true he is pleased to see men deny ungodliness and worldly lusts but nothing to that pleasure which he takes in seeing them live righteously soberly and godly in this present evil World He likes ceasing from evil because it 's agreeable to his Word but he likes better doing of good because it 's more conformable to his Will Isa 64.5 Thou meetest him that rejoyceth and worketh righteousness Thou meetest him with the riches of Mercy who worketh what is good with alacrity If he come to thee thou wilt not cast him away nay thou wilt run to meet him and embrace him As the Father of the Prodigal ran to meet his returning Son Luke 15. And as one at odds but willing to be reconciled tells us He will meet his Opposite half-way And I may say of Gods meeting a Soul that worketh Righteousness as God tells Moses Behold Aaron thy Brother comes to meet thee and when he seeth thee he will be glad at his heart Behold thy God and Father cometh to meet thee and when he seeth thee working Righteousness he will be glad at his heart nay so glad that the disadvantage of a mans Country shall not hinder him of this kindness Acts 10. And Peter said I perceive now that God is no Respecter of persons but in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him God proclaimeth to all the World That he delighteth in such a mans way Psal 73.23 and therefore his Word which he hath given us for our Rule herein is called his good and acceptable Will Rom. 12.2 And the reason is because such persons are most like God therefore they have most of his love and delight God is a pure Act and so cannot but approve of them that are active He is ever at work Joh. 5.17 Hitherto my Father worketh and I work And its righteousness he is always working The Lord is holy in all his Ways and righteous in all his Works Psal 145. He is good and doth good so that those who are positively holy do most resemble him and so do most delight him We all take most pleasure in those Children that are our exactest Pictures Reader art thou negatively holy Canst thou say I am no Drunkard no Glutton no Adulterer thou mayst say this and be like the Devil for the Devil himself may say as much Canst thou say I am no Thief no Swearer no Blasphemer no Sabbath-breaker no Trader with false Weights or false Measures no Bearer of false witness against my Neighbour A Beast may say as much and thou mayst be free from these sins and yet like a Beast But if thou livest in the love and delight of the blessed Majesty doing his pleasure this is to be like an Angel Psal 103. And doing good to others this is to be like God and this is that which takes his heart Common humanity is much affected with one that aboundeth in goodness and is rich in good Works therefore the Apostle tells us That for a good man possibly some may even dare to die Rom. 5. The reason of which is because the people of the Jews were divided into three sorts of Persons there were Reshagnim or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wicked or ungodly those who lived without the Worship of God and walked in prophane courses there were also Tsidikim or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the just or righteous men of rigid righteousness or severe innocency and Chasidim or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the good and liberal men of large Hearts and open Hands to do good to others who as publick Conduits are of publick advantage in the places where they live Now saith the Apostle Scarcely for a righteous man that is for a man of austere Justice will one die but for a good man a man full of good works one that is bountiful to others and useful in his Generation a man would even dare to die Humanity is so taken with doing good that a man can be contented almost to die for such much more must goodness it self and the Fountain of all Goodness be affected therewith He tells us That he is a God who executeth Kindness Judgment and Righteousness For in these things I delight saith the Lord. Both in doing them my self and seeing them done by others Psal 11. ult Mich. 6.8 What thinkest thou Reader of this motive to good Works wouldst thou not delight the heart of God How long hast thou by thy Omissions grieved him and is it not yet time to rejoyce him How often hast thou displeased him how many millions of times and wilt thou not now please him Thou daily seest that though he hath no Obligations to his Creatures but the contrary he doth them good and gives them food and fruitful seasons and fills their Hearts with gladness And wilt thou not do thy utmost to glad his Heart who hath above all apprehensions obliged thee Truly he doth not deserve the name of a rational Creature who doth not above all things seek to please his Maker and there is no way hereunto like abounding in well-doing Therefore the Apostle begs for the Colossians That they may be filled with the knowledge of his Will Why that they might keep their Light in a dark Lanthorn or have it as men wear a Glass-eye for shew and not for use or that men might be able to talk the more of Religion and the things that appertain thereunto No That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to his whole liking and delight that ye might please God I but how may this be done he presently tells us how That ye may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work There is no such way to please God as fruitfulness in every good Work It rejoyceth the Husbandman to see his Trees laden with fruit to see his Fields cover'd over as the Psalmists phrase is Psal 65. ult with Corn and to see his returns answer his Cost And it rejoyceth the blessed God to see an Heart that hath long lain fallow and been barren full of faith and love and humility and heavenly-mindedness and all the fruits of Righteousness and so a Life that hath been idle and unprofitable abundant in acts of Piety Charity and the like David who served the Wills of God in his Generation he of all men was the man after Gods own heart 14. Consider thou hast but a little time to do good in therefore it concerns thee to set speedily upon it and to be diligent at it Alas how short is thy whole Life from the Womb to the Tomb It 's but a shadow that fleeth away and continueth not a Vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away it 's nothing Job 14.2 James 4.14 Psal 39.6 And how much of this time is gone hath been spent as a tale that is told impertinently and to no purpose in doing nothing or in doing that
THE SINNERS Last Sentence TO Eternal Punishment FOR SINS of OMISSION Wherein is discovered The Nature The Causes and The Cure Of those Sins By Geo. Swinnock M. A. Deut. 32.29 O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation c. London Printed for Geo. Swinnock and are to be sold at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside 1675. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE CHARLES Earl of Carnarvon Lord Dormer Viscount Ascot Baron of Wing c. May it please your Lordship FOr so mean a thing as I am to address my self to a Personage of your Honour and Quality may cause wonder in others and abashment in my self But for some Considerations which may give them satisfaction and me boldness and encouragement What I now present your Honour is a poor Widows mite such as being cast into the Treasury of Gods Temple may contribute something to repair the breaches of collapsed Piety and such as I hope the Lord of Lords will not despise Do I call it Mine I must correct my self it is indeed your Honours and my tendring it to your acceptance is but my paying you your own It is a Legacy left you by my dear deceased Husband who commanded me on his death-bed in all humble wise to present it to your Honour and publish it under your Protection So that although it was left with me it was left by him for your Honour Do I call it a Legacy I must again correct and confess It is a due Debt For our poor Family stands most deeply obliged to your Honour who have been pleased to exercise a generous bounty towards us and such as is suitable to none but a noble mind The Debt is humbly acknowledged by us and shall be undoubtedly repaid by the Lord to whom it was lent Your Lordship may with comfort read the Specialty in Gods own Word Prov. 19.17 which is very good security But as for us alas what have we to return except these gleanings of the Fruits of my dear Husbands Labours even some of those which were brought forth when he last laboured in the Lords Vineyard I desire for ever to adore the goodness of God towards me whose weak condition seemed to cry like that woman of the wives of the Sons of the Prophets unto Elisha saying Thy Servant my Hushand is dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord c. 2 Kings 4.1 To which Cry your Lordships overflowing munificence hath answered very like the Man of God vers 7. Go and sell the Oyl and pay thy Debt and live thou and thy Children of the rest As for the matter of this Discourse it is not proper for me to reflect thereon Only I have a good confidence That as your Honour hath been pleased to cast a favourable Eye on other of my Husbands Works professing profit and pleasure in the reading of them So these words of your dying Servant will not be unsuccessful but have the Good Reader BEing requested to recommend this Treatise to thy acceptance I readily complyed with the motion induced thereunto partly by my respect to the Author Mr. Swinnock a Name well known to most serious Christians by his former savoury and useful Works published for the good of the Church before one of which I have expressed my just esteem of his Gifts and Graces in an Epistle prefixed and therefore commendation is not my business now it needeth not but attestation and to assure thee that this piece is his delivered by his own hands to his Son a little before his to him blessed but alas to us untimely death * He died Nov. 0. 1673. in the 46th year of his Age. and accordingly thou wilt find the one spirit of the Author in it and the same holy lively way of discoursing which is so remarkable in his other Writings partly with respect to the matter which is about the eternal recompences as they are represented by our Lord in a Scheme or Draught of the last Judgment We are hedged within the compass of our Duty both on the right hand and on the left on the right hand with the hopes of a most blessed everlasting Estate on the left with the fears of endless and never-ceasing Torments Reflections on the former are comfortable what is sweeter than to live in the expectation and fore-sight of endless Glory But the consideration of the latter is also profitable We need many Sermons about Hell to keep us out of Hell therefore in this Treatise the worthy Author insisteth on the dreadful Doom and Sentence that shall pass on the Wicked at the last day There is also another thing largely represented which is of great use the hainousness of Sins of Omission Sin in the general is a transgression of the Law 1 Joh. 3.4 Now the Law may be transgressed either by omitting what is commanded as a Duty to God or by committing what is forbidden when we directly transgress an affirmative Precept that is a sin of Omission but when we do any thing against a negative Precept that is a sin of Commission in both there is Disobedience and so by consequence contempt of Gods Authority When Saul had not done what God bids him to do he telleth him That Rebellion is as a sin of Witchcraft and stubbornness as Idolatry 1 Sam. 15.13 Implying that Omission to be Rebellion and Stubbornness for which God would rend the Kingdom from him So for a sin of Omission he put by Eli's Family from the Priesthood 1 Sam. 3.19 I will judge his House for ever because his Sons had made themselves vile and he restrained them not Now the more necessary the Duties omitted are the greater is the sin as Heb. 2.3 especially if the Omission be total Psal 14.3 Jer. 2.32 Or when the Duty is most seasonable Prov. 17.16 Or the performance easie for this is to stand with God for a trifle he is denied a drop that would not give a crum Luke 16.24 Or when we are fully convinced that it is our Duty James 4.17 Briefly these sins of Omission are the ruine of most people in the World yea the Children of God oftner offend in these kind of Sins than in fowler excesses Oh how many of them go out of the World bewailing their neglects and omissions the best might have done much more for God than ever they have yet done But I detain thee too long from the Book its self read and peruse it and the Lord give thee understanding in all things I am Thine in all Christian Observation Tho. Manton D.D. MATTH 25.41 42. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink CHAP. I. The Preface and Introduction
World Of a Child of the Devil thou art made a Child of God of a Slave to sin a Citizen of Sion nay he doth not only free thee from damnation and the curse of the Law but also give thee the blessing of eternal life in and with himself among his innumerable Company of Angels and the Congregation of the First-born Now Reader judge whether it be not very disingenious to receive from God all sorts of Mercies and to give to God not half the Duties we owe to him How canst thou mete to God one measure and expect from him another Friend God doth not put thee off with half-Happiness and why shouldst thou put him off with half-Holiness CHAP. XXXV Arguments against Omissions Christ purchased positive as well as negative Holiness and our Priviledges oblige to both 3. COnsider Christ died to purchase positive as well as negative godliness for men and wilt thou disappoint him of the Fruits of his Death Indeed if it had been possible for him to have bought mans deliverance from sin without the re-impression of Gods Image on the Soul he had been but half a Saviour and made us at the most but half happy But according to the Apostles phrase he saves perfectly or to the utmost upon all accounts and in all respects Heb. 7.25 and in order thereunto bought man off from sin and unto the Service of God He redeems us from sin We are redeemed saith the Apostle from our vain Conversation received by tradition from our Fathers Not with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without spot and blemish 1 Pet. 1.17 18 19. He redeems also unto his own Service Chap. 3. vers 18. of the same Epistle He suffered the Just for the Vnjust to bring us to God He died that we might die to sin and he died that we might live to God He suffered to bring us off from our cursed loathsome Lusts and he suffered to bring us to the Fear and Love and Service of the blessed and glorious Lord. We have both these ends of our Saviours Sufferings mention'd in Tit. 2.14 Who gave himself his Death is called a giving himself because it was voluntary and a freewill Offering for us here is his Passion but what ends had he in his eye truly both these that he might redeem us from all Iniquity make us negatively religious in freeing us from the bondage of sin and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works i. e. make them positively holy None are purified without positive qualifications and gracious habits in the Soul To be purified unto himself is to be thus qualified for the honour and service of Christ And to make it more plain the Apostle tells us To purifie unto himself a peculiar people a people that shall disown all other Lords and all other Work and shall be his Servants and do his Work only zealous of good works He did not die only to make men good and to enable men to do good but also to cause them to do good with heat and heart and fervency of Spirit Nay it is evident that to make men positively pious was the main and principal end of his Passion and that his delivering us from sin was only in order to this to his adorning us with Sanctity As a man cannot put on new Robes till he hath first put off his old Rags so a man cannot put on the new man the beautiful Image of the heavenly till he hath put off the old man the abominable Image of the earthly Adam Luke 1.74 75. We are delivered out of the hands of our Enemies that we should serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives He plougheth up the fallow ground of the Heart and kills the weeds of sin in order to the casting in the seed of Grace into the Soul Now Reader consider if Christ died to purchase positive Holiness for thee what hope canst thou have of an interest in his Death without it Canst thou think he bought one for thee without the other or that thou mayst be a partial sharer in his Death And what wilt thou do without an interest in his Sufferings Except he wash thee in his blood thou hast no part in him and if thou hast no part in him thy part must be among Devils and damned Spirits Again wilt thou by thy Omissions deny and deprive Christ of that Service which he hath bought so dearly Alas how little is it that thou art able to do for him when thou dost all thou canst And how much did that cost him what pangs and throws did he bear what rage from men what wrath from God how did he wrastle with the Frowns and Fury with the Power and Policy of the World and Hell And after all this dost thou grudge him that poor Service for which he was hungry and thirsty and weary and tempted and betrayed and crucified Whether we live saith the Apostle we live to the Lord whether we die we die to the Lord whether we live or die we are the Lords To this end Jesus died and rose again that he might be Lord both of the Dead and Living Rom. 14.7 8. Thou wouldst take it ill thy self to be denied the Service of that for which thou hast so dearly paid O think of it when thou art guilty of Omissions in the matter or manner of Duties I now rob Jesus Christ of that which he bought with his most precious blood and let him see the travail of his Soul upon thee and be satisfied 4. Consider the Priviledges thou enjoyest call aloud upon thee to mind positive Holiness and to do good as well as to forbear evil I am sure thy Priviledges are positive and so should thy Piety be What is the Gospel but a Cabinet of precious Jewels a River of living water a Case of the richest and costliest Cordials a Counterpart of Heavens eternal Court-Rolls concerning the Philanthropy or kindness of God to Mankind wherein are all sorts of blessings for Body and Soul in every condition treasur'd up The enjoyment of it is a special singular Priviledge the Ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 9. The Ministration of Righteousness far above the Legal Ministration The Psalmist tells us The Laws God gave to the Israelites were a special distinguishing Mercy He sheweth his Word unto Jacob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel He hath not dealt so with every Nation as for his Judgments they have not known them Psal 147.19 20. But his Gospel-Dispensation is an higher and greater Favour But what doth this Gospel-Priviledge call for surely positive as well as negative godliness The Grace of God the Gospel is so called because it declares it to us 2 Tim. 1.10 and interests us in it as an Instrument thereof Rom. 1.16 which bringeth Salvation which proclaimeth Life upon holy Conditions teacheth us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts Commissions
against the first and second Table but that is not all we should live righteously soberly and godly righteously towards men soberly in relation to our selves godly in the Duties that concern God in this present evil world The Gospel allows of Omissions no more than the Law and is so far from indulging men in sin because it hath mercy for the penitent Sinner that it addeth stronger Obligations to Obedience and threatneth more severe condemnation to the Disobedient 2 Cor. 5.15 16. Heb. 10. Again the Promises which have in their bowels all the good of Heaven and Earth all the blessings of this Life and a better which are as much worth as both worlds 1 Tim. 4.8 which are exceeding great in their quantity and precious in their quality 2 Pet. 1.4 and the peculiar portion of Gods own Children Heb. 6.17 who are the only Heirs of them and all others strangers to them and therefore miserable and in an hopeless and desperate Condition These Promises are so far from excusing or exempting from these positive Duties that they engage us the more firmly to them 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore dearly beloved these Promises that God will be our Father and we shall be his Children c. Chap. 6. vers 18. let us cleanse our selves from all pollutions of Flesh and Spirit but this is not all and perfect holiness in the fear of God The Promises do not only bind to Purity but also to Proficiency therein till we come to perfection And perfect holiness in the fear of God The Covenant of Grace which is a Mine of unsearchable Riches a Book wherein every leaf nay every line speaks Love and Life which contains more mercy in it even the boundless God than Heaven and Earth are able to contain this requires positive as well as negative holiness Deut. 26.17 nay it engageth for both Ezek. 36.25 From all your Idols and from all your filthiness will I cleanse you But more than this 26 27 verses I will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh I will put my Spirit into you and ye shall keep my Commandments and do them So that all these Priviledges are to no purpose if we be not provoked by them to do good and perform the Duties which are the Conditions of them Reader think of it why should God give thee Precepts to direct thee about the matter and manner of performing thy Duties and Promises to encourage thee to diligence and faithfulness therein if thou mayst live in the Omission of them Surely such infinite cost calls for some great care and conscienciousness in thy Conversation Might not God by virtue of his Dominion over thee as grand Proprietor of the Universe have required this at thine hands but when he is so gracious as to sue to thee and to allure thee and seek to draw thee by such Cords of love wilt thou stand out and deny him O blush for shame that thou hast neglected so long the wooings and beseechings and intreaties of such a glorious Gospel and such precious Promises and such an inestimable Covenant The greater the Charge God is at with thee the greater should be the Service thou dost him Where the ground is well dunged and dressed and watered and manured a greater Crop is expected by the Husbandman I must tell thee Friend that thou wilt one day find That to whom much is given of him much will be required Luke 12.48 and that God expects Returns answerable to thy Receipts Do not imagine as some vainly have done that the bare enjoyment of these Priviledges will save thee I must tell thee and that from Gods own mouth they will be so far from it that they will make Hell fire the hotter for thee and much deepen thine eternal condemnation Matth. 11.21 22 23. Jer. 7.3 4. Amend your ways and yours doings and trust not in lying words saying the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these Such Priviledges without positive holiness do but usher men to an hotter Hell CHAP. XXXVI Arguments against Omissions We profess our selves Gods Servants and all our Religion will come to nothing without positive holiness 5. COnsider you are the professed Servants of God and will you not do your Masters business You are baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost you own your Baptism by your attendance on God though but sometimes in publick Ordinances You wear the Livery of Christ before the World and if any ask you what you are you say a Christian or whose you are you say you belong to Jesus Christ And Friend will you pretend to be Gods Servant and neglect his business This is but to put a mock and cheat upon him like him in the Gospel who when he was bid go work in the Vineyard said I go but went not If I be a Master where is your fear Mal. 1.7 If God be your Master where is your fear of displeasing him either by neglecting what he enjoyns or doing what he forbids True Servants are not at their own but at their Masters pleasure and disposal as the Centurions Souldiers when the Master saith Go they go when he saith Come they come when he saith Do this they do it Matth. 8.9 The Redeemer himself when he took upon him the form of a Servant and became so to his Father Phil. 2.7 Isa 53.10 did not what he himself would I came not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me Joh. 6.38 And as the Father gave me Commandment so do I Joh. 14.31 And to shew his faithfulness in that relation when he came to die he tells his Father I have glorified thee on the Earth and finished the work thou hast given me to do Joh. 17. Nay the very irrational and inanimate Creatures are the Servants of God and as such do him positive service The Psalmist speaks of the Heavens and the Earth with the Creatures therein All are thy Servants at thy beck and bidding at thy call and command Psal 119.91 If thou speak to the Sun it riseth not if thou speak again it will stand still if thou speak a third time it will move faster or slower which thou pleasest If thou commandest the Stars they will fight in their courses against thine Enemies and serve thee faithfully after their manner as their Lord of Hosts Nay those Creatures which seem most stubborn and rebellious being Gods Servants are pliable to his pleasure Fire and Hail and stormy Winds fulfil his Word Psal 148.8 Reader what dost thou think of these examples thou seest the Highest the Heir of all things when he became his Servant did his Will and Work for thee fulfil'd all righteousnes and went about doing good Act. 10. And thou seest the lowest Beings Gods Servants do not only forbear doing evil but after their manner analogically they do good and positively serve God and wilt thou content thy self with
blindness of their hearts A blind man may well miss his way and a blind Mind can never do his work Whatever the World talks of their honesty and goodness notwithstanding their ignorance Without knowledge the mind is not good Prov. 19.2 They presume to excuse their dark Heads with their good Hearts but these two are inconsistent A dark Cellar is not fuller of Vermine nor a dark hole of dust than a dark Heart is of filthiness Hos 4.1 2. They who want the knowledge of God are under the dominion of the Devil He is the Ruler of the darkness of this World Ephes 6. And I am sure the unclean Spirit never bears sway in a clean Heart nor this evil Spirit in a good Heart No as the Eagle he first pecks out the eyes of his prey and then devours it How easily is a blind Soul conquer'd and kill'd by the enemies of his Salvation What Error will not an ignorant Creature swallow down he is like water ready to take the impression and form of what Vessel you please to pour him into Matth. 22.29 Our Saviour tells the Sadduces That they erred not knowing the Scriptures And the Apostles told the Corinthians who doubted at least about the Resurrection as the Sadduces denied it Some have not the knowledge of God 1 Cor. 15.32 What crime will not an ignorant man commit Knowledge to the Mind is as Light to the World which discovers our way and thereby prevents our wandrings but it 's no wonder at all for men in the night and darkness of ignorance to go astray or to stumble and fall If a man walk in the night he stumbleth because he seeth not the light of this World Joh. 11.9 Why do we think Sin is called a work of darkness truly not only because it 's from the Devil the Prince of Darkness and he that doth evil loveth darkness hates the light and it 's the way to blackness of darkness but also because it 's conceived in the Womb of a dark Heart The Prince of Darkness may beget what Monsters he pleaseth on such Persons 2 Tim. 3.3 Ignorant women were laden with divers lusts No soil fuller of such weeds than that which is not manured with knowledge St. Paul's ignorance was the ground of his wasting the Church at such a cruel rate I was a Blasphemer a Persecutor injurious but I did it ignorantly 1 Tim. 1.13 That Monster Sin which the Sun hid his head as ashamed to behold the Murther of our Lord Jesus Christ had ignorance for its Mother Acts 3.15 Ye killed the Prince of Life vers 17. And now Brethren I wot that through ignorance ye did it as did also your Rulers So the Apostle Paul Had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory Now if ignorance be the cause of such grieveous Commissions it must much more be the cause of Omission for in all these Commissions there are great Omissions but I shall shew particularly that Ignorance is one cause of sins of Omission We are bound to love God and that with all our Hearts and with all our Souls and with all our Strength Matth. 22.37 But is it possible to love one whom we are ignorant of Did ever any fear an unknown Evil or desire or delight in an unknown Good Are not the greatest Rarities and richest Jewels of the World that are undiscovered undesired The Apostle saith He that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen 1 Joh. 3. I am sure he that doth not so much as see God with the eye of his Soul his Understanding can never love him We say What the eye sees not the heart grieves not it 's as true what the eye seeth not the heart loves not Who can obey Divine Precepts who is ignorant of them or fear Divine Threatnings who doth not know them or be allured by Divine Promises who is altogether a stranger to them God and Christ and Pardon and Life and Promises Covenant may stand long enough knocking at the door of an Heart fastened with Ignorance before they will find admittance It is our Duty our great Gospel-Duty to believe in Christ Joh. 6. This is his Commandment that ye believe in him whom he hath sent 1 Joh. 3.23 But ignorance hinders this How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard Rom. 10.10 Who will trust a meer stranger especially in a matter of weight I had need to know him well whom I trust with my Soul and Salvation with all I am worth for this and the other World A wise man will not venture his Estate much less his Life least of all his Soul with one of whose integrity and faithfulness and ability and responsibleness he hath not good assurance The Psalmists saying is They that know thy Name will trust in thee Psal 9.10 They who know thy Grace Goodness thy Promise and Power and Truth they will trust thee but others will not Paul's hope could not have been so high nor the Wine of his joy so brisk when his Death drew near had it not been for his great acquaintance with him with whom he had ventured his all 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed how willing how ready how able to save me and what I have committed to him he is able to keep for me against that day Knowledg is so requisite to Faith that it 's once again put for Faith Isa 53.10 1 Cor. 2.2 Joh. 17.3 Phil. 3.8 9. but Ignorance is Faiths great hinderance Again Our Duty is to repent even pain of eternal perdition Luke 13.3 Matth. 11.22 23. But ignorance causeth men to omit this as well as the other Where there is a vail upon the Understanding there is ever a caul upon the Heart and Conscience As in the night season we have always the hardest Frosts and the coldest weather Therefore the Holy Ghost tells us when Israel shall repent and turn to the Lord The vail shall be taken away 2 Cor. 3.16 17. While the vail remains they are still turning more and more from God till wrath come upon them to the uttermost but when the Vail shall be taken away that they shall see the evil and mischief and loathsomeness and folly of those ways they have turned to and also for the beauty and amiableness and bounty and kindness of that God they have turned from then they will quickly return unto the Lord. Indeed men may thank their Ignorance for most of their Omissions especially the Heathen and many Christians who live in dark corners of the Land I and many who are as void and empty of Knowledge as the Heathen who live under the Gospel Many of these neglect Family-Duties Closet-Prayer a strict Sanctification of the Lords-Day edifying others to their power as opportunity is offer'd them and several others because they do not understand them to be their Duty Reader the cure of this must be for