Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A30270
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A call to sinners such as are under sentence of death and such as are under any prospect of it from the long-suffering and gracious, but most righteous God / by His servant, Daniel Burgess.
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Burgess, Daniel, 1645-1713.
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1689
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Wing B5695; ESTC R23828
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12,715
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2. But thou hast been Punished and art like to die too Yea and hast been troubled for thy Sins very much and thou hopest God has more Mercy than after all this to damn thee to Hell. Answ Sinner I pray God give thee thy sight These things are true 1. An everlasting Hell it self is not more than our Sins do deserve God is far from Unmerciful in damning Sinners so incorrigible 2. The Tears and the Blood of a Creature are no satisfaction for Sin thy burning in Hell for the space of a million of years will not expiate the guilt of one vain Thought Obj. 3. I put my trust in my God and Saviour and I hope to be saved without the ado you make about Conviction and Compunction and Vnion some may say Answ Deluded Soul O that thou wouldst consider 1. In all the book of God we are taught there 's no Salvation but in these ways of his Soveraign Wisdom and Mercy 2. By this it 's plain you know not God nor what it is to Trust in Him but do only Presume blasphemously that He is such an one as your self and is neither Holy nor Just 3. You wil believe in his Promises directly contrary to the condition required in 'em and you will not believe his Threatnings against impenitent unreformed Sinners tho' ratified with his Oath Obj. 4. Why says another what profit can you assure me of if I should to my utmost endeavour all that you advise Answ 1. And what if I could not Assure thee of any Profit Wouldst thou do nothing upon very Probability If 't were but Probable that the King would grant a Petition for thy Life wouldst refuse any possible labour to get one presented The whole World acts upon Probabilities 2. But well I can Assure thee of benefit no less than Eternal For suppose the worst that thy endeavours prevail not unto Saving Conversion yet will they prevail to a lessening of thy Torments in Hell for ever Every degree of contempt greatens them every degree of endeavour lessens them On the other hand if unto thy utmost thou endeavour there 's no just reason for the frightful conclusion that 't will be Uneffectual unto Salvation And if it be not thy certain Profit is too great for Angel's Tongues to express A comprehensive fore-sight of it would work wonders in thee Enquire if thou know not what things are these ten 1. Justification 2. Adoption 3. Sanctification of the Holy Spirit 4. Acceptation of all Duties with God. 5. Title unto all the Promises of the glorious Gospel 6. Inseparable and honourable Vnion to God. 7. Peace and Joy in Conscience 8. Victory over sinful Love of Life and Fear of Death 9. Glorious Resurrection of thy Body 10. Boldness in the day of Judgment and Admission into heavenly Glory If I were sure I should never get I wou'd Live and Die in the pursuit of these Up Sinner up and be Doing and know this If but one man now i' the World were to be Saved I wou'd Try to be the Man and if but one were to be Damn'd I wou'd Tremble and carefully endeavour to make sure that I should not be He. O that these six Memorandums were nailed on thy Memory they have done others good why not thee M. 1. 'T is God in Christ only that can save thee 2. He invites thee to Salvation even yet 3. Vpon gracious terms He Promises He will Save thee 4. He commands thee by all his Authority to accept it on his Terms 5. He will Rejoice over thee with Singing if thou dost accept it 6. And Oh the Love He will Weep over thee if after all thou wilt Destroy thy self unperswadably Sinner Sinner I can tell thee of one that heard a Voice No Mercy no Mercy and yet was perswaded to Endeavour and did Convert and did obtain Mercy Remember it Despair is full as bad as Presumption and divine Mercy is not a jot less than Justice Obj. 5. I cannot say I do not Repent and Believe and that sincerely but if I do 't is with a sadly weak Repentance and Faith and such as I am ashamed of and cannot believe the holy Judge of all the Earth will accept Answ Say it be so and say that 't is but the lowest place in Heaven that thou shalt be set in Is any Seat there Uneasie O man know and Joy in it 'T is Truth of Grace that is thy Life The look of the weakest eye unto the brazen Serpent did heal as truly as the look of the strongest Upon the very first sincere Acceptation of Father Son and Spirit to be thine thro' the blessed Mediator and Resignation of thy self to be theirs thro' the same only Propitiation 't is sure thy Mittimus to Hell is stopt and superseded thy Pass to Heaven is granted He will deliver thy Soul from going down into the Pit and thy Life shall see the Light Job 33.28 Benhadad escaped by casting himself on the Mercy of the King of Israel It shall never repent thee if in his holy appointed way thou caâ—t thy self on the King of Heaven's Mercy Heaven cannot shut nor Hellopen unto a Soul sincerely weary of all the Sin it hath and sick of desire for all the grace it wants I should think thee in Hells mouth If I heard thee uttering boasts of having all Grace or content as having enough They that have most do all cry that 't is next to none that they have And the higher they get in holy Qualifications the lower they fall in their Apprehensions of themselves He that giveth Grace to the Humble maketh them yet more Humble by all the Grace He gives them I would rather be the worst Humble man than the best Proud one in the World and specially the spiritually Proud. Well in a word Beg the Holy Spirit to keep thee from both extreams from Dreaming of safety while building on the Sand and from Despairing of Mercy when thou buildest on the Rock Christ Now O every one of you needy Souls that I address unto may you know the things of your Peace in the short span of your time that remains If this little Gospel-Net catch but one Fish among you I win more than a World. But I have sent up Prayers to Him that can make it take take thousands of you that He would so do And take all the Glory of it unto Himself when He has done it Sirs I shall be certified that He hath granted my Cryes if ever I shall hear that you grant me but these Requests which conclude my Call unto you They are for your observance of these rules in your endeavouring if indeed you will endeavour to Reconcile you to God e're ye Dye R. 1. That you enter on it with such Solemnity as such a Work well deserves Get as many Godly Ministers and Friends as you can to come joyn with you in Fasting and Prayer for divine Blessing on your great enterprize Testifie to your God to your
Conscience and to all godly conscientious Folk about you that you have higher Thoughts of God than to dare go about making your Peace with his Majesty as tho' 't were a business that either did not Require or would not Requite the greatest and humblest Care and Pains R. 2. That you stick to it closely and constantly as that Work will require you to do I and would have required had you begun ever so soon and were you to live ever so long Sirs is not your Worldly business yet over is not your Peace with God now your one and only busisiness All of the four and twenty hours that ye do not sleep out methinks you might now spend very freely in the work I have proposed Formerly 't was all of it spent in running away farther from Gods peace why now should but a part of it be laid out in making after it The time was when you begrudged God an half hour's diversion from the World or sinful Pleasure You now reproach God fearfully if ye begrudge not the World the least Unnecessary diversion from Gods proper service R. 3. That you Observe and Lament in all you do that Leprosie of Selfishness which of all things is hardest to be cured To love your self is no Sin but Duty but Love of Self above God what is that think you God is so just that were there any thing else so good as He he would love it as well as himself were there ought better he would love it better than himself Now alas alas God is truly all-good and all-lovely Nothing is lovely but as of and for him yet how do you find it what care you for God but for your own ends could you not sin on as jocundly as ever and omit all Duty as profanely but for fear of your own Sufferings in Hell and for desire of your own Pleasures in Heaven Is it not for Self-ends that you list to know God or be at Peace with him Yes it is and to turn the Scales and get to love your selves but for God's honours sake to desire Pardon of Sin Peace of Conscience Deliverance from Hell principally that ye may thereby Love and Honour God is this Easie Or is it think you Vnnecessary Sirs mark it well I count not that you have receiv'd your sight or any sense of your Duty and Business 'till you are crying to this purpose viz. O blessed God thanks to thine own Grace for it I have begun to seek my Reconciliation unto thee and I do not nor dare I but hold on seeking But wo is me a cursed Selfishness I see has and still does act me Oh! I have not nor do I yet carry it towards Thee as a God and above all yea Universal good I would I could Love thee so as to be ashamed of my sin in time past and to be afraid of it for the future principally because of Love to thy All-loveliness Oh that I could say If there were no Heaven to reward nor Hell to Punish me yet so do I love God and hate sin that of all things I would desire to be Reconciled to Him and Live his Praises But Oh tho' I discern 't is as necessary to my Happiness that I Love thee as that I am Loved of thee and that if I love not thee I love not any good at all for thou art one and All I and that I do not love thee rightly 'till I do love thee above all and Love nothing but thee and for thy sake Yet is there a Milstone about my neck that presseth me down into deep Selfishness and hinders my seeking thee without giving thee greatest Provocations for ever to abhor me Sirs your real weariness of this said Milstone would be a token for good R. 4. That you by no means argue from the Multitude or Greatness or Long Continuance of your Sins that there is no Help for you in God. True Sin is an evil in one sense Infinite 'T is against an Infinite God. One sin did deserve and procure the whole World's Condemnation One sin takes more honour from God than all the Obedience of meer Creatures can repair And what then sin for all this is not Infinite so as Gods Mercy and Christs Merits and the Holy Ghosts mighty Power are infinite No such are these that if I my self had sinned all the sins of the faln Angels and of faln Mankind both Christ's Blood could satisfie for all the Holy Ghost could sanctifie and cleanse me from all The Mercy of God could forgive me all I and observe it Heaven has more than a few of them who were on earth more sinful than ordinary for a sadly long time Again I tell you Unless your present and future Unbelief hold you down under them no sins can be your ruine 'T is not falling into the water that is deepest drowns a man but 't is keeping down under the water Sirs Vomit up now all your heretofore sweet poysons make all your sins to become your shames and sorrow let no one of them live in your favour and fear it not you shall not die in their guilt If we our selves stood bound to pay unto God the satisfaction of any one Sin there were no hope of our Salvation but that is undertook by Christ who suffered death and the pains of Hell in our stead whom if the chief of sinners commit and submit themselves unto there is as little fear of their Damnation R. 5. That you be sure to be Orderly and Vniversal in this your great work My meaning is that you seek good things in their good Order the first firstly and so onward and that you seek all Gods proposed good things all and every of the Number Do not as many do wildly do not crave to have the Sacraments before you competently understand the Commandments nor pretend to be keepers of the Holy Commandments till you competently understand the Blessed Pattern of Prayer nor dream ye a possibility of profitably Receiving the Sacrament or Obeying any Commandment or making any Prayer till you are competently acquainted with the Gospel Creed Do not conceit your selves capable of Comfort before Holiness or of Holiness before Union to Christ or of saving Vnion to Christ before Faith or of Faith before Humiliation or of Humiliation before Conviction Seek all and seek in Order O seek 'em but as you believe that damned Souls in Hell wou'd seek 'em if they had but your Capacity and your Call. The Lord grant when your Bodies drop into the Pit your Souls may not fall into Eternal Flames And that your Real Conversion may be so sensible as to be Comfortable to your selves and so Visible as that it may be said by all who see your end Behold God hath granted unto these Prisoners and these Dying Creatures Repentance unto Life Amen FINIS Books to be Sold by Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns in Cheapside THree Questions resolved briefly and plainly Viz. 1. What Conceptions ought we to have of the blessed God 2. What are those Truths whereof the Knowledge appeareth most indispensibly necessary unto our Salvation and therefore to be first and most Learnt by us 3. What is the Change wrought in a Man by God's H. Word and Spirit before he can safely conclude himself pass'd from Death to Life Being the Summ of three Sermons The Christians earnest Expectation and Longing for the glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Set forth in a Discourse occasioned by the Decease of that Excellent Christian and Minister of Christ Mr. Noah Webb late of Sandhurst in the County of Berks. The Christian Temper Or the Quiet State of Mind that God's Servants labour for Set forth in a Sermon at the Funeral of Mrs. Vrsula Collins All three by Daniel Burgess Minister of the Gospel