this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour Who will have all men to be saved and to coâ—e unto the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim. 2. â— 2 3 4. According to this appointment let us pray Which finished He took that Text Matth. 20.1 2 3 4 5 6 7. In these words we may observe these things 1. The Vineyard where men labour is the Church and this waâ— of praying to God and sheweth that it is a laborious and a good work and will cause us to bring forth good fruits grapes and wine which is pleasing to God and man But beware of bringing forth sowre grapes especially suffer no briars and thorns but cuâ— them down and root them up and cast them out 2. The Lord of this Vineyard is Jesus Christ who calleth all meâ— to come into this his Vineyard and do these works And thâ—â— day I do in the Name of the Lord Jesus call you all to pray to God come and work in this Vineyard Hearken to this Call and be no longer idle follow your sins no longer you have lived in 〈◊〉 long enough stay no longer but come in when you are called Happy are you if you obey and come woe be to you if you refuse 3. Here be the several seasons of mens coming in or the severâ—â— Ages of men that do come in 1. Some come in while it is morning that is while they bâ— young therefore I call you Boyes Youths aâ—d Girls come yoâ— unto the Lords Vineyard and give unto God the first-fruits oâ— your dayes 2. The Lord went forth at the third hour and called in younâ— men and young women into his Vineyard Hearken therefore yoâ— young men and young women to the Call of God and come in 3. The Lord went forth at the ninth hour that is he called iâ— men and women full grown to ripeness of parts and strength you are called this day to come into the Lords Vineyard be yoâ— perswaded to come in and serve the Devil no longer now tuâ—â— unto the Lord. 4. The Lord went forth the eleventh hour that is a little bforâ— night and this doth mean you old men and old women comâ— you into the Lords Vineyâ—rd you see the Lord will accept you 〈◊〉 you come Do not think you are too old to serve the Lord 〈◊〉 your dayes be near finished you had the more need come in quicâ—â— ly lest you die in your sins and perish for ever When he had finished an Objection was made by one We dâ—â— not come in to pray to God for we hear you are very severe if any 〈◊〉 found in sin of lust or the like you Whip them and punish them 〈◊〉 maketh us afraid to pray to God â—nsw Wab. God hath appointed punishments of sin to be Phâ— sick for their souls and though Physick be bitter and sharp yâ—â— it s very wholesome good and needful If you were invited 〈◊〉 dwell at such a Town where there is a Physician would you saâ— No I will not dwell there because if I be sick I must take Physicâ—â— sure you would therefore go dwell at that place So it is in thâ—â— case you should therefore desire to pray to God because they use Physick to heal the sickness of your souls Afternoon They being met Waban having first prayed then taketh this Text Psal. 2.8 9 10 11. In these words see these three things 1. Christ Jesus taketh possession of the heathen and utmost ends of the earth and this is one description of our Country And now Jesus Christ calleth us to come to him Some of us have submitted unto Christ and he hath mercifully accepted us and so he will accept you if you will come in unto him 2. See what Christ will do to them that will not come in He will break them with a Rod of Iron and dash them in pieces like a potters vessel Thus Christ will deal with our sins if we submit to him But if we will not submit to him he will thus deal with our persons and destroy them that refuse to serve him Luke 19.27 3. Here is the effect of Gods severity against sinners Be wise therefore O ye Kings be instructed ye Iudges of the Earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Do not say Because Christ is severe against our sins therefore we will not come unto him but fly from him do not so for then he will destroy you but come trembling to him and say Lord take away our sins by sharpness that our souls may be saved for ever DIALOG III. Anthony and William Ahauton were sent to Paganoohket where Philip is Sachem When they first came to the Town they went to the Sachems house Anthony William Philip Keitassoot All the Company Anthony SAchem we salute you in the Lord and we declare unto you that we are sent by the Church in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ to call you and beseech you to turn from your vain conversation unto God to pray unto God and to believe in Jesus Christ for the pardon of your siâ—s and for the salvation of your soul. We do unto you according to the holy Example which we finde Iohn 1.40 to 47. where Andrew called Peter and Christ himself called Philip and Philip called Nathaniel So we are come this day unto you in the Name of Jesus Christ to call you to come unto the Lord and serve him This Argument we perswade you by because we hear that many of your people do deâ—â—re to pâ—ay to God only they depend upon you We pray you to consider that your love to your people should oblige you to do them all the good you can In this point it lieth in your hand to do the greatest good in the world unto them to do good to their souls as well as to their bodies and to do them good to eternity as well as in this present world All this good you will do to your people if you will accept of this offer of mercy you will not only your self turn from sin unto God to serve the true and living God but all your people will turn to God with you so that you may say unto the Lord Oh Lord Jesus behold here am I and all the people which thou hast given me we all come into thy service and promise to pray unto God so long as we live Oh how welcome will you be unto the Lord And oh how happy and joyful will â—ll your people be when they and their Sachem are all owned by God to be in the number of his Children and Servants It will be a joy to all the English Magistrates and Ministers and Churches and good people of the Land to hear that Philip and all his people are turned to God and become praying Indians We reade in Luke 15.7 that there is joy in heaven over one poor sinner that repenteth and turneth unto God what great joy will it then be in heaven when so
I know that you sâ—y true Our fore fathers were many of them wise men and we have wise men now living they all delight in these our Delights they have taugâ—t us nothing about our Soul and God and Heaven and Hell and Jâ—y and Torment in the life to come Are you 〈◊〉 thâ—n our fathers May not we rather think that English men have invented these Storiâ—s to amaze and scare us out of our old Customes and bring us to stand in awe of them that they might wipe us of our Lands and drive us into Corners to seek new wayes of living and new places too and be beholding to them for that which is our own and was ours before we knew them Aâ—l. You say right Pium. The Book of God is no invention of English-men it is the holy Law of God himself which was given unto man by God before English-men had any knowledge of God and all the knowledge which they have they have it out of the Book of God and this Book is given to us as well as to them and it is as free for us to search the Scriptures as for them So that we have our instruction from an higher hand then the hand of man it is the great Lord God of Heaven and Earth who teacheth us these great things of which we speak Yet this is also true that we have great cause to be thankful to the English and to thank God for them for they had a good Country of their own but by Ships sailing into these parts of the World they heard of us and of our Country and of our nakedness ignorance of God and wilde condition God put it into their hearts to desire to come hither and teach us the good knowledge of God and their King gave them leave so to do and in our Country to have their liberty to serve God accordiâ—g to the Word of God And being come hitâ—er we gave them leave freely to live among us they have purchased of us a great part of those Lands which they possess they love us they do us right and no wrong willingly if any do us wrong it is without the consent of their Rulers and upon our Complaints our wrongs are righted They are many of them especially the Ruling part good men and desire to do us good God put it into the heart of one of their Ministers as you all know to teach us the knowledge of God by the Word of God and he hath Translated the holy Book of God into our Language so that we can perfectly know the minde and counsel of God and out of this Book have I learned all that I say unto you and therefore â—ou need no more doubt of the truth of it then you have cause to doubt that the Heaven is over our head the Sun shineth the Earth is under our feet we walk and live upon it and breathe in the Air for as we see with our eyes these things to be so so we reade with our own eyes these things which I speak of to be written in Gods own Book and we feel the truth thereof in our own hearts Kinswom Cousin you have wearied your legs this day with a loâ—g Journey to come and visit us and you weary your tongue with long Discourses I am willing to comfort and refresh you with a â—hort Supper All. Ha ha he though short if sweet that has good savour to a man that is weâ—ry Ha ha he Kinswom You make long and learned Discourses to us which we do not well understand I think our best answer is to stop your moutâ— and fill your belly with a good Supper and when your belly is full you will be content to take rest your self and give us leave to be at rest from these gâ—stering and heart-trembling discourses We are well as we are and desire not to be troubled with these new wise sayings All. You say true Ha ha he Pium. It is good to be merry and wise I am an hungry and â—eary and willing to eat God hath appointed food to be a means of sustaining relieving and repairing our spent strength This being a work above the power of the food we eat or of our selves that eat it and onely in the power of God himself to bless it for such great uses therefore God hath taught us and it is our custome among all that are godly to pray to God for a blessing before we eat and therefore I intreat you â—o have so much patieâ—ce and compliance as to give me the quiet liberty to pray to God bâ—fore we eat Kinsm I pray do and we shall with quietness and silence attend to such a service unto God Pium. Let us lift up our eyes and â—earts to God in heaven and â—ay Almighty glorious merciful and heavenly Father thou dwellest in the high Heavens and fillest both Heaven and Earth with thy presence thou takest care of and governest us here on earth we are poor worms under thy feet thou feedest every living Creature and â—akest our food to be like a staff to sustain our faint and weary boâ—ies thou renewest our strength every day and though we are sinners in thy sight yet thou art merciful to us and with long patience dost call us to repentance We confess all our sins before thee and prâ—y thee for Iesus Christ his sake who died for sinners to have mercy on us and freely to pardon and forgive us all our sins Bless us at this time and this food which is set before us let it be blessed to us make us wise to receive it at thy hand and to use the strength we get by it to the glory of thy Name through Iesus Christ. And bless all our Souls â—eed them by thy Word and Truth and guide our Tongues to speak wise words that may minister grace to the hearers and help us all to rejoyce in the Lord through Iesus Christ. Amen Now let us eat and rejoyce together for God filleth our bodies with food and our souls with gladness Kinsm When the body is full of meat and the head full of wit and the mouth full of words there will be wise discourse Pium. Adde but one thing more If the heart be full of grace then the discourse will be both wise and godly Kinswom You talk much of a belly full I wish we have victuals enough to fill them All. Ha ha he They be not half full yet Ha ha he Kinsm What News do the Ships bring from beyond Sea Pium. They say wicked men are bold and that good men who pray to God are hated vexed troubled persecuted and not suffered to pray to God according to the Laws of Gods Word but by the Laws of men All. It is an ill time for you to come to perswade us to pray God when praying to God is so opposed hated and hindred yâ—â— may be mâ—re like to prevail with us when praying to God is credit honour and good esteem Pium Such as
they fall in company with such as know the worth of their Jewel they will be content to let them see it and take a full view of it Pen. Your discourse doth the more inflame my desire to know what this matter is that is so precious in your eyes and so doubtful to finde esteem with me I confess I am foolish but I hope you shall finde me one that would be wise and love the company of the wise and willing to learn of others that wisdome which I want and therefore though I desire not to know other mens secrets yet if this other matter you intimate be such as I may know my desire is raised high to know it Wab. Your words are good and wise and give me hopes that what I have further to say unto you will finde acceptance with you according to my desire I will therefore open to you the truth of the matter I am a praying Indian I have left our old Indian Customs Laws Fashions Lusts Pauwauings and whatever else is contrary to the right knowledge of the true God and of Jesus Christ our Redeemer It repenteth me of all my fore-past life the lusts vanities pleasures and carnal delights that were formerly very sweet and delightful to me are now bitter as gall unto me I hate and loath them All the works of darkness in which I was wont to take pleasure I do now forsake and abandon I am come into the light I now see things as they are indeed and nor as they seemed to be in the dark I now know the VVord of God which sheweth me the way of eternal Life I now know God who made all the world against whom mankinde are turned rebels and sinners I know the Law of God which I have broken and by my sins I have deserved eternal damnation in the world that is to come I now know Jesus Christ who hath died for us to procure a pardon for us and to open a door and way to eternal life and salvation for us Into this way I have entred herein I walk and I have promised to God that I will live and walk in this way all the dayes of my life And not onely so but my desire is to perswade all others into the same way which I have entred because I do certainly and experimentally know that my former wayes were darkness sin and led unto hell and damnation and this way whereinto I am now entred is a way of light life holiness peace and eternal salvation therefore do I earnestly perswade all that I meet with to be wise and turn from the wayes of darkness and come into this way of light and glory And this is the thing which I did mean when I said that there is another thing wherein I wish that we may be alike I do therefore exhort and intreat you that you would do as I have done forsake your old wayes of sin of which you have cause to be ashamed and turn unto God call on God be numbred among the praying Indians Pen. Oh I am surprized I am amazed you have ravished my Soul you have brought a light into my Soul I wonder at mâ— self where have I been what have I done I am like one raiseâ— out of a dark pit you have brought me forth into the Sunshine I begin to see about me if I look back and down into the piâ— where I have been all my dayes I wonder at my self what a deaâ— dark thing I have been when I look upon you I see you like aâ— Angel of light I have heard of this business of praying to God some have spoken ill of it some have spoken favourâ—bly I coulâ— not tell what it was but now by your discourse I begin to seâ— what an excellent thing it is it changes men and advances theâ— into a condition above other men You have dealt with me like aâ— the Fishers do by the fish you laid a Bait for me to make me deâ—sire it and bite at it but I saw not your hook until you haâ— catch'd my Soul and now I am catch'd I see it was not for mâ— hurt but for my great good The light which I do already see is beautiful and desireable thing and therefore I pray you go on aâ—â— tell me more of this new way Wab. The two first things you are to consider of now you aâ—â— come into the light and your heart willing to attend unto thâ— great work of praying to God are these 1. To know God 2. Our selves Of God know his Greatness Goodness VVisdome and Poweâ—â— He hath made all things in this great world all things above â—â— are his works he made the Heavens the Sun Moon Stars Cloudâ— c. and all things below the Seas the Earth and all things thâ—â— are in them he made Man and gave him dominion over all â—â— works in this world and a Law of Life under the penalty damnation and all this God did in six days so great is God above man The Law which he gave to man is holy just and good but man by the temptation of evil Angels who by their sin became to be Devils I say man broke the Law which God gave him and sinned against God turned Rebel against God and served the Devil and in this rebellion all the children of men go on to this day Gods Law is in Ten Commandments wherein he requireth of man to know and worship God fear his Name and keep his Sabbaths and other Laws forbid Lust Murther Stealing and all other evils Moreover God hath annexed unto his Law a great Promise Do and live with a just Punishment Sin and die eternally namely that all the breakers of this Law and sinners against him shall be punished in hell fire with eternal torments And this is the condition of all mankinde and it is our estate that by our sins against God we have deserved to die and then to be cast away down into hell fire to be tormented among the Devils who tempted us to sin and whom we have served in our life time now together with them we must be tormented for ever Pen. Oh you have now killed me again By the first light you shewed me I thought you had made me alive and I joyed in the light but I understood it not Now your light is become a sword it hath pierced through my heart by it I now see I am a dead man Alas I have been a sinner all my dayes I am guilty of more sins then I have lived dayes many sins in a day have I committed Night and day have I offended God and broke his Law I have served the Devil and not God I have done nothing that God commandeth I have only served the Devil and committed sin therefore I have deserved to be damned in hell and to be tormented among the Devils for ever whom in this life I have served with so much delight And now poor miserable I what shall I do
then by declaring the Answer that is given in our Catechism unto the Question and by opening some of the Texts of Scripture which are there brought for the proof and manifestation thereof The Question is What is the Word of God The Answer is It is the Will of God written in the Bible whereby he rightly guideth man in every thing in this world and whereby he bringeth us to eternal salvation These are but few words but full of weight and proved by divers Scriptures Keit. What do you mean by Scriptures Ant. The word and will of God written in a Book whereby we may not onely hear it with our ears when it is spoken by others but we may see it with our eyes and reade the writing our selves And this is a great benefit to us to have Gods word and will written for a word spoken is soon gone and nothing retaineth it but our Memory and that impression which it made upon our minde and heart but when this word is written in a Book there it will abide though we have forgotten it and we may reade it over a thousand times and help our weak memories so that it shall never be forgotten yea and such as cannot have an opportunity of hearing the word yet they may alwayes have an opportunity of reading the word because it is written in the Bible which they have by them in their houses and may reade in it night and day We do therefore call the word of God Scripture because it is written in a book Keit. I am satisfied in what you say I pray go on to open those Texts of Scripture which the Catechism giveth for proofs Ant. The first Text I mention is Hos. 8.12 I have written to him the great things of my Law but they were counted as a strange thing Here God gives to man a Law and he writeth this Law and every thing in this Law is a great matter though some things are greater then other yet every thing that God hath written is a great matter But God doth blame men for counting them as strange things we should be well acquainted with them Dan. 10.21 when an Angel spake to Daniel he told him that he would declare to him that which is noted in the Scriptures of truth And we that teach others must carefully so do we must teach nothing but that which is noted in and grounded upon the Scriptures of truth And we need to teach nothing else for all things needful for salvation are contained in the Scriptures as appears 2 Tim. 3.16 17. Aâ—â— Scripture is given by interpretation from God â—nd is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness That the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished to all good works The man of God here meaneth or may be applied to any honest man that is willing to walk by the Rule of the word be he a Sachem or a Teacher or a Father c. Every man may finde in the Scriptures a perfect rule to guide him in every thought word or deed So that the word of God is a perfect Law to guide every man in every thing all the dayes of his life And the word of God is not onely a rule to guide us in this life but it also brings us to heaven Acts 20.32 I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and give you â—n inheritance among them that are sanctified and Iames 1.21 Receive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls Many such testimonies I might adde to shew the fulness of perfection of the word of God but I forbear at present Will. I will adde a few words touching the perfection of the Scriptures Deut. 12.32 Whatsoever I command you observe to do it thou shalt not adde thereto nor diminish from it Here be two wayes of wronging the Scriptures 1. By adding to it 2. By taking from it Now these Popish Teachers and Ministers of whom I did discourse before they do most wickedly wrong the Scriptures especially by adding to them They say that their Offices are commanded in the Scripture and that the Pope is Christ his Vicar and that he hath power to pardon sin and abundance more such rotten stuff they adde unto the Scripture Now this is another reason why they will not suffer people to reade the Scriptures because then every body would finde out their false dealing and therefore if any body finde them out they will presently kill them The great wrong they do unto the Scriptures of truth is one of their great sins they adde their own wicked inventions unto the pure and perfect word of God Keit. Your discourse doth breed in my heart an admiration aâ— that excellent Book and I finde in my heart a longing desire to be acquainted with that Book and with those excellent matterâ— that are contained in it But although my heart doth begin â—â— reverence that Book for the sake of the matter contained in it yet I desire that you would proceed to give me your grounds why yoâ— believe that it is Gods word because I shall then reverence thâ— Word not onely for the matters sake but also for the Authorâ— sake Good words spoken by a good man do obtain respect â— much more may the words that God speaketh command all reverence This Point also being a great Principle in Religion I will taâ—â— the same course in it as I did in the former I will shew yoâ— what Answer we are taught in our Catechism and I will toucâ— some of the proofs 1. The first Reason to prove the Scriptures to be the Word oâ— God is Because they teach us the first Creation of the World and all things in it which no man nor Angel doth know or caâ— teach onely God and this is proved in the first Chapter of Genesis wâ—ere we reade the wonderful work of God in the Creation of the World where man was last made 2. The second Reason is froâ— the holiness and perfection of the word of God No man or Aâ—gel could give so holy pure and perfect a Law as Gâ—ds Law is Psal. 19.8 9 10 11. also Psal. 12.6 The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven tiâ—es 3. The third Reason is Because the word of the Lord is confirmed by such Miracles as onely God himself is able to perform Moses the first writer of Scripture did many great Miracles in Egypt in the Red Sea and in the VVilderness so did many other Prophets but especially Jesus Christ did many wonderful Miracles and so did the Apostles by which our Faith is confirmed that their writings are the word of God 4. Because the Scriptures doth reveal unto us Jesus Christ and salvation by Christ according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This no man or Angel could ever have found out onely God 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself and hath committed to us the word of Reconciliation John 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think to finde eternal life and they arâ— they that testifie of me Therefore they are the word of God 5. Because the word of God doth convert the soul from sin and Satan unto God It sanctifieth the soul and doth lead meâ—â— souls in the wayes of life unto salvation it is the sword of the Spirit to conquer the Devil Iam. 1.18 Of his own will begat â—e us with the word of truth Joh. 17.17 Sanctifie them through the trâ—th thy word is truth Ephes. 6.17 Take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God Such grounds as these we are taught in our Catecâ—ism Keit. Who can oppose or gainsay the mountainous weight of these Arguments I am more then satisfied I am ashamed of my ignorance and I abhor my self that ever I doubted of this point and I desire wholly to give up my self to the knowledge of and obedience to the word of God and to abandon and forsake these sins which the word of God reproveth and condemneth Will. I will adde one Consideration further to manifest that the Scriptures are the word of God and that is By the great Antiquity of these writings which have been extant so many thousand years and have passed through so many enemies hands who â—ave used all art and force to abolish them or corrupt them and yet they could never dâ— it Moses wrote the first Five Books of Scripture above a thousand and four hundred years before Christ came and it is above a thousand and six hundred years since Christ came and since the Gâ—spâ—l the last part of the Scripture was written Put these two Numbers together and they make three thousand years So long the Church have had the Scriptures and all this while the Devil and wicked men have endeavoured either to abolish them or corrupt them but they could never do it we have every word of God perfect and pure unto this day which cannot be said of any other writing in all the world And this wonderful divine protection of this Book doth greatly manifest that doubtless it is Gods own word over which he hath bestowed such eminent care Keit. But how do you know all this How do you know what was done so many thousand years ago Will. The Scriptures themselves have kept a perfect Record of Times from the beginning of the World unto the coming of Christ and out of that Chronologie we may perfectly know how long Moses was before Christ and there be other sure wayes to know how many years it is since Christ came And thus may we know certainly how long the Scriptures have been written Keit. If this be so the Reason is strong the Antiquity of the Book requireth reverence and Gods constant care of it sheweth he hath a divine influence in it But we are now called off from any further proceeding in our discourse at this time Before we part I have one motion and request to propose unto you To morrow is your Sabbath and I have a desire that you two would teach us that day and let us see the manner how you worship God it may please God to make more of his light to shine among us You remember what passed about this motion I do now with more desire confirm shat motion Ant. We also are still of the same minde and purpose and are the more confirâ—ed in our hearts because we see that Gâ—d is on the coming hand to incline your heart unto the Lord. After the Sabbath Philip Keitassoot Anthony William Keit. I Have now lived one Sabbath many a Sabbath have I been dead and followed works of darkness and sin when I should â—ave been following the Lord in such wayes of Worship as yesterdâ—y was spent in I am wounded at my heart to remember what I have done upon the Sabbath-day I â—ave served the Dâ—vil and lust and sins of all sorts even upon the Sabbath-dayes The sins that I have committed do render me vile in the sight of God and the time wherein I have committed mâ—ny of them doth render me more vile in the eyes of the Lâ—rd my Judge You said yesterday that Christ Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and requires all men to spend that day in his service and when Christ Jesus shall judge the world he will examine all men how they spent every Sabbath Oh wretched man that I am what answer shall I make though I am a Sachem here on earth I sâ—all be but a subject in the day of Judgement I now sit upon the Bench to judge others then I must stand at the Barre to be judged my self Oh what mountains of sin have I heaped up in my wicked life I had forgot my sins and I thought God had forgot them too and I had thought my Conscience had forgot them also but now I see it is not so God hath numbred all my wayes my thoughts my words and works and I feel now that my Conscience remembreth them also though it hath been asleep in the times of my ignorance and profaneness Oh I am a wretch I should have been an example to my people an example of virtue of wisdome and of praying to God but I have done quite contrary to my duty I have been an example of lust of profaneness yea of all sin and in particular of this great sin of profaning the Sabbath my heart is wounded with the sense of this â—in especially and that forceth my troubled Conscience to gall and afflict my soul with the remembrance of all my sins But why say I all I now finde my sins are numberless my own personal sins are many great and vile my heart doth loath my self to remember them they make me an abhorring to God But moreover and besides my own personal sins other mens sins I am guilty of Oh how many have sinned upon my account many wayes I am a Sachem over my people to rule them in virtue and to do them good but I have done contrary to my charge I have led them out into all sin and thereby I have done them â—he greatest hurt and mischief I have been a means of their damnation Oh how many are gone and going to hell upon my account how shall I escape damnation who have led so many inâ—o that eternal pit Oh I am pained at my heart what shâ—ll I do Oh what shall I do Ant No creature can help you none but God in Jesus Christ he can help you Consider that Text Micah 6.6 7 8. Wherewith shaâ—â— I come before the Lord and bowe my self before the high God shall I come before him with burâ—â— offerings with calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thâ—usands of rivers of oyl shall I give â—y first born for my transgression the fruit of my boâ—y for the sin of
â—y soul He hath sâ—ewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do juâ—tly and to love mercy and to walk huâ—bly with thy God Nothing that you can do or bring to God can pacifie that divine wrath that is kindlâ—d â—gainst you but ver 8. he sheweth you the way Also consider that Text Iohn 14.6 I am the Way and the Truth â—nd â—he Life No man cometh unto the Father but by me You have been a great sinner now you lament it you would obtain a pardon and be reconciled to God This word of God sheweth you the way and thâ—â— is to humble your self before Christ Jesus believe in him and give up your self to be his servant your self to worship the Lord and to bring on all your people to do the same I remember two places in Daniel where Sachems were in trouble of minde as you now are and Daniel gave them counsel from the Lord the first place is Dan. 4.27 Wherefore O Sachem let my counsel be acceptaâ—le to thee and break off thy sins by righteousness and thy iniquities by sheâ—ing mercy to the poor if it may â—e a lengthning of thy tranquility Aâ—d my heart is perswaded with submission to the Lord that if you now turn unto God and promote praying to God among all your people you shall see better dayes tâ—en ever you have yet seen There is another sad story in the fifth Chapter of Daniel where the wicked Sachem did act profanely agaiâ—st the Gâ—d of heaven and then appeared fingers which wrote Mene Mene Tekel Vpharsin but let the interpretation of that be unto your enemies and not to you beloved Sachem I say unto you in that word of the Lord Acts 16.31 Believe in the Lord Iesus and thou shalt be saved and thy house Wiâ—â— Hope of relief is a means to ease grief and to raise the distressed heart to apply it self unto means of Remedy In the second of Chron. 33. we reade of a Sachem that was a greater sinner then you have been yet upon his repentâ—nce and change of life he obtained mercy His Name was Manasseh his sins were such as that it is an abhorring to reade them then God brought him into affliction and it is said ver 12 13. And when he was in affliction he â—esought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers anâ— prayed unto him and he was intreateâ— of hiâ— anâ— hearâ— his supplication and brought him again unto Ierâ—â—aleâ— into his kingdâ—me Then Manasseh know that the Lord he was God So I say unto you Beloved â—achem humble your self before the Lord set up praying to God among all your people walk in wayes of wisdome and religion and you shall finde that God will be merciful to you and your latter dayes shall be blessed and be a blessing Keit. Words that come swimming in love with full sails of wisdome have great power to calm heart storms of grief and trouble I now finde it true my soul is wounded for my sin in profaning the Sabbath-day now I desire to look deeper into the matter I desire you would open unto me the Sabbath that I may know my former sins and future duty Ant. The doctrine of the Sabbath is a great Point in Religion It is one of the Ten Moral Universâ—l Commandments of God which are required of all Mankinde and the fourth Command a chief Hinge of all the rest By a religious keeping of the Sabbath we act our obedience to all the Commands By profaning the Sabbath we turn all Religion and good Order out of doors and set open a door unto all sin and wickedness so weighty a matter is the good keeping of the Sabbath-day For the opening of the Sabbath I know not a better way then to open briefly the fourth Command wâ—ich I shall do by laying it out into six parts 1. Here is the Preface in this word Remember the Sabbath-day to shew the great weight and worth of the Sabbath oâ— our proneness to â—light it and to stablish a perpetual and careful preparation to the Sabbath Neh. 13.19 And it came to pass that when the gates of Ierusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath I commanded that the gates should be shut and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath and some of my servants set I at the gates that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day 2. Here is the Affirmative part of the Command wherein we are commanded to keep the whole Sabbath holy both in thought word and deed Isa. 58.13 If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath â— delight the holy of the Lord honourable and shalt honour him not doing thine own wayes nor finding thine own pleasure nor speaking thine own words 3. Here is an exact distribution of all time betwixt God and man wherein God hath appointed six parts or dayes to man and the seventh part is dedicated to God and hence it followeth that the Sabbath was capable of being changed from the lâ—st of seven to the first of seven and so the Lord hath changed it 1 Cor. 16 2â—â— Acts 20.7 Rev. 1.10 And when this Change was first made the Câ—urch kept two Sabbaths together as the Passover and the Lords Supper were together 4. Here is the Negative part of this Command wherein we are forbidden all our own works in that word or deed Thou shalt do no manner oâ— work 5 Here be the persons that be bound to keep the Sabbath All high and low rich and poor male and female in all societies â—nd relâ—tions and strangers Thou thy son thy â—aughter thy man-servant thy maid-servant thy cattel and thy stranger 6. Here be three Râ—aâ—ons to urge us to a reverent and careful keeping of the Sabbath 1. Taken from Gods most holy and wise Example who six dayes Created but on the sâ—venth dâ—y rested in his heavenly joyes 2. The second Reason is Because God hath put a blessing on the head of the Sabbath and on all that keep it holy He blessed the seventh day 3. The third Reason is Because the Lord made it holy he dedicated it to holy use aâ—d tâ—erefore may not be violated without sacriledge Mal. 3.8 Will ye rob God Thus have I opened this Command Will. I will onely adde two Texts of Scripture Ier 17.19 to the end Thus saith the Lord unto me Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people whereby the Kings of Iudah come in and by the which they go out and in all tâ—e gates of Ierusalem and say unto them Hear ye the word of the Lord ye kings of Iudah anâ— all Iudah and all the inhabitants of Ierusalem that enter in by â—hese gates Tâ—us saith the Lord Takâ— heed to your selves and bear no burden on the Sabbath day c. The other â—ext is Exod. 31 13 14 15 16
the best compâ—ny in the world for yoâ— have the company of Jesus Christ. See Isa. 53 3. He is â—espâ—sed aâ—â— rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grâ—efs 〈◊〉 we hid as it were our â—aces â—rom him he was deâ—pâ—â—ed and we esteâ—â—ed him not Wâ—en you â—re alone by your sâ—lâ— reâ—de all this Câ—â—pter you shall finde that Christ wâ—s in greaâ—er distreâ—ses then yoâ— are which he suffered patieâ—â—ly to procure for us pardon and salvation and by his â—uâ—fering he â—ad exâ—erience of suâ—ferings that â—â— might pity us in our gâ—ieâ—s and â—hâ—râ—forâ— it is said Heb. 4.15 For we have not an high Priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities but waâ— in all points tempted lâ—ke as we are 〈◊〉 without sin Our affâ—ictions alâ—s expose â—s oftentimeâ— to â—in bâ—â— in that case also Chr ist is very pitiful and gracious he remembreâ—â— that we are but duâ—â— Psal. 103.14 You adde You fear that your Sun will set in darkness and deâ—spair I answer to you Consider tâ—aâ— future things belong to God Do not afflict your self with future things Sufficient for the dâ—yâ— the evil thereof Mat. 6.34 Let â—he morrow care for it â—elf Bâ—â— suppose yâ—u should have no comfort tâ—ll you die it is the case â—â— many of Gods children to die in a dark cloud and Christ himseâ—â— sanctified that case Mat 27.46 50. He cried with a loud voice Eâ—â— Eli lamasabachthani Ver 5â— Iesus when he had cried again with loud voice yielâ—ed up the ghost Whâ—t if some of Gods childreâ— should in this point be conformed to Jesus Christ do not adde â—â— your sorrows fears of a sad condition which Christ hath sanctiâ—fied Touching your Parentage and present state I know how it iâ— very well In this case I advise you to consider that if yoâ—â— worldly Cup had been fillâ—d with such sweetness as flesh and blooâ— desire it might have been much worse for your soul. A soâ—â— drowned in earthly pleasure is rarely saved but a soul drowned iâ— worldly sorrows and griefs if instructed in the knowledge of Jâ—â—sus Christ shall never be lost because the sorrows and crosses â—â— the world will keep him from surfetting upon the Creature anâ— drive him to sâ—tiate himself in Christ by the promises of the Gâ—â—spel Thus have I answered to the chief points in your Coâ—â—plaint Penit. Oh the power of the word of God aptly applied unto tâ—â— case of a distressed soul The sweet experience that I have noâ— found in those â—criptures which you have produced and applieâ— to my case shall make me hereafter to search and reade the Scriâ—ptures more then I have done I do like Hagar complain for â—â—â—ter when it is just by me if I would search I hope I shall reaâ— the Scriptures more then ever I have done Iohn You have prevented me or rather the Spirit of God hath put into your heart by power and grace that which I intended to have presented to you by way of Advice and Counsel namely To be frequent and abundant in reading the Scriptures for you see that all Soul-cordials are laid up there fetch them out therefore from that divine Treasury and make use of them for your comfort I know the Devil will oppose you in this matter and keep you from conversing in the Scriptures because they are the sword of the Spirit Eph. 6.17 whereby we resist his temptations as Christ himself hath set us an example Mat. 4.4 7 10. when the Devil assaulted him with a temptation he drew forth the sword of the Spirit a Text of Scripture and opposed the temptation thereby and that presently conquered the Tempter Do you the same you cannot imitate a better pattern then our Lord Jesus Christ and it is his Command also that we should so do Iohn 5.39 Search the Scriptures and David made them his meditation day and â—ight Psal. 1.2 and he had the like experience that you now have found and came to the like resolution Psal. 119.93 I will never forget thy precepts for with them thou hast quickned me Penit. I feel much tranquility in my minde in this way of seeking Soul-comfort in the Scriptures Oh I have found out a way of refuge comfort and rest in a stormy time I hope the Lord will give me grace and wisdome to make more use thereof then ever I have done in my life But still my soul is in great doubts and fears about my eternal condition if I spend this life in griefs and sorrows and when I finish here I go away to eternal misery Oh what a lamentable case is that and my fear is that this will be my condition my griefs indeed are many but they are worldly sorrow I cannot say that I am converted I desire to know what it is to be converted Iohn All Mankinde are once born by natural birth they come into this world but all Gods children are born again Iohn 3.3 Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the kingdome of heaven and this is a spiritual birth ver 5. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit c. Baptism is an outward sign of it but the inward grace is a work of the Spirit and the Spirit worketh by the Word of God Iames 1.18 21. Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth and ver 21. Wherefore lay apart all filâ—hiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls By faith in the Promise the soul is united to Christ and he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 When an afflicted soul doth venture it self and its All upon the faithful word of Promise and sayes to God as Iob said Iob 13.15 Though he kill me yet I will trust in him this is the new-born soul and this believing soul shall be surely saved at last whatever sorrows and afflictions it goes through in this life And wh ereas you say that your sorrows and griefs are but worldly sorrow I answer That the question is not what kinde of sorrow it is so much as what the effects of it is for no matter what the sorrow is if it drive the soul to Christ our salvation is by Christ and not by sorrow the use of sorrow is to imbitter sin and the world and to drive the soul to Christ for relief and rest if worldly sorrow or rather sorrow about worldly things do this it hath its end and proves to be a godly sorrow Sorrows are not to merit any thing from God but to force the afflicted soul to fly to him for refuge We shall finde examples in Scripture where sorrows about worldly things have effectually driven the soul to fly to God for refuge Psal. 88.18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me and mine acquaintance into darkness This was an outward affliction and yet in the first verse of that Psalm it drives him