I mean at Death and Judgment if not before he will be sure not to pass them by It 's sad tidings to them that they must be forgotten in the day of their distress but worse in their account and esteem that when the Lord maketh inquisition for sin he will certainly remember them Psal 9.12 Then they shall pay dear for all their former forgetfulness of God and their damnable inadvertency to his Word and Works As it is a fearful thing to fall out of the rewarding hands of God and to be forsaken and forgotten so it is more dreadful to fall into the revenging hand of God and to be so remembered For as God is the best and most desirable Friend so he is the worst and most formidable Enemy and both these ways thou shalt rue thy contempt and forgetfulness of him Thou shalt want him as thy friend when thou hast the greatest need and have him as thine Enemy when thou art most afraid Then thou wilt say in vain as Balak said to Balaam Num. 23.25 Neither curse us at all nor bless us at all But as he will with-hold his Blessing from them when those that are mindful of him here shall have it to the full So he will pronounce a Curse upon them which they shall never claw off Mat. 25.41 Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels As there is none that hath a Heart like him when he is shewing pity and compassion to his penitent humble servants that are ever mindful of him so there is none that hath a Hand like him when he will render vengeance to those that do forget him and plague those that hate him He hath yet left it to thy choice whether thou wilt seek him in good earnest as one that prizeth his Love and valueth his Spirit above all things or whether thou wilt more highly respect and value any thing else for what hath thine highest respect will be remembred by thee when all other things are forgotten But he hath not left it to thy choice whether he shall abhor thee yea or not or whether he shall recompence thy wickedness upon thine own head or not if thou be found guilty but will certainly lead thee forth with the workers of iniquity and make thee know what it is to use thy memory for no higher matters than the World and to put God to remember thee by forgetting him and this will cure the wicked Lethargy and Stupidity of thy Soul and make thee to remember him against thy will even to all eternity forget him then if thon canst as an angry and revenging Judge when thou wilt not remember him now as a most gracious and compassionate Redeemer And thus I have given some imperfect sight of the heinousness and danger of this sin Whereby it is evident what a madness as well as wickedness it is to be guilty of this sin and herein I might more convincingly shew the danger of this sin and by consequence the folly and madness of those that do not remember him above their chief joy by giving them a fuller description Of the 1. Fearfulness of Gods Anger that will break out against the forgetters of him and so 2. Unavoidableness of Gods Anger that will break out against the forgetters of him and so They that undervalue and therefore forget God They forget themselves and undervalue their own welfare and security But I pass this for present and proceed to the next Use 2. Vse Examination Which may serve for tryal to discover whether we have had or still have any fellowship in this provoking sin And here I shall trouble you with marks and discoveries meerly probable but give you such as are inseparable from the sin we are searching for or rather reciprocal with it Reciprocal signs I call those that are conversible with the thing they are the signs of 1. Wheresoever there is this Symtom there is this Disease and where there is this Disease there is this Symtom Wheresoever there are these marks there is forgetfulness of God and wheresoever there is forgetfulness of God it is accompanied with these marks If I should mention no more than what are contained in the Answer to the second Question viz. Who they are that forget God it were enough they that have not a competent knowledge of the Remembrance of the great Perfections of God and the Relations that he stands in to them I mean that he is 1. Their Creator 2. Their absolute Lord and Governour whom they have the highest motives to obey 3. That he is their Judge that must pass the Sentence of everlasting Happiness or Misery on them ere long 4. That he that is thus related to them is Omniscient and nothing they can think or do can escape his Eye 5. That he is their Happiness without whose Favour and inward Grace they can never be at rest 2. They that have not a competent knowledge of their own frequent and great necessities 3. They that have not a competent knowledge and Remembrance of his Word 1. As it is his Word 1. Of Divine Authority and therefore worthy of the greatest Reverence and Study 2. As it contains in it matters of deepest importance to them 3. And of certain and near accomplishment 4. They that do not competently understand and consider his works By competent I mean such a degree and measure of knowledge and consideration of these as doth 1. Turn their hearts from all Creatures to God and enable them deliberately and resolvedly to chuse him for their happiness which they can never do without a sufficient or competent knowledge of these and which they will do if they have a sufficient knowledge and remembrance of these 2. And turn their hearts to Christ as the principal means to bring them to this happiness by his Laws directively and by his Spirit effectively This I mean by competent that which is sufficient to these ends Now what degree and measure of knowledge and consideration it is that 's thus competent it 's not possible to define because it is not in all alike with some a lower degree and measure of this knowledge and consideration will make this charge others need a higher measure having stiffer Corruptions to overcome And as the same proportion of strength will not â—evate a stone of an hundred pounds weight from the Earth which will one of twenty or forty So the same Grace will not turn a Heart that hath stronger Affections to the Earth which will effectually convert one that hath weaker and hath not so strong a bias weight and inclination to fasten it to the World He that hath one of these marks hath all and he that is guilty of these is forgetful of God So that by these you may acquit or condemn your selves These marks alone I say were sufficient to detect the sin if I should mention no other but yet I shall add two other which will discover the sin both
amongst the Forgetters of Gods Word For Faith or Subjection to the Person of Christ and Obedience to his Laws and abrenunciation of all that would hinder this Subjection of our Hearts and Obedience of our Lives are Three great ends for which the Word of God was ordained and appointed and a high Reverence of its Authority and deep Sense of its Importance and firm perswasion of its certainty would most undoubtedly bring to pass For it is most unquestionable that God would not fail these his own means 1. First They must read or hear these Instructions slightly and unworthily that are not deeply wrought upon by the consideration of their Author and the Divinity that is instamp'd upon them It 's not enough that you believe and acknowledge this but that you be frequently under the thought of it And it is a weighty truth worthy your remembrance That the Soul is never wrought upon to any purpose either in its Understanding Will or Affections but by frequent serious and repeated Acts. The main difficulty therefore in the work of Conversion and a saving change on our part lies here in bringing our thoughts to a devout and frequent meditation of these Objects which God hath resolved shall do the work if ever it be done And though he can change the Heart by a word and in a moment if he please yet he hath told us flatly he will not do it ordinarily without these means And therefore he awakens every Soul to such Meditations whom he will shew mercy to A Mans Thoughts are the means that God makes most use of in renewing his Heart Do thou not presume whoever thou art that God will infuse Sanctification into thy Heart by a miracle when thou art thinking all the day yea all the week long upon meer vanity if not doing worse But this by the way He that doth not strike his heart into superlative Reverence of this Word by thinking often of that Holy Spirit by whom it was word for word inspired will never be made fit to take it into his heart and chew upon it when he lies down and riseth up to curb every base Inclination of his Soul by it and to resolve they shall bend to this Word or have no quiet The Heart is so prone to Earth and Vanity and the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts are so strong and masterless that they will never obey unless such Authority be produced Yea there 's none that are well vers'd in their own Hearts but will find how they will slight such Authority and sometime venture to contemn it But as he that doth wisely govern a Family or other Society much more a Kingdom will not suffer his Authority to be trampled on nor his Laws to stand for Ciphers but will vindicate them with the greatest Power and Majesty that he can put on much more will the Lord of Heaven and Earth stand up in the behalf of his own Authority and vindicate the best Laws that ever were made from contempt And if any sinner be so sottish as to think that his Wit or Pedigree or Riches or Esteem in the World will bear him out in such irreverence let me say to such a one as once Samuel said to Saul 1 Sam. 15.16 Stay and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said of such a one Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall lightly be esteemed 1 Sam. 2.30 Be as wise and as great as thou wilt the Lord will shame thee sooner or later and kick thee down into Scorn and Disgrace 2. Secondly They are forgetful of the Word of God that are not considerably moved with the most important matters which it sets before them If thou readest it not frequently thou forgetest it in the grossest sense and thine own Conscience will fall upon and condemn thee And if thou dost read it yet if thy very Heart be not affected with those matters in the Word which more concern thee than all the World so as to shew it in thy Life I would not for all the World hear that Judgment that thou shalt shortly hear Doth it so much concern thee what thou shalt Eat and what thou shalt Drink and wherewithal thou shalt be cloathed and how thou shalt Sleep or enjoy thy Health much more how thou shalt visit this or that Friend do this or that petty business as how thou shalt save thy Soul how thou mayst get thy Heart affected with its Sin and Misery and set a value upon Christ as he deserveth this is not easily done how thou mayst break off thine Affections from these things that will abuse them and certainly blast every good work in thy Heart and turn thy Religion into meer Hypocrisie For it is impossible that the Love of God should be in that Heart where the love of any worldly thing doth prevail Hearken therefore and listen attentively what necessity the Word of God layeth upon Self-denial 〈◊〉 mortification of the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts He that will be my Disciple must deny himself take up his Cross and follow me Luke 9.23 And if ye live after the Flesh ye shall die Rom. 8.13 If thine Estate Life or Credit only were here concerned thy neglect would not prove thee so perfectly mad and distracted as now it doth when the Eternal Life and Welfare of thy Soul is so much concerned 3. Thirdly They that live not under any serious thoughts of the certain accomplishment of all that is threatned or promised in the Word cannot but forget the Word The things that are contained in the Scripture if they were liable to some doubt yet were worthy to be thought on because they concern so much if they should prove true And this is an Argument that will stop their Mouths that chuse a Romance or vain Ballad before the Word of God to be the matters of their thoughts But when God will certainly make good every Judgment he hath threatned to the impenitent sinner and when every wicked person that dies in his sin shall as certainly feel those dreadful Woes as now he hears or may hear them pronounced O what an advantage is here to beget a Resolution to withstand every Temptation that would draw us to those things that are thus threatned Though it were a pleasing and profitable Lust it 's stark madness to fulfil it O if we had 〈◊〉 or felt the wrath of God in another World it would be Armour of Proof against all wilful presumptuous sin for ever afterwards and would awaken the Soul to any pains or diligence to escape it And is it not as certain as if we had seen or felt it Hath the Lord said that he will laugh at the destruction of a sinner and mock when his fear cometh Prov. 1.26 Hath he said that he will shortly come with his Fan in his hand and thorowly purge his Floor and gather his Wheat into the Garner but that he will burn up the
Chaff with unquenchable Fire and will this not surely be brought to pass Mat. 3.12 Heaven and Earth may sooner pass away than one jot or tittle of his Word shall pass Mat. 5.16 Things that will certainly come to pass if they concern us in this life only though they be not near yet they are not slighted by us But if they are near and certain and highly concerning the thoughts thereof will rush in upon us and prevail against the greatest necessity of nature they will disturb our Rest and make us forget to eat our Bread Could a Man that were to be tryed for his Life to morrow or a day or two hence eat his Meat quietly or lie down upon his Bed in peace and take his Rest Psal 4.8 And canst thou read the Threats or Promises in the Word of God that concern thee so unspeakably and may be made good within one day or hour for all thou knowest and yet be no more overwhelmed with Joy or Terror They that are not awakened with the serious affecting thoughts of the most certain and near accomplishment of all that is threatned or promised in the Word of God will certainly be condemned in the number of those that do forget it These are the second sort of those that forget God Those that think not upon his sacred venerable Word 3. Thirdly They forget God indeed that overlook his most observable Works and regard not his remarkable Providences The Works of the Lord are great both of Creation and Provivence sought out of all them that have pleasure in them Psal 3.2 And those that have no pleasure in them will be sure to forget them There be several ways by which the Works and Providence of God is overlooked or several persons guilty of this sin 1. First They are signally guilty that deny Gods Providence in the Rule and Dispose of all Affairs either directly or by plain consequence There are none that deny it in the first sense that is directly and expresly but plain Atheists of which I would there were none in this Nation that believe in their Hearts that all things come to pass by Fate or Chance But they deny Providence by Consequence and Interpretation that are so intent upon Means and Instruments whereby any effect is brought to pass or rather upon the Effect it self that they do not at all look up any higher Psal 10.4 The Wicked thorow the Pride of his Countenance will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts thy Judgments are far above out of his sight These lie under a deep guilt of this sin 2. Secondly They are guilty of this Wickedness also that can find out nothing among all the works of Creation and Providence so worthy their Observation as to captivate their Souls to the highest Reverence of their Author Highest I mean not in respect of the degrees of Reverence but of the kinds that is though he hath a Reverence for this Object and another for that another for a third yet he hath Highest and most principal veneration for him who doth so incomparably manage all things And who hath impudence enough to plead for that man that hath an understanding and considering Faculty and such Wonders to behold both in Heaven and Earth such Providences towards the World in general and such towards the Church in special and yer God no higher in his Judgment and Affections in his Thoughts and Heart than a full Chest and a little painted Skin and an adored Lust What hast thou heard the Voice of the Lord so often in Thunder and Lightning and seen the dreadful effects of them Hast thou not heard of a little of his Breath shut up in the caverns of the Earth that hath made this stable Body of the Earth to shake and tremble and rent and torn the very bowels thereof and overturned whole Cities at once Hast thou heard of the Division of Jordan and the Red Sea how the Waters parted and left a path-way in the midst of them whilst the People passed over of whom God had taken on him the Care and Conduct And how Pharaoh and his mighty Host were afterward overwhelmed by the same Waters who were their professed Enemies Hast thou read and believed what he did for Hezekiah when the proud King of Assyria threatned to swallow him up How he accepted his Tears heard his Prayers and an Army of Two hundred thousand men almost all struck dead in one night What he did for wicked Manasseh though he had filled Jerusalem with Idols and Blood yet how mercifully he heard him when he cryed to him in Chains Look into the sacred History or read over any profane History or consult thine own Eyes and Ears what thou hast seen or heard what he hath done to and for his Enemies and what he hath done for his Church or any parts or members of it and if thou canst be a Sot or Block under all and have Mens Persons in admiration because of advantage to thee Jude 16. rather than reverence and adore the Lord and mighty Worker of all take that thine is and go thy way thou art one that does overlook the Works of God 3. Thirdly They overlook the Works and Providence of God whose lives are ordered in a course of crossness and contradiction to them As History reports of Sardanapalus that he lay in Bed all day and rose at night when others went to Bed and so turned the day into night and the night into day So when God calleth by his Providence I mean by some formidable signs of his displeasure to Fasting and Weeping and Mourning and to girding with Sack-cloth and Baldness and behold Joy and Gladness slaying Oxen and killing Sheep eating Flesh and drinking Wine Esay 22.12 13. that will not see when the hand of God is lifted up 26.11 When God is â—utting up and throwing down and disgracing all worldly Pride They are seeking great things for themselves and feeding themselves with proud thoughts of what they have or what they hope to have Jer. 45.4 5. When God is pulling down the proud they are delighting themselves in Pride and Oppression of those that cannot defend themselves When God is searching for Sin they are hiding of it and when he is shewing his dislike of it and would stop the poison that it should spread no further it 's sweet in their Mouths they hide it under their Tongue they spare it and forsake it not Job 20.12 13. What a proud contempt of his Providence is it to sit still and shut our Eyes and not consider them Psal 111.4 He hath made his wonderful workâ— to be remembred But what a Pride is that that when God is debasing Men we will exalt them when God is visiting Sin and Transgression they are incouraging it in themselves or others and will not be searched but instead of starving their Lusts and Corruptions are making Provision for them When God is telling Men plainly of their
us remember that if feeling do not recover our understanding God will forsake us as a desperate cure and say why should they be stricken any more they will revolt more and more Esay 1.5 When once it comes to that farewel Rod it will come to that farewel God for ever and then forgetfulness will be our punishment as now it is our sin To conclude therefore with some little touch of Application though it be out of its due place since the day of the Lord is come upon us and he is visiting for our Transgressions and we have so loud a call to Repentance Let us not think though we have mercifully escaped the Judgment that we may escape the Duty also It deserves a double acknowledgment if God do awaken us by the doleful noise of others complaints and if he do cleanse our Hearts by the Judgments that sweeps so many away but let us see that it be a true and substantial sorrow that begins at the right place even at the very heart and will not evaporate and spend its self in a few tears and sighs but doth mortifie our sin and work a sincere renovation in our life And if we do take upon us also to lament the sins of the City and Nation let us prove our sorrow to be of the right stamp by helping forward their Repentance and Reformation first by our Prayers then by other our best endeavours 'T is a poor matter to forbear a meal or twain and yet to harbour such a Guest as pulls the meat from our Mouths and calls for the Pillow under our Heads and snatches away the desire of our Eyes and divorces our Friends and Companions from us yea which is the sum and abridgement of all our misery parts between God and us 'T is a poor business to spread Sack-cloth over us I mean to deny our Bodies their usual Ornaments and to strew Ashes under our Feet and to let a few tears drop from us for sin and yet to carry in our Breasts an Heart unrent unbroken unsoftened by a true sence of sin and a work of Grace To what purpose is it to bow the Body to God and yet to make ones Heart like an Iron Sinew too stiff and stout to bend in obedience to Gods Command The Prophet Hosea lays it upon them as a heavy charge Hos 7.14 They have not cryed unto me with their Hearts when they howled upon their Beds And you know with what indignation God puts the question Esay lviii 5. Is this the Fast that I have chosen a day for a man to afflict his Soul Is it to bow down his Head as a Bull-rush and to spread Sack-cloth and Ashes under him Wilt thou call this a Fast and an acceptable day to the Lord But oh what a Fast is that when we will not go thus far when we will not afflict our selves so far as to want our Food and Ornaments I am confident it is a great provocation when we will not shew forth to one another these and the like outward signs of humiliation Ahab went thus sar and the stubborn Jews never stuck at this And though the same signs of mourning and humiliation be not in fashion with us that were with them yet I am sure gaudery is no sign external of inward humiliation If I had time or were indeed upon the Application it would be seasonable to help forward the true Repentance that God expecteth from us By setting some of our sins before our face in some of their aggravations but that I may have opportunity to do hereafter So much in answer to the Second Question who they are that forget God I come now to the Application 1. First Then we may hence discover by what hath been spoken in answer to the Two foregoing Questions What a sin it is to forget God and by Connexion how Guilty they make themselves that wipe God out of their Remembrance and reserve their hearts for other things If to forget God be not barely to cast him out of thy memory which yet were sinful enough since all thy faculties are indebted to him but to throw him out of thy Heart and Affections as the case is plain enough that it is If to forget God imply a disregard of his most glorious Attributes Word and Works to which such a high Veneration and Reverence is due from every understanding Creature Then what a Sin art thou Guilty of That dost not remember him Wilt thou Annihilate as much as in thee lies the Sun that shineth the Air that thou suckest in the Heavens that hang over thy head and the Earth under thy feet and all the Glory both of Heaven and Earth wilt thou make nothing of the light of thy Eyes and the breath of thy Nostrils If thou forget God thou dost upon the matter annihilate all these as to the end and intent of them as to their moral use though not as to their Physical nature Darest thou be guilty of the contempt of that mighty power that made thee and all the World out of Nothing of the highest Soveraignty and Jurisdiction to which every rational Creature owes subjection there 's one only Law giver that 's able to save or to destroy and darest thou contemn him James 4.12 Art thou mad to despise the Royal Law James 2.8 the Law of Heaven and the highest Wisdom that hath composed it and the highest Authority that hath imposed it Art thou so void of Reason as to contemn thine own happiness and to despise thine own welfare And to slight that Eye that always seeth thee In a word Art thou so bold to affront infinite and inflexible Justice Purity and Holiness If God be forgotten by thee yea if he have not the chiefest Room in thy Remembrance thou wilt be judged one day to be guilty of such contempt What a sin must it needs be to despise the written Word of God indited by such a Spirit confirmed by such Miracles and mighty Works given us in so much love and mercy that contains such important matters of the biggest concernment whose accomplishment is so near and certain and to slight what the God of Heaven hath there either threatned or promised And if God be forgotten by thee thou wilt fall under this damnable guilt Art thou so stupid as to overlook and despise the Works of God whether of Creation Providence or Redemption and to forget God whilst thou hast such helps for thy memory Darest thou cross the Acts of Gods Providence and say thou wouldst have it thus when God would have it otherwise This thou wilt do if thou hast a Temptation if God be forgotten In a word this will betray thee to that Formality and Hypocrisie in his Service and to such a carnal Worship of him that hath so little likeness to him or acceptance from him which he doth so much detest And which he doth so bitterly upbraid the confident impudent Jews which in this whole 50 Psalm I
as these and to take this day into your sober consideration Though you should think on the greatest worldly matters and your thoughts be imployed in the management of the Affairs of a Kingdom yet if you think not upon the Affairs of this great and wonderful day you do but trifle and dream away your precious life They that have but a Cause to be tryed before a Judge of Nisi Prius that very much concerns their Estates cannot but remember it and consider how they may come off with success but those that are to be tryed for their Lives cannot sleep nor talk it out of their mind by Night the terrible Apparitions of it in their fancies interrupts their repose and sleep and the horrible thoughts of it in the day time strikes them mute and damps all their discourse And shall not a day far more remarkable where you must undergo a Tryal for your Eternal Estate and Life be considered And it is the more worth your consideration because the Judge before whom this Tryal must be made is He that made thy self and all the World clothed with his Robes of Majesty and Justice He that delivered into thy hands thy Reason Memory Judgment Freewill Senses Honours Estates as Talents to be now accounted for Did not all the Priviledges of thy Birth and Education Did not all the Mercies of thy Infancy Youth and Riper Age come from above Deny it now if thou canst And were not all thy choicest dearest comforts as Pearls begotten by the Dew of Heaven His Circuit is not confined to one Nation or piece of a Nation but the Circuit that he will ride in that great day shall be the Heaven of Heavens with a glorious Train and Retinue of Saints and Angels and the people that shall be gathered before him are are the whole Creation of Angels and Men the matters that must then be brought to Examination and Tryal are the secret and more publick actions of our whole lives the Witnesses that shall be produced shall be such as are beyond all Exception viz. mens own Consciences the Devil and his Angels that are continually watching our miscarriages and the Judge himself that can tell the time the place the persons with whom or the things about which the wickedness hath been committed and the Question that shall be then decided in the face of all the world shall be whether the persons thus tryed shall live or die for ever These are no fidling trifling matters to be slighted nor unworthy your serious forethought and consideration besides the Judge is inflexible and cannot be bended by force bribery or entreaty If you look into Psal 50.4 5 6. you shall see with what circumstances of Majesty and Terrour this Judg's Process is described and set forth a fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him he shall call to the Heavens from above and to the Earth that he may judge his people and the Heavens shall declare his Righteousness for God is Judge himself Were this day well believed and considered men would not live in any fashion nor think and speak any thing that comes next nor do actions that they dare not call themselves to account for They would fear their own Consciences more than a thousand Witnesses which in despite of them will be privy to all their actions I warn thee to take heed of this Witness for it will betray thee If thou art wise when thou hast any wickedness to commit see that neither God nor the Devil nor thine own Conscience have any eye upon thee and then thou canst find no place nor time in which thou canst be secure As it is the great policy of Satan to hide this day from thine eyes and to keep it out of thy thoughts if he can that he may take thee Captive at his will so it should be thy chief care to have it continually before thine eyes that thou mayst escape his temptations The lively frequent thoughts of this day made Paul so unwearied in the work of the Lord and so importunate with his hearers Knowing the terrours of the Lord saith he we perswade men 2 Cor. 5.11 And it was the great Argument he used with Tim. to spur him up to the like diligence 2 Tim. 4.1 2. I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the Quick and the Dead at his appearing and Kingdom Preach the Word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and Doctrine And when he did but cast a flash of this day into the eyes of Felix you know what effect it had on him Acts 〈◊〉 24.25 Though Paul was but a Prisoner at the Bar and Felix his Judge upon the Bench yet when Paul reasoned with him of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come the Text saith Felix trembled It 's madness to put this day out of thy mind which God hath put into his Word as the most powerful Curb to all Sin and the most irresistible motive to a sober righteous and a godly life Be not afraid to entertain this day into thy Meditations the consideration and forethought of this day doth not make it but make thee ready for it whether thou thinkest of it or not it cometh on apace and thine eyes shall shortly behold the Solemnity of it either to thy terrour or to thy unspeakable joy S. Hierom thought he heard the very Trumpet sound continually that must call all the world together whatsoever he was doing the Voice was never out of his ears All the Musick of Worldly Delights and Pleasures would be but as sounding Brass and a tinkling Cymbal to one that hath this Trumpet frequently in his hearing think but believingly of the terrible Pomp and glorious Solemnity of that day and then think of vanity and folly with delight if thou canst These thoughts would drown the petty thoughts of worldly matters as the Report of a Cannon doth a Whisper or as the Sun obscureth the smallest Glow-worm And if any thing would stop thee in a course of sinning these thoughts would do it Thou would'st think it a poor shift to fly to the dark to cover thee when thou committest any iniquity if thou didst but consider that what is done in secret shall then be proclaimed upon the house-top and God will find Evidence enough to convince thee that thus and thus thou didst when he kept silence◠yea thou shalt betray thy self by thy own confession This is another Object of thy thoughts and very worthy thine often Consideration Eighthly Another thing that you should frequently steep your thoughts in is the joys of Heaven and unexpressible happiness of the Saints in Light there the Fountain of all Bliss and pleasure shall stand open and the Face of glorious Majesty shall be revealed Here we behold him but in a glass and see but a glimpse of his back-parts but then we shall see him face to face
health and strength and friends may prove treacherous and unfaithful all thy worldly hopes may become like a Spiders Web Job 8.14 The Heavens over thy head may turn into darkness and the Sun and Stars may refuse to give their light the Earth may fail under thy feet and reel to and fro and stagger like a Drunken Man and the Inhabitants thereof may be at their wits end but the Word of God will never fail thee it shall be accomplished in despight of all opposing power and the threatnings and promises thereof shall stand when all other things shall fall to the ground and be like water that 's spilt on it that cannot be gathered up again Heaven and Earth shall pass away but not one jot nor tittle of the Word of God shall pass till all be fulfilled Mat. 5.18 And Mat. 24.35 God that hath established the Earth so firmly though it hang upon nothing and it abideth and shall abide till the great Earthquake shall come he that hath fixed the Ordinances of Heaven and Earth and setled the appointed times and seasons of Spring and Summer Winter and Harvest Day and Night and they continue to this daâ— without variation according to his Decree for all are his servants Psal 119.90 91. and Gen. 8.22 will make good the word that is gone out of his mouth and it shall not return till it hath accomplish'd that which he hath spoken Isa 55.11 And therefore David acknowledgeth that he had magnified his Word above all his Name So much for the matter of our Consideration or the things that we should frequently consider I conclude with that in Psal 107.43 Who so is wise will consider these things and they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. I come in the next place to speak to the manner or to shew how Consideration shold be exercised First after you have lift up your heart to God for the heavenly Light and Assistance set your self seriously to the duty as in his sight and presence Trifling with all matters of moment is inconsistent with the nature of such things and betrays our folly But it is the bane and poison of all Religion and a wicked disparagement both to that and our selves if whatsoever our hand findeth to do we should do it with our might Eccles 9.10 then much more should we rouze up our selves and put to all our strength when we have works of the greatest consequence in our hands we must not be slothful in such business as this is especially but fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain is a precept that extends it self to all Religious Acts and strictly forbids a slight and customary performance of them Thou art guilty of Irreverence and contempt of such sacred things and consequently of God himself to whom they are nearly related when thou medlest in them with a careless and wandring spirit and mayest expect that the anger of the Lord should wax hot against thee when thou art so cold in his service If God threatned to spew the Church of Laodicea out of his mouth because she was but lukewarm in his service Rev. 3.16 He will certainly deal worse with them that are stone-cold in their approaches to him The heart and soul of Consideration and all other Religious Acts are wanting when the heart and soul and strength are not imployed in them For when earnestness and serious intention of the mind and heart are deficient it not only turns Religious Acts into meer form but makes them utterly unsuccessful You will miss of your intended purpose when you come to God and seek for mercy in a careless and customary manner you will never obtain wisdom at the hands of God if you know not how to be importunate for it when you are shut up in affliction and misery and cannot get out if you cannot cry aloud and knock at the door of grace it will never be opened to you The Lord will give you a praying spirit fervent in supplication if ever he intend to give you the thing prayed for He will give you a heart seriously to Consider if ever he work the saving truths into your heart if you are not serious in the service of God you cannot be sincere and how well God will accept that service in which sincerity is wanting look into the word of God and Judge The Consideration I am pressing you to is a principal part of Gods Worship I speak not of that which is occasional and ordinary for such Consideration must accompany all your Actions both toward God and men if ever they be prudently managed but of that Consideration which is set and solemn and that requires some time to be set apart for it as well as Prayer and other Duty during which time we must no more intermix our thoughts with worldly matters then we must in Prayer and Hearing and Reading the Word of God But our Meditations must be tied to the most weighty saving truths till we begin to feel the power of them upon our hearts that so they may command our Lives 'T is such serious Consideration as this about the greatest and uncontroverted truths for some set time together till suitable affections and resolutions be kindled in us which is such an excellent part of Gods Worship because it inspires the Soul with Life and Fitness for all other Worship and Service and if you do not awaken and call up the powers of your Soul and seriously imploy them in this work of Consideration you are never like to see the beauty and excellency of these saving truths nor to feel the mighty power of them Ignorance and prejudice have so fast closed the eyes of your understanding that unless you rub hard they will never be opened and the affections are so backward to the most weighty things that unless they be set upon in good earnest and enforced by the evidence and mighty power of these truths they will not stir to any purpose nor ripen your Soul for Practice Secondly You must narrowly watch over your heart and keep it close to the work and when it refuseth you must use the Authority God hath given you over it to compel it Though the Soul hath not that absolute command over its own thoughts and affections which once it had before it rebelled against God yet it hath not quite lost its Soveraignty and power Experience doth sufficiently assure us that we can command our thoughts to this or that subject keep them on it if we will take pains with them even those that want the special Grace of God and are unsanctified in heart can yet bend their thoughts to think on God his Attributes and his Word and Works the Life to come the vanity of Creatures and make very pertinent moving discourses on them else none can Preach but such as are endued with saving Light and Knowledge much more may they command
a one that hath unsearchable Wisdom to Rule us infinite Power both to protect us and break our Enemies in pieces and is not profited by our Service Job 22.2 Can a Man be profitable to God as he that is wise may be profitable to himself Thou owest thy hearty Subjection unto God He made thee and is thy rightful and absolute Sovereign and when thou hadst turn'd Traitor to him He hath not set thee up as a Monument of his terrible Wrath and Vengeance But hath laid the Government upon his Son so nearly allied to us by the Assumption of our Nature and relaxed the Rigour of his Law promising to accept sincere Service and Love though perfect Obedience be due O what a◠Aggravation will this be of our Sin if we still continue it after the Grace of God hath so much abounded towards us Rom. 6.1 and persist in our Rebellion we know too well what it is to be Rebels against God our Redeemer but we little imagin what it is to be sentenced and condemned for Rebels at the great and terrible Day 2. Secondly Every Unbeliever hath the Guilt of all his former Sins fast bound upon him not one of them is pardoned every Commission yea and every Omission every idle Thought and Word and Action with all their several Aggravations stand still upon Record uncancell'd God hath pass'd an Act of Indempnity and Oblivion and proclaimed wonderful Grace and Mercy to penitent Sinners but the Unbeliever whilst such hath no share nor portion in it The Blood of Christ hath infinite virtue to cleanse sinners from all unrighteousness 1 John 1.9 but it 's only such as do believe The Law of God the Creatour or Covenant of Works which threatneth Death to every Sin is still in Force to such as are not the sincere Subjects of Christ by Faith the wrath of God abideth upon such John 3.36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Every violation of the Law makes it due to the sinner and Faith in Christ is the only means to remove it but where that is wanting there it continues and abides If one sin unpardoned will sink the Soul of the transgressour into everlasting condemnation into what unspeakable misery and horrour will that vast Number that he hath committed force the sinner who will not come unto Christ nor submit himself to his Redeemer Look to thy self and answer it as thou canst that wilt not come unto Christ to be thy Advocate and answer for thee stand upon thy own Legs as well as thou art able that wilt not bottom thy self by Faith on Christ endure the storm of God's wrath as well as thou canst that wilt not anchor thy Soul upon the Redeemer of the World Thou seest the worst of it if thou canst make light of it it 's but bearing all the Sins thou hast committed upon thy own Body and Soul and the Wrath of God due to them And if thou takest this to be a tolerable and a light Burden continue still in thy unbelief 3. Thirdly If thou art no true Subject of Christ by Faith in him thou art a Slave of Satan and a Vassal to thine own Corruption There are but two principal Masters Christ is one whose Right it is And Satan is the other though an Usurper If thou wilt not devote thy self to him who is thy lawful Lord and Master thou wilt be under the Commands of a Cruel Tyrant There are but two Generals Christ the Captain of our Salvation Heb. 2.10 and Satan the Ring-leader to destruction and one thou must fight under There are but two sorts of Servants either thou art the Servant of Righteousness or else thou art the Servant of Sin Rom. 6.16 If Christ do not dwell in thy Heart by Faith Ephes 3.17 Satan hath got possession and thou art a Member of that wicked Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. that efficaciously worketh in the Children of Disobedience Ephes 2.2 He formeth thy Conceptions frameth thy Discourses animateth all thy Actions steereth thy whole Conversation and when there is need instigateth thee to any Wickedness though thou art secure and little suspectest 't is he that prompteth thee in all thou goest about If thou hadst an eye to see what influence he hath upon all thy Actions it would make thee to abhor all thou doest Indeed there are wicked Habits and Dispositions that strongly move and hurry thee into the same wickedness which the Devil would have thee to commit for if thou wert meerly passive it would be thy Misery but not thy Sin But now having no part in Christ thou art at once led by thy own Corruption and the Enemy of all Goodness into all Sin and Mischief No Turkish slavery comparable to this wherein the sinner is wounding and tearing and wracking himself every day and yet though he feels the smart sometime perceives the mischief he doth himself he cannot nor will forbear You would look with pity upon a Madman gnashing and cutting himself and bless God that you are sober when you see the pernicious Effects of Madness And yet if you are impenitent unbelievers you are guilty of far worse Cruelty to your Souls 4. Fourthly If thou art a Unbeliever thou art not sure to be one Day longer out of Hell and Eternal Misery thou hangst over the Pit of Destruction by the single Thread of thy Life and if the Twine break as it is a Miracle it doth not every hour all the World cannot save thee Let not a deceived Heart turn thee aside that thou canst not by Faith in Christ deliver thy own Soul nor say is there not a Lye in my Right Hand Esa 44.2 Thy Riches and thy Honours cannot prevent thy Death much less can they procure a Release from it least of all can they Ransom thee from Destruction thou art hasting to it every Moment and thou knowest not what one Day or Hour may bring forth Prov. 27.1 As sure as thou livest so surely thou shalt dye for ever if thou go forward in unbelief when once thy Breath is departed from thy Body and how many ways that may be stop'd who knows And wilt thou yet stand out against the gracious Offers of thy Redeemer and linger in Infidelity and run the hazard of Eternal Destruction Nay it s no hazard but as undoubtedly certain as the Word of God is true O that unbelievers would ponder this that they would but consider their latter End what a few Breaths more they have to fetch before they are turned into Everlasting Despair How dare you lye down to sleep lest you should awake in Hell How dare you rise lest it should be to Judgment and Condemnation How can you enjoy your Life one Moment that know not but that the next Moment you must exchange it for Endless Torment and Misery And how will you do to give up the Ghost
that have not given up your Names to Christ Your foolish Friends may flatter you and your own fraudulent Heart may cheat you but the Word of God tells you plainly what will be your doom if by Faith in Christ you do not escape it How can you do to read such a Text as that in Luke 12.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Night shall they require thy Soul of thee 1 by a usual Hebraism shall thy Soul be required of thee for when there is no Nominative Case go before the Verb it 's taken impersonally 5. Lastly God is thine Enemy and that contains all the Misery that can be thought or spoken Who can do a worse turn to himself than to make God his Enemy Who can befriend that Man that hath God for his Adversary or plead his Cause for him When Saul in distress comes to Samuel as he thought for counsel what a sad Answer doth he return him Wherefore dost thou ask of me seeing the Lord is departed from thee and is become thine Enemy 1 Sam. 28.16 And it was the bitterest part of Job's suffering that he thought God was his Enemy Wherefore hidest thou thy Face and countest me for thine Enemy Job 13.24 Thou even thou art greatly to be feared and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry faith the Psalmist Psalm 76.7 We may bear the Frowns of a Mortal Man though he were never so great yea though all the World should frown there 's some Refuge against that If all Men and Devils should storm and rage against us it 's possible for a Soul to comfort it self against this and find out a shelter But whither wilt thou fly when God pursues What will you do in the day of visitation and in the desolation which shall come from far To whom will you fly for help saith the Prophet to the wicked Israelites that had provoked God to be their Enemy Isaiah 10.3 There 's no flying from him Whither shall I go from thy Spirit Or whither shall I flee from thy Presence If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there If I make my Bed in Hell behold thou art there If I take the wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me c. Psal 130.7 8 9 10. There 's no escaping his hand If he come to tare in pieces there can be none to deliver Psalm 50.22 Stay a little thou that art an impenitent unbeliever and consider a while what this importeth viz. To have God for thine Adversary I 'll tell thee in brief It implys these three Things 1. First All the Attributes of God are against thee and feel it thou shalt either sooner or later 2. Secondly All the Creatures will set against thee first or last 3. Thirdly Thine own Conscience shall side with God against thee and to make thee perfectly miserable shall fall upon thee with the greatest Fury and Madness 1. If thou reject the gracious Offers of Mercy by the Gospel and refuse to have Christ reign over thee all the Attributes of God are engaged against thee The inflexible Justice and Wisdom and Holiness his infinite Power and never failing Truth and Veracity will all combine to make thee everlastingly miserable Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do righteously Gen. 18.25 Will Infinite Power let such Contempt of his Grace which hath stooped so low go unrevenged Will he suffer the proud Sinner to Spit in the Face of his Son for unbelief and rejecting him is no better and not wipe off that aspersion by the eternal ruin and perdition of the sinner Will it consist with the perfect Wisdom of God to look down upon the unbeliever and see him trample such amazing Love and Mercy under his feet not once nor twice but so many Years together as make up the Number of his Life and not recompence such base Ingratitude and wicked Presumption according to its desert If there be Truth and Faithfulness in God thou canst not scape He cannot deny himself 2 Tim. 2.13 Dost thou believe it If thou believest not yet he abideth faithful and let me tell thee again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he cannot deny himself He hath spoken and will not alter the thing that is gone out of his Mouth He that believeth not the Son shall not see Life John 3.36 Nay he that believeth not 〈…〉 already because he hath not 〈…〉 the Name of the only begotten Son of God John 3.18 I know he delighteth not in the misery or ruin of any of his Creatures and therefore is slow to Anger and proceeds leasurely to Judgment and strikes not till there is no Remedy after he hath used all the Methods of Mercy and Pity to reclaim the sinner and hath invited him time after time year after year to have compassion upon his own Soul and accept of Christ and pardon with him yet when no Means will succeed and the case of the sinner is quite desperate neither will he be drawn to believe however he speed Judge now what a disparagement this would be to the Wisdom Justice Holiness and Veracity of God not to pass Sentence upon such a sinner and then what a one it must be you may easily understand If they that despised Moses Law died without Mercy of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath troden under foot the Son of God c. Heb. 10.28 29. c. If God strike he hath a hand like himself 2. Secondly All Creatures will set against thee for they are his Armies and he is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord of Hosts All thy Friends and Acquaintance will come in and bring their Witness and Accusations against thee even thy bosom Confederates shall cry shame on thee and add Affliction to thy Misery O what a killing Consideration will it be then and I would it were so now if possibly it might prevent that woful day to be overwhelmed with Misery and Desperation and when thou shalt cry out with Job Job 19.21 Have pity upon me have pity upon me O my Friends for the hand of God hath touched me and he shall find none near him to speak one word of ease to him but all his bitter Enemies This will cut him to the quick and bring down his stomack when it is too late Then if it were possible to believe in hope how earnestly would he wish to see one of the days of the Son of Man Luke 17.22 3. Thirdly To compleat his Misery his own Conscience shall fall upon him with the greatest violence It will upbraid him with wilful stupid unbelief and the most monstrous ingratitude It will bring to his remembrance the kindness of his Saviour such a one as was never heard of It will tell him of his Blood and Sufferings and how fain he would have washed him and embraced him with Mercy and he flew away and scorn'd Deliverance and slighted all
such a Case How much more would a sinner bewail his Offences committed against him that is his Creatour and Sovereign and hath absolute dominion over him and the power of Eternal Life and Death in his hands Thou canst not endure his displeasure if he doth but frown Nor live without his favour if he should totally withdraw it but an hour As he commandeth the Sun to shed his light and influence upon thee so he clotheth the Heaven with blackness and maketh Sackcloth their covering when he pleaseth Isaiah 50.3 If thou didst but know and consider the one half of the infinite Mercies he doth bestow upon thee and the worth of them it would make thee sure to break into bitter complaints for all thy odious Transgressions especially when thou knowest before-hand That the Penitent are so sure to speed and find Mercy with him This is a Third Act That Godly Sorrow if it be sincere doth imply even a deep sense of all the Obligations every one of us lies under to abstain from all Appearance of Evil. Fourthly He that would bewail his sin aright must be sensible how shameful it is and destructive to his own Soul and Body It prevents his Reason and makes him far more vile than a Creature that wants that Faculty It animates his Senses to all insolency it makes his Passions masterless and unruly it destroys the Health of the Body the Peace and Composure of the Mind it fills the Conscience with perpetual Remorse and Unquietness And all these Effects do as naturally flow from it as Poyson doth from a Toad or Serpent And thus it would punish it self although God should inflict no other punishment than what will inevitably follow such sinful inordinate Acts and such abuse of the Reason and Faculties that Man is possessed of It procures the hatred of God and the shame of Men and breeds a continual Worm at home that will gnaw in twain the Thred of this Life and will then feed upon Soul and Body to their everlasting pain and torment hereafter Fifthly He that is truly penitent and doth lament his sin as he ought doth know and consider the Merit of his sin and what Wages it deserves He is sensible that the least sin committed against such a Majesty by a Creature so much obliged and enabled to the contrary deserves damnation and that he can make God no recompence for the wrong and injury it doth him And he understands in some good measure what Eternal Damnation doth imply And then when he calls to mind the infinite Number he hath committed and how oft he hath deserved such a dreadful Reward and that yet he is invited to Repentance and knows that he shall find Mercy if he repent from the bottom of his Heart This melts him into Tears and dissolveth his rocky Heart and maketh it to feel what heretofore he made light matter of Sixthly As the penitent sinner is sensible of all the foregoing Particulars so he is acquainted with his own personal Transgressions not only that he is a sinner in general but what actual wickedness he is every day guilty of How little his Thoughts Words or Actions come up to the Rule at the best and how often they utterly thwart and contradict the Rule and what are his Master-Corruptions and where the strength of his sin lies He is also deeply sensible of his sinful Nature that he brought with him into the World and how cross it is to the Will of God expressed in his Word and Law and altogether unlike the Nature that God gave Man at the first Seventhly He doth hereupon judge himself exceeding vile and even loath himself for his Abominations Ezek. 36.31 When he thinketh upon his odious ways he is heartily ashamed and counteth himself unworthy of any outward Mercy and wondreth at the Mercies that God doth bestow so contrary to his deserts He seriously judgeth himself more wretched and miserable by reason of his sin and an Object of greater shame and contempt than if he had liv'd in the greatest poverty and want without sin as knowing that one makes him contemptible only to such as judge according to outward appearance but the other to those that judge righteous judgment He knows that sin makes him a Beast or a Devil in Humane shape and is a Disgrace and Reproach to all his Faculties and quite perverts the very frame and design of them For what is sin but an absurd and unreasonable Act Actus debito ordine privatus as the School-men define it and supposeth the Senses and their Objects to be in chief power and command and the nobler Part I mean his Rational and Immortal Spirit to be chained up and lye by as a Prisoner in Fetters or which is worse to be a voluntary Servant and Drudge to the stinking corruptible part of Man What Lord that hath the Spirit of a Man would endure to be a drudge to his Servant It 's a sad sight to see a Prince a Captive to his Subjects or a Lord to be in the hand and power of his Slaves led up and down in Chains at the will and pleasure of him that is but of a base and degenerate Breed compared with himself It was a great aggravation of Job's pitiful Condition that contemptible persons had him in derision whose Fathers he would have disdained to have set with the Doggs of his Flock Job 30.1 That Children of Fools and Base Men that were viler than the Earth made him their Song and By-word and that they did abhor him and flee far from him and not spare to spit in his Face vers 8 9 10. It was a very doleful pitiful sight to see Edward the Second so barbarously entreated by Gourney and made to sit upon a Mole-hill whilst the Barber shaved him and to take cold Water out of a Ditch to wash him with which the patient King seeing told them that in despight of them he would have warm Water at his Barbing and therewithal poured down Tears in abundance It 's a much sadder Spectacle to see Sense trample upon Reason and the Flesh that is of so base a descent to domineer over the Soul that 's born of God and is of the Blood-Royal made to rule and govern as the very Heathen could tell Animi imperio Corporis servitio utimur saith Salast And what 's the Fruit of such a Monstrous Disorder when Flesh and Sense do exercise such an oppressive usurping Power and that Faculty that makes a Man is perfectly cow'd Why This unspeakable Mischief is the Fruit thereof Earth is preferr'd before Heaven The Creature before the Creator The momentary pleasures of Sin before the durable and everlasting Felicity And Men chuse rather to be Termers in these decaying Comforts that expire with their Lives than to have the Propriety of an Eternal Inheritance hereafter that shall never be out-dated These and the like Considerations make the sinner to judge himself a vile Person a Reproach to Humane
return home should bring in his Accounts So much spent in Meat and Drink so much in Apparel so much in Entertainments and other Recreations and when he came to the main point in hand the Business on which he was purposely sent could give none or but a slight and careless Account thereof would you not account him a foolish Factour and that Merchant a worse Fool that should imploy such a one again without any Signs of Repentance and hopes of his Amendment Shall I liken their Folly to this yea it is incomparably greater that come hither into the World on purpose to serve their Maker and live in obedience to his Laws and yet do nothing less Should God call thee now to an account Is it not the plain truth that thy Thoughts have been upon this Vanity and that Vanity And thine Affections have run after every Shadow And thy time hath been spent in the drudgery of the Flesh in providing for thy Carcass And the main Design upon which thou art sent into the World shamefully neglected I know it is duty to think upon and labour after Temporal things and in the sweat of thy face to eat thy bread Gen. 3.19 But is it not damnable Folly to labour after the Food that perisheth more than that which endureth To spend thy days in sinful foolish Merriment and then to go down to the place of Eternal Misery Can that Man go for any other than a Fool in thine account that will not be perswaded to consider that for his good now which he must unavoidably consider to his hurt and mischief hereafter It 's one known difference between a Wiseman and a Fool that the one provideth for a Mischief while time serveth and the other would do it when it is too late And it is another undoubted Character of a Fool to prefer the chacing of a Feather before the lading of himself with the richest Treasure such a Fool is every sinner that wilfully displeaseth God to satisfie a vain and inordinate desire And therefore what more common in the Scripture than to find Folly put for Sin and the Sinner for a Fool It 's needless to cite places in a Case so known and obvious Now consider how oft hast thou thus play'd the Fool And is it not time to return to thy Wits again How much hath sin befooled their understandings that refuse a little pains and self-denial to get the Everlasting Crown and Kingdom Much more that take so much pains to get into the place of Torment and Misery as some will undergo Will not the Toyl that some Worldlings will dispense with to get a little Worldly Treasure convince the one of Folly And the shifts that Men will use to escape a Temporal Misery rise up and condemn the other of stark Madness We see Men rip up the Bowels of the Earth and dig into the Entrails of craggy Rocks and take incredible pains to get a little Silver and Gold They will break their sweetest sleep to accomplish an ambitious desire They will spend their Patrimony their Credit their Bodies and their very Souls for a drop of Swinish Pleasure and Carnal Delight What 's the matter that we cannot be content to spend a few earnest Thoughts to use a little serious Diligence for the purchase of so great a Glory as Christ doth promise to his Servants for the Riches of Heaven For the Promises of this Life and that which is to come for a Dignity not inferiour to Angels for a Sea of Delights and Pleasures that ravish the Heart of God himself Alas we are surely ignorant of the Pleasures which our Lord calleth us to or else we are Fools indeed to stop our Ears Our carnal besotted Hearts imagine that there is nothing better than to eat and to drink and to satiate the Body with that which tickleth the Senses Certainly if Men did believe that the Joyes of Heaven are as far beyond all the Happiness of this Life as Heaven is beyond Earth they could not they would not forsake the Service of Christ for some little discouragements as sometimes they must meet with Let such faint-hearted Cowards as these remember what Sufferings Christ himself underwent and Contradiction of Sinners he endured that they may not be weary and faint in their minds Heb. 12.3 And let me say to such as Christ said of himself in another Case to his yet ignorant Disciples O Fools and slow of Heart to understand and believe ought not you chearfully to suffer these things and to enter into glory Luke 24.24 25. And for the other sort that take so much pains to undo themselves Let me but appeal to their own Judgments and ask them whether it is not palpable Folly to refuse to do that for to make themselves everlastingly happy which they will not refuse to do to make themselves eternally miserable Ob. But they will say They intend it not They think to make themselves happy by such Toil and Pains An. You much mend the matter by this Objection and wipe off the Aspersion For if thou art not a Fool the one way thou art another Canst thou imagine unless thou wert guilty of this Accusation that to rise up early and sit up late and eat the Bread of Carefulness to get a little more of the World and the Pleasures of the Flesh when God's Service is neglected is the way to make thy self happy Thou couldst not think thus if thou wert not ignorant and wholly bereft of thine understanding Consider therefore before it be too late what Folly thou hast been guilty of in forsaking God and following the ways of thine own Heart And humble thy self at last and pour forth thy Tears before God in the sence of thy foolish sinful disobedience And lift up thy broken Heart to him for Pardon in the Name of thy Redeemer And this is the way to recover thy Wits again and to come to thy self as the Prodigal did when he returned to his Father and confessed his sin Thirdly Consider There is no spark of true Ingenuity left in that Heart that refuseth to lay to Heart the Transgressions he hath committed against God Doth not thy Heart smite thee and â—ell thee how shamefully thou hast done in provoking him to whom thou art so wonderfully endebted Doth not thy Heart bleed at all for the Wounds and Dishonour thou hast done to his Name Nor is it a burthen to thy Soul that thou hast wearied him with thy rebellions and made him to serve with thy sins Isaiah 43.24 Doth it seem a small matter to thee that thou hast slighted his Word neglected his Service prophaned his Sabbaths despised the offers of his Grace taken part with his Enemies and preferred every foolish Delight before his Love and and Favour Be it known to thee thou art of a base and sordid disposition and utterly forsaken of all Reason and Ingenuity God deals not with Men in a way of Violence and Constraint He could