then if he has him not he must for ever lose him And the circumstance of a Dying Condition give him great Advantages over a Poor Languishing Amaz'd Dispirited Affrighted Creature and 't is but too too often that he is Successful against those that madly while their Repentance off till then For Thirdly The inseparable Attendants upon a Death Bed are such as if there were no such Adversary to deal with would render it a very unapt season for so great a Work as this Our Powers and Faculties both of Soul and Body are then generally mightily Disorder'd and very little Serviceable our Apprehension dull'd our Understanding and Judgment and Memory weakned and Impair'd our Minds Distracted by fears and uncertainties and our Bodies Languishing full of Pains and great Discomposures Some Diseases make the Patient stupid and utterly Inapprehensive others heat Him into Frenzy and Distraction and some keep Him continually upon the Rack and will not suffer him to attend to any thing but his present Misery And even the most favourable have enough in 'em mightily to hinder our Progress in this great Duty for which a whole Life of Youth and Health and perfect soundness of Mind and Body will not be too much No wonder therefore if the weaknesses and Infirmities of Sickness and the Approach of Death which make a Man scarce capable of settling his worldly Affairs should be a very unfit Time for him to begin to make his Peace with God and Prepare himself for Eternity But in the last place Let us suppose all that can be desir'd in such a Case as this that the Distemper is not so Violent but that it leaves a Man the free use of his Reason and all his Faculties and the decays of his Body are gradual and without excessive Pains and Death comes on by easie gentle steps 'T would yet be a very great Folly to put off Repentance ev'n to such a Death Bed as this because 't is so hard a Matter to have any tolerable Assurance that the utmost we can then do is Hearty and Sincere and will be to any purpose 'T is the Fruits of Repentance that Prove the sincerity of it and Sorrow and Regret for past sins and wishes that we had never committed them and the like how pungent and how earnest soever they may be are not Repentance but only a step in order to it For Repentance as was said is a thorough Change of a sinner's Mind and Life which whether such Sorrow will really effect or not nothing but Time can shew And therefore the Man that Repents not till his Time is just Expiring that has no Temptation to his former Vices nor Ability to Commit them if he had must needs be very uncertain whether He indeed Repents or is only scar'd and frighted with the near Prospect of the endless Miseries that attend a sinner after Death That it is too often thus with dying Penitents their returning to their Vices when God has Restor'd to them their Health is Proof sufficient and whether it is not so in any particular Man's Case no one can say unless he Lives to make the Tryal Now what a Comfortless disheartning thing is it for a Man to Breath out his Soul in such great uncertainties How miserably anxious must his Breast needs be about the safety of his Condition and his Acceptance with God which yet he can have no Assurance of till his Condition is fix'd and become unalterable The only Remedy is to Repent Immediately that we may have time to approve the Sincerity of our Repentance and enjoy the unspeakable Comforts both in Life and Death that will attend our being at Peace and Reconcil'd to God Wherefore as the Wise Ben Sirach excellently adviseth make no tarrying to turn unto the Lord Eccl. 5.7 and put not off from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of God come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed and perish in the day of vengeance The Last Advice AND now for a Conclusion of all Last Advice Let me Advise Young Persons when by God's Assistance they are become so Sensible of their Miscarriages as sincerely to Repent of them and resolve to Reform Let me then Advise them to seal and ratifie those Pious Resolutions with a Devout Reception of the Holy Communion and Confirm and strengthen them still more and more and bring 'em to Perfection by a frequent attendance at the Table of our Lord. The Sacrament of our Lords Supper as 't is one of the great Mysteries of our Holy Religion and therefore requires of us the profoundest Awe and Reverence and Religious Fear so is it a Treasury of Blessings also a Channel flowing with Divine Grace and Bounty and therefore calls for the highest Degrees and expressions of Desire and Love 'T is like the Pillar of a Cloud and of Fire that accompanied the People of God in the Wilderness Dark and Mysterious indeed on one side and apt to Imprint a Holy Dread upon our Spirits But on the Reverse there is Light and Heat to inflame our Love and enkindle our Devotion to enlighten our Understandings and direct our Wills to purifie and refine us and render us an Offering of a sweet smelling savour acceptable to God by Jesus Christ And thus was it esteem'd by the Holy Men of the First Ages of Christianity when the Fires of Devotion burnt bright and the Church was Acted by the Spirit of Love and Purity Many excellent Things were then spoken of this Mystery and great was the Reverence that was given to it but then their Love to it likewise was very great their desires of it ardent and frequent and constant was their Reception of it They call'd it a Mystery and as such they rever'd it they call'd it too a Feast of Thankfulness and Love and as such they rejoyced in it and thirsted after it And the Effect of this was Exemplary Piety and Holiness of Life and steady Profession of the Faith of Jesus even to the Death Afterwards when the Love of many did wax cold this Sacred Duty grew more and more neglected two or three times a Year was thought sufficient to Communicate and sometimes once would serve the turn and so 't is still with most amongst our selves and the Wickedness Ignorance and Stupidity of the middle Ages and the open Prophanness and scandalous Debauchery of these last Times are the miserable Consequences of so great an Impiety And indeed no wonder if the Disease get head when Men omit to apply the Remedy The Holy Jesus that great Physician of the Soul who bests knows its Distempers and the Methods of their Cure left this as his Dying Secret to be observ'd by all Ages of the World for the Recovery and Confirmation of their Spiritual Health Now if after all this Care and Kindness and excellent Provision on His part we slight his Directions reject his Medicines and refuse Life when 't is so Charitably offer'd us
amiss if before we proceed any further we consider a little the Several Parts of this Description in order to our Forming right Apprehensions in a thing of so great Consequence First then True Devotion is a Settled Frame and Disposition of Mind or such an Habitual quick Sense and Relish of Divine Things as is ready to exert it self in Proper Acts upon Just Occasion and Converse with God in Pious Thoughts and Desires or Discourse of Pious Subjects pro Re Nata as Things offer themselves and that with a kind of natural Freedom Ease and Pleasure as a Man talks with or of a Friend or any thing else that he Admires Reverences and Loves Our seating it in the Mind is to shew that those who place it in any thing that is external are mistaken in it and the greatest Bodily Severities the Life of a Hermit Pilgrimages and Prayers and Presents tho' made to the greatest Favourite of Heaven Pomp and Splendor in Religious Worship to the highest Degree and the like all this is not Devotion for that 's seated within and if the Mind may all the while remain Dead and Cold to Religion as certainly it may we must then call it by some other Name For the same Reason Devotion does not consist in Rejecting all this and conversing with Heaven only in hollow Sighs and Groans without any outward Expressions of it at all unless it be some odd convulsive Motions which are to shew it seems as some will have it the mighty Force of the Impressions made within upon their Spirits Men may be equally devoid of a truly Pious and Devout Temper and Disposition that over-value or utterly cry down such outward Religion as this And 't is always a sign of Mens not knowing what True Devotion is or else of their real want of it when they are fierce and eager about what is so foreign to it whether it be for or against it is all one Again We say 't is a settled Frame of Mind that sudden Heats and Flights of Fancy and bold Pretences to great Familiarities and Intimaces with God express'd in long and warm Discourses with him accompanied with Melting Accents an easy Flow of Words and Gestures full of Ecstacy and Rapture and it may be Tears too that such Fits as these may not be taken for Devotion If a Long Prayer would bespeak a Man Devout then the Pharisees were so who yet as soon as Grace was say'd Devour'd the Houses of the Widow and were in our Lord 's own Judgment the very worst of Men. And as for the other Ornaments of Devotion they are partly Nature and partly Art for which Men are beholden to their Constitutions and to frequent Use and Practice and there are abundance of Instances of very bad Men who have Pray'd like Angels when at the same time they were carrying on the most Hellish Practices Warmth and Fervour relating to things Sacred no doubt does highly become us and will be in some measure where true Devotion is and 't is what we are now perswading to and nothing in the World can be more apt to excite it nor deserve it more than the wondrous things of our most excellent Religion But then it ought to be consider'd that even this is not Devotion but only an Attendant of it a Bodily Passion that is stirr'd up by it altho' it may and does react upon the Mind and heighten and encrease that which is truly so Thus the Fire that is brought to the Altar first enkindles the matter to which it is apply'd but then that again adds Strength to the Flame and makes it more vigorous and bright till the Sacrifice becomes a whole Burnt-offering All Tempers are not alike nor are the best always equally in Tune some are so Cool and Quiet that nothing can Warm 'em to any sort of Passion others on the contrary immediately set on fire by every thing In some the prevailing Mixture is Heavy Melancholy and others are Lively Brisk and Forward which must needs cause great Variety in Mens outward Expressions of Religion but to draw Conclusions from hence as to the Inward Disposition of their Souls is of very Dangerous Consequence This indeed may be said that those who are naturally Warm in every thing else as young Persons generally are 't is an Ill sign if they are not so in Religion too and the Colder a Man's Temper and Constitution is the more ought he to endeavour to Chafe and Warm and Inspirit it that he may proceed more chearfully and feelingly in his Religious Duties But after all Sensitive Passions or the Ferment of our Blood and Spirits must not be call'd Devotion which as was said is a Divine God-like Temper of Mind and entire Resignation of our whole selves to God in the midst of our coolest Thoughts and calm Deliberation nay of our greatest Aridites and Dejections of Spirit In short as an excellent Author neatly expresses it Dr. Scot. It does not come and go like the Colours of a Blushing Face but is the natural and true Compleâ—â—ion of the Soul The Last Part of the Description of True Devotion wich I gave tells us That the Service it pays to God is in the Way that he has directed and in a manner agreeable to the Divine Nature and our own By this is excluded in the first Place all Superstitious Expressions of Religion such as the Roman Fopperies we mention'd before For tho' outward Reverence be highly becoming in all Religious Exercises especially in Publick yet it should be such as is Worthy of God and may encrease as well as express the Devotion of our Minds that so we may Glorisie the Infinite Majesty of Heaven both with our Bodies and our Spirits which are his Now God is a Spirit and Man is Rational and his Creature and therefore his Devotion and his Worship should be Rational and Manly in Spirit and in Truth Sincere and issuing from his very Soul as touch'd with the most Aweful Sence of the Infinite Excellency of God and the vast Distance of even the noblest Creatures from Him especially of a vile ungrateful Sinner who is the Object of his Anger and Hate and should therefore humble himself to the very Dust before him and be fill'd with deep Impressions of Shame and Self-abhorrence in all his Addresses to him Which yet the Wondrous Expressions of his Love to Mankind in our Redemption by the Blood of Jesus should clear up into Praise and Joy and Love and highest Admiration at that which passes Knowledge But for a Christian so far to consult the Affecting of his Senses in Religious Worship whether by a multitude of glittering Ceremonies by Bodily Pain or Pleasure or any thing of this Nature as that he can attend to little else I can't but think to be a very odd sort of a Devotion and such as betrays unworthy Apprehensions of the Divine Nature in thinking he will be pleased with such Performances and no less
'em for the Happiness of Heaven when this short Life shall end Thus the Apostle 2 Tit. 11. c. The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation to all Men hath appear'd teaching us that denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Looking for that Blessed Hope and the Glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purify unto himself a Peculiar People zealous of good Works For this purpose then our Holy Religion was taught us by the Son of God and True Religion no doubt will effectually bring to pass that for which it was design'd And he that is Religious indeed is therefore so that the design'd Effect may throughly be wrought upon him in full perswasion that unless it is so his Pretences to Christianity however warm and forward they may be will signify nothing and he must never expect to be really Happy here or to give a good Account of himself at the day of Judgment And consequently his great Care is to be Master of the Power and Substance of Religion without which the Form of it tho' manag'd with never so much Decency and Constancy and seeming Zeal and Earnestness is really but a Piece of Mimickry a Holy Stage-play an excellent Part Acted by an Ill Man in Masquerade Which tho' perform'd never so much to the Life is still without Reality and therefore indeed puts an Abuse upon Religion and robs God of his Honour defeats all his Gracious Intentions for our Happiness and will be very Tragical in the Conclusion This in General But more particularly in the first Place Let young People have a care of putting on Religion either as a thing of Custom only an Ornamental Dress to recommend them to the Good Esteem of the World and get them Reputation or to bring on Business and Preferment or which is still worse as a Cover to vile Practices which must be disguis'd before they can be put in excution If only the first of these be a Man's End in his Religion Math. 6.2 our Saviour assure us He has his reward a few empty Commendations will be all his Recompence But what a strange Religion is he of who values the Praise of Men more than the Applauses of his own Conscience and the Praise of God! Our Lord's Directions are quite otherwise Thou says he to every one of his Disciples shalt not be as the Hypocrites are whose Character we have Matthew 6. Take heed let Secresie and Sincerity be mingled with all thy Religious Performances which is the Sum of what is there diliver'd in this matter and then Thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly But if he further designs it as an Instrument of Wordly Gain and Advancement or a Disguise for those Ill Methods which he intends to take in order to them this is rank Hipocrisie indeed And not only the Pharisees of Old but very many since have ruin'd Kingdoms as well as private Persons by Prayer and Fasting and the Semblance of an extraordinary Devotion In short he whose Religion is not at least as great in secret in his Closet and his Bed when only God can see it as 't is in Publick when in the Eye of Men ought to look upon himself as a Diessmbler in it especially if Gain he his Godliness and Religion only made use of as a Hook to draw it to him Secondly Let the employing our Zeal about the Circumstantials of Religion only be carefully avoided whether in observing or not observing 'em is all one as was touched before when we neglect and it may be violate the Greatest Duties of it For can any Man be so weak as to believe that the observing or not observing such and such Modes of Worship can cleanse the Soul and make it like to God and fit for Heaven They serve indeed for Decency and Order when used with Judgment and Moderation and ought not to be slighted and neglected when enjoyn'd by Lawful Authority but 't is those Duties that will renew us in the Spirit of our Mind and work our Souls into a Divine Frame and Temper which should be a Christian's chief Care to practise in Sincerity of Heart Was it not Gross Hypocrisie in the Pharisees to be more careful and diligent in Titheing Mint and Cummin and Annise in their Washings and Fastings and Attendance at the Publick Offices in the Temple and the like than in performing the weightest matters of the Law Justice Mercy and Fidelity nay indeed to Act quite contrary to them Would not the cleansing themselves from Extortion and Excess have been a much more becoming Employment for them than to be always taken up with washing their Hands and their Garments and Scouring the Cup and the Platter These things ought ye to have done says our Lord and not to have left the other undone Let us beware therefore of Depending too much upon our being of this or that Party for or against such and such Ceremonies going so often to Prayers hearing so many Sermons and the like For 't is not this that will stand us in any stead unless we follow the Example of the Holy Jesus walk as he walkâ— and adorn our Souls with the Graces of his most excellent Religion And if we still are Envious and Malicious Furious and Revengeful Intemperate and Unchaste Unjust and Uncharitable and the like and find our selves very little careful to mortify these vile Affections spending our Zeal and Warmth upon things of infinitely less Consequence it must be concluded that we are not yet Christians in Sincerity Our best Performances at this rate are but as a Sacrifice without a Heart which was always esteem'd as one of the worst of Omens and an Argument of God's great Displeasure Thirdly 'T is a very Ill sign when People pick and choose the Instances of their Obedience to the Christian Law and make a great Shew of and Stir about some Particular Duties which are agreeable to their Natural Temper and which they have no Temptation or it may be Ability to Transgress and all the while Indulge themselves in the Sins they Love and Delight in tho' never so expresly forbidden in the Gospel As if for Instance Because a Man's Constitution inclines him to be Temperate and Chaste he should therefore place the greatest Part of his Religion in Chastity and Temperance and in the mean time allow himself to be Censorious Malicious Covetous Unjust or the like or on the Contrary because he is honest and good natur'd tho' he Whores and Drinks and lives like a Brute yet shall imagine he may fare well enough because he has no Gall in him wishes no body any Harm and is no ones Enemy but his own But this is a Religion of every Man 's own making not that which our Saviour taught the World 't is as various as Mens Tempers and at
Restraint But 't will not be amiss to endeavour to prevent so great an Evil by one Reflection more upon the Nature and Design of all Affliction which is intended by God as a Means to Cure the Diseases of the Soul and a Fatherly Correction for former Faults But now Excessive Trouble utterly hinders the Operation and good Effect and turns the Medicine into Poison and gentle Chastisement into Ruine and Destruction A strange Ill Disposition this and which we can't begin too soon to rectify When the Rod is in the Hand of Infinite Love and Kindness infinitely greater than we bear unto our selves proportions the Weight and Number of the Strokes in the Name of God what Cause is there for such great Degrees of Trouble I believe there are but very few so Intirely Heedless of the Methods of Divine Providence as not to have Observ'd and to Remember the Wondrous Mixture of God's Goodness with his Punishments what an Ascendant his Mercy hath had over his Justice and how Happily and sometimes Unexpectedly he hath put an End to his Publick and Private Corrections Which of our selves have not enjoy'd much more of Happiness than we have felt of Trouble and Affliction Psal 94.19 And even in the midst of Sorrows of our Hearts how have God's Divine Comforts in an unaccountable manner Refresh'd our Souls What unthought of Happy Events have prevented or put an â—nd to former Misfortunes that have Threatned or been upon us and many things brought about by a strange Series of good Providences which have Surpriz'd us into full Happiness before we were aware Let any Reasonable Man therefore say whether it is not the Wisest and most Christian Course after Humbly Acknowledging God's Hand in every Affliction and searching out Diligently for the Cause of it to endeavour by sincere Repentance and Amendment to Close with the Gracious Design of it and so either keep it off when it only Threatens or encline God to Remove it if Actually upon us and then Buoy up our Spirits in a full Perswasion that all will end in our Good That Blessed Being who formerly so Graciously and Surprizingly Diverted or put an End to my own or others Afflictions is as Good and Wise and Powerful as ever why then should I Despair of the like Mercy again tho' I can't foresee it may be how it should be from him who changeth not and can do what he pleaseth The Spirit of a Man Prov. 18.14 says Solomon will sustain his Infirmity and such Thoughts as these will sustain the Spirit of a Man and enable him with a Christian Steadiness of Mind to bear what God shall please to lay upon him But a wounded Spirit who can bear A mind pierc'd through with Impatience and Distrust of Providence is it self a Burthen more intollerable than any other Affliction in the World But after all that what has been already said may be throughly effectual let us not forget to take St. Jam. 5.13 James's Advice along with us and if any man be afflicted let him Pray Excellent Advice indeed it is and no greater Consolation can a wounded Spirit receive than in Calling upon God in the Time of Her Trouble For He is the Fountain of Comfort and the Great Disposer of all Things 't is His Grace and Holy Spirit that must teach us Resignation and Submission to His Will and if we make devout Addresses to Him and with a calm and even mind await His Leisure we may in his Good Time expect to see our Troubles have a Happy end For God will not always be Punishing neither keepeth He his Anger for ever Wherefore to close this Advice since there is no Man living that is secure against Affliction and Comfort in it is what every one Desires and very few when Trouble is actually upon 'em are either able to give it to themselves or capable of Receiving it from Others I could not but think it as I said of great Advantage to Young Persons to furnish 'em with such Considerations before-hand as may be of use to prevent excess of Melancholly and Dejection or any Desperate and unjustifiable Undertakings and Prepare 'em to Comâ—ort themselves under the severest Dispensations of Providence with that patience and evenness of Temper which becomes the Reason of a Man and the Faith of a Christian The Eleventh Advice HAving in the Foregoing Advices endeavour'd to Prevent such Errors and Mistakes in Young Gentlemens Faith and Practice as they are most Apt to fall into and which are of unspeakable ill Consequence give me leave now to suppose that things have not been manag'd by them as they should be and some of those many Temptations they are surrounded with have been too Successful and robb'd 'em of their Innocence and engag'd them in some Courses that cannot be justified So that to the former Preservatives 't will be needful to add some few Advices more in order to their Recovery And First let me earnestly Recommend to them a frequent serious self-Examination a Particular enquiry into their Thoughts Actions and Discourses what they are and have been and whether they are and have been as they should be and to what end and Conclusion they tend And this is not only a highly Beneficial Employment as we shall see by and by but 't is a very Easie one too for there is no Reasonable Man's Memory so extreamly treacherous but if duly Consulted will inform Him of matters of Fact which are His Dayly Practice that is in the Main for some Particulars no doubt may escape the nicest Examination And when the enquiry is made there is something within that will Accuse or Excuse Acquit or Condemn immediately and let us see the Tendency of our Good or Bad Actions respectively without any Tedious Process or long series of Argumentation For the plain Truth and which we all of us know very well is in short this If we Guide our steps to the best of our Power and Knowledge by the Rule of Reason and Religion and endeavour to follow where our Saviour has gone before and are willing to listen to and be Directed by the Guides that God has Provided us when we are at a Loss or have mistaken our Path then we need not Question but we 're in the way that Leads to Life and Glory And if we persist and go on in it let it be Broad or Narrow Rough or Smooth upon the Mountains or in the Valleys or the like and tho' we sometimes nay often make a false step yet thro' the Merits of our Saviour and the Guidance of his Blessed Spirit we shall at length arrive at a Happy Journey 's end But if on the contrary we find that our Dispositions are earthly sensual and devilish that we live without God in the World are Licentious and Unchristian directly opposite to Christ's Precept and Example in open Defiance to Religion or if more Fair in outward shew yet without Sincerity Such ways as these
matter the greater in all Reason should be our Care to prevent it and since all proceeds from too much love of the World therefore in the first place to resolve to love that less and begin in Time to work our Hearts into a Pliant Ductile Temper such as may keep our Ears open to fair Warnings charitable Reproofs and good Advice And then if we look upon the uneasiness we feel at such Discourses as an ill Symptom and make it an Argument for our still greater attention to them and so far embrace every Conviction of our Consciences as to let it continue with us and bestow some Thoughts upon it if we do this and do it Sincerely and in Time we shall find the Cloud begin to remove from our Understandings and Spiritual Light and Knowledge will flow in apace we shall plainly discover the Cheats that were before put upon us the fatal Mistakes we were under and this will unstop our Ears and make us still more and more Attentive to the Words of sound Wisdom the faithful Counsels of those that wish our Happiness and that will make our Hearts still more and more Tender and Impressible sensible of our true Interest our Duty and our Danger which will excite our utmost Diligence to secure the one and avoid the other crying unto God for help who never Rejects that Prayer which begs his Assistance that we may serve him better and to which we add our own Sincere Endeavours Now who that 's Blind or Deaf or but in Danger of being so would refuse an easie certain Cure And when He knows how much he may contribute to it himself d' ye think He would delay to do his utmost towards it And how overjoy'd would the Blind be to be sensible of the faintest Glimmerings and open wide his be-nighted Eyes to let in more and more of chearful Light How Ravishing would the least Sound be to the Deaf Ear and excite its utmost Attention to receive still more And how much greater would be the Joy of the both Deaf and Blind to recover either Sense so far as to have tho' but the least Intimation that there was some Hopes of their enjoying both again that it lay very much in their own Power to effect it and that the blame must be their own if they did not How eagerly would they do every thing they could to make a free entrance for Light and Sounds and welcome every new Accession of either with Transports of Delight How earnest their Prayers to God for his Blessing and how unfeigned their Thanks and Praises for Success What a quick Grateful Relish would they have of the almost forgotten Pleasures of the Eye and Ear and how would they Improve the Advantages of both How feellingly sensible would they be of their former Miserable State and how would they dread and avoid every thing tho' never so remote that might lead to it again If we may suppose all this of the Naturally Blind and Deaf how much more should it be verified by the Spiritually so whose case as we have seen is infinitely more deplorable and whose Desires therefore of recovery in all Reason should be stronger far their Prayers more Importunate their Joy greater in the Hopes of it and their endeavours more earnest to bring it to Perfection And He that is so stubborn and obstinate as wilfully to continue in this sad sttate into which too he has brought Himself where should the blame of his Ruin be plac'd but upon Himself Let every Sinner therefore instead of impiously and ungratefully accusing God of Tyranny and Injustice Arbitrary Power and merciless Decrees and the like as if He first hardned their Hearts and took away their Hearing and their Sight and so sealed them up to Destruction and then resolv'd to inflict Eternal Punishments upon them because they did not do Impossibilities hear and see when He had made them Deaf and Blind and have a tender Sense of Religion when He had made their Hearts callous and past feeling Instead of such horrid Blasphemy as this let every Sinner give Glory to God by humbly acknowledging that 't is his own doing and the Consequence of his listning to the Destroyer rather than the Saviour of Mankind Whoever perishes I say it again must blame himself for it for 't is his own wilful Blindness Stubborness and Obstinacy that has depriv'd him of the means and possibilities of Salvation To save such a one God must proceed quite contrary to the Nature of Virtue and Vice and the establish'd Rules of his Word and force him to be Good and Happy notwithstanding all his Resistances and Refusals But a forc'd Virtue and a forc'd Heaven are strange new things that one shall seldom hear of When a Sinner is arriv'd to that degree of Obstinacy that nothing but extraordinary nay miraculous Grace can soften and Reform him God 's not giving him that extraordinary Grace but leaving him to the usual constant Assistances of his Holy Spirit and Methods of the Gospel which his Obstinacy has made Ineffectual to him for what Instructions and Advices can take Place upon the Deaf and Blind this seems to be the most Intelligible Account of God's hardning any Man 'T is only Permitting him still more and more to harden Himself by not using extraordinary Means to Prevent it and which is but a Just Punishment for his former Stubborness As in the Story of Pharaoh He hardened his own Heart so far as to receive no Impression either by God's Severity in inflicting or his Goodness in Removing Seven of the Ten Plagues and then God is said to harden his Heart or to give him up to his own Fatal Obstinacy So in Isaiah chap. 6.9 10. ver where God commands the Prophet to Denounce to his Rebellious People the Judgment of making their Hearts fat and their Ears heavy c. which our Lord said was fulfill'd in the Pharisees Mat. 13.14 15. The Reason of this Threatning is because they had made themselves Deaf and Blind before Ye Hear indeed but Vnderstand not or do not attend and Consider and ye See indeed but do not Perceive or take Notice therefore as by way of Punishment make this Peoples Heart fat and their 〈◊〉 heavy and shut their Eyes c. Wherefore to Conclude this Advice the way for us not to Perish is not to Destroy our selves by our incorrigible Obstinacy and He that does not make himself Blind and Deaf and insensible to Religion need never fear that God will make him so whose Solemn Protestation is that He desires not the Death of a Sinner and whose constant Call is Turn ye Turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye dye O House of Israel The Thirteenth Advice AND now having seen the Danger of Obstinate continuing in such ill Courses as Young Persons may have faln into the next Advice will be that they endeavour to Recover themselves by a sincere and speedy Repentance And here to