when thou hast done better than himself that made thee Is not this a setting God below the creature and exalting the creature in the room of God is not this to lose the end of thy Creation 5. Is not this to love such things as do not cannot love thee back again If God had thy heart thou shouldst have his if thou lovest him he would love thee Prov. 8. 17. but Silver and Gold cannot love thee thy rich Furniture cannot love thee here thy love is lost and cannot be requited nor love returned to thee but God would love thee more than thou couldst love him and the love of Christ to thee would exceed and far surpass thy love to him Come then and be no longer enslaved to the world nor kept a captive by the Devil by these chains of gold I do suppose a man would rather chuse liberty with a poor and low condition in the world than to lie in a p 〈…〉 n and a dungeon all his days though he 〈…〉 e there bound with chains of Gold 6. Will the gaining of thâ—â—orld make thee amends for what tâ—ou losest for 1 the loss of God 2 The loss of Christ the only Redeemer 3 The loss of the company of the Angels and Saints 4 The loss of thy own only and immortal Soul Mat. 16. 26. 5 The loss of thy happiness for canst thou lose all these and yet be happy 7 Are not these things common to the bad as well as to the good Some are peculiar mercies Ch 〈…〉 t s pardoning grace title to Heaven 8 Are they not often given with a curse and in judgment but Christ and Grace always in love and mercy CHAP. VI. The Fourth Chain is Presumption 4. ANother Chain with which these Captives are bound is presumption vain and false hopes of Heaven This is the ruin of most that do miscarry for ever a groundless hope that they shall be saved for ever how few are there be they never so ignorant of the way to Heaven but yet do hope they shall come thither that walk in the broad way and common road and beaten path to Hell and yet do hope they shall get to Heaven as if a man were daily travelling towards the West and yet were confident he should come unto the East The Drunkard doth hope he shall be saved the Swearer and profane the hypocrite and unbeliever nay who is there but doth hope for happiness this is so strong in the worst of men that when they would set forth the certainty of a thing they do it by this expression as I hope to be saved as if they should say it is as true it is as sure as it is true that I hope to be saved and though their hope be not a true hope yet that they hope is true And the strength of this cord appears in that these hopes are the last thing that wicked men will part withal when they are so sick that they perceive they must part with riches yet they will not part with their hope of Heaven when they are so sick that they perceive the hour is drawing on wherein they must part with their dearest friends yet their hope they will not part withal and when they see they must part with life yet they will not part with hope till soul and body be parted the soul and hope will not be parted and then poor captives lose their souls and hopes together and thus with hopes of Heaven they do go down to Hell and then and there they can hope no longer It s one of the hardest things that Ministers have to do to beat down these false hopes of Heaven in our hearers if this were done a great part of our work were done if we tell you of your misery and danger of the wrath of God against sinners of the torments that are prepared by a provoked God for you yet you hope you shall escape and ward of all the threatnings of the Word with these vain and groundless hopes if we could but get these false hopes from you then we should begin to hope that you might be delivered from your bondage and escape from this captivity in which you are so strongly held thereby no man is faster bound in fetters than he that is ungodly and yet strongly confidently hopes that he shall be saved If you could speak with damned Souls thousands of them would tell you this was their ruin and their bane should you ask them were not you told that sin would bring you to this place of torment were you not told by Ministers and by God himself that you were in the way to misery and damnation what would they reply Yes yes we were often told and we were plainly told but this was it that did undo us we hoped it would be better with us Shall I then attempt to break this bond asunder but because man can but shew unto you the vanity of your hopes Oh that God himself would come and powerfully convince you by his Word and Spirit that your hopes are vain and groundless hopes that you may be no longer kept in thraldom by the Devil by these fetters of false hopes of Heaven I know that this is a manifold twisted cord many things there are that you do bottom these hopes upon but if I shall shew you from the Word of God that they are no better grounds and reasons of hope than graceless persons might alledg and many now in hell once had to say and did as well as you that then you will no longer suffer Satan to delude and to deceive you and keep you as his captives in a state of bondage Only let me ask you first whether you will believe that that is true that God speaketh in his Word or will you dare to say that what is contained in the Scripture is forgery and a lie if you say the latter God shall shortly convince you of the truth thereof the flames of Hell shall shortly convince you and the pains and torments you shall shortly feel shall powerfully convince you that all these sayings of God are true If you say the former that Gods word is true I do not doubt to make it appear that your hope is false if you do agree to try your hopes by the word of God by which you and I and all must be shortly tried and acquitted or condemned according to this Word I do not doubt to shew that Satan hath befooled you all this while God hath as plainly told you that in an unconverted state without faith in Christ without repentance and reformation you cannot be saved this is as plain as can be spoken and yet contrary to Gods revealed will will you hope you shall be saved which do you think shall be proved false Gods word or your hope that is contrary to his word both cannot be true Will a Drunkard say Gods word is false no he will not then thy hope is false See 1 Cor. 6. 9
these are Captives till they dye and which is worse are Captives after death The others might say and comfort themselves therewith Well this is hard but it is not lasting this is bitter but it will have an end though it last as long as life shall last yet death will come and then we shall be released but these may say It is bad while we live and it will be worse when we dye if we are not delivered while we live death will not death cannot deliver us Therefore this is worse than any other bondage 7. A worse and more dreadful Prison is prepared for the Devils Captives than any slaves in earth can be cast into Hell is the Prison appointed and prepared for all Captives that are not made free by Christ 1 Pet. 3. 19. Several things make this Prison worse than any other 1. The Prison prepared for these Captives is a close Prison Now you are like to Prisoners that sometimes might walk abroad with their Keeper with them Now thou art a Prisoner at large that walkest up and down though in thy Chains of sin and guilt and the Devil thy Keeper doth attend and watch thee whithersoever thou goest if thou comest to a Sermon thy Keeper cometh with thee to prevent thy breaking loose and when thou goest from the Sermon to tempt thee to return to thy course of sin again But hereafter thou shalt be a close Prisoner not suffered to step out for ever and so close shalt thou be kept that none shall come at thee to visit or to comfort thee It is an alleviation of a Prisoners grief though he hath not liberty to go out and see his friends yet his friends might come and see and visit him but neither shall be allowed unto you when once you are close prisoners in hell Thy friends on earth will not be desirous of thy company or thy visits after death if thou hadst the liberty to come forth such visits of damned Souls would be a burden and disquietment and a terror to the living that would then rather wish that thou wast confined to thy prison than to be permitted to come forth to disturb them by thy visits Neither shall any be suffered to come and comfort thee if they would and indeed none would be desirous nor venture so far to come to hell to comfort thee if they might Though the rich man desired that Lazarus might come and comfort him with one drop of water it would not be granted to him for he was a close prisoner Luk. 16. 24 25. Besides there is a great gulf fixed between them and the Saints above that there is no passing from the one place to the other ver 26. 2. It is a dark prison a very dungeon a place of utter darkness a place where there is thickness and blackness of darkness for ever Mat. 25. 30. Jude v. 13. Darkness addeth to the discomfort of the condition they must be in in that prison for ever It was an amazing Judgment on the Egyptians to be under thick darkness for three days Exod. 10. 22 23. What a dreadful dungeon would this world be without the light of Sun or Moon or Stars or Candle though you were not in pain nor want of other outward enjoyments yet it would be no desirable place to continue in Oh then what will be the sadness frights and fears of these captives for ever that shall be in pain in torment and in darkness for ever If a man were to live all his days in a Palace there to have rich provisions to feed upon and beds of down to lodg upon but yet to be always in the dark would be a great affliction to him Oh then what will it be to live in pain and darkness too to lye and roul and tumble in a bed of flames in a lake of brimstone and in darkness too to be amongst Devils and this in darkness too and must not that be a place of darkness for ever where the light of Gods countenance shall not shine upon the prisoners there for ever 3. It is a filthy prison full of noisom stenches and unsavoury smells prisons are filthy places very offensive to the nostrils but the stench of the brimstone shall be more troublesome to the prisoners there than the most stinking dungeon to any upon earth 4. It is a strong prison As it is so close that none can come to them to comfort them so it is so strong that not a prisoner shall escape or break through or get out to all eternity if once these prison-doors be shut and if Christ that hath the keys of death and hell do once put thee in and turn the key upon thee there is no opening them for ever Now you are bound in chains of your own making even of your sins but hereafter you shall be bound in chains of Gods making And there are four Bars or Bolts upon the prison-gates of hell that the prisoners shall be filled with despair of ever coming forth 1. This prison-gates shall be made for ever fast and strong by the counsel and decree of God God hath ordained that the imprisonment of those Captives that dye before they are made free shall be eternal it is the unalterable will of God that they shall lye in chains for ever Gods purpose must be changed before their chains can be broken or the prisoners delivered But God is a God that doth not change he will be always in the same mind and his Will will be the same for ever therefore the prisoners must abide by it for ever 2. This prison-gates shall be made fast and strong by the Justice of God Justice shall keep the prison-door that not a prisoner shall come forth till he hath made satisfaction for his sin till he hath paid his debts to the uttermost farthing and that will never be When the prisoner hath been there a thousand years and should beg and pray Lord I have been here a thousand years it is a long time a long time O me-thinks it is a long time since the day I came into this place my time of sinning seemed short it was indeed but short but my time of suffering seemeth long it is indeed exceeding long now therefore Lord let me come forth No saith Justice yet I am not satisfied And when the other thousand years be past and the prisoner soner should again petition for his liberty the same answer will be retâ—rned No saith Justice for yet I am not satisfied and till that be done thou must abide in prison Must I Lord then there is no hope 3. This prison-gates shall be made fast upon the prisoners by the Truth of God God hath told you in his Word that this fire burns for ever and that the sinner that is not sanctified shall be cast into it to lodg there for ever The truth of God it is eternal truth and so long as the Word of God abideth true so long shall these Captives
to safe-guard your selves Captives lye at the mercy of those whose slaves they be but Satan hath no such thing as mercy or pity to the souls of men malice enough but no mercy cruelty enough but no favour If God should have no mercy for you the Devil will have none Except the God of mercy and pity and patience had restrained the enemies of your souls they would have dragged you down to the bottomless pit long before this day There is no armour of proof against those that have taken you captive but the armour of God but this is your misery you have not one piece thereof neither the girdle of truth nor the breast-plate of righteousness nor the helmet of salvation and though you may have the Sword of the Spirit the word of God in your hands yet you know not how to use it against the assaults of your spiritual adversaries Think then of this Captives are naked and unarmed men 2. Captives lose the riches they had when taken Captives That though they were rich before yet are made poor and are stripped of all If a rich Merchant at Sea have many goods in a Ship costly Jewels precious Pearls and be taken prisoner and carried captive he is spoiled of all and loseth all Man at first was exceeding rich rich in the knowledg of God rich in love and likeness to God The holiness of man was his riches the enjoyment of God was his riches the spiritual endowments of man at first were not to be valued with the gold of Ophir with the precious Onyx or the Saphire Gold and Christal could not equal them they were not to be exchanged for Jewels of fine Gold the Topaz of Ethiopia could not equal them neither were they to be valued with pure Gold Coral or Pearls were not worthy to be mentioned with them for their price was above Rubies as Job setteth forth the excellency of wisdom Job 28. 15 to the 20th verse But when man was overcome by the Devil and taken captive by him he was spoiled of all all was taken from him that he became miserably poor lost his knowledg of God the image of God the favour of God communion with God the gracious comfortable presence of God his abode in Paradise and though before he was Lord of all and had dominion over all inferiour creatures yet being captivated by the Devil he lost his right to all and was turned out of all So it is with all unregenerate men whatever be their outward riches and worldly enjoyments as to spirituals they are miserably poor very beggars indeed Rev. 3. 17 the true riches they have not suitablâ— riches for their Souls they have not durablâ— riches they have not no man is rich indeedâ— till he is good indeed and free indeed God iâ— the free-mans riches Christ is the free-manâ— riches the graces of the Spirit the priviledgeâ— purchased by Christ the promises of God thâ— treasures laid up in heaven these these are thâ— riches of redeemed persons but those that stilâ— remain captives and bond-slaves to Satan anâ— to sin have no interest in them no title tâ— them If thou that readest these lines be one oâ— them whatever be thy outward plenty and abundance thou art wretchedly poor Menâ— say of a poor person he is worth nothing buâ— we might truly say of these persons they are worth nothing nay they are worse than nothing 3. Captives are not governed by the same Lawâ— as freemen are Laws are made in favour for free subjects but Laws for slaves and bondmen are more severe and to make their yokeâ— more heavy Souls in spiritual bondage and captivity are not governed by the Law of Godâ— which is holy just and good made in favour of and for the good of the Lords redeemed ones but by the Laws of sin and lust which are unjust oppressing and tyrannical and oftentimes contrary one to another covetousneâ— imposing one thing upon the sinner and prodigality the quite contrary The Lords spirituaâ— freemen are under the Laws of God but the the Devils captives are under the Law of sin 4. Captives and bondmen are put to base employment To toil and drudg to dig in the Mine to work at the Oar very great and hard burdens are imposed upon them Thus it was with Israel in the house of bondage the task-masters of Egypt denied them straw and yet required the full number of bricks so laid hard service upon them But there is no work so vile and sordid and base as works of sin and yet it is the whole and only employment of spiritual bondslaves to please the flesh and Devil and gratifie their filthy lusts What is baser slavery than to lead a sensual flesh-pleasing life What is more sordid drudgery than to be a servant of Satan and sin than to be under the commanding power of their own vile affections to take pains to dishonour God that made them to work and labour to undo themselves and damn and ruin their own immortal Souls Whereas the work and employment of those that are redeemed from their spiritual captivity is the most noble rational high and honourable the most delightful and profitable as any can be engaged in on this side the everlasting full and perfect state of the Saints in glory such as is our loving of God conversing with the blessed glorious God believing on Christ applying of promises living by faith hoping looking longing for heaven waiting for the glory that shall be revealed and for the glorious appearing of our desired and longed foâ— Lord and Saviour in getting assurance of his love and solacing and delighting our souls with the comfort thereof when we have obtained it in using utmost diligence to escape the damnation of hell and the everlasting torments to bâ— endured by the Devils captives in the other endleâ— world and getting safe to heaven when we dyeâ— in pleasing God while we live Nay the mosâ— displeasing works to flesh and blood are morâ— delightful and sweet than any than all thâ— pleasures of sin as in mourning for sin weepinâ— bitterly for sin mortifying of sin praying againsâ— sin watching against sin combating and conflicting with sin warring with Satan yea the verâ— duty of self-denial most ungrateful to flesh anâ— blood hath sweetness in it and bringeth iâ— that peace of conscience which surpasseth thâ— choicest delights of the Devils bond-slaves 5. Captives and bond-slaves meet with harâ— usage in their hard work and base employmentâ— many times are fed with bread and water anâ— that in small allowance too are whipt and beaten when they have put forth their strength tâ— do their utmost they have stripes and blow in stead of a reward for what they do Thus Iâ—rael in Egyptian bondage was beaten when foâ—ced to gather stubble in stead of straw couâ— not bring in the full tale of bricks Exod. 5. 1â— 15 16. So the Devils captives that lay theâ—selves outmost in the Devils service shall have their wages but
to walk strictly before the Lord yet come and do it else something will befall thee shortly that thou shalt say is hard to suffer 5. This difficulty that thou findest in religious duties is because as yet thou hast no strength but what is thine own to do them with but if thou dost renounce the Devil and the flesh and give thy self to God and Christ thou shalt have help from Heaven and then they will be more easie to thee While thou art in bonds of sin thou hast neither strength nor skill to do them with and that makes it hard but if God make thee free thou shalt have both and then it will be easie If thou wantest skill God will shew thee and if thou wantest strength God will help thee and then praying work and repenting work will go more smoothly forward When God shall come and break and melt thy heart it will be more easie to repent when God shall come and give to thee a sight and sense of thy sins and wants of thy want of grace and pardon of thy want of Christ and a renewed heart it will be more easie for thee to bewail thy sins and to pray and beg supplies for what thou wantest God is not an hard Master to his servants to put them upon work and give them neither power nor reward for he gives both to those that in sincerity give up themselves unto his service That though without Christ we can do nothing Joh. 15. 5. yet being strengthened by Christ we can do all things in order to the saving of our Souls Phil. 4. 13. and the spirit is purchased and promised by Christ to help the weaknesses and infirmities of his servants Rom. 8. 26. he shall help thee unto words in prayer to express thy wants thy heart and thy desires unto God and when thou wantest words he shall help thee with sighs and sobs and tears which are powerful pleadings with the Lord who understandeth the stammerings and the groanings of his Children Rom. 8. 27. Thus we have shewed the second Chain with which these Captives are bound the Prejudice of their hearts against the holy ways of Gods Redeemed and free new-born people and have endeavoured to cut it in twain to knock it off but alas this is too hard a work for man to do for any Minister upon earth to do or for any Angel in Heaven to do Sinners are so fast locked in their fetters that it requires Almighty power to break them that the captive may escape and be set at liberty Oh that therefore God would come and burst and break it quite asunder Oh that God would come and take it off were it but from one or two amongst you this day that though you came captives in your chain yet you might go home free-men and at liberty but yet something is required from you that you should consider and weigh with your selves impartially and deliberately what hath been said to remove this prejudice of your hearts which makes you like your present captive-state and not desirous to come forth from it and if what hath been spoken is not sufficient ground to silence these carnal pleas I beg the prayers of the Congregation for me that God would forgive my weakness and pardon my unskilfulness that know no better how to deliver a message from the Lord and to pray that for the future I might be more fitted for this weighty work but if there be evidence of truth in what hath been delivered and spoken in your ears I charge you in the name of the dreadful and eternal God in the name of Christ my Lord that sent me that you do not slight it if I have spoken my own words fling them back in my face and tell me that I lie but if it be according to the Scripture then slight them at your peril either shew wherein I have erred or else submit unto it but if thou whosoever thou art or what name soever thou art called by art convinced in thy Conscience and thy reason and judgment is satisfied that these grounds of Prejudice have been made appear to be vain and frivolous and yet shalt upon these accounts chuse rather to continue in thy captive state than come to Christ and be made free and goest to thy grave and hell with these fetters on thy Soul know that thou art hereby rendred inexcusable CHAP. V. The Third Chain is the love of the world 3. A Third Chain wherewith these Captives are bound is the immoderate and prevailing love of the profits and riches of this world This bindeth thousands fast that they will not cannot stir or move or come to Christ that they may be set at liberty these are bound with chains of gold and because they are golden chains therefore they like them so much the more the Devil doth not care for cost if by all he can keep you still in bondage he will not grudg you the riches of the world if he can keep you out of heaven Many moral men that have escaped the gross pollutions of the world that are no Swearers nor Drunkards nor openly profane that bless themselves with the thoughts of their supposed good condition yet are as sure the Devils prisoners and in slavery and bondage and shall as certainly perish and be damned except they get this bond broken as any Drunkard in the Town or Parish where they live Believe this as a certain truth for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it turn and read Ephes 5. 5. Shall not the Whoremonger be saved nor the World monger neither Shall not the unclean person inherit the Kingdom of God no nor the person that hath his heart and affections set upon the world And the Holy Ghost gives a reason because such a man is an Idolater making his Gold his god that love and delight and joy which God should have is given to the world and that God will never bear that hope and trust which should be placed in the living God is placed in uncertain riches and this the jealous God will never brook Turn again to Col. 3. 5 6. God tells you this over and over in one place after another that so you might the more beware of being kept in bondage by this golden chain which is so very strong that the Lord doth tell us the love of money is the root of all evil 1 Tim. 6. 10. There are many branches of sin which shoot out in the lives of men but all do grow upon this root the heart being fixed in its love unto the world 1. Omissions of duty neglect of Closet and Family-prayer worldliness is the root the heart is so eager after riches that they have no time nor leisure for better things and when they have time yet the worldly heart is indisposed to perform them and is listless to Heavenly employment 2. Commissions of sin the use of false balances and deceitful measures over-reaching breach of promises falsifying their
10. Where God doth plainly say and positively lay down for a certain truth and which within a few years or months or weeks all the Drunkards Whoremongers and graceless persons in the world without exception of any one dying so shall find to be so that they shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Come then you that say you hope to be saved as well as the precisest of you all come and produce your reasons and in the fear of God seriously weigh the answers that shall be given to them 1. One Link in this Chain of false hopes by which these Captives are bound is misapprehension and misapplication of the mercy of God thou sayest God is a merciful God and is ready to shew mercy to his creature it is true in me there is no merit but in God there is mercy and God did not make his creatures to damn them God did make me and therefore I hope that he will save me Is this all thou hast to say in such a weighty matter why thou thinkest thou art redeemed from thy bondage and shall be free for ever from the torments of the Damned that thou maist be no longer bound with this Chain Consider 1. The Devils themselves and the damned souls in Hell themselves can say as much as this Poor damned Devils do know that God is a merciful God and that he is willing to shew mercy to the penitent and the humble sinner Devils and damned souls can say that they are Gods creatures and yet notwithstanding they are miserable and must be so for ever and this is the aggravation of their misery that though God is merciful yet they are for ever damned this cuts them to the heart that a merciful God hath condemned them and sentenced them down to eternal torments what is that to them that God is merciful in himself and shews mercy unto others if he is not merciful unto them and what is it unto thee that God is so if thou by reason of thy continuance in a state of unregeneracy shalt never be benefited by his mercy I know there is a difference betwixt the damned in Hell and wicked men on Earth the damned in Hell are past a possibility of mercy but so are not you they shall have no more tenders of mercy which you yet have but then you must repent and be converted which they were not or else you shall have no saving benefit by Gods mercy as they had not 2. God might be infinite in mercy though thou and thousands such as thou art do perish in thy bondage and be for ever damned What a proud blasphemous thought is this that God should not be merciful except he take thee reaking in thy sins except he take thee off thy Ale-house-bench and put thee into Heaven The greatness of Gods mercy is not manifested so much by the number of the persons that shall be saved as by the way and method which he saveth them by If God had saved but one man out of all the many millions of mankind without his own desert and contrary to it by the death of his own Son it would have been a plain demonstration of the mercy of God Must thou measure the mercy of God by thy being saved or not saved while thou walkest contrary to his Laws and to his revealed Will This is as if a Malefactor that for murder hath deserved death and is to be tried for his Life yet hopes he shall escape because the Judg is a merciful man when notwithstanding the Judg proceedeth to pass a sentence of death upon him you will all acknowledg he might be a very merciful man and that the Prisoner was a fool from the mercy of the Judg to be confident he should escape the execution due unto him for the violation of the Law So it is in this case which is easie to apply 3. God is just and true as well as merciful and gracious and why maist thou not fear that God will damn thee because he is a just God as well as hope that he will save thee because he is a merciful God You do not conceive of God aright when you consider him to be merciful without justice and to be gracious without truth there are both in God This merciful God hath said Except you repent and turn from sin you shall find no mercy from him and what shall become of Gods Truth if contrary to his Word he should save thee without repentance and while thou goest on in thy sinful ways must God falsifie his word to save thy Soul never hope for it for he will never do it Where God proclaims his mercy to the penitent he doth also declare his justice and his jealousie and his fixed resolution that the guilty shall not go free Exod. 34. 6 7. and that he is full of fury to the wicked as of mercy to the godly and that as he reserveth a Crown for the one so also wrath for the other Nahum 1. 2 3. 4. Though God be merciful yet he propoundeth conditions in the Gospel which you must comâ— up unto if you will be partakers of his mercy and God is resolved that if thou wilt not have mercy upon the terms of mercy thou shalt never have it When thou shalt come to put in thy claim for mercy Lord have mercy on me for thou art a gracious God yes may God say and so I am and those that have repented and believed shall find me to be so but did I not also tell thee what manner of person thou shouldst have been holy humble and repenting if thou wouldst be saved by my mercy but that thou wouldst not be therefore now I have no mercy for thee God may say unto thee did I ever promise thee or any other that I would save thee or them without repentance and faith in Christ my Son did I ever promise that I would pardon the Impenitent that I would save the unbelieving that finally persevere therein If I have produce my words alledge my promise when and where and by whom did I ever make thee such a promise and and if I have not as indeed I have not promised any such thing why wast thou so vainly confident of my mercy therefore take thy answer and be gone for I tell thee I will have no mercy on thee Luke 13. 25 26 27. Mercy it self will not save thee but in the way of mercy propounded in the Gospel 5. Whereas thou sayst God did make thee therefore he will save thee consider the vilest â—â—nner in the world upon this account should go to Heaven yea every one of them The whoremonger whom thou thy self wilt condemn might plead this as well as thou and so thou wilt make the way to Heaven broader than ever God did make it Moreover if thou hadst continued such a one as God did make he would then have made thee happy indeed for ever God made thee holy and upright but thou hast rebelled against
shall be damned and except ye be converted ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God you do remain captives still and do you not repent nor believe nor are converted and yet will you hope you are freemen and shall be saved The truth is if you do not believe Christs ministers preaching Christs own words neither would you believe Christ himself Luk. 10. 16 He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me not to hear is to despise and whom do you despise when you do not hear and obey the doctrine preached according to the Scripture is it poor mortal men No but you despise Christ and God himself Believe me then or believe rather Christ himself that tells thee without converting-grace thou shalt be damned and except thou art converted do not hope thou art delivered out of thy Captivity or that thou shalt be saved and so be befooled by the Devil and thereby be kept still in bondage by him 2. What if God should send an Angel from heaven to thee and tell thee while thou art a drunkard swearer profane a lyar an hypocrite a worldling art unsanctified Thou art a captive to the Devil and abiding so shalt not be saved Wouldst thou after such a message from God by a glorious Angel still hope thou art made free and shalt be saved Or would you then leave your sins and look after Grace and make it your business to get out of bondage Why if an Angel should come from Heaven he would preach this Doctrine to you the very same that is contained in the Word of God or else a blessed Angel would be a cursed Creature Gal. 1. 8. But behold you have a surer and more certain way of knowing the mind of God and that is the Scripture 2 Pet. 1. 17 18 19. For if an Angel came from Heaven you would be doubting whether he came from God or no but that the Scripture is from God we have plain full and undeniable reasons to believe and the truth is if you will not believe the Scripture neither would you believe an Angel that should come from Heaven 3. What if thou couldst with safety draw near to the gates of Hell and take a view of those thousands there in restless torments that lived once as now thou dost and were perswaded that they were redeemed and made free and that they should be saved as confidently as now thou art Wouldst thou still continue in thy sinful state and course of life and yet hope after such a sight as this That though thou sawest so many thousands damned before thee for the same sins as thou livest in wouldst yet be confident that thou shalt be delivered Poor sinner what shall I do for thee What shall I say unto thee Will nothing convince thee nor awaken thee on this side the flames of Hell Wilt thou believe none of these truths till thou shalt feel them all made good upon thee Wilt thou be more brutish than thy very Beast which thou canst not force nor drive into a burning fire And yet when thou art told there is a fire that is kindled into which the slaves of sin and Satan shall be cast will voluntarily walk in that way that leads thee to it What if God should take thee to some place and bid thee stand and see so many millions rolling in a lake of Brimstone and bid thee stand and hearken and hear their groans and hideous howlings their doleful out-cries and dolorous complaints one confessing God hath justly damned me for my Drunkenness and my Oaths and another I am here tormented for my Sabbath-breaking and pleasing of my flesh and another I am suffering in these flames for my Hypocrisie and Unbelief and a thousand thousand making of the same complaints After thou hadst heard such things as these wouldst thou remain a Drunkard a Swearer a Sabbath-breaker an Hypocrite and an Unbeliever a Captive in thy bonds of sin and yet perswade thy self that thou art free and that thou shalt never be one of the number of this cursed Crew Methinks such sights and hearings of such things should awaken and alarm thee Why tell me then Why shouldst thou not believe the True Eternal God as well as thy own eyes and ears Such are there that died without Repentance and Faith that died in their bondage-state and the same God that hath already damned them doth also threaten thee for the same sins with the same damnation and yet shall Satan still keep thee bound with this false hope of a better place Oh! let him not do it as thou lovest thy soul and as thou wouldst escape this place let him no longer do it 4. What if God should send one of thy Acquaintants and Companions that hath been in Hell a year or two a month or two one that thou wast wont to swear and swagger with to drink with and carouse whose Corps not long since thou followedst to the grave whose soul when separated from the body went down to Hell should come to thee and say I was wont to be merry and jovial in thy company with thee I was wont to game and sport and waste and spend my precious time and I hoped I should be saved when I died as now thou dost but wo is me I find I was mistaken to my everlasting shame and sorrow I find I was deceived I find I find I did but flatter and delude my self I would not believe it but now I find it I would not believe it but now I feel it Ministers did warn me of this place and told me I was going thither but I would not be convinced till I came to Hell I hoped still I should go to Heaven but now I am convinced alas when it is too late to be converted I am at last convinced Believe me though a damned soul believe me The Word of God is true the threatnings of God are true and what your Ministers preach out of Gods Word concerning sin and misery by sin it is all true believe me now that have been in Hell ever since the day I died that the bondslaves of the Devil that dye in their captivity do all go down to this dark and dreadful Dungeon If one of thy Neighbours not long since departed and damned should thus appear unto thee in thy Chamber in the silent night and bring thee such tidings as these wouldst thou believe him and repent and refuse thence-forwards to be a servant and slave unto the Devil It may be thou thinkest thou shouldst believe this Doctrine then and take warning and reform and mend thy ways Tell me then Should not the True Eternal God of Heaven be believed sooner rather more than a damned soul in Hell But certain it is if thou wilt not believe the Scriptures nor the Ministers of God that preach the Truths of God unto thee nor repent and turn from the drudgery of the Devil