always in its Vigor in your breast which is 4. The exalted Degree and Eternal Duration both of the Rewards and Punishments of the world to come The wicked shall go away into Everlasting Punishment But the Righteous into Life Eternal Math. 25. 46. Consider my Brother you cannot hold your hand in the fire which burns on your Hearth for one hour without such Anguish as you reckon intolerable How can you then dwell with everlasting Burnings And this in utter Darkness in company with other howling desperadoes and mocking Devils Where is our sense and our self-love when we do not strive to escape this place of Torment For it is the amazing aggravation of these miseries that they never end How doleful a thought is it that after all the time we can think of is spent there will still be as much torture to come to the damned as at the First moment in which they entered into it Let not such a thought as this pass off hastily my Brother but give your mind leisure to consider it till it kills the very thought and desire of sinful injoyments which are but for a moment Suppose therefore that a nimble Writer did set himself for one whole day to advance the bigest summ in Numeration that he was able How vast would the number of Years be that he would set down before Night every single figure that he made towards the close of his Labour would contain an inconceivable term of time and the whole summ would utterly astonish us Now I would ask any one who beleives a Life to come whether of these two conditions is to be chosen either to live threescore and ten years the common Age of man in the love and service of God and then to enjoy all desirable Blessings for all those Millions of years which would be contained in that summ before mentioned Or on the other hand To live according to our foolish and extravagant Will for the space of Seventy years and then to ly in flames and exquisite tortures for such a vast and astonishing term of Years as the aforesaid Arithmetician had set down In this case every one would speedily determine for the service of God and the blessed Hope that attends it And yet this is nothing of a parallel case to Eternity For tho' not onely that one man but every person in the World added summ to summ throughout their whole Life and if all the Angels good and bad threw in all the Numbers that they were able to swell the prodigious Account to the utmost Advance they could and after this double and treble the whole to the utmost that your mind can imagine Yet still there is more in this one word Eternity than all this And we may hence learn what wonders a lively Faith in the Gospel of our Lord would be able to do were it duely improved and excited It would not only remove Mountains but the whole World when ever it stood in our way to Heaven and we should with great scorn and indignation say what should I be advantaged if I gain'd the whole World and lost my immortal Soul by the bargain Fix your mind seriously on these things my Brother till you find your heart affected with the meditation and then direct your Soul with fervor to the Throne of Grace and say O Blessed God who art the Light and Life and Bliss of all thy Creatures vouchsafe I beseech thee to pity and pardon me a vile Creature that have long lived in darkness and folly and Unbelief How little have I considered the weighty things of thy Law and the dismal consequences of transgressing it I have been blinded and hardned by unbelief and inconsideration and the love of this World and have not duely deny'd my sinful Lusts and Passions nor faithfully employ'd thy Talents O Lord vouchsafe to pardon all my past enormities thro' the Blood of attonement shed by our Lord Jesus Christ whom it pleased thee to appoint as a propitiation for our Sins and a mediator for Sinners And be pleased of thy goodness to determine my Soul unalterably for thy Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof in opposition to all the allurements of the World the Flesh and the Devil And grant that thro' the gracious conduct of thy Blessed Spirit I may daily advance in all grace and may overcome all the temptations of things seen by a firm Belief of things invisible O Lord vouchsafe to settle and envigorate my faith in the Eternity of those rewards and Punishments which thou hast been pleased to annex to our good or Evil deeds and make me with earnestness and constancy to do good and eschew Evil that I may so live to thee whilst I live that I may dy to thee when I dy and may be thine to all Eternity thro' our Lord Jesus Christ to whom with thee O Father and the eternal Spirit be all Blessing Honour Glory and Power ascribed by Angels and Men for evermore Amen Supposing therefore my Brother as in charity I must that you will rather chuse to live or dy in the most painful and wretched outward circumstances than to renounce your God and Saviour and part with your Religion and the hope of Eternal Life through it Your next care must be to walk worthy of that Holy and Venerable name that you bear that is of a Christian That the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ be not blasphemed by the Heathen by reason of our evil deeds but that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven You are reputed to have been brought up in the School of Christ and unbeleivers will be prying into your actions to see what there is in Christianity above other Religions and will judge of it according to what they observe in you be it good or bad O what a motive is this to the strictest Vertue and Piety Since your Lord and Master will be accounted a Divine and Blessed Saviour or a base cheat and Impostor according to your good or bad behaviour Yea and some of those Infidels who might have been brought over to your Religion by your singular Piety will assuredly be hardened against it by your looseness and debauchery So that here are two of the most constraining considerations to induce you to holiness of Life besides those other which have been already laid before you which ought to constrain you to shun all appearance of Evil and to make you careful to shew before an unbeleiving People what Purity meekness Sobriety Patience Charity and integrity our holy Religion teaches and produces Oh! dare not swear lye curse or cheat or to be drunk passionate clamororous or abusive But in meekness and patience possess ye your Souls as having your conversation in Heaven and your hearts set on things above And then God will in his time either remove you to your own Land or what 's better to his heavenly Kingdom In the contemplation of which you may humbly
Enjoyments of which I beseech thee in thy due time to restore me and make me to adorn the holy profession of a Christian in all righteousness and and true holiness And during my present Want of those gracious institutions vouchsafe O Lord to communicate the riches of thy Grace to me in such other ways and means as to thine infinite Wisdom shall seem good that I may not be as a dead branch broken off from the true Vine but may now and ever be accounted of the number of thy true Israel thy beloved people in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for whose sake vouchsafe to here me and accept me together with these my unworthy Prayers in whose blessed Name and words I humbly conclude them Our Father which c. In the next place I desire you to consider the awfulness solemnity and strictness of your Christian Vows made in your Baptism and renewed a fresh if you have indeed lived as a Christian at the Holy Table of our Lord. It is not a light matter to make a Promise to the Almighty Soveraign of the World but to make Solemn Vows to him before chosen Witnesses and in the face of a Christian Congregation and to seal this in the Blood of Christ that blood which is of infinite worth and which shews the greatest Love and Pity to us that ever was seen in the World which has a vertue to wash away Sin and to open the Kingdom of Heaven to such as are purified thereby How Sacred how strict how tremendous are such Vows And how sorely will our Righteous God avenge every wilful Violation and slight of them This is called a trampling on Christ's blood and the sorest punishment is threatned to such transgressions especialy to such as turn Renegado's and deny this Faith into which they were Baptized in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost because they count the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing they count the Lord Jesus Christ an Impostor and a wicked cheat and consequently his blood vile and base and a Covenant with him a despicable and hateful thing to be renounced and abandoned And they do despight to the spirit of Grace they treat that Holy gracious and Eternal Spirit with Scorn and Hatred tho' it be that Spirit which alone can prepare us for Eternal Salvation So that this is the most wretched and desperate Case that we can imagine for it follows Vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord. They shall feel the inutterable wrath of an Almighty God in it's most horrible Execution upon them for ever except they deeply Repent You have all this Hebr. 10. 28 29 30. Where it is also added in the next verse It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God So dreadful indeed that the wise and good Men of all Ages have chosen rather to be Sawn a sunder or Torn with wild Beasts or give their Bodies to be broil'd and exposed to all the Miseries that men could invent or inflict than to deny their Faith and thereby fall under the Vengeance of Almighty God to all Eternity And the least grain of Faith must needs constrain us all to do the like thro' the grace of God for what proportion is there betwixt the Anger of a frail man like our selves who can but hurt our bodys and that but for a little while and the displeasure of an Eternal and Omnipotent God who can punish us not only with all bodily tortures but with such horror and desolation of Soul as far exceeds them and that not only for Millions of Millions of Ages but time without End Consider therefore my Brother that you have devoted your self entirely to God thro our Lord Jesus Christ to your Life's end And that to do otherwise will be the blackest Perjury Sacrilege and Apostacy So that your Eternal Hope leanes on your upright discharge of this contract made with God your Saviour in this solemn transaction of the Baptismal Covenant And be you well assured That there is Salvation in no other Person but in that of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And that you may cleave stedfastly to him with all your Soul in Profession and in Practice let me desire you to consider these few things 1. That our Blessed Saviour proposes nothing to us in order to our Salvation but what is Excellent Admirable and Advantagious in it self To love God above all to beleive and trust in him who came to lead us from Sin and Distruction to love our Brethern as our selves to Pity and Pray for our Enemies and to live soberly and honestly in the course of our Lives how sweet and lovely are these things which are set to keep us from brutal Lusts and infernal passions to lift up our Souls to the likeness of God and the dignity of holy Angels 2. Consider that our Blessed Lord and Saviour will be ready to assist you by his holy Spirit in all the work that he requires at your hands He will help you to subdue your corruptions to conquer temptations to bear afflictions and in short to pass undefiled thro' this present World and to attain the blessedness of the other He has assured us that he will as readily give his holy Spirit for those ends to such as dnely seek him as ever Parent gave a bit of Bread to his own Child crying to him for hunger Luke 11. 9 10 11 12 13. See also Ezek. 36. from the 25 verse to the end of the Chapter 3. Consider that the term of our present Life is very uncertain and at the utmost very short Whether we live well or ill we shall soon finish our Course The mirth of wicked People is but short at the best and the Labors and sufferings of good People are but short at the worst We shall soon have done with this probational Life for our days upon Earth are but as a shadow 1 Chron. 29. 15. And there is this vast difference in the present course of things between good and bad people That the wicked Mans pleasures dye in the enjoyment and inward darkness and regret springs up in their room if he has any sense left But the good man's Difficulties are lessen'd every moment and there is an eternal foundation of comfort laid hereby The wicked person has a little Sunshine in the morning as Sodom had and like it is suddenly overwhelm'd by a shower of Fire and Brimstone And the faithful Christian has a little bad Weather perhaps in the morning but he is riding out of it into perfect serenity and Bliss The one says with Jonathan I have tasted a little Honey and I must dye for it The other says with St. Paul I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth there 's laid up for me a Crown of Righteousnss 2 Tim. 4 7. And this leads me to another considerration which I beseech you to keep up
A LETTER OF Advice and Comfort TO THE English Captives Who Suffer SLAVERY IN Foreign Parts By Josiah Woodward D. D. Minister of Popler LONDON Printed for VVilliam Hawes at the Rose in Ludgate-street 1700. To such of the English Captives Who Suffer SLAVERY IN Foreign Parts IN TO Whose hands this Paper shall come Grace and Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ My dearly beloved Brother THe all-wise Providence of God hâ—â—ing cast you into a 〈…〉 from your ow◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you cannot enjoy th◠〈…〉 Ordinancâ—◠〈…〉 manner 〈…〉 Counery Leâ—◠〈…〉 of assistance in the great concerns of your Soul like Sheep without a Shepherd or think your selves altogether forgotten and unpitied by your Country-men I have sent this Letter to you in the Bowels and Affection of a Minister of Christ to assist and comfort you under your present sufferings and to further you in the attainment of everlasting Rest earnestly Praying that the Grace and Blessing of God may accompany these few lines to your effectual Edification and Salvation in order to which I humbly entreat you seriously to peruse the same In the first place Let me beg of you to consider the righetous hand of God in your present confinement and affliction and to lay your hand upon your mouth to suppress all murmuring and discontent at his Providence For no man living has any Reason to complain against God's Government Nor have you the least ground for it in this case whether your past Life has been spent profitably or unprofitably If the former be your happy Case if you have advanced in the Knowledge and practice of all Christian Dutys as you ought to have done It may be God has providentially disposed your habitation for a time among the Heathen that they might see and admire the Holy Doctrines and Heavenly Lives of Christians and be brought over by your Example to own and embrace the Christian Faith as St. Paul was sent in Chains to Rome that the Gospel might flourish there thro' his Bonds And if so you have great Honour done you as Gods Messingers and you have the happy opportunity of obtaining the infinite Reward promised to such as turn many to Righteousness But if on the contrary your past Life has been very barren and unfruitful of all good very negligent of the Ordinances of the Gospel and very guilty of sundry impieties and Immoralities God here graciously gives you a time to repent and reform before you go down to remediless Torments You have then no manner of reason to complain of hard dealing from the hand of God but on the contrary to admire his goodness and Patience and to be lifted up in Love and devotion to him who hath spared your Soul from Death even from eternal Death and destruction which is justly deserved by every Sin and is dismaily challenged and provoked by a continued course of sin So that in this Case which is I fear the most usual the good providence of God seems to intend a double Kindness to you by way of correction First to make you sensible of your great Sin and folly in slighting and neglecting the Light Grace and Mercy of the Holy Gospel That you might now by sad experience be taught how miserable it is to be destitute of Christian Sermons Sabaths and Sacraments To want the food of spiritual Life the Light of revealed Doctrins and the conversation of holy and exemplary Christians That you might now long after the publick Service of God and above all things relish Communion with him thro' his Son Jesus Christ And Secondly an other reason of Gods good providence in this your affliction may be to withdraw you from your former evil Courses and to stop that fierce carrier in Sin which might perhaps in the former posture of things have been morally remediless Had you had your full Liberty your old companions your former plentiful and unafflicted State you would perhaps have gone on still in those Sins to which these circumstances induced you before And so you would have daily increased in guilt and hardness of Heart But now the scene is quite altered and all things appear new to invite you to serve God in newness of Life We may well suppose that these were the kind intentions of the gracious Providence of God in this present dispensation because we are assured from his own word That he corrects us for our Profit Heb. 12. v. 5. And that he dealeth with us herein as a Father with his Children And when you have thorowly learnt these Lessons which were the cause of your being brought into the School of Affliction you may then comfortably hope that God will find out means that his Banished be not finally expelled and that he will bring you to sâ—e your own Land again when you know well how to value and improve the mercies of it As a Gentleman used to keep little Birds in Cages till they could sing tunably and artificially and then turn'd them loose into his Grove when they had perfectly gotten their proper Lessons I Therefore entreat you my Brother to look back seriously upon your past Life and bring every part of it as near as possible to the Tryal of Gods Holy Commandments Inquire impartially by what Rules you have lived from what Principles you have acted and by what Motives you have been led whether you have lived after the Will of God or after your own Hart's desire and whether your Soul has been chiefly sway'd by thelove of God or of this present World And where you perceive any marks of your past Guilt rash ness and unthankfulness say with the Prophet Amos. 7. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him And then also retiring to the most convenient Place that your present condition affords pour out your Soul to God in earnest prayer and say A Prayer O Most wise and good God I humbly acknowledge that all thy ways towards me a most sinful Creature have been infinitly righteous and good Thou in thy faithfulness hast afflicted me here that I might not perish for ever Enable me I pray thee by thy grace to answer the merciful Ends of this Afflicted which thou hast brought upon me Lead me O God of all grace unto unfeigned Repentance for all the Iniquitys and unprofit ableness of my past Life Forgive methat I have loved darkness more than Light and neglected the ministration of thy holy word and Sacraments and have been more concerned for the things of this Life than that which is to come I desire with the deepest sorrow to lament my rejecting of thy Son my grieving of thy Spirit and neglecting that great Salvation which has long been offered me in thy Gospel O Lord vouchsafe to give me Repentance and Pardon of all my grievous offences thro' our exalted Prince and Saviour And make me ever hereafter to live righteously soberly and godly as it becometh thy holy Gospel to the blessed Ordinances and