O then let his patience and all his goodness at last have this happy effect upon us let it lead us to true Repentance and ever hereafter engage us to diligence and constancy in his service Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. 2 To which purpose consider again that this was the end for which God sent his Son Jesus into the World even to seek and save us lost and miserable sinners to bring us to Repentance and newness of life that so we might be restored to the love and favour of God which we had lost by sinning against him Our first Parents Adam and Eve were created in a very holy and happy Estate but they fell from it by sinning against God and so came all misery into the World And then did our Heavenly Father take pity on us and sent his own Son out of his bosom to be our Saviour and Redeemer to reform us from our Sins and so to deliver us from misery First he will make us Holy and then we shall be made Happy For as man lost his happiness by disobeying Gods command so he must recover it by becoming obedient to his will in all things To this end hath the Lord Jesus fully revealed Gods will to us when we were in ignorance and darkness He hath given us holy precepts for the rule of our Life And made most rich and precious promises to perswade us to our duty and denounced dreadful threatnings to affright us from Wickedness And when we had deserved the Wrath of God for our sins then did Jesus Christ shed his most precious Blood to make Atonement for us and to obtain our pardon and forgiveness He dyed for our offences and rose again for our justification Rom. 4. 25. And in his Gospel he has given full assurance of Gods good will to mankind that he will be merciful to us and pardon us if we truly repent of our sins and forsake them Thus hath Christ opened a door of hope for us to encourage us to return to God For if there had been no hopes of mercy we should never have been drawn to Repentance but even like the Devils themselves should have remained full of hatred and malice against God utterly despairing of relief from him But whilst the death of Christ does so much engage and encourage us to forsake our sins it gives not the least encouragement to our continuance in them Let us not think that Christ dyed for our sins that we might have liberty to live in them and yet be saved at the last No but he came to save us from our sins not in them He makes us blessed by turning us from our iniquities He dyed to redeem us from a vain and evil Conversation to purify our Hearts and reform our Lives and make us a peculiar People zealous of good works Matt. 1. 21. Act. 3. 26. Tit. 2. 14. 1 Pet. 1. 18. The death of Christ for us vile sinners shews the infinite love of God in finding out this way for our Salvation But then it shews also what an evil thing sin is and how hateful to God since he would not pardon us without the suffering of his own dear Son on our account And therefore if the consideration of all this does not bring us to hate and abhor our sins and to love and serve our God and Saviour we are never like to have any benefit by Christs death All our professions of loving him and believing in him will stand us in no stead without obeying him True saving Faith in Christ is that which works by love both to God and our Neighbour Christ accounts none to be his friends but those that keep his Commandments and to such only will he grant pardon and Salvation Gal. 5. 6. Joh. 15. 14. Heb. 5. 9. 1 Joh. 3. 8. Since then the ever-blessed Jesus the Son of God came down from Heaven became a Man and dyed a most painful death upon the Cross that he might save us from sin and misery shall we not accept of him as our Lord and Saviour who comes to deliver us from the power of the Devil and our own Lusts to make us the Children of God and heirs of Glory which is a thousand times greater deliverance than that of the Israelites from the Aegyptian bondage Will you not be moved by all that Christ has done and suffered for you Shall not his love constrain you to love him and to hate all sin which was the cause of his sufferings Will you tread under foot his most precious Blood and even crucifie him afresh and again put him to open shame Thus in some sort do wicked men use their Saviour whilst they go on in their sins which are so displeasing to him They that lie and cozen for a little gain what do they but with Judas sell away Christ for Money They that live in hatred and malice and do mischief to their Neighbours do in effect run the Spear into Christs side and drive Nails into his hands and feet And they that give themselves to Riot and Drunkenness do even mingle Gall and Vinegar for him to drink They do all that in them lies by their sinful pleasures to put him again into Agonies and Pains But on the other hand it is a delight to our Saviour to see us humbled for our sins and resolved to forsake them He will readily and effectually interceed for us with our heavenly Father who is most willing to receive returning Prodigals There is joy in Heaven when sinners on Earth repent Even this our return to God by true repentance is the best recompence we can make to our Blessed Saviour for all his pains and sufferings When the pleasure of the Lord prospers in his hand by the conversion of sinners he then sees the travel of his Soul and is satisfied Isa. 63. 10 11. And shall we not afford this satisfaction to our Redeemer who hath undergone so much for our sakes and still out of his tender love to our Souls follows us with such earnest invitations to come to him for life and happiness Could we deny him this most reasonable request if we saw him now in person standing before us beseeching us to turn and live And this he now does by his Spirit and by his Ministers But that leads me to the next 3 Consider therefore that this also was the end for which the Holy Ghost is given and all the means of grace afforded even to sanctifie our hearts and make us an holy and obedient People God knows the weakness and corruption of our Natures and therefore in great mercy he affords the assistance of his holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and purifie our hearts to renew and change our natures and guide us in ways of holiness here that so we may be fitted for eternal happiness with the most holy God in the life to come Joh. 3. 3 5. Rom. 8. 9. And for this end were the holy Scriptures written by men assisted
they would venture upon it And indeed it sinks them thither as naturally as a stone falls to the ground Even here on earth the proud and covetous the malicious and revengeful the profane and sensual do kindle somewhat of Hell in their own Souls and whilst they carry along with them the same wicked temper of mind it must still needs make them most wretched and miserable in another World as long as ever their Souls live and these vices stick to them that is to all eternity Let not him that carries fire in his bosom accuse Gods providence for making the fire hot when he feels it burn him but let him blame his own folly and wilfullness And so must self-condemned sinners be forced to do And now tell me I beseech you Is there not all the reason in the World that you should speedily repent you of your sins and cast them from you with loathing and detestation and henceforward set upon a course of serious holiness that so you may escape all this misery threatned to the wicked and may partake of that glory which is promised to the pious and good Does not a thousand pound a year deserve the labour of one day And will not all the joys of Heaven that shall last for ever and ever abundantly reward our diligence in Gods service for this short life time And are not the eternal torments of Hell enough to restrain Men from a loose and sinful life though it were never so profitable or pleasant here for a little while But you have before heard it fully proved that even at present an holy life is in all respects most for our benefit and comfort So that without doubt a good Man finds more sweetness and satisfaction in the way to Heaven than sinners do in the way to Hell Our gracious God appoints us an easie and honourable service and gives glorious rewards But the Devil is a most cruel Master and sets his slaves to the vilest drudgery and afterward paies them very sad wages Rom. 6. 21 22 23. Whether then will you be Christ's freemen or the Devil's bondslaves Whether will you walk in the good ways of God that bring peace and comfort here on Earth and eternal glory in Heaven or in the crooked paths of sin which now bring sorrow and shame and pain and hereafter will plunge you into eternal misery and torment in Hell Thus are life and death happiness and misery set before you What choice then will you make One would think there was no great difficulty in the case to a Man that has the use of his reason if he will at all make use of it in the affairs of his Soul A little thinking serves turn to convince Men that there is no reason why they should chuse poverty and reproach pain and imprisonment if they can honestly avoid them rather than Riches and Honour ease and liberty But I am sure there is a thousand times less reason for a Man to disobey God and damn his Soul for ever rather than to please and serve him and to make sure of eternal Salvation Wherefore let me again beseech you to take the matter into consideration and think seriously what is most reasonable and most for your own interest and then chuse accordingly And I pray God direct your hearts to make so wise a choice that you may never have cause to repent of it either in this World or that to come Amen CHAP. II. A brief description of an holy life with some short Directions in order thereto IF you now demand of me wherein consists this Holiness of life to which I have been thus long and earnestly exhorting you that I hope you may in some measure understand by reflecting on what I said at the beginning and by attending to what I have intimated all along my Discourse Yet for your assistance I shall somewhat more plainly represent it to you though but very briefly as no other can be expected in this little Paper In the general then as I have before exprest it I am only perswading you to live as becomes true Christians according to your Baptismal Vow in the keeping of which consists your Christianity Now by your Baptism you are engaged to believe in and obey God the Father the son and the Holy Ghost You must sincerely and heartily own God the Father as your maker and Preserver the son of God as your Redeemer and the Holy Ghost as your Sanctifier Guide and Comforter And accordingly must you behave your self both in heart and life And therefore you must renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh which would draw you off from God and must stedfastly believe the Articles of your Christian Faith and carefully keep Gods holy will and commandments all the days of your life Your faith is required in order to obedience For if you do not believe Christ's Gospel you are not like to obey it In these two things then consists the Religion of a Christian to which he is engaged by his Baptism viz. in Believing what Jesus Christ hath revealed and in doing what he hath commanded In short he is a good Christian who does firmly believe his Creed and carefully keep the Commandments The doctrines which we are to believe are indeed more largely and fully delivered in the Holy Scriptures which were written by Men inspired by the Holy Ghost and accordingly ought to be received as the word of God and to be diligently read and stedfastly believed But the chief articles of the Christian Faith are briefly sum'd up in that which we call the Apostles Creed I believe in God the Father c. This I hope you are well acquainted with it being so short and plain and daily repeated in the Church Service and therefore I shall not set it down at large And this also I hope you do believe to be most true You would take it ill if I should question your belief of the Creed without which you are not to be reckoned as Christians But let me advise you to consider seriously and frequently of these great truths contained in the Creed that you may more clearly understand them and be more affected with them And pray see that your belief of them be very firm and deep-rooted in your Soul that so the fruit of your faith may appear in the holiness of your life Without this the bare knowing of the Creed and repeating it never so often will stand us in no stead For as I told you obedience is the end of Faith And all the Articles of our Belief do most plainly tend to make us holy and good if we will but carefully attend to them and consider well of them To shew it in few words If we bâ—â—ieve that God the Father Almighty made us and all the World then are we bound to love and honour him to worship and obey him as our maker and preserver who is Almighty in Power infinite in Wisdom goodnes and all manner
but own that I perswade you to nothing but what is very just and reasonable and every way for your own greatest good And if you are convinced of this then proceed forthwith to this pious Resolution without trifling or delaying The sooner you do it the safer it is and the better for you Do not go on in sin at present on a pretence that you 'l repent hereafter when you are older or when you come to be sick and to die Do not put off the great business of Life to the end of your days when you are not sure of time or strength or of God's assistance or acceptance of you Do not plead the Example of the Thief upon the Cross for this Case was nothing like yours that have long enjoy'd the offers of grace and mercy If now from this present time you will heartily and sincerely return to God you have no reason to despair of his mercies how many or great soever your sins have been but if you still persist in sin presuming upon God's mercy hereafter you have just cause to fear that this bold presumption and horrid abuse of God's grace may end in your eternal ruin and damnation But if you are willing now speedily to enter upon this Resolution and Purpose then let me in a few words farther direct you by what means you may render it firm and lasting and may be best enabled to perform the same 1 And first I would advise you to take the next convenient opportunity to confirm this holy Resolution at the Table of the Lord. There solemnly renew your Baptismal Vow Dedicate and give up your self to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost renouncing the Devil the World and the Flesh and all those wicked ways they would draw you to more especially those sins which you have been formerly most guilty of Henceforth let the Lord Jesus that bought you with his Blood be taken for your only Lord and Master to govern you by his Spirit and by his Laws as ever you desire and hope to be saved by his Death and Resurrection And use frequently to think of this solemn Engagement after you have made it that it may have due force upon you when you are tempted to revolt to any wicked practice Often repeat the same betwixt God and your own Soul and especially renew it by frequent attendance on the Holy Commnnion there seeking for grace and strength from God to walk in his holy ways stedfastly and constantly 2 But that brings me to a second Direction that you should not resolve upon all this in a confidence of your own strength but in the most humble dependance on the grace of God which he is ever willing to bestow on such as seek it earnestly in the way he has appointed by a due attendance on the means of Grace the Word Prayer and Sacraments Wherefore as you have opportunity attend carefully to the reading and hearing of his Word and hide it in your Heart that you may not sin against him And be very much in Prayer to God for his holy Spirit to be given you through his Son Jesus who will powerfully interceed for you and make good his Promises to humble and devout Supplicants Luk. 11. 13. Joh. 16. 23 24. Whenever you are in danger and are assaulted by any temptation to sin or are backward to what is good then especially pray servently for quickning and strengthning Grace and your Prayers shall not be in vain 3 To your Prayers add constant watchfulness over your self at all times and in all places and companies Watch over your thoughts themselves and over your words and actions Satan is ever watching to deceive us and there are many snares and dangers in all our ways and we have corrupt Natures and treacherous Hearts and therefore had need to be very watchful to avoid all occasions of sin as much as possible and to suppress the very first beginnings Think before-hand what Temptations you are like to meet with and fortifie your self against what you cannot shun Do not wilfully run into Danger especially beware of bad Company by which many are drawn back to their former Loosness Be not led away by their Counsel or Examples nor be discouraged by their Jeers and Censures Use often to look back upon your Actions and if you have been drawn into any wilful sin do not make a light matter of it nor yet despair of Pardon if you be truly penitent Wherefore speedily and earnestly betake your self to God by true Repentance begging mercy for Christ's sake and more Grace to strengthen and assist you Renew your Purposes for amendment of Life and set your Watch more strictly for the future 4 To quicken and engage you to this Watchfulness Remember that Almighty God is ever present with you and observes all your ways and takes great delight in your Piety and Holiness but is of purer Eyes than to behold the least iniquity with any pleasure Wherefore always walk as in the presence of this Holy God whether you are alone or in Company 5 Think often how near you stand to another World and what an account you must give to God of all your Deeds done in the Body and so live now as will be most for your comfort at Death and Judgment When the Profits and Pleasures of Sin entice you compare them with the eternal Joys which they will deprive you of and with the eternal Torments they lead to Think whether ever any Man by sinning against God did gain somewhat that 's better than Heaven or that 's worth going to Hell for Let Eternity be very much in your thoughts and the fading Vanities of this World will have little esteem with you Often ponder of those weighty Words of our Blessed Saviour What will it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul Mark 8. 36 37. Lastly In stead of more Directions let me advise you to acquaint your self with your Minister and consult him in the great Concernments of your Soul as Men are wont to do the Lawyer and the Physician in matters that concern their Bodies and Estates Do not think it enough to hear his Sermons in publick but take Advice from him in private and open to him the state and case of your Soul so far as may enable him to give such Directions as are most proper to your Condition This especially you ought to do when you first make entrance upon an Holy Life and do first address your self to the Holy Communion or when you are under any great doubts and trouble of mind and are vexed with sore temptations either of one sort or other or when you are set upon by such that would draw you away from our Church either to Popery or to any other Sect amongst us Then presently betake your self to your Minister And in these or the like Cases take Direction from him and be sure to
was not in vain And to this day will all God's faithful servants find the good effects of thus devoutly applying themselves to God by Prayer For his eyes are ever upon the Righteous and his ear open to their cry He takes pity on them comforts and supports them He 'l lay no more upon them than he enables them to bear and in his good time he supplies their wants and delivers them from their afflictions yea he turns them into blessings and makes all work together for their good as he has promised to them that love him Rom. 8. 28. O what an happiness is it to be acquainted with God to have a due sense of his Providence so as to live upon it and improve it Job 22 21. But how sad is the condition of a wicked Man who has no such knowledge of God no love to him nor any expectations of help and relief from him Even in his greatest prosperity he 's a very miserable Man whilst he lives without God in the World but he feels himself to be so indeed when he falls into any great calamity and knows not which way to turn himself for help and comfort For as wickedness still brings Men into misery as I have before shewn so there it leaves them in the most wretched forlorn condition And the ill temper of their minds adds weight and load to their calamities and grievously encreases the smart of them The sense of their own guilt sometimes torments their Consciences and fills them with fear and horrour Sometimes they rage and fret against those that help'd on their sufferings and sometimes they even blaspheme God himself and murmur against his Providence Whilst the good Man with Job blesses God in all his afflictions these are ready to follow the counsel of his Wife even to curse God and die For being full of anguish and despair they are at their wits end and weary of their very lives as we read of Cain and Judas and such like both in Scripture and other History For my part I do verily think that next to the Devils and those in Hell there are no Creatures in the World more miserable than wicked ungodly People and whilst we see what the common fruit of Sin is here on Earth we may easily be convinced that it leads to Hell and damnation hereafter And all this do men madly and wilfully run into by their own evil doings even as a Man that thrusts his hands into the fire is like to feel pain and smart By forsaking of God they forsake their own mercies and by sinning against him they wrong their own Souls yea their Bodies too and all their Concerns Thus you see that an holy Life is most profitable for us even in this present World preventing much evil and bringing all manner of good along with it Or if a Man should fall into such hard times as to suffer meerly for Religion and a good Conscience he shall then commonly find such wonderful comfort and satisfaction of mind that he will even triumph and rejoyce in the midst of his sufferings as we know the Apostles and primitive Christians did and that especially in hope of the glorious Rewards laid up for good Men in the Heavens But that brings me to the last Consideration I shall mention Lastly Namely That an Holy Life through the rich mercy of God will render us perfectly and eternally blessed in the World to come whereas a wicked course of Life leads to eternal misery and torment According as we live in this World so must we fare in the next for this Life is a state of trial in order to Eternity Even at Death a good Man has ground of much comfort having the testimony of a good Conscience and the sense of God's love so that with Saint Stephen he may commit his Soul into the hands of the Lord Jesus who is ready to receive him But how sad is it with a wicked Man when beside all the pains of his body his mind is tormented with the remembrance of his sins and with the fears of God's wrath But the great difference will be made at the day of Judgment when the sheep shall be set at Christ's right hand and the goats on the left as you have it described Matth. 25. 31 c. To those on the right hand that is the pious and good will be pronounced that joyful Sentence Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World And then shall they enter into that most glorious Kingdom where neither sin nor sorrow shall ever disturb them more where they shall never feel nor fear any manner of evil or pain either of Soul or Body but shall be admitted into the immediate presence of God where there is all fulness of joy for evermore They shall have such a clear knowledge of the ever-blessed God and such a lively sense of his infinite Perfections as will fill them with Admiration Love and Praise and they shall feel the love of God and their Saviour so fully shed abroad upon them as shall raise their Hearts to the very utmost heights of joy and thankfulness and their mouths shall be filled with Hallelujahs and Songs of Praise and in this most delightful Employment shall they joyn with all the blessed company of Heaven for ever and ever That 's the perfection of all that the joys of Heaven shall never have an end It 's both a most exceeding and an eternal weight of glory that 's promised 2 Cor. 4. 17 18. For ever shall we remain with the Lord 1 Thes. 4. 17. The eternal God will be the portion of his people and their joy in him shall never be lessened or abated through all eternity They shall be always blessing and praising him always satisfied and ravished with the beholding of his Glories and the enjoyment of his love always delighted with the most pleasant and agreeable society of Angels and Saints And never more shall dear friends and companions be separated from each other when once they are met in Heaven Death has now no power over them They are become in some measure even like to Christ himself and there shall see him as he is in all his glory Phil. 3. 21. 1 Joh. 3. 2. But what it is thus to be made like to Christ to see God and enioy him we are not able fully to express or conceive whilst we are here in the body to compare the glories of Heaven to all the riches and honour of Courts and Pallaces here below were greatly to lessen and disparage them So great are those heavenly glories and joys that they can never be clearly known till they are enjoy'd As a blind Man can never well tell what light is till his Eyes are open to discern it It 's enough for us that we have full assurance from the promises of the Gospel that such a state of unspeakable happiness there is provided for good