lie fallow like the field of the Sluggard all overgrown with thorns and nettles when both thine heart and thine house are so much out of order when thy Wife and thy Children and thy Servants are left at randome to do all what 's right in their own eyes when more care is taken for the Asses then for thy Sons and Daughters when thy house is a very hospital of blind and lame and sick Souls ready to die for want of instruction and good discipline where is thy Conscience and if Conscience be not where is thy Covenant and if thy Covenant be not oh where is thy God and thy peace Ah Conscience where art thou become what is become of that good thing committed to thee yea what is become of thee Ah Soul where is thy peace how is the keeper of thy peace laid low and the covenant of thy peace broken what peace whilst no Conscience and what hast thou left whilst no peace Ah Lord thy treacherous dealers how treacherously have they dealt with thee thy Children have forgotten thee thy Servants are run-awayes from thee thou art our Father but where is thine honour thou art our Master but where is thy fear we are thy Servants but where is our faith Ah Lord we have dealt falsly in thy Covenant Return O Lord return repair thy watches recover thine honours reduce thy wanderers restore conscience revive our peace cause us to return and renew our covenant and remember break not thou thy covenant with us Christians let us bewail lost conscience and let it be recovered let us weep over our dead and let their souls return into them Let those of us that have obtained grace to be faithful and watchful and tender rejoyce and take heed let him that standeth take heed lest he fall Go on in the Name of the Lord Remember his counsels keep close by God keep hold on Christ keep touch with the Spirit keep in with Conscience keep thine heart keep thy garments keep up thy watch keep on thy way finish thy course keep the faith and then let the devil do his worst thy peace shall be extended to thee as a River and established as a Rock and thou shalt be able to say in the words and in the faith of the Apostle Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which God the righteous Judge shall give unto me at that day and not to me onely but to all that love his appearing 3. Adde to your covenant your sacrifice Psa 50.5 Gather my Saints together unto me those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice God hath made with you and he expects that you make covenant with him by sacrifice Sacrifices were seals of the Covenant As Gods part of the Covenant so our part also must be sealed and sealed with blood his with the blood of his Son ours with the blood of our sins Rom. 12.1 I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God The sacrificing of our selves to the Lord conprehends in it three things Alienation Dedication Oblation 1. Alienation or the passing away of our selves from our selves Ye are not your own you are bought with a price Thus he hath said and he expects that we should say also True Lord I am not mine own 2. Dedication or the passing over our selves to the Lord 2 Chron. 29.35 Ye have consecrated your selves to the Lord. His we are by purchase but he expects that we be his also by donation his we are by conquest but he expects we should be his by consent also Though he may challenge us as his right yet the most acceptable claim is when he hath us by gift When our hearts say I am thine Lord then his heart will answer Soul thou art mine 3. Oblation or the actual surrender or offering up our selves to him In the offering this sacrifice is included the Immolation or slaying of it We must slay our selves in a spiritual sense be mortified be crucified with Christ and so offered up a sacrifice to him You will say How is it then required that we offer up our selves a living sacrifice Answ We are never truly alive till we are dead Col. 3.3 Ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God When our flesh is dead our spirit is life Rom. 8. As the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. that which thou sowest so that which thou sacrificest is not quickened except it die Mortificatio est mors viva Alapid 'T is onely the mortified Christian that is a living sacrifice Christians come and sacrifice your selves to the Lord. Come and slay your sacrifices and so offer them up Your sacrifice is then slain as before 't is intimaed when your carnal self your old man is crucified with Christ and the body of sin destroyed Rom. 6. when the wisdome of the flesh is crucified and made to vanish before the wisdome of God when the will of the flesh is subdued and swallowed up of the Will of God when the lusts of the flesh are vanquished and made captives by the Law of God Christians It may be you are willing to make your claim to the Covenant of God but have you made covenant with him you have entred into covenant with God but will you confirm your covenant by sacrifice you will give your selves a sacrifice to the Lord but is your sacrifice slain Is the wisdome of the flesh made foolishness How is it with your carnal wills Is the will of the flesh broken and brought into subjection yielding it self up to the Lord O for an exinanition of wills an emptying them into the Will of God! What wilt thou do What wilt thou have nothing but what God will What the Lord will have me do or avoid or suffer I can no longer say him nay Is this the Will of God my sanctification so 't is mine Is this the Will of God my humiliation so 't is mine Is this the Will of God my tribulation so 't is mine Is God for holiness through Grace so am I. Is God for his own Will so am I this is all the Will I have that the Lord may have his Will of me may be all to me have all from me rule all in me and dispose of all that concerns me How is it with your carnal affections and fleshly lusts are these slain Is your covetousness your sensuality your pride and envy are your carnal joyes and fears and worldly sorrows are these destroyed those wild-fires of passion and fury and rage are these quenched Come put the Knife to the throat of all these and then there 's a sacrifice for God Go and offer it up and let it be A Free-will-offering A Thank-offering 1. A Freewil-offering Offer your selves willingly to the Lord Psal 110. Thy people shal be willing in the day of thy Power O may that glorious day dawn upon us God loves a chearful giver offer
its full weight makes the strength of it appear it layes all things in the Ballance it s the comparing of Reasons for and against the weighing of Arguments and Objections encouragements and discouragements casting the cost as well as the gain particularly In this deliberation there must be a considering 1. What there is in this Obedience 2. What it is attended with that may discourage 1. There must be a considering What there is in this Obedience Or otherwise we resolve upon we know not what Now there are five things in this Obedience Subjection Activity and Industry Integrity Circumspection Spirituality 1. Subjection Servants must be subject must not be at their own wills but at the will of another The heart of man naturally affects Dominion that 's the great controversie of sinners with God Who shall be Lord We are Lords we would be at least we will come no more unto thee Jer. 2.31 Obedience yields that God should be Lord yea and all others also whom he hath made Lords over us The servants of Christ must not be and yet must be the servants of men they must not serve the lusts but must be subject to their righteous Lawes and Commands God must be obeyed and Magistrates Ministers Masters Parents must be obeyed in the Lord and for the Lord yea and they must be when God will have it so the Servants of servants While they must not serve the humours of the greatest they must serve the necessities of the meanest must stoop to the lowest of Offices even to the washing of the feet of the least Disciple All this the Lord expects of them and they must be subject They must not dispute but do his will onely it must be considered that there is a double disputing the will of God There is a disputing whether that which is pretended to be the wil of God be so or no this ought to be done And there is a disputing or questioning that which is granted to be the will of God whether it be fit to be done or safe to be done Is it not better to let it alone What advantage is there in it What reason is there for it No they must not thus dispute this is Reason enough God will have it so Gods will is ever Reason and it must be our Reason It 's enough for thee to say This is that which the Lord hath commanded and I must be subject This is one thing that must be considered I will Obey but can I be Subject 2. Activity and Industry The servant of the Lord must be Active and Industrious Whom he sends into the Vineyard he sends to work and not to sleep The life of a Christian is laborious whilest others are in their beds he must be on his knees whilest others take their Pleasure he must take Pains whilest others take their times now a little and then a little he must sit at it be ever about his Masters business An active spirit is an excellent spirit and t is necessary in a Christian 1. An Active spirit is an Excellent spirit Sluggards are the refuse of the Earth But here it must be considered that there is a double Activity Naturall and Gracious 1. Natural which arises from an innate vigour and vivacity of some mens spirits There needs not industry in such to bring forth action 't is but leaving nature to its course and that will fly high enough of it self It requires more Industry to regulate and sometimes to restrain then to put forth into Action It s more labour for them to rest then to be doing 2. Gracious Which is either Natural Activity managed and improved for God turn'd into a right course running in a right Channel or a Naturally Unactive spirit raised and quickened by grace and Religious Industry This gracious this holy Activity this is the Excellency it is the extract of the spirits and life of all our Parts and graces and will go further and do more high Honour and more abundant service to God and his Gospel then is done by a thousand others An Active Sinner is by accident the worst of men How much service for the Devil will he dispatch in a little time An Active sinner is life and death met together He is all life and yet dead and the more he hath of death because so much of life like poyson in Wine he destroyes the more effectually Yet the evill is not in his Activity but in the matters wherein he is imployed the good mettal or keenes of a Weapon is its Excellency but in a mad mans hand better a wooden then an iron sword An Active Spirit is so Excellent that its pity that ever sin should have the using of it 't were well for Religion if the Devil were a Drone and had no other servants but the Sluggards of the Earth But Activity when set right is of great price in the sight of God It is of great price in the sight of God because it sets a great price upon God Slothfulness puts a slight upon God when the Scriptures have set forth the Magnalia Dei the great things and the deep things of God when the Lord Jesus is evidently set forth as crucified before our eyes as the Propitiation for sin when the preciousness of his blood the tenderness of his bowels the riches of his grace the sufficiency of his righteousness his satisfaction and pardons are all held forth in open sight when the beauties of holiness the joyes of the spirit that peace which passeth all understanding are laid forth to view when the most glorious things are spoken of the City of God Jerusalem which is above when God in his word calls to us Awake sleepers arise sluggards see what 's before you all this may be yours if you will Sloathfulness puts this slight upon all Tush all this is not worth the breaking my sleep for 't is not all worth my labour to seek after my ease and my quiet is better to me then God and all his glory We may best understand the value we put on things by the pains and the cost we are content to be at to purchase them When sinners bestow themselves so upon the world will bear such labour and travell are so constantly so indefatigably industrious in the pursuance of it and withall run such hazards and dangers for it they make it evident enough what rate they put upon it he whose time and his strength whose days and his nights yea whose soul and his hopes must all be laid out in a purchase must all go for a piece of Land or a little money or pleasure we need no other proof what a bargain he thinks this world to be I care not much for this world 't is a vanity a shadow the fashion of it passeth away I hope t is far enough off my heart how ever I am charged with greediness after it But what then mean all the expences of thy time of thy strength
is sin that sins so may it be said of duty It is no more I that do it but Christ that dwelleth in me Though both be the act of the Person both the sin and the duty yet the Principle of the one is Lust the Power of the other is of Christ Christians cannot go through and they dare not set upon a duty without looking up to Christ and leaning upon him for assistance They cannot go through and therefore they will not set forth but it the strength of the Lord. All tâ—eir Acts of Obedience are exhibited and offered up in the name of Christ Their services are their sacrifices to God and Christ is their Altar What is a sacrifice without an Altar Christ is our Altar which sanctifies our gift God looks on all and so do they as nothing worth without Christ God will not accept and therefore they will not offer other then the Lamb for their sacrifice All their acts of Obedience are acknowledged to the praise of Christ It is no more I that do it but the grace of God which was with me Grace does the work and Grace shall carry away the praise Christ is all in the race and therefore on his head the Crown is set Not unto us Lord not unto us but to thy Name be the pra se Not of us and therefore not unto us of him and therefore unto him If I am any thing what others are not if I have done any thing more then others no thank to me and therefore no praise To him be all who is All in all to me Christians Obedience is their walking in Christ Christians Obedience is their walking in the Spirit They have received the Spirit and they walk in the Spirit Gal. 5.16 they have not received the spirit of this world their spirit is not flesh but the Spirit which is of God 1 Cor. 2.12 They are dead to things carnal the spirit of the world is departed they have given up this ghost 'T is the Spirit of the living God that lives in them and in this they live and walk They walk in the Light of the Spirit in the Power of the Spirit the Spirit of the Lord steets their Course and fills their Sails is their Pilot and their Star and their Wind that carries them on When they pray they pray in the Spirit when they hear they hear in the Spirit through the Spirit they mortifie the flesh are crucified to the world they obey they suffer they fight they overcome through the Spirit of the living God that is in them They live in fellowship with the Spirit and by him with the Father and the Son They dwell in the invisible world their acquaintance and converse is in Heaven thither they have access and there they have acceptance thither they have their recourse and thence they have their returns Duties and comforts are the tokens that are passing betwixt Heaven and Earth Their life is Love and Joy and Praise these are the most noble acts of their Obedience and these give Wings to their hearts carry them on more swiftly and more sweetly through all their course Oh how heavily do we drive on how slowly do our Wheels move when the Spirit of the living God is not in the Wheels Oh how dead are our Duties how lame are our walkings what low and poor spirited creatures are we How weak are our hearts how unripe our fruits we do but half do what we do there is no heart in our life we are as bodies without souls whilest our soul is without a Spirit Oh how sad is it with many of us upon this account By our estrangement from God we have even lost our selves we are not what we are because we are no more where he is By our distances from Heaven we are even choaked with the damps of the Earth We are fit for little we prosper in nothing God takes no pleasure and we take no comfort in any thing we do our spirits are so chil'd and benummed within as that we neither make sign in our work not ridance of our way And what are we in our Societies To how little profit do we meet How little heat do we get yea how much do we lose at our brethrens fires We serve often but to damp and cool each others spirits as if it might be no longer said Wo to him that is alone but wo be to him that is in company alone hee 's more warm Christians I solemnly profess I am ashamed of my self and my heart is pained within me to observe how insipid how spiritless how carnal our converses are how often may we meet How long may we sit Christian with Christian ere any thing that savours of the spirit of a Christian comes from us Oh how hard must we strain for a few gracious words How little does come How heartless when it comes How very few of us are there whose ordinary converse speaks us to be men of another world whose business and whose delight lyes above and are in good earnest pressing on towards Heaven How seldom and how short-breath'd are our spiritual discourses How little must suffice How quickly are we diverted to things carnal and sensual Sure 't is our little communion with God that hath thus incarnated and communion of Saints Oh let us live more in the fellowship of the Spirit and we shall have fellowship one with another to better purpose Le ts warm our selves at the Sun le ts dwell more in his Beams and we shall get and give more Light and Heat Thus must it be considered ere we resolve what there is in this Obedience 2. It must be considered What it is like to be attended withall from without What suffering it may cost us what scorn and contempt and reproaches and persecutions of all sorts it 's like to set Earth and Hell upon our backs if carnal counsels and fleshly policies if all the powers of darkness if might and malice can do it this way will be made too hot and too hard for thee Tribulation great tribulation thou must expect and canst not escape and the more strict and circumspect the hotter must thou look thine Assaults will be Professors of Religion that are of the largest size that are not so strict to their Rule but they can dispence with Duty nor so forward in point of Zeal and Activity but they can remit and abate as occasion serves may escape this persecuting world the better but he that will be faithful who ever escape is sure to be made a Prey This also must be well considered I will follow Christ but can I drink of the Cup that he drank of Can I be baptized with the Baptisme the Baptisme of Blood that he was baptized with There are persons who sometimes take up the profession of Religion and resolve all on a sudden they will follow Christ not understanding what there is in it or what Christianity may stand them in who by
established in Heaven and in the Volume of the Book it is written of me My evidence cannot be lost It is recorded in the Court above and enrolled in the sacred leaves of the Word and entred upon the Book of my Conscience and herein I do and will rejoyce Now my soul wipe up thine eyes and go away with Hannah and be no more sad What though mine House be not so with God so happy so prosperous as I could wish What though they be encreased that trouble me and my temptations and afflictions be like the rolling Billows riding on one anothers backs for haste Yet shall my soul be as a rock unmoved and sit down satisfied in the security and amplitude of my portion For God hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure and herein is all my salvation and all my desire And now what remaineth O Lord but that I should spend the remainder of my daies in loving praising and admiring thee But wherewith shall I come before the Lord or bow my self to the most High God What shall I give thee to express my thankfulness though not to requite thy bounty Alas my poor little soul Alas that thou art so little How narrow are thy capacities How disproportionate are thy powers Alas that my voice can reach to no higher a note But shall I do nothing because I cannot do all Lord I resign to thee With the poor Widow I cast my two mites my soul and body into thy Treasury All my powers shall love and serve thee All my members shall be weapons of Righteousness for thee Here is my good will Behold my substance is thy stock mine interest is for thy service I lay all at thy feet There thou hast them they are thine My Children I enter as thy Servants My possessions I resign as thy right I will call nothing mine but thee All mine are thine I can say My Lord and my God and that is enough I thankfully quit my claim to all things else I will no more say My House is mine or my Estate mine I my self am not mine own Yet it is infinitely better for me to be thine then if I were mine own This is my happiness that I can say my own God my own Father And O what a blessed exchange hast thou made with me to give me thy Self who art an infinite Sum for my self who am but an insignificant Cypher And now Lord do thou accept and own my claim I am not worthy of any thing of thine much less of thee But sith I have a Deed to shew I bring thy Word in my hand and am bold to take possession Dost thou not know this hand wilt thou not own this name wilt thou not confirm thine own grant It were infidelity to doubt it I will not disparage the faithfulness of my Lord nor be afraid to averre and stand to what he hath said and sworn Hast thou said Thou art my God and shall I fear thou art mine enemy Hast thou told me Thou art my Father and shall I stand aloof as if I were a stranger I will believe Lord silence my fears and as thou hast given me the claim and title of a Child so give me the confidence of a Child Let my heart be daily kept alive by thy promises and with this staffe let me pass over Jordan May these be my undivided companions and comforters When I go let them lead me when I sleep let them keep me when I awake let them talk with me And do thou keep these things for ever upon the imaginations of the thoughts of the hearts of thy people and prepare their hearts unto thee And let the heart of thy Servant be the Ark of thy Testament wherein the sacred records of what hath passed between thee and my soul may for ever be preserved Amen Thus far my Friend So be it CHAP. XIX An Exhortation to Sinners O Earth earth earth hear the word of the Lord Ye men of this world ye spirits that are in Prison held captive to iniquity under the Prince of this world in a Covenant with Death at an agreement with Hell without Christ Alians from the Commonwealth of Israel strangers from the Covenant of Promise having no hope without God in the world who have said We will not have this man to rule over us let us break his Bonds asunder and cast his Cords from us who are joyned to Idols have chosen you other gods are following after other Lovers who walk after the course of this world according to the Prince of the Power of the Ayr the spirit that now worketh in the children of Disobedience having your conversation in the Lusts of the flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and being still as you were by nature the children of Wrath in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity O ye sons of death ye children of the night and of darkness Hear and your souls shal live to you also is the word of this salvation sent even the strangers and those that are afar off that will lay hold on the Covenant and chuse the thing that pleaseth God these also shal have a name in his house even the glorious name of Sons and Daughters The Lord hath sent a word into Jacob and it shal light upon Edom and Amaleck and the uncircumcised Philistines even as many of them as the Lord our God shal call Act. 2.39 Hearken O people you that are polluted in your blood written in the Earth free among the dead come in let your Covenant with death be made void and your agreement with Hell be disanulled strike a League with the Almighty and your names also shal be written amongst the living in Jerusalem Stand ye before the Lord come and let us reason together Where are you What is your Portion and Inheritance Ye are cursed with a Curse Fire and Brimstone and an horrible Tempest this shall be the portion of your cup Psal 11.6 What are you seeking whither are you travelling After a few years of your vanity are over where must your dwelling be Who can dwell with the devouring fire Who can dwell with everlasting burnings Look before you behold that smoaking Furnace that burning Lake that bottomless Pit that 's gaping for you and at your next step may swallow you up Escape for your lives why will ye dye Turn and live Do you believe the Resurrection from the dead the Judgment to come and the invisible World Is it to the spirit of a man as to the spirit of a beast Doth it perish with his carkase Dieth a Man as a Dogg dieth Dieth a wise man as a fool dieth Fall all things alike to all just and unjust good and bad after this life as well as in it Do you believe the Scriptures Are they but a Fable If you hope they are are you sure they are Dare you venture your souls upon it Whilest the Saints
O the unsearchable Riches of Christ that hee that searcheth all things reveals unto the Saints O the hidden treasures they now discover in this deep Mine To you that beleeve hee is pretious a Praise an Honour all Fair all Glorious and you have seen his Glory as the Glory of the only begotten Sonne of God full of Grace and Truth Again there are marvellous evils as well as good things that by this light are brought to light Sin with all the hidden things of darkness that lay below in those chambers of death the secrets of the evill heart of man Sin appears a wonder to the savingly enlightened soul Exceeding sinful a world of wickedness There 's Death and Hell and the Devil in every sin unkindness unthankfulness folly enmity rebellion spite and the blackness of darkness What once appeared as a pleasure a delight a beauty or at least if an evill yet but a trifle a matter of nothing is become a plague a terrour a burthen a bondage bitterness shame sorrow and such an high provocation that whereas once hee swell'd and murmur'd and cryed out of rigour feverity cruelty in the least punishment of it now hee wonders at the clemency and patience and forbearance of God that such an affront and provocation had not long since turned the whole earth into an Hell Christian thou complainest thou canst not see thou canst not feel thou canst not mourn thou canst not break under all the guilt that lies upon thee thine heart is hard thine eyes are dry not a tear not a groan scarce a sigh will all this evill fetch out from thee O this blinde and sottish minde O this dead and senseless heart what shall I do what would I not do to get mee a melting mourning broken spirit but I cannot I cannot I cannot see I cannot bleed nor break O beg the light of this Holy Spirit and if the sight that that will present thee with of this wonderfull evill do not rend thy heart and turn thy stomack and open all thy sluces and let out thy soul in sighs and groans in shame and sorrow thou mayest then well be a wonder to thy self But be nor discouraged bee not dismayed do not say this Rock will never break this Iron will never melt I may go sighing for sighs mourning after tears groaning after groans but all in vain it will never bee past feeling past feeling sorrow flies still from mee repentance is hid from mine eyes do not thus discourage thy self wait for this spirit open to it and thou shalt see flowing in such streames of self-shaming self-confounding light as shall flow forth in self-abasing self-abhorring streames of tears 3. These marvellous things are revealed with marvellous clearness That is in comparison of what they are to the purblinde world and in comparison of what they themselves once saw They come to see the glory and the beauty and the reality of the wonderful things of God Wee have seen his glory saith the Apostle Joh. 1. The kindness of God our Saviour appeared But we all with open face behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord. 2 Cor 3.18 Out of Zion hath hee appeared in perfect beauty It 's Prophesied Isa 53. of the unbeleeving world that when they should see Christ they should see no beauty in him Strange though hee were all beauty yet they should see him and yet see no beauty That is they shall see him and yet not see him They see not wood for trees What is thy Beloved more than other beloveds VVhat is Christ more than an ordinary man VVhat is the Gospel more than an ordinary Story VVhat is the Spirit What is Truth VVhat is there in this Faith and Love in this Holiness and Righteousness in this Peace of Conscience and Joy of the Holy Ghost VVhat substance is there in them VVhere 's the Glory and wherein is the Excellency of them Which way came the Spirit of the Lord from mee to thee Thou shalt know in that day when thou shalt call to the Mountains to fall on thee and the Rocks to hide thee from the face of God and the Lamb. Wee know whom wee have beleeved Wee know that wee know him Wee speak that which wee know and testify what wee have seen Wee have an Vnction from the Holy one wee know all things God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God Now wee have received not the spirit of this world but the Spirit which is of God that wee might know the things that are freely given to us of God VVee have a clear and certain sight VVee do not see men as Trees walking with our eyes half open wee see men as men Christ as Christ Truth as Truth in its naked lustre and evidence This wee have seen and do testify neither deceiving nor being deceived VVee thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto Babes And as they see Truth and Holiness and Goodness in their wonderful Glory and Beauty so also Folly and Falshood and Sin in its wonderful uglâ—ness and deformiâ—y Sin appears to bee sin to them Rom. 7. Folly to bee folly falshood to bee falshood they see men as men Christ as Christ Truth as Truth Holiness as Holiness and they see beasts as beasts fools as fools sin as sin devils as devils hell as hell They see all things as they are temptations as they are delusions as they are they see what 's under them the hook under the bait the sting in the Locust's tail the warre in the Devils heart carried on under his fawning face Wee are not ignorant of his Devices Sinners cease your wondring at the Saints let them bee no longer for signs and for wonders in Israel cease your wondring at the Saints come and wonder with them Wonder not that they say not as you live not as you run not with you after the same follies and vanities Oh! if ye once come to see what they see you will bee a wonder to your selves Mock not at their blessedness Blessed are their eyes for they see The blinde envy but do not disdain the seeing Say not these men are in a dream or drunken or mad take heed blaspheme not the Holy Spirit call not his light darkneâ—s put not your darkness for light Would you know when these men testifie what they have seen and heard whether they are sober or beside themselves Come and see I say not stand and see you cannot see at that distance you stand come near come in and you shall see see your blindness first if ever you will see the light Oh! bewail your darkness and seek light seek and you shall see it Son of David have Mercy on mee Why what wilt thou man Lord that I may receive my sight Shall that bee thy cry O pitty thy blinde soul O pray
for eyes They that see pitty the blinde Wee have a little Sister that hath no breasts wee have a poor Brother yea a world of them that have no eyes What shall we do for our poor brethren in the day that they shall bee spoken for Oh! bee eyes to thy blinde bee a light to thy dark souls let them that dwell in darkness see thy great light Sinners those whom you persecute do thus pitty do thus pray for you Lord that their eyes might bee opened will you say Amen to their prayers or will you say Lord regard not their word wee desire not the knowledge of thy waies Christians bee marvels You that have seen marvellous things bee marvellous persons set the world a wondring for some thing Let your light shine let the light which hath shined into your hearts shine forth in all your paths let the Spirit of Light within you bee a Spirit of Glory resting upon you Once you were darkness but now are yee light in the Lord Walk as Children of the light Bee yee holy harmless the Children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked Generation amongst whom yee shine as lights in the World Beclouded Christian thou goest on bemoaning and bewailing thy self complaining that thou art still blinde the light hath shined into thy darkness but thy darkness comprehendeth it not thine eye is yet but tender at least and thou canst see but little but little of Christ the Sun is but as a sparke to thee but little of sin that Mountain looks yet but as a Mole hill It is neither clear nor dark neither night nor perfect day thou hopeedst that long e're this thy scales would have fallen off the vail would have been removed but they abide upon thee thou waitest for light but behold obscurity for brightness but thou walkest in darkness thou goest on adding darkness to darkness the darkness of sorrow to the dimness of sight Thou fearest that the Gospel is hid from thee thou doubtest 't is still night because 't is not yet noon with thee But hearken as little as thou seest of Christ doest thou see so much that thou prizest and lovest and cleavest to him above all as little as thou seest of sin doest thou see so much that thou loathest and shunnest it above all things doest thou walke in that little light thou hast dost thou love long wait cry for the light Send forth thy light and thy truth lift up the light of thy countenance Sun of Righteousness shine upon mee why are the wheels of thy Chariots so long a coming when Lord Make haste my Beloved O might I once see thy face as the Sun looking over the Mountains Is this thy voice are these the breathings of thy soul Bee of good comfort these are the glimmerings and groanings of that Holy Spirit within thee which hath already delivered thee from darkness and will bring thee forth into his marvellous light thou shalt know if thou follow on to know the Lord. Arise shine thy light is come the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Though yet as to thy sense it bee neither clear nor dark neither night nor perfect day in the evening there shall bee light 2 As a Spirit of Holiness and Sanctification hee is given as an Holy Spirit and as a Sanctifying Spirit therefore Sanctification is called the Sanctification of the Spirit 2 Thes 2.13 he comes to change us into his own nature to make us partakers of his holiness hee is a Refiner's fire and Fullers sope Mal. 3.2 to purge and work and wash off the filth and corruption of our natures What it is said hee shall bee to the Church Isa 4.4 A Spirit of Judgement and a Spirit of Burning to wash away the filth of the Daughters of Zion and to purge the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof a Spirit of Judgement that is in the Rulers of Israel stirring them up to do Justice and execute Judgement that so the guilt of blood may bee taken away Isa 32.15,16 and a Spirit of Burning that is in the hearts of the people of Israel to consume and destroying the inward lusts of their hearts that no more such wickedness bee committed amongst them This hee is to every Saint A Spirit of Judgement to give Sentence against their Lusts to condemn them to the fire these must bee cast out to the fire with them away with them get yee hence yee Sons of the Bond-woman you may not bee Heirs with the Sons of the Free-woman The Spirit of the Lord first discovers and convinces of sin judges betwixt light and darkness grace and sin and then gives sentence away with these Lusts they may not bee suffered to live A Spirit of Burning to execute the sentence to consume them in the fire The Spirit of Sanctification is a spirit of Mortification Rom. 8.13 If yee through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body It is the Spirit that kills the Flesh profiteth nothing The Spirit implants the Soul into Christ gives it an Interest in his death brings it under the influence of his death Christus crucifixus est Christus crucifigens 'T is the death of Christ that is the death of sin these Theeves are Crucified with him Rom. 6.6 Our old man is Crucified with Christ that the body of sin might bee destroyed that henceforth wee should no longer serve sin Hell knew not what they did when they Crucified Christ Death with all its Armies were put to death with him The Spirit raises up another party in the soul a party against a party an army against an army brings Grace in to take up arms against sin Grace doth not onely fight against sinne but is in the very nature of it the death of sinne as the Generation of a new is the Corruption of the old form Humility is pride dead meekness is sinful passion and frowardnesse dead patience is impatience slain The Spirit excites and stirs up the soul against sin sets it a praying against it the Spirit of Grace is a Spirit of Supplication fetches down Hail-stones and Thunder bolts from Heaven to destroy these Amorites sets a watch against it presses the soul to deal wisely with it to keep it low by cutting off all provision from the flesh restraining and keeping it short of all those fleshly objects which would keep it in heart and so it 's starved to death It is true our greatest wisdome watchfulness abstinence self-denial and all external means alone will fall short of killing one lust it is the Spirit that killeth without it the flesh profiteth nothing all external attempts for the mortification of the flesh are but a fleshly mortification but if yee through the Spirit do mortifie pray in the Spirit watch in the Spirit curbe and keep short and keep under this body still taking in the assistance of the Spirit then it shall dye Christian thou livest in a weary Land and thou hast but a weary
temptations they shut their eyes and stop their ears they wil not see they will not believe Oh what losses do they sustain how many Sabbaths are lost how many Sermons are lost how many reproofs counsels corrections are lost a Gospel lost and souls thereby like to bee lost for ever oh what prodigies are they become under all this sin and misery and yet merry jolly laughing and singing and sporting and feasting and braving it out as if nothing ail'd them Feeling nothing of all that is come upon them and fearing nothing of all that is coming Warn them reprove them beseech them 't is all but preaching to a stone It may bee you have sometimes wondred to see a company of thieves in prison to bee drinking and carousing and milking merry when they know that in a few daies they must bee brought out and hanged When thou wondrest at these wonder at thy self What bitter complaints do wee sometimes hear even from the best of Saints oh this hard heart oh this stubborn spirit I cannot mourn I cannot stoop I cannot submit Isa 63.17 Why hast thou hardned our heart from thy fear Or why hast thou left us or given us up to an hard heart why hast thou not softened and humbled and broken us thou hast humbled us and wee are not humbled broken us and wee are not broken thou hast broken our land broken our peace broken our backs but the stone is not yet broken oh for one breach more Lord our hearts our hearts let these bee once broken our streets mourn the Cities of our solemnities mourn the wayes of Sion mourn oh when wilt thou give us a mourning spirit Oh what sorrow-bitten souls are the Saints for want of sorrow I mourn Lord I lament I weep but 't is because I cannot mourn or lament as I should If I could mourn as I ought I could bee comforted if I could weep I could rejoyce if I could sigh I could sing if I could lament I could live I die I dye mine heart dies within mee because I cannot cry I cry Lord but not for sin but for tears for sin I cry Lord my calamities cry my bowels cry my bones cry my soul cries my sins cry Lord for a broken heart and behold yet I am not broken The Rocks rent the Earth quakes the Heavens drop the Clouds weep the Sun will blush the Moon bee ashamed the foundations of the earth will tremble at the presence of the Lord but this heart will neither break nor tremble O for a broken heart If this were once done might my soul have this wish thenceforth my God might have his Will what would bee hard if my heart were tender Labour would bee easie pains would bee a pleasure burthens would bee light Neither the Command nor the Cross would bee any longer grievous nothing would bee hard but sin Fear where art thou come and plough upon this Rock Love where art thou come and thaw this Ice come and warm this dead lump come and enlarge this straitned spirit then shall I run the way of his Commandements Oh Brethren how little how very little of this tenderness is there to bee found amongst the most of Christians The sacrifice of God is a broken heart Oh how far must the Lord go to finde himself such a Sacrifice wee do but cast stones up to Heaven when wee lift up our hearts 'T is a wonder that such hearts as wee carry do not break themselves that our marble weeps not that if nothing else will do it our hardness doth not make us relent that wee should so labour under and complain of and yet not bee sick of the Stone Broken hearts yeilding and relenting spirits tender consciences Oh where are they afraid of sin tender of transgressing or mourning under it when shall it once bee our lusts no more broken our pride our passion our envy our earthliness no more broken So venturous on temptation so bold on sin such liberty taken to transgress such mincing and palliating and excusing of sin as wee finde Is this our brokenness wee are tender 't is true but of what of dishonouring God of abusing Grace of neglecting Duty of defiling Conscience of vvounding of our Souls No 't is of our flesh that wee are so tender tender of labour tender of trouble tender of our carkasses of our credits of our Names and reputations a tender shoulder a tender hand a tender foot they can bear nothing nor do nothing nothing can touch our flesh nothing can touch our Idols our ease or our estates but wee shrink and smart and are put to pain God may bee smitten and wee feel it not the Gospel may bee smitten the Church may bee smitten conscience may bee smitten and it moves us not Wee can fear an affliction fear a reproach Oh did wee so much fear a temptation or a sin wee cannot want bread but wee feel it wee cannot want cloathes or an house or a friend but wee feel it Wee cannot want our sleep our quiet our pleasure our respects from men but wee feel it any thing that pinches upon our flesh pierces our hearts Wee cannot pine or languish in our bodies but wee feel it a feaver or an ague or a consumption or a dropsie or any bodily sickness Oh it makes us sick at heart a froward yoak-fellow an unthrifty servant an ill neighbour a scoffe a sleight cannot bee born but Oh! how much sin can bee born while our flesh will bear nothing Oh! how can conscience bear and never complain Christians consider when our flesh must be thus tendred what ever come of it must be tenderly fed must have soft rayment soft lodging soft usage deal gently with it though to maintain it Conscience must bee racked and wracked and wasted When our Wills cannot bee crossed our appetites cannot bee denied but a tumult follows the soul is in an uproar and conscience mean while must be denied rated and must go away in silence When the Word works no more when the prints of it are not received the power of it is resisted when the rod works no more when our stripes make no sign when the lashes on our backs fall all besides our hearts when wee remain so vain and so wanton so wilful and so carnal and so earthly after the Lord hath been preaching and whipping of us into a better frame when wee stand upon our terms keep our distances our animosities our heats and heighths of spirit our censurings our quarrellings one with another Christian with Christian Professour with Professour after the Lord hath been beating us together to make us friends and all to learn us more humility and charity Is this our brokenness is this our tenderness when upon any the Lords rougher dealing with us spitting in our faces throwing us on our backs trampling us in the dirt wee are yet no more brought on our knees Is this our brokenness when the Lord hath been awakening us out of sleep putting his