if thou canst is it any thing but Compulsion by fear of being damn'd without them that causeth thy choice Sinner I would have thee know 'T is from Christ working in thee by his Spirit that thou turnest from sin so as thou dost That thy Will to sin is dead even so much as a Tree in Winter That thou chusest Christ and his spirit tho' but for their Benefits and but on Compulsion Without divine Drawing thou hadst never come so far it self But wo be to thee that ever thou wast born if thou art not drawn and dost not come farther If thou dost not come into real and gracious Marriage-union unto the Lord Jesus Christ O go Labour Pray and Wait to be enabled to say the four particulars that follow as ever thou wouldst get able to say I am passed from death to Life P. 1. I now see the Necessity of Vnion to Christ and unto God by Christ God and Man were at first United closely tho' not inseparably Sin undid us by Disuniting us By destroying the Relation and Kin we had unto God and of Children making us Aliens and Strangers Religion is nothing at all less than Re-Union unto God. A return unto our first Kin and Relation unto Him. Such Kin as that of Father and Child such Relation as that of Friend and Friend Now hereunto no return can be made but by Union first made unto Jesus Christ Joh. 1.12 Such an Union to him as that which is betwixt Husband and Wife betwixt Head and Members bewixt Root and Branches betwixt Foundation and Stones built on it These similitudes the Holy Scripture useth and he that takes them for insignificant cyphers blasphemeth P. 2. I now see the Nature of this so necessary Vnion unto Jesus Christ 'T is the foresaid Relation and Kin by mutual Consent and Covenant made By threefold Consent God is willing that his Son Christ as Mediator should become so nearly related unto us Christ's will is always one and the same with his Fathers and He is declared most willing We sinful Fugitives and Aliens are never willing till infinite Grace by almighty Power makes us willing Nor ever are we took into the Relation we speak of till we are made so And are brought to an hearty Consent unto the Marriage-Covenant Which consent is indeed saving Faith. Consenting thereunto is believing and believing on is marrying unto Christ Jesus as appears Joh. 1.12 c. And this great work being done we are instantly a-Kin unto our blessed Lord. Related as near as a Wife is unto an Husband I and Related unto God as a Wife is unto her Husband's Father Christ MEDIATOR is our Husband and God is Our Father by the Law of grace My Father and your Father saith that gracious Husband Joh. 20.17 P. 3. I now see what that Covenant of Grace is whereto our consent given doth make the foresaid Vnion It consists I see in Promises and Demands Promises of good things unto us and Demands of duty from us The Promised Mercies I comprise in four 1. GRACE Both Grace Justifying and Absolving from the guilt of sin and Grace Sanctifying or Abolishing by degrees the Power of sin Heb. 8.10 12. 2. BREAD I mean all the necessary good things of this Life Enough of them to bear our charges to Heaven 1 Tim. 4.8 3. GLORY That is both Excellency and Eternity of all desirable good in the next World. 2 Tim. 4.8 1 Pet. 1.4 4. CHILDREN'S BLESSING An entail of good things for our sakes tho' not our merits upon our Children Rom. 11.28 Exod. 20.6 Acts 2.39 The Duty demanded is also considerable in four particulars 1 REPENTANCE An Heart-renting for sin and from it A First one necessary unto our acceptation into a Justifyed state an After-one continued necessary unto our sense of Justification and unto our daily Pardons Act. 2.38 Luk. 13.3 2 FAITH Assent unto the Gospel Revelations Consent unto the Precepts Reliance upon the promises Act. 16.31 Mar. 16.16 3. NEW OBEDIENCE Conformity of the whole man unto the whole Rule of the Gospel in Natural Civil and Religious actions 2 Thes 1.8 1 Pet. 4.17 4 PERSEVERANCE Or strict and precise adherence unto that conformity in all times places companies and conditions unto Lifes end Rev. 2.10 Our Holy Baptism and the Lord's supper do both Encourage our belief of God's fulfilling the promises of this Covenant and Engage us on our parts to fulfil the Demands of it in the strength of Christ And they would of all Ordinances be the most helpful if the Nature Ends and Vses of them were duly Taught by Ministers and Learn'd by People P. 4. I now feel my hearts free and full consent to this said Covenant of grace Unto the Acceptation of it's promised Benefits for my only Portion and Enjoyment and unto the Acceptation of its demanded Duties for my only Business and Employment in this world Blessed be free grace I do accept both And my Soul that was so far from God is made nigh The Objections of my mind and oppositions of my will are routed Grace in Christ has conquer'd my Enmity against God as Holy and my fear of Him as my Enemy His offered Son I have Accepted his Person with his Benefits I have taken Him for my Husband Teacher Saviour Ruler As the only Mediator to Reconcile God unto me and to Communicate grace to me from God. Now is Father Son and Spirit my enjoyed Portion and my served Lord again I have entred into an Oath and a Curse and bound my self at my everlasting peril Him only to serve Him only to enjoy With engaged heart with opened mouth with a fix'd hand and seal I have obliged my self to have no other God but Him no Mediator but his Son no Ruler but his Spirit no Rule but his Word The Word of his ever Blessed Covenant well ordered in all things and sure which is all my salvation and all my desire Oh Reader I have heard of a sinner who twice heard a Voice from Heaven as he thought it saying Make haste make haste and yet he a prodigious Adder died a Sinner Be it far from thee to be so obstinate Wilt thou tell me Obj. 1. That I mistake thee and that thou art no such great Sinner though it be thy lot to have been drawn away by ill Company and to have miscarryed of late Answ Alas alas if so blind and senseless what hope of thee However the Lord who is only able shall be intreated to make thee Understand 1. Every sinner is a great one for no sin is small the least of sins against God deserves Death eternal 2. By Nature thou art a Child of Wrath and Enemy of God. 3. All thy Life of Vnregeneracy has been very sinful a dead and damning Life 4. Thou art an English despiser of Christ and that is the worst sort in the World For according to the degrees of spiritual Light such are the degrees of obstinate Rebellion against it Obj.
A CALL TO SINNERS SUCH As are under Sentence OF DEATH AND SUCH As are under any Prospect of it FROM The Long-suffering and Gracious but most Righteous GOD. By his Servant Daniel Burgess at the Pious Request of an Excellent Person â—f God peradventure will give them Repentance 2 Tim. 2.25 LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside and Râ—bert Gibbs at the Golden Ball in Chancery-Lane 1689. To my dear Children My Hopes and my Fears THE first Adam's sin came into You thro' my Loins O may the second Adam's grace come into you thro' my means My God and the God of my Father's grant it To Him have I Dedicated you And for Him would I Educate you I am Called unto much work for Others It's little that I can do distinctly for You. Be it your Care to make Yours what is done for many Others Thus publickly I command you to read this Call as wrote singly for your selves 'T is possible some other Parents may from so mean an example Charge their Children And this my Paper may speak unto you when I am gone from you You know they are many who think my Days on Earth will be few And that You must Die Young or Live Orphans However that be order'd by God hasten ye to make sure your Peace with Him. Up and be doing O precious Souls and dear as mine own The God of my own Mercies Comforts and Hopes be with you Amen A Call to SINNERS UNDER Sentence of DEATH and under any Prospect of approaching Death O Blessed God that hast called me to lay my Paper to the Grave and to intreat the Dead to Rise to Argue with Rocks and Perswade very Mill-stones to be Saints O take the Work into thine own hand half a word of thine will make every Reader a Sincere Convert and Sound Believer Lord if thou wilt thou canst make this Call like the Trump of the Archangel to raise Millions of Dead Souls out of their Graves Amen Amen for Jesus sake Amen Miserable O miserable but not yet Helpless Sinner THE Lusts thou hast served all thy former days cannot now give thee one pleasant Thought in these thy last days The World thou hast Idolized cannot save thee from or in thy approaching Death The Devil whom thou hast Imitated and Obeyed longs to be sent to fetch thee to Hell. The God whom thou hast not sought unto for thy Peace with Him is resolved to wait but a very little longer for thy seeking unto Him. Yet so Kind is his holy Nature so Compassionate is his holy Jesus so long-suffering is his holy Spirit that by my hand He gives thee once more the Offer of his Pardon Grace and Glory He commands me to try if any or all of these ten Cousiderations will awaken thy Soul. C. 1. The very last Week and Day of thy Life is given thee to prepare for Eternity as well as all thy former ones I and the mispending of these will be a greater sin than the mispending of all thy former Weeks and Days hath been It will be a kind of sinning over all former sins again and adding unto the same Who can say thy Day of Grace is over And who can doubt but our last sins be still incomparably our worst sins C. 2. The very minute it self wherein Thou beginnest thy true Conversion God doth begin thy true Salvation Thou art under the Sentence of Condemnation not onely by the Law but by the Gospel When thou dost begin to Convert read Luk. 15.20 And he arose and came to his father But when he was yet a great way off his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him C. 3. The very Call that in this Paper God sendeth unto thee is a probable argument that God hath saving Grace in store for thee Methinks God hath said to me Go preach to the poor condemned Malefactors for I have some people among them and Hell shall not have all that die on the Gallows C. 4. The very Book of God which directs me to all I put thee upon is full of Proofs that thou mayst be saved however wicked thou hast been if even now thou dost not Deny or Delay Gods merciful Call sent thee The Heaven is not so full of Stars as Old and New Testament of Proofs hereof In the Old Testament Manasseh is a famous Instance of saving Grace to Sinners most notorious The Thief dying on the Cross is another recorded in the New Testament One of 97 years old was converted by John Rogers And Richard Rogers used to say of John I will never despair of any man for John Rogers's sake so wicked a wretch John had bin C. 5. The very Nature Decrees and Words of God make it certain that Vnbelief dishonours God more than all other Sins and Faith more honours him than all other Duties St. Austin says Judas sinn'd worse by his unbelieving sorrow for his Sin than by all his sins that he sorrowed for And such another Phoenix saith That right Faith honoureth God more than an uniform intire Obedience to the whole Law in Innocency could do C. 6. The very Pardon and Salvation of thy perishing Soul is a Work God has more Delight in than he has in all the Works of the whole Creation Seek Sinner seek seek and fear not that God will deny unto thee the thing he delighteth to give unto all that do duly seek C. 7. The very Hope that in his Gospel-way God will save thee and Confidence that through Christ he can do it without any loss of his own glory is no small Honour unto God I and 't is that without which thou canst never rightly Believe on Jesus Christ and therefore never Do any thing pleasing unto God. C. 8. The very Soul of thine which is certainly and extremely corrupted and cursed is not worse than many of the Souls which are now in Heaven once were Gods Son hath Redeemed and his Spirit hath sanctified as bad as Thou art Why not Thee too C. 9. The very Change of thine that I write for change of Covenant of Spirit of Nature of Conversation of Company it can no sooner be made but Heaven will ring with Joy for it I. and Hell gnash for envy at it Father Son and Spirit Angels Saints above and all Saints below that hear of it will be right glad C. 10. The very State that thou art now in is not so bad as that thou shalt presently pass into is good if now thou acceptest Christ offered to Thee No nor shall the very Eternity of the Damn'd be so bitter as he Eternity of thy blessed Soul and Body be sweet Sinner sinner lay this to thy heart thy State is Hellish bad as a Creatures sin can-make it But Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and in the same moment it shall be Heavenly even good as a God-Man's Obedience can deserve to have
it made And know thou tho' all we can say of Hell is but a flea-bite in comparison of what thou wilt feel it to be if thou come therein yet for all that There 's more Joy in Heaven than Torment in Hell. Go thou then and do all that is enjoyned for Conviction for Compunction for Vnion unto Jesus Christ and to God by Him. Pray and beg Prayers Hear and Read Directions and follow them Lose no time not a moment Convinced sufficiently thou art not till thou art able sincerely to say these twelve particulars P. 1. There is a Law and Covenant of perfect Obedience which I was under ever since I was a Child of Adam As soon as I was a Man I was bound personally perfectly and perpetually to Obey and Love the Father Son and Spirit I and as soon as my Soul and Body came together I was a Man in the Language of the Scripture P. 2. That Law of Perfect Obedience that Covenant of works is broke by my first Parent and that Breach is imputed unto me and the cursed Quality of it is inherent in me even from the womb It has also bin breaking continually by my vile Person in all my Thoughts Words and Deeds throughout all my days P. 3. For that double Breach I am under God's wrath the Laws Curse liable to all miseries to Death to Hell. I am bound over as the Devils to the Judgment of the great day And as with them so with me God is angry all the day long P. 4. Yet can I not in the least find fault with the Law or blame the Lord and Law-giver Tho' I am undone he has done me no wrong He doth but right and natural necessary right for naturally he hateth Sin as I hate Hell. Nay and the equity and the honour of his Government require that such Sinners as I am receive such sentence as I am under P. 5. My offended God is also my absolute Soveraign and not at all a Debtor unto me that I can commence no action against him nor charge him with any Injustice if he let me perish under his damnatory sentence and deny me Salvation P. 6. No nor can I excuse my self from being my own self-destroyer by laying the blame of my sin upon any Creature They but Tempt they Force not All my formerly used shifts Cavils and Contradictions I have done with for very shame My Mouth is stopped and I am Dumb before God. P. 7. Yet I hear and I believe a doctrine of Grace and Salvation even for such sinners as I am A Salvation purposed by God. A Salvation purchased by Jesus Christ A salvation attested and publish'd by the Holy Ghost A salvation for sinners of all ranks and degrees A salvation through a New Covenant and New Birth P. 8. This Salvation I perceive God never meant nor made any man's but in the way of Repentance Faith New obedience The way of Children's salvation is extraordinary I speak of grown Persons P. 9. My self I find utterly unable to Repent to Believe and to obey the Gospel I to will or desire aright any good Tho I must perish if I do not Yet without the Holy Spirit of Liberty Life and Power put into me I cannot Repent Believe and Obey P. 10. God who was not at first bound to Create me is now as little bound to New-Create me by putting his Holy Spirit into me and by working in me the Habits of Repentance Faith and Obedience and by Exciting the same habits unto Act and Exercise If he doth freely New-Create me he is Gracious if not he is Righteous P. 11. Nevertheless God in the Gospel Licenseth yea Invites and Commands in general all sinners to Repent Believe and Obey i. e. to use all the means of these by God appointed and of which we are capacitated And I conclude it my duty and interest to use the said means P. 12. Lastly I take for granted that 't is my Duty and interest to wait unto my very last gasp what the Lord will say unto me and do with me And this will I do if God enable Stop Sinner stop here and over again with these twelve Particulars very seriously And now let me tell thee vain is thy Conviction of all without that Compunction or being prick'd through the Heart which we place in three things Fear Grief Separation from Sin Go labour therefore to get able to say as follows P. 1. I fear the Spiritual and Eternal Judgments of God that heretofore I fear'd but little if at all Hitherto I fear'd but only Poverty Reproach Sickness c. now I fear a dark Mind an hard Heart and a Wrath to come P. 2. I grieve for all I have been and done against God and Christ and the Holy Spirit I grieve more for this than I do for ought beside more than ought beside is worthy to be grieved for P. 3. I separate and turn me from every sin to the best of my Skill and Power Tho I cannot say all Sin in my will is dead I dare say all my Will to sin is dead I and of all the good gifts of God I should now chuse his CHRIST and his H. SPIRIT This indeed is somewhat sinner Yet is one thing and the greatest lacking For ought that yet appears 't is lacking Dost thou turn from every sin to the best of thy skill and power Thou doest well to do thy all tho' it be next to nothing that as yet thou canst do Is all thy will to sin dead This is a good hearing tho' it be to be feared 't is a very improper death that it hath died Trees are said to be dead when Life is gone out of the root of them and they are said to be dead when Winter-weather hath but driven their life unto their root And hath hindred nothing but their Growing and Fruit-bearing nor them neither but until the Spring-season Now is thy will to sin any otherwise dead than the Trees in thy Garden be dead in Winter Or is this Death thinkest thou a true or a sufficient Thou now chusest of all God's gifts both CHRIST and his H. SPIRIT Welcome news this is But all is not Gold that glisters and it should be enquired whether it be a good choice thou makest of these so good gifts A choice of meer Compulsion thou dost not thy self believe a good one Such a choice rebelliously-disposed subjects may make of a King whom they loath and wish under ground such a choice ill Women may make of men for their Husbands while they hate their tempers and their Persons A choice of inward free Disposition is the only one that truly praiseth an Object chosen and that can commend the soul that makes the choice Speak man of which sort is thy choice What is thy considerate Judgment and thy Free Disposition how standest thou affected toward these divine Persons and their holy Nature Their saving Benefits I question not thy desire of And say
2. But thou hast been Punished and art like to die too Yea and hast been troubled for thy Sins very much and thou hopest God has more Mercy than after all this to damn thee to Hell. Answ Sinner I pray God give thee thy sight These things are true 1. An everlasting Hell it self is not more than our Sins do deserve God is far from Unmerciful in damning Sinners so incorrigible 2. The Tears and the Blood of a Creature are no satisfaction for Sin thy burning in Hell for the space of a million of years will not expiate the guilt of one vain Thought Obj. 3. I put my trust in my God and Saviour and I hope to be saved without the ado you make about Conviction and Compunction and Vnion some may say Answ Deluded Soul O that thou wouldst consider 1. In all the book of God we are taught there 's no Salvation but in these ways of his Soveraign Wisdom and Mercy 2. By this it 's plain you know not God nor what it is to Trust in Him but do only Presume blasphemously that He is such an one as your self and is neither Holy nor Just 3. You wil believe in his Promises directly contrary to the condition required in 'em and you will not believe his Threatnings against impenitent unreformed Sinners tho' ratified with his Oath Obj. 4. Why says another what profit can you assure me of if I should to my utmost endeavour all that you advise Answ 1. And what if I could not Assure thee of any Profit Wouldst thou do nothing upon very Probability If 't were but Probable that the King would grant a Petition for thy Life wouldst refuse any possible labour to get one presented The whole World acts upon Probabilities 2. But well I can Assure thee of benefit no less than Eternal For suppose the worst that thy endeavours prevail not unto Saving Conversion yet will they prevail to a lessening of thy Torments in Hell for ever Every degree of contempt greatens them every degree of endeavour lessens them On the other hand if unto thy utmost thou endeavour there 's no just reason for the frightful conclusion that 't will be Uneffectual unto Salvation And if it be not thy certain Profit is too great for Angel's Tongues to express A comprehensive fore-sight of it would work wonders in thee Enquire if thou know not what things are these ten 1. Justification 2. Adoption 3. Sanctification of the Holy Spirit 4. Acceptation of all Duties with God. 5. Title unto all the Promises of the glorious Gospel 6. Inseparable and honourable Vnion to God. 7. Peace and Joy in Conscience 8. Victory over sinful Love of Life and Fear of Death 9. Glorious Resurrection of thy Body 10. Boldness in the day of Judgment and Admission into heavenly Glory If I were sure I should never get I wou'd Live and Die in the pursuit of these Up Sinner up and be Doing and know this If but one man now i' the World were to be Saved I wou'd Try to be the Man and if but one were to be Damn'd I wou'd Tremble and carefully endeavour to make sure that I should not be He. O that these six Memorandums were nailed on thy Memory they have done others good why not thee M. 1. 'T is God in Christ only that can save thee 2. He invites thee to Salvation even yet 3. Vpon gracious terms He Promises He will Save thee 4. He commands thee by all his Authority to accept it on his Terms 5. He will Rejoice over thee with Singing if thou dost accept it 6. And Oh the Love He will Weep over thee if after all thou wilt Destroy thy self unperswadably Sinner Sinner I can tell thee of one that heard a Voice No Mercy no Mercy and yet was perswaded to Endeavour and did Convert and did obtain Mercy Remember it Despair is full as bad as Presumption and divine Mercy is not a jot less than Justice Obj. 5. I cannot say I do not Repent and Believe and that sincerely but if I do 't is with a sadly weak Repentance and Faith and such as I am ashamed of and cannot believe the holy Judge of all the Earth will accept Answ Say it be so and say that 't is but the lowest place in Heaven that thou shalt be set in Is any Seat there Uneasie O man know and Joy in it 'T is Truth of Grace that is thy Life The look of the weakest eye unto the brazen Serpent did heal as truly as the look of the strongest Upon the very first sincere Acceptation of Father Son and Spirit to be thine thro' the blessed Mediator and Resignation of thy self to be theirs thro' the same only Propitiation 't is sure thy Mittimus to Hell is stopt and superseded thy Pass to Heaven is granted He will deliver thy Soul from going down into the Pit and thy Life shall see the Light Job 33.28 Benhadad escaped by casting himself on the Mercy of the King of Israel It shall never repent thee if in his holy appointed way thou caâ—t thy self on the King of Heaven's Mercy Heaven cannot shut nor Hellopen unto a Soul sincerely weary of all the Sin it hath and sick of desire for all the grace it wants I should think thee in Hells mouth If I heard thee uttering boasts of having all Grace or content as having enough They that have most do all cry that 't is next to none that they have And the higher they get in holy Qualifications the lower they fall in their Apprehensions of themselves He that giveth Grace to the Humble maketh them yet more Humble by all the Grace He gives them I would rather be the worst Humble man than the best Proud one in the World and specially the spiritually Proud. Well in a word Beg the Holy Spirit to keep thee from both extreams from Dreaming of safety while building on the Sand and from Despairing of Mercy when thou buildest on the Rock Christ Now O every one of you needy Souls that I address unto may you know the things of your Peace in the short span of your time that remains If this little Gospel-Net catch but one Fish among you I win more than a World. But I have sent up Prayers to Him that can make it take take thousands of you that He would so do And take all the Glory of it unto Himself when He has done it Sirs I shall be certified that He hath granted my Cryes if ever I shall hear that you grant me but these Requests which conclude my Call unto you They are for your observance of these rules in your endeavouring if indeed you will endeavour to Reconcile you to God e're ye Dye R. 1. That you enter on it with such Solemnity as such a Work well deserves Get as many Godly Ministers and Friends as you can to come joyn with you in Fasting and Prayer for divine Blessing on your great enterprize Testifie to your God to your