Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	concern_v	zeal_n	zealous_a	32	3	8.9367	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A79993	The sect every where spoken against or, the reproached doctrine of Ely. As it was held forth in several sermons in the year, MDCLI. By Christopher Cob, lay-man, minister of an united people in Ely. Collected and analized for a private use, by Hampden Reeve, Master of Arts, one of that Society, and a constant hearer. Now published by the assent of the whole Society (as a short character, at present, of them and their way, till an opportunity of a farther and fuller discovery) for satisfaction in general.	Cob, Christopher.; Reeve, Hampden.	1651 (1651)	Wing C4769; Thomason E1251_1; ESTC R209173	234,596	386

against it c. This Great King is the same spoken of cap. 4. Better is a poor and wise child then an OLD AND FOOLISH KING that will no more be admonished c. In all Ages this old King the old serpent the Devil hath played these pranks against this little City he will never leave spitting his Venome and Poyson against the Truth to destroy it utterly That the name of Israel may be no more This Haman can have no rest so long as Mordecai lives Poor Mordecai is an eye-soar and troubles and disquiets this Great King and Gallows must be provided to hang Mordecai and D crees sent out to destroy the whole Nation of the Jews for his sake nothing lesse will serve then an utter ruine He will never be admonished this Old King will never take warning though his plots have been again and again disappointed and he hath been taken in his own snare yet he wi●l go on to besiege this little City to disturb and perplex and torment and if possible destroy this little Remnant Now I have heard many say that they never were thus troubled with the Devil they thank God He harms not them they never were under his temptations and torture and cruell batterings were they never troubled with him I but this is an Argument they are a friend to him they live in his Kingdom and there all is in peace so long as he keeps the house but if you are ever brought out of the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Christ if you shall ever be gathered out of the great City Babylon to this little Sion this small remnant if ever plucked out of the world then you shall feel him stirring For this old Serpent hath ever from the beginning of the World been casting out his floods after the Truth if possible to drown and destroy that and the neerer any of you shall be brought to God be sure he will be the more busie you shall have the harder encounters and assaults from the D●vil you sh●ll then see he will raise his great Bulwarks But what makes he these Bulwarks of out of what matter doth he work them Why whatsoever is of the Earth be it what it will yet if it be but an earthly material he can raise Bulwarks out of it well enough not onely out of gross earth out of dirt and mire not onely out of lusts sensual delights and pleasures but out of the finest earth out of a golden myne he can do it out of wisdom and parts and righteousness and zeal and hope and faith and what not that he cannot raise a Bulwark out of against the Truth Paul had these strong Bulwarks fram'd in him against the Truth in Stephen when he was stoned to death He was of the strictest way of the Pharisees He walked according to his Conscience He was as concerning the Law blameless and yet all these were made Bulwarks for the D●vils service And therefore all your zeal and forwardness and love which seems to be for God see whether the Devils bulwarks be not in all to keep thee off from the Truth for he works himself strangely under ground he hath strange wiles to cheat and cozen by by knowledg of the Scriptures by zeal by forwardness to venture lives and estates for the Truth as we then think by these doth he s●●ly winde in and raise his great Bulwarks and if the Lord help you not and deliver the City he will soonest of all destroy you where you think you are safest and so keep off all Truth from coming neer to touch ●ou and therefore great need you should well minde and consider the sleights for he hath bulwarks of all sorts shapes and sizes Bulwarks of dirt and clay and mire they are strong enough to destroy some Bulwarks of Gold and Silver and Pearls if need be any thing that is but this Worlds material and that takes in a great compass he can make a Bulwark to save himself and undo the Soul by Good Lord what strange devices hath h● He 'l put a man upon zeal and forwardness put him to give his goods to the poor and body to be burned and whatever you will if so be under all this he may but make a Bulwark and lurk behinde it to keep himself alive and do a mischief to the Truth Therefore there is need to consider what we lean on for if we are trusting and hoping and lightly promising our selves that God will sure help at last and we shall be delivered when he pleases and so rest in hearing and coming together when nothing is done I say all these hopes and conclusions which we get up to keep off the strait from our Souls and get ease by All these are but the Enemies Bulwarks and certainly intended by him to destroy us and if we be left to shrink away so and neglect the Truth in our day we may never be met with again when the time is once gone Sure the Lord is righteous and will not let the guilty go free though as I told you the last night he is all Love and sweetness in himself if we could but get in to him to his heart now if we could go and meet him thus as a Father and fall down and own our shame how well were it Were it not better then yet to stand out and war for the Enemy against our Brother then to joyn with the Devil in his Bulwarks against the Truth for one of these hands we must needs fall into But this is a hard case saith the Soul Am I so liable to the Devils Bulwarks and lie open dayly to all destruction and misery and is there no remedy Yes there is remedy There is Balm in Gilead V. In this City was found a Poor Wise man and he by his wisdom delivered the City A POOR WISE MAN a Jacob a plain man no such cunning tricks and deceits as the Esaus have and yet by his plain wisdom he can over-reach and supplant and go beyond all the deep plots and cunning of this great King How soon was Paul stopt in the midst of his run when he drove furiously for the Devil Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Not any great weapons are used but a wise word whispered into his Soul and that turns all and strikes the great Champion down to the Earth So Abigail comes to David but with a wise word a soft answer and how doth it prevail and prevent the great destruction intended against Nabals house It is but a word and the stream is turned I come against thee said David to the great Goliah in the Name of the Lord No more but so That Name is enough against the great Gyant and all his armor but a word Why persecutest thou me and that is enough to strike down the stoutest heart in the World if it be but set home What dost thou fight against God Art thou able to stand in his hands Alass what dost

and choyce and this causes a felt anguish and torture in the Soul when all circumstances come up of sins done seven years since as if but newly acted How Thou provokedst God and broke prison at such a time and slightedst and turnedst back This eats and corrodes and frets the Soul and gives it no rest to hear or hope or beleeve any thing from God And therefore this is the next Thing God doth in going to cure He removes all the guilt and sin and shame and unbelief that lay upon the Soul and lays all upon the scape-goat to be carryed into the land of forgetfulness that though the iniquity of Judah and Israel be sought for yet it cannot be found I will remember their sin no more saith God and this pacifies and asswages the pain and calms the Soul He makes the storm a calm and so brings them to their desired haven c. 3. Another way God takes in healing is by applying a plaister of mercy and loving-kindness Then He speaks kindly and friendly to the Soul comes with words of peace he comes enquiring Is there no balm in Gilead is there no Physician there Is not the Lord in Zion is not her King in her The Lord opens to the Soul a soveraign Balm that can heal all sores He discovers his Son the Lord Jesus that seed of Truth that lies within This is my well-beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Now He comes gently to the Soul and moves and stirs in it not altogether to despair and cut off it self from hope but an enquiry is made in the Soul Is not the Lord in Zion Is there not hope in Israel concerning this thing However desperate the case seems yet hope gets up Who can tell but he may be gracious It is one thing to have Truth manifested to be within the Soul and another thing to have the use and enjoyment of it one thing to have a healing plaister applyed and another thing to be healed In the third day He will raise us up and we shall live in his sight To be raised out of this pit of mire and clay out of this dark dungeon to live in his sight to be brought out of darkness into his marvelous light this is wonderful And how beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tydings of peace These good tydings are a sweet reviving plaister to the dying Soul When just now at the brink of the Pit and the Life draws nigh to the grave then for an Interpreter to come one of a thousand to shew to Man his righteousness to open that seed and principle of Life that is within and so save his life from going down to the pit Is not such a Balm as this able to cure all wounds how doth this calm and quiet the Soul and beget admirings O who would ever think any good should grow here that Truth should lie hid in such a filthy defiled and polluted heart as Jacob breaks forth God was in this place and I knew it not and Hagar I did not think to have met with the Lord here What! when all hope of life is gone yet then to have salvation and deliverance opened out of the Eater to have meat in the midst of all guilt and shame and sin and lusts that oppress and torment yet to have this opened That such a Soul as this is no less then the gate of Heaven where God and Angels are to pass in and out This is a pleasant plaister indeed This heals the dying inwards when it is given in by God not taken up by mans gatherings and conclusions and hopings as all the healings before were 4. The Lord heals this sore by setting a time appointing a day for deliverance and putting the Soul in a posture of waiting till that come so the Angel opens to Daniel Seventy weeks are determined to finish transgression and to bring in everlasting Righteousness And so in the Psalms the Church pleads with God that It is time to have mercy upon Zion yea the set time is come But what is this set time for Zion to be built Why it follows For it pities thy servants to see her stones lie scattered in the dust This is the set time when the hearts of any are raised to pity and take to heart the desolation and ruines of Zion and when the Soul is pitched upon this to lie in the dust lost and scattered and undone as it is till the heart of some or other be raised to pity it It is impossible you should ever be brought forth as children of the Truth unless the Heart of some be turned towards you to be a Father as the Text saith of Elias He shall turn the hearts of Fathers to Children and Children to their Fathers The Soul is layd down here it cannot get up it self but must lie wounded and half dead till some good Samaritan pass by and take it up and this is the greatest tryal and hardest thing to bear that ever could come to mans heart That He must lie thus buckled and submitted to another till his Brother come to pity and take him up And now if the heart scorns and will not come in here to be thus beholding to another it may lie long enough and not yet the time of healing is come If thou scornest thou alone shalt bear it if thou scorn this thing to lie as thou art till the heart of some father be turned to thee thou mayst go long enough without cure But the Soul that God hath indeed pitched upon this as the way for its cure that is ever looking when some shall turn in to pity it and ask how it doth and take it out of the dirt where it sticks fast and therefore it is ever crying out Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by Is there none that mindes my sorrows Was ever grief like mine And is there none to pity and lay my case to heart and travel and pray and cry for me Such a breaking out is there not murmuringly nor commandingly but bewailing and crying out out of the sense of misery and longing for cure O that there were some to pity Nothing else can content because it is pitched upon that as the way for its cure all other plaisters cannot reach the sore and therefore it cries for some to help it as the blinde man cryed after Christ Thou Son of David have mercy on me and no rebukes from others to hold his peace and be still can prevail with him but still the cry goes on till the cure is done But it followeth After two days He will raise us up and we shall live c. The second days work now follows the day of reviving no man shall seek the Lord in vain The Prophet here invites calls to come and return and if any shall be prevailed with they shall not lose their labor in the Lord Verily there is a reward for the Righteous Mark the

owned and received and prized He shall be welcom to them then even the feet of such as bring glad tydings of peace Then will the Soul say with Abigail Let me wash the feet of the servants of my Lord the King He shall be welcom indeed in that day And this glads and rejoyces and keeps up his spirit to think on this time I had verily fainted saith David unless I had beleeved to see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living That bare up his heart There is hope in the latter end saith God to Rachel that thy Children shall come again to their own borders How ever they are now in captivity and lie scattered broken as if utterly forsaken yet they shall return And for these causes Christ weeps over Ierusalem over his people out of joy where ever and in what case soever he finds them yet this joy lives in the bottom I would you might never forget these Particulars But 2. And when He beheld the City He wept Another Reason why He weeps is out of sorrow because He findes them in their blood He grieves to see Ierusalems wickedness to see her hands embrued in blood to see her killing the Prophets and opposing and fighting against her own good There is no other way for Her ever to be saved but by hearing the voyce of her Prophets and obeying them And now to thrust these away saying We will not have this man rule over us for Truth to finde the sons of peace the saved ones in this strange condition hating and striking against their own chief good and best friends This causes a weeping It is a gladness indeed to finde the sons of peace to see a Nathanael an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile one in whom the Spirit of Life the Seed of God is planted Truth joys at this and if this be not in the bottom there is no ground for Truth to work upon No Physician goes about to take a dead man to cure If there be not a Seed of Life there is nothing for Truth to care for and pray and weep over But now where that seed is yet to finde such a Soul or such a people stoning their Prophets to finde his own Children rebelling and standing against Him this causes Truth to weep And when He beheld the City He wept c. Now this Sin hath three Aggravations in it which cause Truth to weep 1. It is an unnatural sin for them to kill their Prophets which came to instruct and inform them in the way of Life Alass in killing your Prophets you kill your selves you murther your own Souls And what murther is so cruel and unnatural as that Who shall save you if you kill your Saviour Him whom God hath sent to be a Saviour and Deliverer If you thrust away this Moses who shal bring you out of Egypt and lead through the Wilderness Nothing so unnatural as for a man to cut his own Throat such a thing is it for any to slight and contemn that Truth which comes to save them 2. It is an ungrateful Sin It is not right nor allowable to render evil for evil to hate our Enemies But to reward evil for good to return hatred for love and mercy and bowels shewed us Am I therefore your Enemy saith Paul because I tell you the truth This is wonderful ungrateful I will send my Son sure they will reverence Him but now after all to take this Son too and kill Him that was sent out of love and exceeding tenderness this is the ungratefullest sin in the World To refuse Him that speaks from Heaven that can open to you the minde and heart and love and good-will of God this Christ weeps at to finde them in so ungrateful a sin 3. It is a venturous and desperate sin That moves Christ to weep to see the hard venture what to sleep upon the top of a Mast To venture to kill their Prophets and the present offer of Grace and know not whether ever another Prophet shall be sent them or no O what a venture is it God hath truly sent me to you to warn you to come out of Sodom and to tell you God hath purposed to destroy the City and will you venture to linger in it still Had Lot stayd but one hour longer he had been destroyed with them but the Angel layd hands on him and pulled him out the Lord being merciful to him This is the next to that unpardonable sin which David prays against O keep me from presumptuous sins that I may be innocent from the great Transgression The Lord warn and prevent you and lay it to your heart to consider how guilty we are in all these Particulars how unnatural we have been and cruel to our own Souls to murther the Truth sent to gather us and then of all transgressions 't is the most ungrateful What people in all the world have been so kindly dealt with so followed and waited on and born with Line upon Line Instruction and Counsel and Love have followed us and to murther this Truth after all how ungrateful is it And then how desperate have we been and venturous in a Passion like the profane Esau to sell all for one morsel of bread to venture all at a blow and what ever comes on it desperately resolve We will not have this man rule over us Well may God say to us Because I would have purged you and you would not be purged therefore you shall not be purged till you dye Do you hear what is spoke It concerns all you are all guilty the Lord lay it not to your charge I know not a People in the World so venturing all at a cast as we have been Come Life or Death yet there hath been a punctual standing out and slighting the Call of Truth to have our wills Thirdly Another Cause Christ weeps over Jerusalem is to find her in that miserable condition of ignorance that she knew not the Things which belonged to her Peace O that Thou hadst known even Thou in this thy day c. But They knew not the day of their Visitation they knew not their time this Christ grieves at Work whilest it is day whilest you have the Light with you for the night cometh wherein no man can work But they had played in Summer they slighted their seasons and opportunities and knew them not knew not the Things belonging to their Peace Man naturally looks after the things that concern his ease but is not so minding what belongs to his peace But it is this Peace only that must stick by us in a strait in a time of need when ease and enlargements and all fail then will this Peace abide and this Christ weeps for to see their ignorance though it is well in one respect that they were ignorant I obtained mercy saith Paul because I did it ignorantly And had we done what we have done fully knowing we had sinned

in the Church but if you would know for no better end then this only to satisfie your reaching heart if you employ not your Masters goods to the best advantage better had you never had the Truth then to make an evil use of it as Christ declares in the next Chapter a Parable of a Steward that wasted his Masters goods and inrich'd himself by it Ephraim is a fruitful Vine to himself But as Solomon saith Riches are given to some for their hurts And here you may see that if riches and honor c. shall be the way to bring a man down God will give him them Eve shall eat of the Apple though forbidden because said she its good to make one wise c. that so she might be brought under the curse Though all shall not have their hearts brought down that way for some shall have their hearts discovered by their foolishness they shall have no knowledg but be ignorant and brutish as a beast What strange ways does God take to bring down mans heart before he can know that he standeth by grace that he is not able to think a good thought of himself As the Prodigal here as soon as ever he can get all together he is gone he thinks he is well now As soon as God gives understanding knowledg discerning then comes Pride then we think we are something because we have something But alas may we cry out as the man did to Elijah it was but borrowed and he that lent it may call for it when it pleases him Therefore let him that thinks he standeth take heed lest he fall How proud is this Peacock how does she spread out her tail but when she sees her black feet then she hangs down her head 4ly The Prodigal having gathered all together he has then he goes forth gallantly adorned Now I can give Reproof Instruction and Counsel saith he and thus he looks upon his plume of Feathers but by and by his portion is gone his Feathers are pluckt and then how naked and ashamed is he If you be made wise to see and be warned then happy are you We never come to our losses but by this prying upon our selves as the Apostle saith We measure our selves by our selves saying I am better then I was and amongst our selves when we look upon others we say I am better then this and th' other but in this you are not wise c. But who of us desires the Truth as David did O deal kindly with me saith he that I may keep thy Commandments We say Let me have the Truth but for what end to be proud of it We often enquire and enquire as the Pharises did of the blind man But how came thine eyes open as if we would be his Disciples But is it indeed for that end I beseech you enquire why would you know the hidden Mysteries of God and be of his Counsel c. If you have no mind to be his Disciples there 's great danger in it there 's great need to enquire wherefore you would know God Would you know him to fear him fear him to serve him serve him to love him to love him not your selves is this in all your hearings desirings and prayings c. What would you have him for is it to get honour to your selves or is it for the honour of him That in all your desirings this may be set before you to say thus Did the Prodigal desire and did the father give him his desire But what did he with it He gathered all together and ran from his father We never undertake to be desperately evil but we first plot how to carry it out As a thief that is resolved to steal he plots how to carry away what he intends to steal When you look over how you are wiser and have more discerning then others how good is prophesied concerning you c. then you gather up your portions and arm your selves against the Truth to fight with it All you that have gone far from God have not gone naked we have made use of what God had given us to carry us out from him We could never have gone into a Land of wasting of hunger and famine had we not once been in a Land of plenty You have not gone out hood-wink'd How have you promised your selves when you have gone into evil company you would only go to learn experience and return again presently But whither have you carried your riches even as the Prodigal to a Citizen of that Country where self-love pride envy c. dwells where the Ishmaelites dwell the Tabernacles of Edom of Moab and the Hagarens Gebal and Ammon and Amlaeck c. Psal 83.6 7. All the kindred that are against Truth Pride Self-love Envy c. are the Country-men whither the Prodigal carries his riches And what doth he now do does he go to God in this loss No he joyns himself to this Citizen one of the same kind for such as a mans heart is such is his society he joyns himself to If the heart is let out to Envy then to the envious if to Self-love Pride unmercifulness it seeks for such and therefore must our high thoughts come down And whosoever of you shall be so wise to take warning by this might be afraid to ask of God riches any more since we have spent them upon our lusts We have gone from Jerusalem to that cursed Jericho and as the Prodigal spent all our substance And when he had spent all there arose a mighty famine in the Land and he began to be in want c. And so it will be all the vertue strength power wisdom fear love c. what ever we have enjoyed that sprung from Truth will be spent and the famine will arise But for what Cause 1. As a just Judgment When David had numbered the people God sent unto him three Judgments bidding him choose which he would Shall seven years of famine come unto thy Land saith God or wilt thou fly three moneths before thine enemies or shall three days Pestilence be in thy Land c. 2 Sam. 24.13 This was to come as a Judgment upon him Therefore now in this strait what great need have you of one to make an attonement for you When you have had the exercise of Truth lively upon you how have you babbled it to every one You have thought Sure I have riches enough and so have run it out as long as ever you had breath as a drunken man that has money he spends all never considering how hardly he came by it and how soon he may want Not like that wise man Christ speaks of who when he hath found the treasure hid in a field presently goes and hideth it again Mat. 13.44 But as soon as we are a little brought out but to see our way c. how do we tell it abroad to every one we meet My heart shall never reproach my mouth saith Job I but

one of you if you were called this night to dye that are at a certainty for your conditions what shall become of you you have nothing certain to stick to If you look over all your treasure your hopes and promises and operations from Truth yet the bed is too short and the covering too narrow I remember the saying of an old Professor which was long my Guide and Teacher and many years had been zealous and strong and forward in Religion yet when he lay upon his death-bed and great things were expected from him I know not saith he whether all that ever I have done in all my life hath not been in hypocrisie All his great confidence was gone in a moment and he at a pitiful uncertainty what should become of him I am sure it made my heart startle to hear it and say in my Soul Art thou now to seek after all then what shall become of me who am far short and but a new beginner 4. This Consideration may move you to fear Not knowing how soon the day of Mercy may be slipt over and the day of Visitation hid from our eyes It hath been no small Mercy the peaceable Government we have lived under we have had Liberty and Peace to meet together it is more then was afforded in my day it cost me dearer But now do you think it will last always Is there not a fear upon you lest the day be gone and a breaking and scattering should befall us And then we may remember Sion and weep by the Rivers of Babylon in our bonds 5. This moved Noah with Fear lest the Deluge should come before his Ark was finished and therefore he presently hastens to the work and did as the Lord commanded him Now doth it take this place Are your Souls afraid lest the day should come unawares and prevent you Sure if you are it will put you out of hand to look after a shelter and presently to set upon the work to prepare an Ark. III. The next general Thing to be Considered will be WHAT THIS ARK WAS How to be built And what a Type of This Ark typed out Christ all confess He is that Alone Refuge for all the saved ones to hide themselves in when ruine and desolation and destruction comes upon the whole world beside Now the Ark had three Stories which type out three Conditions and states that Christ went through to finish and compleat the great Work of Salvation 1. A day of Christs weakness and Death This the 1. Story Of the Ark. 2. A day of his Resurrection from the Grave This the 2. Story Of the Ark. 3. A day of ascending and entring into Glory This the 3. Story Of the Ark. And all the saved ones must tread in the same steps and go through these three conditions in the work of Salvation c. I. Christ had a day of weakness a day of death and sufferings He was crucified out of weakness And if ever you will build this Ark to the saving of your souls you must begin at this lowest Story If we are planted into the likeness of his Death we shall be also into the likeness of his Resurrection If you suffer with him you shall reign with him If you take up his cross and be faithful to the Death He will give you a crown of Life But if you deny him he will deny you If we drink not with him in the cup of Vinegar and Gall we shall not drink of that new wine with him in the Kingdom of God If you will indeed be like Him you must begin here No man can build a Castle in the Ayr if there be no Foundation and there is no other Foundation but JESVS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED Now this Death of Christ takes in a large compass and who will follow him here 1. He dyed to all things both lawful and unlawful He sought not Himself in any thing He could have prayed to his Father and have commanded Legions of Angels to save him He was Lord of all and yet became poor and made himself of no reputation He layd down all his just Rights and Priviledges and comes not to do his own Will but the Will of another Now if you look it over how hard are we to part with unlawful things We are holding what in our own Consciences belongs not to us and we have no right to nor can we have peace in the enjoyment of it and yet how is the heart gathering and reaching and coveting O fill my belly clothe my back pity my case consider my tryals And thus every one would scramble all to himself and never care what becomes of another though in our Consciences we know these reachings are utterly sinful and unlawful But now who will follow Christ in that other Branch Who will begin to dye to lawful things that which we may justly plead a right and title to To clear our selves where we are innocent to have our Love answered with Love to have others deal with us as we deal with them This we say we may justly plead for I but to suffer wrongfully to be numbred with Transgressors to be counted a wine-bibber a companion of Publicans and Sinners one having a Devil a Deceiver a Blasphemer Thus it was with Christ though he was without sin neither was guile found in his mouth And yet this he takes up and lies under and lays down his neck to the block and submits This is your hour and the power of Darkness No more but so Who will follow Christ here to suffer servants to ride on horseback and thou though a Prince one truly belonging to God yet to go on foot Thus did Christ He went on taking up his Cross dayly and this Cross was not onely outward sufferings and reproaches and denyals from the World but alass it takes in a parting with and dying to all seen things all that the Will sticks to all that the Soul chooses all that is dear and precious to give up all Christ could justly have pleaded That he had a right to God a right to all the Creatures He might have enjoyed of the best the World affords No but He resigns up his Will to the Will of his Father He gives up all and though He was rich yet became poor c. And if you come not to this to follow him here you shall never build this Ark And wo to the wantons of this world that talk highly and largely for God but live loosely and reproach the Cross of Christ as much as any will not enter themselves nor suffer others 2. He did not only dye to all things lawful and unlawful but He did it quietly and patiently He took it well He gave up his life He layd it down none took it from him But how far are we from this When any thing is hard indeed and pinches us to the heart how do we struggle and take it ill There is an envying arises against the

where am I how far gone and taken off of my self and where stick I and am loath to give up He that will be wise let him be wise for himself 'T is not your way to put it off to another and say this concerns such a one they are sinners and guilty here and there and so the discouraged drooping Soul puts off hope and reviving and says I it may belong to another but as for me I am cut off c. Zion said my God hath forgotten me c. but our way is quietly and sob●rly to listen to whom is the message sent doth the Lord speak to me or not 4. Hear this when the Lord calls to stir when his voice is to be obeyed we hear sometimes and know and are convinced that this is his will that we must come up to such a deniall and take up such a cross and do such a service but we hear not the time when we put it off till to morrow Alass to morrow is not yours you may be dead in your graves by to morrow therefore consider and whilst it is called to day hear his voyce Ask now what is the meaning of the Parable what is his mind concerning thee let not the Sun go down upon your wrath How many of your souls at present stand unreconciled to God an enmity is in your minds now if advantage should be taken if the Sun go down upon you if Truth should depart and you be left to dye in your sins oh how miserable would it be to morrow may never be ours and then are we undone for ever 5. Consider why for whose sake I should hear for his sake that invites so lovingly and waits so patiently and calls so earnestly Oh that my people had hearkened to my voyce O Jerusalem Jerusalem that thou hadst known the day of thy visitation Hear for his sake that comes with intreatings and bewailings and love and tenderness that comes in the still voice gently not in thunder and earthquakes to crush all a pieces and shake us to nothing as he might do but the good-will the love of him that speaks might move us to hear he that after many rebellions and many gainsayings and many withdrawings yet stands at the door and waits and calls and would not by any means the death of a sinner but useth all wayes that he may return and live Hear for his sake that is thus gracious Thus something hath been spoke to the opening of that word and we will hear it and do it it is a very good saying indeed and God approves of it well they have well spoken and if this come not in the last place if we are not brought to do what we hear to be the thing then is all our labour lost as good we had never heard at all and if it come in the first place it is to as little purpose if we set upon doing before we hear then all is in a confusion and lumber we worship we know not what God regards it not and therefore he says I hate your new moons and solemn assemblies my soul loaths your sacrifices and Samuel said to Saul for his blind and hasty venturing to sacrifice Hath the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings as to hear the word of the Lord no to obey is better then sacrifice and these are the two great Rocks that the whole world are split upon one sort will do nothing another are doers indeed but they do they know not what they worship an unknown God Now it is said that he will come to render vengeance on all that know not God they live loosely and do nothing at all and such as obey not the Gospel The Gospel comes to them and they hear and know it I but they obey it not they obey their own thoughts and will-worship they seek and ask I but they ask amisse Israel hath not obtained what it sought after but if ever you would obtain and do any thing which may please the Lord then you must hear first hear soberly what is his will and way 't is a blind preposterous way to do first and then go to hear whether we have done right or not no but hear what he would have thee do and therefore how long have I cryed and waited to hear but that word come from you Lord what wouldest thou have me to do O Lord have we been all this while have not heard yet I to this day we have not soberly and calmly sat down to hear the voice of the Lord we have been like wilde creatures all our dayes that though he hath been calling and going after some of us this twenty or thirty years yet he could not come nigh to speak with us charm the charmer never so wisely till he shall bind us in fetters and hold us in the cords of affliction that we cannot get away and then will he open the ear to discipline I know many of you have had calls again and again and been made to say sure It is the voyce of my Beloved but we would not rise nor hear the call out to this very day not come to do it and if we are not brought to this we are miserable c Thus have I opened to you the several circumstances b●longing to hearing and first you are to hear who it is that speaks to know the Lords voyce Now to bring it to use 1 I●quire do you believe that it is indeed the Lord that calls and invites and speaks now to you else why hear you if it be only man that speaks wherein is he to be accounted off What are mans promises what are mans threats bu● if you are indeed convinced as I know some of you are that it is the Lords voyce then why obey we not if we are fully set down in our consci●nc●s that it is the Lord that speaks then we must n●eds come to one of these two points 1. Either to do and an●wer the thing called for from us by God or else 2. To lie under our guilt and shame and accept of the punishment and bow under the hand If the Lord sp●ak ●o this purp●se to any soul why thou knowest not yet the latter end what shall become of thee for ever what ●●pes bear thee up what livest thou upon why takest thou any c●n●ent in any thing till this thing be opened If this be his voyce why then hear it and obey it own thy condition as it is take thy place quietl● when he calls Friend sit down lower Certainly you will all be called to the touchstone God will search and see the bottom of things how they stand the word wi●l come to sh●w our shortness that we are not yet brought to that Reign of Christ all power and au●horit● and rule is not put down in us but yet our wills and huntings of heart and self-loving Principles live and rule Doth the voyce say thus why hear it and obey it bow under

destruction but like the Smiths dog sleep quietly though the sparks fly about your ears the words of the Curse and the words of the Blessing all are al●ke nothing seiseth and this is your great misery that you cannot come near your selves to enquire how is it A deceived heart hath turned him aside that he cannot possibly come to that word to say is there not a lye in my right hand Isa 44.20 But now you that are made sensible and know where you stand and cry for bread to eat somewhat that may cure and heal and satisfie you every where you that are under the sense and pain of this felt-want and misery you clearly know these two things 1. You see how an evill taint hath gone along with you all your dayes from your childhood which you never yet were cured of and if you be not cured it will surely undo you And then 2. We are under the sense of the great thing we are short of of knowing the very inward mind and heart of God towards us how we stand in that eternall favour of his acceptance for till we shall have a clear and full certainty what these everlasting thoughts of God concerning us are whatever else we have had or may have of powers inlargings refreshings and operations of truth yet all will be too short to satisfie and set down our Souls we must still lie as the Lepers here did at a peradventure and hazard with our Lives in our hands They can but kill us c. We know not what the end will be how God will deal whether save or destroy but all our Life long we shall stand in fear of death till we are freed from him that hath the power of Death till we are satisfied by an everlasting witness of good-will towards us and that nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ and to have the sense of this shortness upon us sure it would make us stir and look about us I wonder truly how you can passe over a day a night an hour and let the case lie at such uncertainties and that you are not alwayes crying out with these Lepers If we sit here we dye if we are not freed from this selfish taint from an evil heart that hath ever been nursed up with us that will surely be our ruine and if we are not in that eternall Good will of God favoured and accepted that love which still cover a multitude of sinnes and never fail but save to the utmost if we are not found written in this book of life we surely perish And can we lie in this miserable condition to be outcasts Leprous under a sore Famine beset round with an Host of enemies from within and without for do you not see and know how the world are up and stirred against us if it be possible to break us in pieces from being a people yet have we no sense nor feeling of all this II. I told you a second thing in generall to be considered was not only the present misery these Lepers lie under but the hopeless condition of any way or means to help them They are at their wits ends If we sit here we dye if go into the City we dye if fall into the Host of our enemies we can but dye c. which implies they could promise and expect no other thing And thus are our souls hemmed in with straits on all hands If we sit where we are we certainly know and feel we are short and perish and if we turn back to the world and draw back from the place Truth hath brough us up unto there we are sure to perish and if we go on an host of enemies is before us what shall we do in this Case There are three things which Truth hath surely led us up to and if we go back again and turn in any of those Cases we are sure to fall short and dye 1. As I told you we are brought to a true light and information of our present misery in what a wretched polluted leprous case we stand what a base selfish ta●nt is with us in all our way how short we are of the life of God and if we shall turn back from this the heart be left to reason and plead and blind it self saying sure I am not so miserable the case is not so bad as I may judge c. and so shuffle away and get off the strait This is to be undone that is certain 2. We are informed in the great thing we want that without a clear and certain witness from heaven sealed upon our spirits of the everlasting thoughts of Good will towards us that nothing else can be enough to stay and settle our Souls this we are come to to see nothing short of this will serve and this there is a true close to and cry for at times in our minds in our inward man However we are led captive yet all along the eye is open to see what we want and if here we shall be left to turn back and reason with flesh and blood and say all reach not to the same pitch why may not we be saved though we are not led up so far as some others if we get off the strait thus and turn to carelessness and security this is the way also surely to perish 3. We are brought to a Proclamation of and have begun to enter into a killing and self-denying way the Proclamation hath sounded to leave all things and take up the Crosse and follow Truth not to please our selves not to take content or sit down in any of the creatures not to have a Kingdom in this world but to walk always as strangers and pilgrims seeking another country this we have chosen according to our Light and this we have professed to the world and if we shall be left to fall back here and say This is a hard saying who can bear it to be ever dying to be killed all the day long c. and so shall turn again to vanity to the beggarly elements to make a Captain go back to Egypt to turn with the dog to the vomit c. I say to be left to this is a certain token of being undone Many of you might have dyed in peace and been truly saved formerly short of this conversation before the Light came up and the thing was called for to leave all but now to resist and withstand the light that arises in your day to rebell against the Lords call this is certainly to be undone and therefore if the Lord help you not out and bring you not up to the next step and buckle your hearts to the dust and make you lie under and submit to the hand and venture your lives and say Let him do what seemeth him good without you come to this you are undone if you shall make a Captain to return into Egypt then remember what befell He sware in his wrath that