 he refuses to let them go Though God commands him till Judgment terrifies him into some kind of compliance and then he will let them go Exod. 8.28 but not far away that he may fetch them back again and when another Plague comes then he will let some go but not all Exod. 10.11 some must stay behind to be Hostages for the rest He never consents they shall all go till he is forced to it so that it was not thank-worthy when he did consent Many love their lusts more than Christ and will not part with them though at the Call of God till by judgment upon judgment he makes them weary of their communion and plagues them out of them the smart of Gods rod the coming of the evil day the wastes of nature the decay of strength the growth of diseases the prospect of another world the sense of a polluted nature a corrupt heart and a mispent life the fore-tastes of the wrath of God these set home by the Spirit may create such terrors in the conscience as may weary a sinner out of his lusts and bring him to Christ at last but he shall not have that welcome as the early Convert hath He shall be received and entertained but not made so much of as if he had come sooner He shall not have those comforts that an earlier Convert feels who took up the Yoke of Christ betimes and so hath walked in the fear of the Lord all his days His own conscience shall upbraid him and fill him with shame for the sollies of a mispent life if his bones are full of the sins of his youth Job 20.11 though they are pardoned in Heaven yet he may carry the pain of them to the grave with him and then he must needs lye down in sorrow Or if he meets with comfort in this life it may be long first and cost him many prayers and many tears much wooing and much waiting Though Christ when he stands at the door and knocks promises that if any man opens he shall sup with him Revel 3.20 Yet if Christ wait long for entrance the Soul may be made to wait long for its entertainment If his own Spouse deny him entrance he 'l deny her his presence if she suffers him to knock and call without admittance he will suffer her to seek and sue for a time without success Cant. 5.2 3 6. Delay God and God will delay you the longer you make him wait in the tenders of his Grace the longer he will make you wait in the expectation of peace and comfort Reas 5. It is the greatest business we have to attend to in the world and therefore is to be most minded and first entred upon It is the
you There is a general and a particular day of Grace The general day of Grace is when the Gospel is brought to a people and the Ministry of it set up by God whereby life and salvation is tendred to all in the blood of Jesus Christ The particular and special day of Grace is when the Gospel is not only preached and Salvation tendred but when the Spirit of the Lord doth accompany it and carry it home to the hearts of sinners sometimes inlightning their minds sometimes convincing their consciences sometimes working inward fears and terrors from a sense of their undone condition sometimes stirring up good affections and desires sometimes working them to strong purposes and resolutions to repent and turn and obey Now where the Spirit doth thus inwardly strive with any sinner that is his particular day of grace his special season of finding and obtaining mercy Seek the Lord while he may be found Isai 55.6 Now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 If ever a sinner be converted and brought into obedience to Jesus Christ this is the time And it is very dangerous to neglect or defer our closing with Christ for it is very uncertain how long or how little while the opportunity may be afforded Who knows when his day of grace begins or when it will end Job 14.5 As no man knows the number of his months so much less doth he know the length of his day of grace Acts 1.7 It is not for you as Christ says in another case to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath kept in his own power And the reason why God hides it from us may be because he would have us lose no opportunity of saving our Souls but imbrace the first tenders of mercy lest God should take our refusal and never tender it more If you repulse the Spirit of God when he knocks you have no promise that ever he will knock again and if he leaves off you are undone for ever The harvest is past the summer is ended and we are not saved Jer. 8.20 God will not wait long upon a lingring sinner he takes delays for denials and so departs and the day of grace ends Most certain it is that the day of grace may be sinned away and that whether you consider it in the general or particular notion of it First Take it in the general notion of it for the injoyment of the means of grace and the Ministry of the Word and Ordinances and this may cease God may deprive a people of a converting Ministry and converting Ordinances and may give them Statutes not good as he did to Israel Ezek. 20.24 25. Because they despised my statutes polluted my Sabbaths and their eyes were after their fathers idols therefore I gave them or gave them up to statutes that were not good and judgments whereby they should not live It is a judicial process of an offended God because of abused mercies they had the Statutes and Judgments and Ordinances of God which were just and good and tended to life as vers 21. But because they slighted these therefore he gave them up to the Statutes and superstitious Inventions of men which were not good but tended to death and destruction It is a dreadful judgment when for slighting and rebelling against the Statutes and Judgments of God he gives a person or a people up to Statutes and judgments that are not good And this seems to be the very judgment that God is giving this Nation up to at this day we have slighted the Yoke of Christ and therefore he is giving us up to the Yoke of Antichrist we have been weary of pure Worship and Ordinances and have been lusting after the Romish inventions and therefore the righteous God seems to be giving us up to them and saying to us as to that people v. 39. As for you O house of Israel thus saith the Lord God go ye serve ye every one his Idols When men will not stoop to nor owne those ways of Christ which are for their good it is just with God to give them up to those ways that are not for their good When men receive not the love of the truth that they may be saved for this cause God sends them strong delusions that they should believe a lye and be damned 2 Thess 2.10 11 12. And these are the Statutes that are not good and the judgments whereby they shall not live Sometimes he gives them up to a blind Ministry the sword of the Lord is upon the arm and the right eye of the Idol-shepherd insomuch that his arm is dried up and his right eye utterly darkned Zach. 11.17 He closeth the eyes of the Prophets and Rulers and Seers together with a spirit of deep sleep so that the vision of all is become as the words of a book sealed which neither unlearned nor learned can read Isai 29.10 11 12. Sometimes he gives them up to a profane and debauched Ministry The Priest and the Prophet have erred through strong drink they are swallowed up of wine through strong drink they erre in vision and stumble in judgment Isai 28.7 From the Prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land Jer. 23.15 They cause my people to erre by their lies and by their lightness v. 32. Sometimes he doth utterly take away his Ordinances and means of Grace Behold saith the Lord the days come that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread which yet is a sore judgment and makes the mother eat the child of a span long Lam. 2.20 nor a thirst for water for a draught whereof Lysimachus to save his life sold his Kingdom but of hearing the word of the Lord. Amos 8.11 And this was the judgment of God upon Israel We see not our signs there is no more any Prophet neither is there any among us that knoweth how long Psal 74.9 Amaziah and his Courtiers shall not need to pack away the Prophets and forbid them preaching nigh the Court as Amos 7.12 for God will as a woful Plague to an unworthy people remove them And Israel shall be without the true God and without a teaching Priest and without Law 2 Chron. 15.3 And this is what our Lord Christ so severely threatned Mat. 21.43 The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof And how sadly hath this word been accomplished upon them for sixteen hundred years together The seven Churches of Asia as also those of Africa that vast Continent thrice as big as Europe are sad instances of this It is plain then that the day of grace in regard of the injoyment of the Ordinances may be sinned away But Secondly The Sinners particular day of grace may be lost and sinned away he may not only sin away the Ordinances but the strivings of the Spirit too he may resist it till it is
quenched and so quench it that it can never be kindled again Many do in this sense out-live their day of grace by sinning away the motions and strivings of the Spirit for though he strives long with many and longer with some sinners than others yet he will not strive always The Lord said My Spirit shall not always strive with man Gen. 6.3 Nay the Spirit may not only cease striving when the Ordinances are removed but he may cease striving while the Ordinances are continued and then the day of grace is past though the means of grace abide The general and revealed day of grace may possibly last as long as life lasts and the sinner may sit under the Gospel-call all his days and yet the secret and particular day of grace may be ended the Spirit may never strive more but leave the sinner to his lusts This is denied by some and hardly believed by any let me therefore make it out that so the danger of sinning away your particular day of grace may be a prevailing reason why you should mind Christ and his Yoke betimes lest you defer it till it be too late I shall therefore make out the truth of this five ways First By the unerring evidence of Scripture instance Was not Ishmael a sad instance of this truth He was descended of a godly father was in Covenant with God had the Covenant-seal upon him Gen. 17.26 injoyed all the means of grace for Abraham was King Priest and Prophet in his own house And therefore he was not without the strivings of the Spirit and yet for all this he is cast out of the Church and out of Covenant Cast him out saith the Lord Gal. 4.30 Now this casting out is a cutting him off and depriving him as a just punishment of his scoffing spirit of the means of grace Gen. 21.9 Gal. 4.29 and especially of the strivings of the Spirit of God And this was done when he was not above twenty years old Oh what a dreadful instance is this How should it awaken young ones that sit under the means of grace and fill them with trembling Here is Ishmael standing out against the strivings of the Spirit and losing his day of grace at twenty years of age So that his day of grace lasted but few years for he was thirteen years old when he was circumcised Gen. 17.25 and so sealed with the Covenant-seal and therefore he was but seven years under the priviledges of the Covenant Now how old are you How long have you been sealed with the Covenant-seal How long have you been under the means and have had the Spirit striving with you Surely much longer than ever Ishmael had and therefore how dangerous is thy case if thou art not yet come under the Yoke of Christ And what think ye of Esau Did not he sin away and out-live his day of grace Why else is it said That he would afterward have inherited the blessing and was rejected For he found no place for repentance though he sought it carefully with tears Heb. 12.16 17. His time for the blessing was past and gone he came too late and so lost it and was rejected and no tears could recover it again Now there is a great Mystery in this and it instructs us in three great and concerning truths 1. That by many the greatest blessings are less minded than things of smaller moment Here 's Esau preferring a morsel of meat before his birth-right 2. To prefer temporal benefits before the greatest spiritual blessings is an evident argument of a profane spirit For therefore Esau is called a profane person because he sold his birth-right a Type of spiritual blessings for a morsel of meat 3. He that neglects to secure to himself spiritual blessings when they may be had his judgment shall be to seek and mourn after them when it will be too late to find them Esau first sells the blessing profanely which God had bestowed and afterward seeks it with tears and is rejected And when was this that Esau thus profanely parts with his birth-right It was very early in the days of his youth This is easily gathered from the story of his hunting which ye have in Gen. 25.27 and so to the end of the Chapter where it it said that the boys grew and Esau was a cunning hunter v. 27. and coming faint out of the field v. 29. he desires his brother Jacob to feed him v. 30. Jacob offers him bread for his birth-right v. 31. Esau being very faint at the point to die the Text says v. 32. sells him his birth-right for bread and pottage Thus Esau despised his birth-right v. 33. And this was very early as soon as the boys were grown up So that Esau survived his day of grace many years The Spirit of the Lord left striving with him betimes And was it not the sin of the poor Jews Did not they out-live their day of grace Luke 19.44 Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the things which belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Secondly If a man may fall away from the Faith once professed and that totally and finally then may he sin away the strivings of the Spirit and so out-live his day of grace Though a man cannot fall away from the work of grace finally yet from the word of grace he may though he cannot utterly depart from faith implanted yet he may from the faith professed The Apostle says 1 Tim. 4.1 That the Spirit speaks expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith Now when a man comes to depart from the Faith the word of faith the Scriptures and the profession of faith and that finally then the Spirit strives no more for his Conscience the next verse tells you is seared with a hot iron Thirdly It is evident in that God sometimes gives men up to their own lusts Psal 81.11 12. My people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me had no will to me so the Hebrew and what follows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own counsels And what is it for God to give a man up to his lusts but to let sin and corruption have the whole rule and sway in the Soul without the wonted checks and restraints of the Spirit This is called letting him alone in sin Ephraim is joyned to idols let him alone Hos 4.17 that is let him take his own course and pursue his lusts till God deal with him once for all Fourthly It appears in that judicial hardness of heart blindness and impenitency that he gives some up to which renders all the Ordinances utterly ineffectual like rain falling upon a rock that runs off without fruit Nay in this case the Ordinances do not only not soften but they harden for where God hardens every thing hardens every word every rod every
Ordinance every Providence every thing hath a commission so to do Rom. 11.8 Make the heart of this people fat make their ears heavy shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed Isai 6.10 Ye read in Rom. 1. of a threefold giving up v. 24. God gave them up to uncleanness v. 26. God gave them up to vile affections v. 28. God gave them up to a reprobate mind There is a gradation in this judicial process of God Here is the practice of sin and a giving up to that then a love and delight in sin and a giving up to that and at last a sensless stupidity in sin and then a giving up to that And these are the three saddest judgments on this side Hell God brought ten sad Plagues upon Pharaoh but there was one greater than all and that was a hardned heart Exod. 10.27 I have hardned his heart saith the Lord Exod. 7.13 And how is this done How can God be said to harden a sinners heart Non infundendo malitiam 〈◊〉 subtrahendo gratiam not by infusing any evil qualities that were not there before but by withdrawing the striving of his Spirit and leaving a man to be acted by his own lusts which do quickly work to hardening the heart and therefore that which is called a hardening the heart there is by the Apostle here explained by giving up to uncleanness to vile affections to a reprobate mind Which imports no more but a dereliction of the Spirit a ceasing to strive any longer Fifthly If a man may possibly commit the unpardonable sin the sin against the Holy Ghost then he may out-live the strivings of the Spirit and sin away his day of grace But this is possible for a man to do so did those Pharisees and Scribes Mat. 9.34 Mark 3. They commit this sin v. 22. And the Lord Christ charges them with it and tells them they shall never be pardoned nor saved by reason of it v. 29 30. So that they out-lived their day of grace Therefore the thing is most evident that a man may so long go on in sin and so far resist the Spirit in his strivings with the Soul as that his day of grace may be past and gone It may be sinned away How long the Spirit of the Lord may continue to strive with a sinner before he gives over and strives no more that I think is a question too hard for any man to determine to say thus long the Spirit will strive but no longer thus long the sinners day of grace shall continue but no longer is beyond the skill of any man 1. Because things that are purely arbitrary come under no rule 2. The Scripture is silent as to any positive determination herein God hath no where said how long it shall be how long he will wait to be gracious And where the Scripture doth not determine who can We ought not to have an ear to hear where the Scripture hath not a tongue to speak 3. It is most certain that the day of grace hath differing periods It is not of the same length to all one sinner hath the glass of his opportunity sooner run out than another To some God calls and sets open the door of grace for them and if they will enter well and good if not he shuts the door upon them and never opens it more To others he shews much long suffering he calls aloud Rom. 9.22 and strives much and knocks often at the sinners door before he will take a denial To some God lays the ax to the root of the tree Mat. 3.10 and says either bear or burn either for fruit or fire Luke 13.6 7. To others God comes looking for fruit one year after another before he gives the word for the cutting them down 4. The patience of God doth not determine the thing For that may be continued to a sinner when the Spirit hath given him over and done striving with him there may be a long day of forbearance where the day of grace is past The Lord awaken sinners to consider this for they are very apt to presume upon Gods patience and think that a season of repentance whereas the repentance and conversion of the sinner doth not depend so much upon Gods patience as upon the Spirits strivings It is this that puts a price into our hands to get wisdom Prov. 17.16 this makes the season of grace the patience of God may be for a contrary end it may be only for the filling up the measure of our iniquity And therefore sinners may possibly live long under Gods patience and forbearance and yet the season of the Spirits strivings may be at an end But yet though none can say how long or how little while the sinners day of grace shall last yet these two things may be safely said concerning it First The greater the means of grace is the shorter the day of grace is the old world had not so great means but then they had a longer day My Spirit shall not always strive with man yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years Gen. 6.3 It is not meant of the days of his life that he should live so long but it is meant of the day of grace so many years God would give them to repent in so many years his Spirit should strive with them before judgment was executed The people of Israel had greater means than the old World but then their day of grace was shorter Forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness Acts 13.18 And afterwards in Canaan still as their priviledges were inlarged so their day was shortned Never were their injoyments so great as by the coming of Christ in the flesh but yet this shortned their day of grace the more as you may see in that Parable of the Fig-tree Luke 13.6 7. And in that Commission which Christ gives to his Disciples Luke 10.10 11. Into whatever city ye enter and they receive you not go out into the street and say Even the very dust of your city we do wipe off against you notwithstanding be ye sure of this that the kingdom of God is come nigh to you As if he should say Tell them this is their day of grace which since they slight God will shake off them as you do the dust of your feet The more lively and awakening the Ministry you at any time sit under is the shorter your day of grace is for it either converts or hardens it either betters your estate or makes it worse If it be not a savour of life to life it will be a savour of death unto death 2 Cor. 2.16 It never leaves sinners as it finds them If your spiritual estate be not bettered by it the Spirit of the Lord will not strive long and then your conversion is impossible There are three sad evils
which the Gospel brings upon impenitent sinners Their Judge will be severer Their Hell will be hotter Their Season of Grace and time of the Spirits striving will be shorter For he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth Rom. 9.28 Secondly The more profligate and desperate in sinning men grow under the Gospel the sooner will the Spirit cease striving For a man may and many a man doth by his own sin shorten his day of grace and provoke God to strive by his Spirit no more Eliphaz speaking of the sinners of the old World says They were cut down out of time and their foundation overflowed with a flood Job 22.16 And therefore what shall we think of England's Priviledges Will they last long I am afraid they will not considering the desperate wickedness of the Nation that reigns in all sorts this may justly cause God to cut them down out of time and cause a flood of judgments to overflow their foundations The abominable pride gluttony drunkenness uncleanness swearing lying Covenant breaking oppression injustice perjuries together with the Errours Heresies Schisms Blasphemies Idolatries and Atheism of the day and I will add the unrighteous persecution of the Ministers and Members of Christ for nothing but their adhering to the word and Kingly Office of Christ these things I fear have brought the Nations day and mercies to a near period And though I speak it with trembling yet I must say it That without a speedy repentance the Lord will shortly do one of these two things either he will remove this generation from the Gospel or else he will remove the Gospel from this generation Thus you see where the force of this reason lies delay of so great a Duty is greatly dangerous whether you look to the indisposition it works or to the uncertainty of life or to the uncertain duration of the day of grace which may be sinned away and then if you would come to Christ you cannot Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer Prov. 1.28 29 30. they shall seek me early but they shall not find me for that they hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord They would none of my counsel they despised all my reproof Salvation is not a thing to be had at your time but at Gods time and Gods time is now in your youth Most agree that it is a reasonable thing that sin should be forsaken that the Yoke of Christ should be taken up but not so soon it is too early and this is it upon which most men perish they slight Gods time When I would have healed Israel then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered Hos 7.1 A man never discovers more iniquity and more love to sin than in setting light by Gods time of healing The foolish Virgins would fain have entred in with the Bridegroom but when they should have entred their oyl was to get and when they would have entred the door was shut Mat. 25.10 Ye read in Revel 10.1 2 6. of an Angel that hath in his hand a little book open and he swears by him that lives for ever and ever that time should be no longer This Angel is interpreted of Christ and the little book in his hand is the Gospel and it is said to be open because he makes known the whole counsel of God for our Salvation it is Christ that gives out the Gospel and means of grace and it is he that limits the time of mans injoying it beyond which he cannot injoy it for he sweareth that time shall be no longer CHAP. VII Containing the last Reason viz. from the good of Obedience It is a necessary good a profitable good an honourable good a comfortable good Reas 8 THE last but not the least reason is what is hinted here in the Text viz. the goodness of the undertaking there can be no greater reason of obedience than the goodness of it All true obedience springs from love and the object of love is good and when a man loves and obeys God because of the goodness of his Precepts this is excellent Thy word is very pure therefore thy servant loves it Psal 119.140 There is nothing proves our regeneration and being made partakers of the divine nature like this 1 Pet. 1.4 for then we have the same object of love as God hath Purity and goodness is the object of Gods love and it cannot but be so because of its suitableness to his nature and therefore to have the same object of love with God argues the Soul changed into the likeness of God Carnal minds have no relish of heavenly things They that are after the flesh savour the things of the flesh Rom. 5.8 That man is undoubtedly born of God that loves the word because it is good and obeys it because it is pure The great argument by which Duty and Obedience is inforced upon the Creature is the good of obedience Deut. 5.29 The Lord commanded us to do all these Statutes to fear the Lord our God Deut. 6.24 Hear it and know it for thy good Job 5.27 And Deut. 10.12 13. What doth the Lord require of thee but to fear him and to walk in his ways and to love him and serve him with all thy heart and with all thy soul To keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes which I command thee this day for thy good And here in the Text It is good for a man that he bear the Yoke in his youth And the great motive upon which good men labour to confirm themselves in heart and life to the precepts of God is the goodness of them The commandment is holy just and good Rom. 7.12 The mandatory part of the word hath an inviting loveliness Manton on Psal 119. p. 456. As the promises of pardon and eternal life suit with the hunger and thirst of the Soul and the natural desires of happiness so the holiness and righteousness of the precept suit with the notions of good and evil that are in mans heart and this draws forth compliance and consent I consent to the Law that it is good Rom. 7.16 It is good for me to draw near to God Psal 73.28 There is no likelier means to prevail upon considering minds to come under the Yoke of Christ betimes than to let them see how much duty is their real interest and that obedience is not burden so much as blessedness for that there is an universal good in Religion It is a necessary good a profitable good an honourable good a pleasant good First It is a necessary good Nothing in the world is of equal necessity with this there are many things useful but this is that one thing needful So our Lord Christ says One thing is needful Luke 10.42 and that is subjection to Christ Martha was careful about his entertainment but Mary sate at his feet one
to be converted shall in old age find it is too late to be saved Object 3. Another stumbling-block that lies in the way of young ones to hinder their taking up the Yoke of Christ is the austerities of Religion it is a work too severe for green years and better suits gray hairs Who doth not see what a melancholy thing Religion is * Spiritus Calvinianus spiritus Melancholicus it takes a man off from all his pleasures and delights and dulls and besots the Spirits and therefore when once a man takes up this course never let him expect to see good day more This is another stumbling stone which I shall endeavour to remove out of the way by these four Considerations Answ 1. Consider who they are that charge Religion with these severities Are they such as ever were under the power of it Have they ever lived over its precepts and embraced its promises and tasted its sweetnesses Are they such as can say they have ever made any serious tryal of godliness No I know they are not for if they had they would pass another judgment their own experiences would confute a thousand of these groundless pretences No man ever took up Religion in earnest and heartily submitted himself to the Yoke of Christ but hath found it quite another thing It is good for me to draw near to God Psal 73.28 And if this be the charge of such as never made a tryal what Religion and a holy life is why should any man regard it For they speak evil of those things they know not Jud. v. 10. Prov. 24.7 This wisdom is too high for a fool and they condemn it because they do not understand it And how unreasonable is this Solomon says He that answers a matter before he hears i. e. understands it it is folly and shame to him Prov. 18.13 and yet in Religion nothing more common who were they that in the Apostles days accounted the doctrine of a crucified Christ foolishness but such as understood least of it And who are they that mock at the doctrine of imputed righteousness of the testimony of the Spirit in Believers and of assurance of Salvation but the blind Papists who never felt the power and comfort of these things And Tertul. Quid inquius quà m ut oderint homines quod ignorant Nothing more hateful than for a man to hate and condemn what he doth not understand Therefore 2. Consider what is the judgment of good men in the case who have inured themselves to a life of godliness these are the fittest persons to determine the matter having had their senses exercised to discern between good and evil Heb. 5.14 In other cases you do so if you want advice about matters of Law you will go to an experienced Lawyer or if you advise about your health you will consult the most experienced Physician If you would be satisfied of such or such a Country whom would you inquire of such as write at random of it but never set foot in it Or would you not rather take the judgment of such as have seen it lived in it and known the Laws and Manners of it these can speak by experience and so can every sincere professor John 3.11 We speak that we know and testifie that we have seen and 1 John 1.3 That which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life declare we unto you And what is their judgment in the case why they have commended the life of Godliness as the most pleasant and delightful life in the world and the fullest of true joy and sweetness One day in thy Courts is better than a thousand elsewhere Psal 84.10 Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Prov. 3.17 And how is Paul ravished with the joys of a life of Godliness hence he speaks his abounding consolations by Christ and crys out 2 Cor. 1.4 God forbid I should glory save only in the Cross of Christ Galat. 6.14 Gal. 6.14 And this is not the sense of David and Solomon and the Apostle Paul only but of all the Saints of God that ever lived and they have not only said it but have practically attested it and that undeniably in this that never any one of them when they once took up the Yoke of Christ ever cast it off again but have lived and died witnesses to this truth 3. The sorrows and dejections that Christians are at any time filled with are not from Godliness but from want of more Godliness not from Grace but from the imperfection of Grace their sins and failings are the only causes of their sorrows and troubles Could they sin less they should have less sorrow and it is a most righteous thing that where sin is committed it should be bewailed If no man can live without sin then how can it be that a man can love God and not mourn and sorrow for sinning against him God will have every man living bewail and repent of sin at one time or other if not here yet in hell And then the question is which is best here repentance ends in remission but in hell it ends in desperation Sorrow for sin now hath a blessing in it it ends in comfort Matt. 5.4 Psal 126.5.6 But sorrow for sin hereafter greatens torment This sorrow will have an end but that is without end What are those merry Greeks that sported away their time and their Souls in this world doing now in hell they are repenting without hope and sorrowing without end weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth at their own folly and madness And which is best the sinner being Judge to go mourning to Heaven where all tears shall be wiped away or laughing to hell where suffering and sorrowing shall be without end 4. Why should a life of Religion be a dull and besotting life what is there in it that should make it so Doth it prohibit us any pleasures or delights no none but what are incompetent to us as men and which make us rather beasts than men And for these it gives better pleasures in their room Peace that passes understanding Philip. 4.7 inward satisfaction resulting from a witnessing conscience Prov. 14.14 2 Corinth 1.12 comforts that flow from an upper spring from divine love manifested and communion with God injoyed These are spiritual pleasures and delights of the same nature and kind with those which in a fuller measure and greater degree of injoyment do make up the state of blessedness And hence it is called joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 So that your joys and delights are not extinguished but raised Religion doth not extirpate them but transplant them out of Egypt that they may grow in Canaan Religion spiritualizeth and sanctifieth your joys but doth not extinguish them So far then Religion is not chargeable with our droops
Conscience may not witness it s witnessing act may for a time be suspended and this is frequently so Partly from the contraction of new guilt when sin is committed Conscience is silenced guilt spoils the testimony Partly from the hidings of God for Conscience speaks no peace to us unless God speak peace to that And therefore it is very possible that a good man may not always know his own state and yet he may have the witness in himself And would he but be careful to keep Conscience clean from guilt and defilement and be diligent to attend to its testimony he would quickly attain to satisfaction in his spiritual state for Conscience purged and sanctified is a faithful witness that will not lye especially when joyned in its testimony to that which is the great witness of all and that is the spirit Rom. 8.16 The spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the Children of God And that brings me to the last general rule to be observed in this tryal Rule 9. The way to come to a true satisfaction about your state is to call in the assistance of the spirit of God beg his testimony for there is no witness like his And that First Whether ye look to the clearness of it no testimony can be so full It is such a testimony as removes all perplexing doubts and fears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost what room for questionings and hesitancies against the spirits testimony * Culverwell's Whitt Stone p. 113. Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his spirit 1 John 4.13 No witness so satisfying as this if God should send an Angel from Heaven as he did to Daniel Dan. 9.23 to tell us we are greatly beloved it would not be so full and satisfying as this Secondly It is a sure testimony and that 1. Whether you look to the object of his testimony the work of God in the heart he never witnesses to the goodness of that state where there is not a work of Grace wrought and therefore to talk of comforts and ravishing joys from the spirit without a true conversion to Christ first wrought is a meet self delusion the spirit of God hath no hand in it and so to boast of the comforts of the spirit while we walk not in the counsels of the spirit it is a meer pretence there is no such thing found among Christians as this The spirit witnesses to his own work and therefore cannot be deceived in the object of his testimony 2. If you look to the nature of the testimony for it is the witness of him who is truth it self and therefore he is called the spirit of truth John 16.13 the testimony that he gives to the goodness of a believers state is infallible and certain Thirdly It is a prevailing testimony that bears down all the testimonies that can any way be brought against us As the intercession of Christ in Heaven for us prevails over all charges that are brought there against us sin may charge and Satan may charge and the Law may charge but yet the intercession of Christ prevails against all and silences all Who is he that condemns it is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen again who is at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.34 So is the testimony of the spirit in the heart a prevailing testimony the believer hath many adversaries wicked men whose tongues are set on fire of Hell reproaching traducing of them and ready to witness falsely against them And Satan is not wanting to bring in new charges against them but this blessed witness of the spirit in the heart prevails against and carrys the Soul above all Fourthly It is an abiding testimony that lasts till testimonies shall be needed no more There would be no need of witnesses if things were clear and not apt to be called in question but so it is with the work of God in the heart it is ever and anon called in question and hence arises the need of the spirits testimony There will be no need of this way of witness in Heaven for there is no doubts nor fears nor calling our state into question but during the present state it is necessary for new hidings and new temptings and new sinnings will cause new doubtings and questionings concerning our state and therefore the testimony of the spirit shall abide and out last all our doubts and fears I know this testimony may be and is sometimes suspended a good man may not have it at all times it is rare that any one hath Sometimes nay too often he sins it away sometimes for wise ends God takes it away for it is an arbitrary priviledge but he that hath had it once really shall never lose it finally though it may be suspended it shall never be totally lost for it is an abiding witness and therefore he that hath it is said to he sealed to the day of redemption Ephes 4.30 this sealing is not to be taken for the regenerating work of the spirit but for his witnessing work for it is a sealing that follows after believing After that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise Ephes◠1.13 and this seal shall never be broken off it shall abide to the Day of redemption And therefore above all things beg the testimony of the spirit concerning your condition for neither the word of God nor Conscience can evidence the goodness of our state without the witness of the spirit nay the highest measure of Grace wrought in the heart cannot of it self be an evidence of the goodness of our state without the spirits testimony as Grace cannot act it self without the spirits help so nor can it evidence it self with out the spirits light as the being of Grace is from the work of the spirit renewing so the evidence of Grace is from the work of the spirit witnessing And therefore in this work rely much upon the testimony of the spirit And thus I have answered the question more generally CHAP. XIII Shews the truth of our subjection to Jesus Christ by some things necessarily antecedent to it Secondly I come now to a particular and distinct answer to the question How a man may know that he is indeed under the Yoke of Christ There are two ways by which you may make a judgment of your selves A Priori A Posteriori 1. By such things that always precede it and are antecedent to it or causal of it 2. By such things as are the natural effects and consequences of it First By such things as are antecedent to it For you must know that taking up Christs Yoke is not presently done it is not the next work of a carnal sinner there are many things to be done in him and upon him before this work can be done by him No natural man as such can bear Christs Yoke it is impossible
and of righteousness and yet are not convinced of judgment these see the need of the blood of Christ to take away guilt but they see no need of the Grace of Christ to renew their hearts and these will never take up the Yoke of Christ But when the spirit of the Lord carries on the work to a through conviction both of sin and of righteousness and of judgment then it is that the soul is made willing to take up the Yoke of Christ And this brings me to the third preparatory work whereby a man is fitted to take up this Yoke 3. The third thing is the inclining the will There can be no taking up the Yoke of Christ till this be done for wherein lies our subjection to Christ but in a consent of will to take him for our Lord as well as our Saviour and yielding a ready obedience to his laws as well as relying on his merits And herein the most difficult part of conversion lies to bring the will to a free subjection to Jesus Christ There is no part so vitiated and corrupted by the fall as the will The blindness of the mind the stupidness of the conscience is not so great as the obstinacy and rebellion of the will By nature we are willingly subject to no Law but the Law of the members to no will but the will of the flesh Israel would none of me Psal 81.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had no will to me We will not have this man to reign over us Luk. 19.14 Ye will not come to me that ye might have life John 5.40 It is not subject to the Law of God nor indeed can be Rom. 8.7 There is that enmity and opposition that reluctancy and stoutness of spirit against Christ and his ways such proneness to evil and aversness to good such strong prejudices such deep reasonings such solicitations of Satan such downright rebellion that a voluntary subjection to Christ is an impossible thing Psal 110.3 till God puts forth the all conquering arm of his power and subdues the soul to himself So desperately bent is the heart of every natural man against Christ and so strongly under the impulsion of indwelling lust to vitious practices that neither the promises of life and salvation can allure it nor the threatenings of Hell and Damnation deter it no fear nor hope no danger nor reward can stop it till an Almighty power do it And therefore to talk of moral suasions as sufficient to subdue and bring the will over to Christ is an idle dream of such as either never felt the day of Christs power in their own souls or else contradict their own experiences There is no power can reach to pull a man out of the hands of his sin but the power of the spirit of God As no man can convert himself so no means can reach to do it by the same reason that any one man perisheth in the enmity of his will to Christ and holiness all men would if left to themselves because there is the same original enmity to the things of God in all as there is in any And therefore the government of Christ in the soul is not by choice and consent first had but by power and conquest As it was with Israel God promiseth them the land of Canaan for a possession but it was not a land uninhabited that they might go and possess at pleasure without any more to do no but the Canaanites and the sons of Anak dwelt there and had it in possession and therefore if they will have it they must fight their way into it Thus it is here John 17.6 the elect are Christs by donation given to him by the Father and his by right of Redemption for he dyed for them and bought them with a price 1 Cor. 6.20 but yet Satan hath the possession and by the power of sin and lust detaineth Christs right So that if Christ will be possessed of his right it must be by conquest And therefore his first entrance into the heart is by way of victory Hence ye read of one sitting upon a white horse with a Bow and a Crown and he went forth conquering and to conquer Rev. 6.2 This is the Lord Christ He is said to sit upon a white horse a horse betokens war a white horse betokens victory and triumph And he is said to have a Bow and a Crown the Bow is an instrument of war the Crown is a token of Government The Bow stands before the Crown to shew us that where-ever Christ reigns in any heart it is by conquest and victory first obtained The Bow makes way to the Crown Every Soul is first a Captive to Christ before it is a Subject Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor. 10.5 VVe never submit to his Scepter till we are first overcome by his power They shall be a willing people in the day of thy power Psal 110.3 It is a mighty power that brings the sinner to a submission and resignedness of will to Christ The Soul is first Captivated by his power and then freely submits to his termes This Royal Fort of the will is never yielded up nor the everlasting doors of the heart set open for the King of glory to come in till his power makes way for his presence and therefore this King of glory is said to be The Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in battel Psal 24.8 It is his mightiness makes him appear glorious We should never own him nor open to him as King of glory if we did not feel his might by way of victory He alwayes first makes his entrance as the Lord strong and mighty and then the everlasting doors are set open to him to come in as King of glory So that it is manifest that the Government of Christ in the heart is first by way of conquest Not that this is done by any violent compulsion it implies a contradiction that the will can be compelled but by a supernatural power sweetly attemper'd in its manner of working to the nature and disposition of the will whereby the obstinacy is cured the enmity taken away and the will brought over to a free submission to Jesus Christ Thus God works in us to will Phil. 2.13 So that it is an act of omnipotent Grace in regard of God and yet the will hath still the dominion of its own act It is not forcibly compelled but worketh by a self-motion to that to which it is actuated by the power of Divine Grace And when the mind is thus savingly inlightened and the Conscience effectually convinced and the will by the powerful quickening of God sweetly framed for a full conformity and obedience to the divine will then is a man throughly prepared and fitted to take up the yoke of Christ And this is one way by which you may make a judgment in this matter If the mind hath been savingly inlightened
Christ You must be divorced from all sin or you cannot be Marryed to Christ therefore remove all hinderances to the duty Direct 3 Labour to be convinced of the absolute necessity of conversion A true sight of the dreadful condition you are in by nature will discover this And what is that you are by nature children of wrath under the curse from the very womb the guilt of all the sins that ever you committed lies upon you you are the devils bondslaves dead in sin Eph. 2.1 Eph. 4.18 under the power of lust alienated from the life of God Hasting to destruction there is but one step between you and Hell you stand upon the brink of the bottomless pit for whoever dies in an unconverted state shall assuredly perish the holy God hath said it and will make it good And is this a state to be rested in where is the sinner that dares dye and appear before the Righteous God in this condition therefore let this shew you the necessity of conversion Direct 4 Heartily accept of Jesus Christ as the Gospel tenders him Here is the turning point of thy Salvation Christ in bowels of pity to thy undone case tenders himself to thee as a universal remedy to pardon to purge to renew to sanctifie to save Young ones have any of you a heart thus to accept of Christ if so you are happy for ever and all your sins and lusts nay all the devils in hell can't hinder it Let an intire resignation follow this acceptation Direct 5 Having thus received Christ give thy self wholly up to Christ resolving that Body Soul and Spirit shall be the Lords so it is said of them 2 Cor. 8.5 They gave themselves up to the Lord. A hearty subjection must follow this resignation Direct 6 No man can be fully resigned that is not intirely subject Be sure therefore let Christ bear rule let the government be upon his shoulders let him give law to thy heart and life thy affections and actions do not part with some sins and retain others this is to hold fast deceit Jer. 8.5 and to refuse to return Do not obey Christ in this or that command but in all you must take all or none An imperfect obedience may be right and sincere but a partial obedience cannot I pray remember this the yoke of Christ is made up of every Commandment not this or that but every Commandment goes to the making up his yoke and when you become willingly subject to all the commands of Christ then have you taken up the yoke of Christ Lastly this must be done without delay Direct 7 The Text prompts to this It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth What sayes David I made hast and delay'd not to keep thy Commandments Psal 119.60 As Christ said to Judas in another case What thou doest do quickly Consider 1. It is a business of life and death and what a foolish thing it is for a man to deliberate whether he shall be saved or damned go to Heaven or Hell 2. By continuance in the ways of disobedience the heart is made more obstinate as a path becomes the harder by frequent treading Sin is of a hardening nature Heb. 3.13 So that if conversion to Christ be hard to day it will be harder to morrow and so every day adds to its difficulty because the heart grows harder and harder 3. You suffer great loss by delays What grace might you have gotten e're this had you begun betimes what victories over sin what experiences what communion with God what evidences for heaven 4. There are special seasons of grace which are but for a limited time and in complying with or slighting these the happiness or misery of man is fixed Because to every purpose there is time and judgment therefore the misery of man is great upon him Eccles 8.6 If your seasons of grace are lost they are never to be redeem'd Now I pray consider in what part of life is it most probable that in the wisdom of God these are placed in youth or in old age Can you think that God would chose the infirmities and dotages of life for his service rather then the strength and vigour of your days and affections 5. The slighting of your special seasons is the way to lose them Luk. 19.42 Gen. 6.3 These three years I come looking for fruit and find none And what follows cut it down why cumbers it the ground Luk. 13.7 Three years they had injoy'd Christs ministry and yet brought forth no fruit and therefore Christ casts them off O sirs how many years hath Christ been calling of you and waiting for fruit why stand ye all the day idle Remember the foolish Virgins and tremble and get Oyl while the Market is open 6. Thou dost not know how near thy day of account may be It is many times nearest when we think it is farthest off We are many times most secure when we are least safe 1 Thes 3.5 When they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction c. My Lord delays his coming said the wicked servant Mat. 24.48 And what follows The Lord of that servant shall come in a day that he looks not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of Little did the old world think of a flood so nigh when they gave themselves to sensuality Or Sodom of fire from Heaven when they burn'd in their lusts So shall it be when the son of man comes Luk. 17.30 Lastly Consider this If any of you that have heard these Sermons of taking up Christs yoke betimes shall dare yet to live in the neglect of this duty This word that I have spoken to you in the name of the Lord and this call that God hath made to you by me will be a dreadful witness against such refusers in the last day and that which I have intended for your conversion will turn to your destruction and damnation But God forbid what shall I run in vain and labour in vain nay shall the Lord Christ call in vain and his Blessed Spirit strive with you in vain Therefore I beseech you lay things to heart and let me know what you intend Will you at last be prevail'd with to submit to Christ and take up his yoke forthwith without any more delay if not let me tell you God will look upon you from this day as wilful refusers of his grace and love and it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah then for you But if you have a heart now to accept of Christ to be resigned to him and to take up his yoke without any more delay you have done your work you have saved your souls Now God is yours Christ is yours Peace Life Salvation all the good of the Covenant all the glory of Heaven is yours and therefore you are blessed and happy for ever For as your present choice is such shall your Eternal Condition be The Lord perswade sinners to know the things of their peace before they are hid from their eyes FINIS