to destroy these make him to do the Works of the Devil They make the Saviour of Sinners to be the Minister of Sin they make him not only a Friend of Sinners but a Friend of Sin and what is the Devil more It must no longer be said that Christ came to make an end of Sin to redeem from all Iniquity to fulfil all Righteousness but to countenance and encourage Sin and to fill the World with Unrighteousness What Doctrine would the Devil preach other than this Fear not to Sin God is merciful Continue in Sin for Grace hath abounded If there were any ground for such an hope we must quite invert the Gospel and whilst the Apostle tells us Tit. 2.11 12. The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live righteously and soberly and godly in this present World It must be now written for Gospel The Grace of God teacheth us to deny all Godliness and to indulge to worldly Lusts and to live wickedly and filthily and ungodlily in this present World and yet still to look for the Blessed Hope and the glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Is this the Doctrine of Christ It must be so or thou art undone And if it be what difference betwixt the Doctrine of Christ and the Doctrine of Devils Presumptuous Sinner stand and tremble If the Word of God be not a lye If the Holy Jesus came not to build but to destroy the Works of the Devil there 's no hope for thee but if thou continuest thus thou must perish for ever Who shall bring thee into the Holy City who shall intercede and appear before God for thee Will Christ do it will he ever bring up the Servants of the Devil and set them before the Throne of God and say concerning them These are my Redeemed Ones These Lyars these evil Beasts these slow Bellies these Wantons these Earth-worms these blind and bruitish Souls these Rebels that all their life-time set at nought all my Counsels and rejected my Salvation these are mine I pray thee set the Crown upon their Heads for they are worthy Will Christ ever present such a Brood as these to his Father Will he plead for entrance for such as these Canst thou imagine that Christ would not blush and be ashamed to bring such an unclean thing as thou art before his Father at last and say This is my Child I pray thee let him live in thy sight Will he say to the Father O that Ishmael might live before thee that these Bond-men and Bastards and Belials that never knew thee nor car'd for thee that never minded any such thing as Religion and Godliness in the World but mocked and scoffed at all that did that would never be perswaded to seek the Lord or serve the Lord but all their life long gave themselves up to serve their Lusts and the Devil Let there be an entrance for these into the Everlasting Kingdom as black as they are and as resolute as they were never to be wash'd and made white with the Blood of the Lamb yet they are mine take them in Sinner if it were possible that Christ should thus plead for thee if thou be found in that day in the case that now thou art by all the Power and Interest he hath in Heaven he could not prevail for thee He might as well prevail for Cain and Judas yea for Beelzebub himself with all those black Legions which are already in Hell and fetch them up from the Deep to sit upon Thrones of Glory as ever he could prevail for thee 'T is against the determinate Counsel and Purpose of God against the Design and Tenour of the Gospel of Grace Christ had never any Commission from his Father to save or speak one word for any one Soul that lives and dies in his sins Objection But I will repent and turn from my Sins hereafter how-ever I live now I do not mean to die so I will reform and amend my wayes and then I shall have Mercy Answer This also is thy Presumption Thou neither wilt nor canst Thou wilt repent thou sayest but how long hast thou said so and yet the time comes not When wilt thou Canst thou repent when thou wilt Either thou canst or thou canst not If thou canst why not now Is it too soon for thee to be wise and to be happy Canst thou spare God and his Grace and Favour till hereafter Hast thou not enough of the Devil yet Art thou content to be his Bond-slave to be made such a Fool and a Beast by him yet a-while longer Dost thou chuse to leave thy Soul in hazard of Eternal Fire for a few dayes more If thou wert hungry or naked or harbourless wouldst thou say 't is time enough yet to have Bread or Cloaths or an House to put mine head in If thou wert sick of the Stone or the Gout or the Colick wouldst thou say Let me lie a while a little more torment a few more of these Pangs and Gripes It 's more madness than all this to say Yet a little longer for Sin and the Curse of God and under the Power of the Devil If it be not in thy power now to repent then how darest thou presume on an after-Repentance Will it be more easie hereafter when thy Sin is grown stronger and thy Soul is grown weaker and thine Heart harder and put farther off from Repentance I will return and step over to Christ at last 'T is all one as if thou shouldst say I will run from mine House and my Home and my Friends as far as I can all day but I mean to step home again at night Why Man thou art a dayes journey from home and canst thou step back in a minute what thou hast been running out all the day Hast thou been running from Christ all thy Life long and yet is there but a step betwixt thee and him Thou hast been hampering thy self in the Net and tying thy self to the Threshold of the Devil hast been still knitting Knot upon Knot all along thy time to make thy self sure to him and canst thou unravel in an hour the Webs thou hast been weaving the Knots thou hast been tying all thy life long It 's true it is not impossible the Divine Grace may help at the last but it is a strange thing and so exceedingly unusual that it 's utterly improbable that thou that hast been sinning all thy life in Presumption upon Repentance in thy last hour shouldst not then find it flying as far from thee as thou dost now from it Presumptuous Sinner thou that goest on in thy Sin and countest upon Repentance at last 't is even such another piece of folly as to count upon Mercy at last without Repentance Thou mayest almost as well conclude that God will pardon thee though thou never repent as that God will give thee Grace
the Heavenliness of Mind are all but a varnish The Leprosie that hath fretted and eaten into the Wall will break out through the Plaister wherewith it 's whited over It 's possible it 's true that others may be deceived in them also these Pictures may be so drawn to the Life that every one may take them to be living Souls and yet while they have a Name that they live they may be dead Rev. 3.1 Grace is Truth a real thing not a shadow or paint This Truth is in the inward parts originally Thou lovest Truth in the inward parts Psal 51.6 thou lovest Truth not Shadows or Images but Realities thou lovest Truth in the inward parts inside Truth a true Heart a pure Conscience he is a Christian which is one inwardly Rom 2.29 Grace is Life the Life of God 't is called Ephes 4.18 It is a Vital Power that forms the Heart into the Image of God that spirits and acts the whole Man and that exerts and produces those Vital Operations which are according to God and resists and works out that corruption which is contrary to God Grace is a Law a Law in the Heart Jer. 31.33 that commands and governs both it and the Life contradicts and overcomes that evil Law the Law of Sin that wars in the Members Grace is the fixing of the Heart upon God the returning and coming back of the Soul from that vanity after which it had lusted and gone awhoring and the pitching of it upon him as the Center of all its Hopes Aims Desires and Motions It comes down from Above even from the Father of Lights and it fetches up the heart to him Grace is the healing of Nature our participation of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 a Principle of Holiness in the Heart which is the health of the Soul and whereby it purgeth it self of all that corruption wherewith it was leavened and infected and is reduced to that better Temperament from which by Sin it fell Grace is the establishment of the Heart in Good Heb. 13.9 the firmness of the Soul it s being wrought to a good consistency it does not leave the Soul hovering and wavering and hanging betwixt Good and Evil but unalterably though not perfectly settles it upon Holiness and Righteousness Though there be degrees in firmness some weaker Christians are but unstable Souls in comparison of those that are more deeply rooted and more strongly fixed upon God and Godliness yet the very weakest of real Christians are so unalterably fixed upon God and his holy Wayes that nothing in the World can so far change their Minds as wholly to bring them back but the main bent of their Hearts and Course is still for Holiness and Righteousness Now are there none among the Professors of Religion that know all this and much more yea and feel something within which they judg to be the Babe springing in the Womb the Life of God begotten in them the New Creature brought to the Birth and brought forth in whom all this is but a false Conception and proves an Abortion at last Brethren since there may be such mistakes either the taking that for Faith or Grace which is not so or the taking your selves to have it within you when it is not there many have been thus mistaken damnably mistaken have gone down to the Chambers of Death full of the hopes of Eternal Life since it may be thus beware that none of you be thus mistaken Beware of taking that for the Faith which will save your Souls which doth not save you from your Sins Beware of venturing your Lives upon the strongest perswasion that Christ is your Life especially while you find that Sin is not dead Beware of trusting to an out-side Christianity that dwells in the Head or upon the Tongue whilst the Flesh and the World still have the possession of the Heart Beware of trusting to that Godliness which hath somewhat touched and affected the Heart but is but slight and shallow and is not gotten deep into the Soul Beware of trusting to that for Godliness that is but a weak and feeble thing that hath no life nor power in it but is a dead thing that doth not put forth it self in Vital Operations that is over-top'd and held captive by the Law of your Members that is made use of to comfort you but is not suffered to govern you but is kept as an underling and made to stand aside and give place to the Pleasures and Inclinations of your Flesh that is laid up to help you in your need and till then laid by that it hinder you not in your Carnal Interests or Designs Take heed of counting that your Grace which leaves you under the power of your old depraved Natures Is not thy natural pride and haughtiness subdued Dost thou continue froward envious of a fleshly and earthly heart as thou wast used to be doth the old Stream run still or if it be at times bayed up doth it ordinarily break down the Bay and run its wonted course Fear that Grace that is thus overpowred by Nature Trust not to that for Grace which is a wavering in and out thing that hath no consistency in it but leaves thee a ductile sequacious Soul carried about hither and thither with every Wind and apt to be variously snap'd according to the several temptations or circumstances thou art in Some Mens Godliness keeps pace with the Times is upon the Wing or hangs the Wing according to the encouragement or discountenance of the dayes they live in If Religion hath gotten the Wind on its side then they go on prosperously and hang forth all their Sails and will as soon strike Sail when the Wind is contrary Some are Holy only in Affliction when they are low and in trouble when they are sick and in pain and like to die then O what complaining of Sin what pretendings to Repentance what breathings after Grace then Reading and Praying and Meditations and Discourses about the other World come in request but when they prosper again and are in health all their Religion is laid by and forgotten Others are Godly only when they are pleased and all goes smoothly on with them Every little gust of Affliction blows all their Grace off its legs Some Mens Religion is much according to what their Company is Who more zealous and savoury and lively when they fall in amongst the Zealous and yet at other times as flat and as carnal and as vain as others scarce a Thought or a Word of any thing that good is when it will disgust the Company If this be all the Religion thou hast take heed of venturing thy Soul upon it or of growing confident that this is Grace or Godliness And that which is Grace indeed that Truth in the Inward Parts that Life of God that new Law in the Heart that fixedness upon God that health and that firmness of the Soul in Good Beware you count not your selves to
have attained it before you have Be sure before you be confident whilst the case is doubtful suspect your selves whilst you hope the best fear the worst Put it out of doubt by searching more narrowly and a more diligent improving True Grace where 't is weak is hardly discernable the narrowest search will not do it What-ever Arguments there may be for there will be so many Objections against it that will darken the evidence of them The Confidence of a truly gracious Soul that is but weak may be a kind of Presumption though he doth not presume he hath what he hath not though he hath it indeed yet his Confidence that he hath it may be a kind of Presumption because the Evidence is not so clear that he can rationally bottom a peremptory conclusion upon it To conclude this matter Art thou perswaded that thou hast Faith and that there is a gracious saving change wrought upon thee Fear that thou mayest be mistaken and in this Fear search whether thou art mistaken or no lest thou also at last should be found and have thy portion with the Presumptuous and self-deceiving Souls But of this more in its place 2. There is a Presumption on future Mercy how bad soever Mens present condition be There are some self-condemned Persons the Die of whose Sins is so deep that it cannot be varnished over nor hid from their own eyes their Consciences pass Sentence upon them for Hypocrites and Ungodly and yet though they see they be stark naught abominable Branches reprobate Silver at present they are still without Fears but it shall be well with them hereafter Though their Consciences condemn them yet they hope God will justifie them Conscience charges them as God did those ungodly ones Psal 50.17 Thou batest Instruction and casteth the Word of the Lord behind thee when thou sawest a Thief thou consentedst to him and hast been partaker with the Adulterer Thou hast been a Thief an Adulterer a Lyar a Scoffer a Slanderer these things thou hast done Canst thou deny it Or as Jer. 2.23 How canst thou say I am not polluted How canst thou say I am not a Transgressor See thy way in the Valley trace thy Foot-steps consider the course of thy Life and see if all thy wayes do not speak thee a wicked Man But though Conscience charges them thus and they cannot deny the Charge but are forc'd to acknowledg all is true and to confess if there be ever a wicked Man in the World I am one if there be ever a vile Person in the Earth I am one if there be ever a graceless one under Heaven I am the Man yet though they know that they are wicked Ones and have no Grace at present they still presume they shall have Mercy at last God is a God of Pardons if he should be extream to mark Iniquities who then shall stand God is a merciful God for whom did Christ die but for Sinners Wo be to the World if God were no more merciful if Christ were no more gracious than Men speak This was the Confidence of those pointed at before Deut. 29.19 Who bless themselves in their Hearts saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine own heart and add drunkenness unto thirst Mich. 3.11 The heads of the People judg for Reward the Priests thereof teach for Hire the Prophets thereof divine for Money they build up Zion with Blood and build up Jerusalem with Iniquity Here were a wicked Generation Perverters of Judgment Covetous Oppressors Bloody Men. What could these Men think of themselves Could they be ignorant that they were abominable in the sight of God What hope can they have of themselves Yes they have hope yet they will lean upon the Lord yet they trust in God no evil shall come upon them This is a more common case than is imagined Men could not be so hardy nor so venturous upon a course of known Iniquity as we see them to be did they not maintain in their hearts a secret hope of Mercy yet I shall have Pardon yet I shall have Peace the Lord I trust will spare me notwithstanding all that I have done But let such Men consider that by this their hope of obtaining Mercy in a state of Sin 1. They make the Scriptures a lye 2. They make Christ to do the Work of the Devil 1. They make the Sciptures a lye Thou doubtest not but that thou shalt be saved But what art thou It may be thou art an ignorant Soul all this while one that knowest not God nor his Gospel But what sayes the Scriptures of such Look into Job 18.21 Surely such are the Dwellings of the Wicked this is the Place of him that knoweth not God Where is his Dwelling what is his Place Look back into the former verses vers 14 c. His Confidence shall be rooted out it shall bring him to the King of Terrors Brimstone shall be scattered upon his Habitation he shall be driven from Light to Darkness and chased out of the World This is the place of him that knoweth not God Thou sayest no this is not my place my Confidence shall never be rooted out it shall bring me to the King of Glory I shall go out of Darkness into Light I shall see the Salvation of God What dost thou herein say but Scripture thou lyest this is not my place this dark and dismal Habitation shall be none of my Dwelling I shall dwell with God in the Land of the Living It may be thou art one that walkest after the Flesh a Person of a carnal worldly Life a Drunkard an Epicure an Earth-worm given to thy pleasure and ease and mirth a vain Person yea and one of the most vile of the Earth and what saith the Scriptures of such Why look into Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the Flesh ye shall die Colos 3.5 6. Mortifie therefore your Members which are upon the Earth Fornication Vncleanness inordinate Affections evil Concupiscence and Covetousness for which things sake the Wrath of God cometh upon the Children of Disobedience Rom. 2.8.9 Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth evil Psal 9.17 The Wicked shall be turned into Hell with all the Nations that forget God Thou art a wicked Man thou canst not say but thou art and yet thou art perswaded thou shalt to Heaven when thou diest What then dost thou make of the Scriptures dost thou not herein say 't is a lying Word there is no heed to be given to what it speaks Whilst the Saints build their hopes on the Truth what are thy hopes built upon but on a supposition of the falshood of the Scriptures And so this Word must prove the Word of that God that cannot lye must prove a false Word or thou wilt be damned for ever 2. They make Christ to do the Work of the Devil to help to fill the World with wickedness Whilst God sent Christ
the Devil what harm will it be to take his Money or his Pleasure Why this may be the case In all those little things as thou countest them there may be poison in the Cup there may be the Devil in the Company the Pleasures that are before thee the Money that is before thee these may be the price the Devil is offering thee for thy life May it be so I but I do not think 't is so my Soul may be safe enough for all that why therefore fear that there may be such danger and you never know or suspect it Nay this Devil lies still in wait not only in those places and wayes which look like suspicious places and suspicious ways but he 's every-where at hand even where he is least suspected When could Men think themselves more secure from the Devil than when they are with God in Duties and Ordinances But doth he never meet them there Hath the Devil never met thee in thy Closet or in the Congregation of the Lord How is it at this very hour Now that we are come together before the Lord now that the Lord is instructing us and warning us of the danger we are in Is there not one standing behind and out of sight either stealing away your hearts from minding the Warnings or else contradicting the Word of the Lord Come ccme these are but words and conceits the Devil is far enough off thou art in no such danger of him are there no such whisperings in none of your ears at this time Why whose Voice is this you little think whose 't is 'T is the Devil that thus speaks to the end you may lose this Warning and so he may have his advantage upon you Lord open the eyes of these Men to use that Prayer for you which the Man of God did for his Servant 2 Kings 6.17 So the Lord opened his eyes and he saw all the Mountains full of Angels Chariots of Fire and Horses of Fire If God should so open our eyes I trust we should see this House full of the Angels of God ministring to us but withal we should see this House full of Devils attempting to mischief us a Devil at every Ear a Devil at every Heart trying his skill to stop the one and harden the other from receiving this Word of the Lord. We are never an one of us more secure than Joshua the High-Priest of whom we read Zech. 3.1 That when he was standing before the Lord Satan stood at his right hand to resist him You 'l say again it may be you do not think 't is so why therefore Fear that the Devil should be so near and so busie with you and you neither understand nor will believe it though it be told you Such Ignorance is cause enough of Fear If any of you should have been told ten or twenty years ago how the Devil would serve you how he would hinder any word of Counsel or Instruction from prospering with you how he would hold you under this Ignorance of God and hardness and impenitence of Heart you would have been like enough to answer I hope not I hope to get more of the knowledg of God I hope God will bring me to Repentance one time or other I hope his Word will prosper with me And yet you see how 't is he hath sufficiently plaid the part of a Devil with you you were not so blind or so dead or so hard in your hearts many years ago but you are every way as bad or worse at this day and because you had not this foresight to discern that thus it might be had you not the more reason to Fear it would be so And what say you now as to the time to come If it should be said unto you at this day He that hath dealt thus by you hitherto will be like enough to deal as bad or worse by you to the end of your dayes so that you shall never be brought to Repentance nor ever recover your selves out of the snares of the Devil will you yet again say I hope not I fear it not that very word is enough to make you tremble If the God of this World had not blinded your Minds he could never have thus hardned your Hearts If you that have known Christ and have been in Christ many years ago If some of you should have been told that if you look'd not the better to it the Devil would meet you at the very threshold of Christianity and hold you there from making any farther entrance in would keep you Babes and Infants in the Grace of God that he would keep you all this time so weak in the Faith so cold in your Love so barren in your Life that all this while you should have gotten no more victory over this World and the fleshliness of your Minds and Hearts nor no more intimate acquaintance with God and your own Souls than some of you have at this day If when you had been told you were in danger of being serv'd thus If you had then answered I do not Fear it I should have made bold to tell you You do not know what a Devil he is with whom you had to do and now that you may know him better by observing how he hath dealt by you hitherto you will at length I hope learn to Fear What if the Devil should now appear to you in some bodily monstrous shape would it not fright you Why you may see his foot though you do not see his face you may see him in what he hath done in his temptations of you and the unhappy success of them upon you in that ruinous state your Souls are hereby in and surely Friends to those that understand him The Devil in a secret temptation is more formidable than the Devil in an Apparition the prints of his Hoofs are a more dreadful sight than the Horns of his Head 2. Another reason why we should Fear is because of the deceitfulness of our Hearts What-ever our dangers are from without what-ever designs or devices the Devil or the World have against us yet if all were true within us if our Hearts were true to us our hazard were not so great but saith the Prophet Jer. 17.9 The Heart of Man is deceitful above all things So that we may not only say with the Prophet Micah 7.5 Trust ye not in a Friend put not confidence in a Guide but with Solomon also Prov. 28.26 He that trusteth his own Heart is a Fool. The deceitfulness of the Heart stands 1. In its Treachery 2. In its Subtilty 1. In its Treachery The Heart of a Man is false to it self it is like the Devil a lying Spirit there is no believing it what-ever it speaks It 's full of all guile and will if left to it self betray it self into the hands of its Enemies 2. In its Subtilty It is a crafty Heart it hath many plots and devices to deceive Prov. 19.21 There are
ingenious Spirit fear more than to be base and unworthy Should you ask such a Person Why are you so exact and so tender and so circumspect in your way Why are you so busie and so studious and so laborious in your course Why can you not as well as others take up with a lower and more remiss way of Religion O I dare not be so unworthy I am the Servant of God and through his Grace I will serve him the best I can He that is most Holy and most Circumspect that keeps the closest to his Work and his Rule he is the best Servant to God and as I am obliged so I am resolved through the help of God to do him the most Honour and the best Service I can I should be a Wretch a vile and unworthy Person if I were otherwise minded The great God hath but few Servants in the World hath he taken me into the number of those few O what shall I render how can I be sufficiently thankful for that Grace God hath but few Servants in the World and the fewer the more serviceable have they need to be The Devil hath many Servants he hath those that serve him in every House in every Town there are whole Countries that are wholly peopled with the Servants of the Devil and their Work is to do all the dis-service and dishonour they can to God to cherish the Flesh and foment the Lusts thereof to fill the World with wickedness and to trample upon all that 's left of God in it What multitudes hath the Devil that serve him every-where and how busie are they at their Work God hath but a few Servants and since he hath made me one of them I 'le do him the best Service I can Such a blessed and quickning influence would such abiding thoughts have upon all the People of God As 't would be on the contrary If Sinners would carry this thought upon their Hearts I am every day serving the Devil it would be a Bridle to hold them in so if People kept up such a thought I am serving the Lord 't would be a Spur to quicken them on Such a thought upon Sinners Hearts I am serving the Devil would strike such a fear as would drive them quite backwards The very same fear which would animate Saints would strike Sinners dead in the Nest If a Sinner that 's going to the Ale-house would seriously consider and ask himself Whither am I going and upon whose Errand And his Heart should answer I am going to the Ale-house to serve the Devil the Devil hath some Servants at work there for him at their Drinking-work Swearing-work Scoffing-work and I am going among them to help on the Devil's Work And if others that are serving their Covetousness or their Pride or their Envy if their Hearts should tell them This also is serving the Devil the Devil hath a great Work for thee to do to damn that Soul of thine and as many others as thou canst The Devil would have thee to Hell with him and hang up that Soul of thine in Chains of Fire This he cannot do unless thou wilt put thine own hand to the Work and now he hath brought thee to it in the course thou art now taking thou art doing the Devil's Work to destroy thine own Soul Such thoughts would put Sinners to a stand or at least slacken their pace If the Devil should possess a whole Countrey of People as he hath sometimes possessed some particular Persons and should set them a pulling down their own Houses a burning their Corn and their Cattel a tearing their own flesh a pulling out their own Eyes a butchering their Children a pulling out one anothers Throats who would no the afraid to go dwell in that Countrey to be hired to that cruel Work Why Sinners 't is worse work than this that the Devil hath set you upon and you are now a-doing He hath set you on work to stab every Man his own Soul to strike in Darts through our Livers to kindle those Fires that will burn to the bottom of Hell and to cast your selves headlong into those Eternal Flames Hadst thou such a thought as this upon thy Heart didst thou but consider that this is it thou art doing 't would cool the heat of thy Lust and hold thee back at least from much of that wickedness thou art rushing upon And so it would be here if Christians did consider what 't is that they are a doing in their following Holiness and Righteousness that they are herein serving the Lord and that in his recovering and saving Design O how would it provoke them on How is it that thou art such a slow-belly that thou art such a drone and such a slug in thy Work Is he whom thou servest worthy of no more than this Pluck up thy Spirits Man thou art upon Service for the God of the whole Earth and upon the noblest Service that thou art capable of thou art sent forth upon the same Service for which the Son of God was sent into the World to save Souls and to destroy the Works of the Devil Jam. 5.20 If God should have employed thee but in those lower Works that Christ did for the Bodies of Men to open the Eyes of the Blind to unloose the Tongue of the Dumb to cast out Devils to heal the Sick and raise the Dead wouldst thou have been so unwilling and so backward at such Works Thou art upon greater Works than these to save thine own Soul and those that see and hear thee God hath made thee one of that Chosen Generation that Royal Priesthood that Holy Nation who are to serve him by shewing forth the Vertues of him that hath called them 1 Pet. 2.9 To bear his Name and to set forth his Praises in the World thou art set up as the Image of God as the Epistle of Christ thou art sent forth as a Factor and Agitator for God to negotiate for him in the Earth to bear up his Name to propagate his Gospel to enlarge his Kingdom Art thou not afraid to trifle in such noble Works Think O my Soul what 't is thou art for and for whom thou livest Shall I be as the Ox that eateth Grass or as the Swine that lyeth in the Mud and tell the World behold your King This is the Image of your God Shall the Epistle of Christ be nothing else but a Blank or Blots Shall the Factor for Heaven have so much of his Occupation for Earth Shall I teach Men to despise and pollute and blaspheme that worthy Name which I am intrusted to advance and exalt Shall any little that I do suffice me in so great a Trust Come on O my Soul remember thou servest the Living God and therefore let me do him the best Service I can Canst thou be too Holy Canst thou be too Circumspect and too Active I may be too sluggish and too silent and too shie and too shamefac'd
Lord and I know not where they have laid him Grace is not Peace is no more to me a good Conscience where is it become I can neither Believe nor Love nor Pray nor Hope nor any thing else but Fear and Lament O had I feared alway this Fear had never come upon me Christians Are there no such Instances no such Cases in the World And is there no fear that this may be any of your cases Do not you also travel with Charge have you not a Treasure within you What have you been Professors so long Believers so long have you been Hearing and Praying and Fasting and Labouring all this while and have not gotten something you would be loth to lose And is not the World still as very a Thief as ever Does not the Devil lye in wait for you as well as for others Is not his Eye upon that Chain about thy Neck that Jewel in thy Bosom and those Bracelets upon thy Hands the Graces that appear upon thee and hath he not a mind to beguile thee of them all Are his Temptations so weak or art thou so strong that thou needest not fear them As I told thee once heretofore so I now tell thee again He that is so weak as not to fear Temptations is certainly not so strong as to resist them Look to thy self they are all standing at the catch for thee thy Companions are catching thine Estate is catching thy Businese is catching thy Pleasures are all catching at thee to spoil thee of all that ever thou hast Objection But he that hath nothing hath no need to fear the Thief As for me saith the Sinner I have nothing to lose neither Grace nor Peace it 's for the Rich to fear but I am so poor that I cannot be poorer my Estate is so bad that the Devil can hardly make it worse than it is I need not fear whither or among whom I go I cannot come amongst those that are worse than my self why then should such an one as I Fear Answer 1. Hast thou nothing to lose thou hast the more to get Art thou content to be thus poor for ever Hitherto thou hast no Grace thou hast no part in Christ nor the Salvation of God but what if thou shouldst never have That which hath kept thee from Christ hitherto and so wholly void and empty of the Grace of God hitherto is like to keep thee so for ever and O what if it should do so If the Devil and this evil World should serve thee all thy days as they have serv'd thee to this day What if thou shouldst continue thus blind and thus hard and in such a poor and wretched state of Soul to thy dying day Darest thou go down thus to thy Grave Darest thou stand thus in the Judgment When it shall be then demanded of thee What good hast thou done or what good hast thou gotten wouldst thou stand speechless Consider in time the less thou hast the more thou hast to get 2. Thou hast yet much to lose As poor as thou art thou mayest be poorer thy case is not so bad but it may be much worse than ' t is For 1. Thou hast a day of Grace to lose Though thou hast no Grace yet thou hast a day of Grace thou art yet under the means thou art yet in a possibility of Grace as wretched as thy state is it is not desperate The Word is nigh thee the Door of Mercy is yet open Behold the Lord stands at the Door and knocks behold he calleth thee Come unto me and be saved what is thy time for Doth not the Lord say as Rev. 2.21 I give this Sinner space to repent What are Sabbaths Ordinances Ministry for Is not the Acceptable Day yet proclaimed Is not the Word of Reconciliation yet preached unto thee and do all these give thee no hope no opportunity of obtaining Mercy What if these were all lost and gone if it were said unto thee Time is past What if thou shouldst never hear a Sermon more never keep a Sabbath more never see the face of a Minister of Christ more if thou shouldst never again be instructed or invited to Christ but shouldst be irrevocably given up to a Reprobate Mind and an Heart that cannot repent Is it nothing to thee that Repentance is yet preached to thee in the Name of the Lord Jesus that the Ambassadours are still before thy Door beseeching thee from the Lord and praying thee in Christ's stead Be thou reconciled to God How would such a Day be prized in Hell If the Ministers that are now sent to thee were sent down amongst those damned Souls that are bound in Chains of Darkness to carry down the Gospel to them O if those miserable Souls might have one Sabbath more one hour of Grace more one Sermon more of Repentance and Reconciliation preached unto them how would their shrieks and howlings be turned into shouts and acclamations of joy Why Sinner thou hast yet the Blessed Day before thee when 't is past and gone then thou wilt know too late of what price it was 2. Thou hast a Soul to lose As poor as thou art thou hast yet that which is more worth than all the World Matth. 16.26 Thou dost not know the price of a Soul who sayest Thou hast nothing to lose Sinners value their Souls at a low rate 't is the cheapest pennyworth that the Devil can buy in the World Men sell them as cheap as Esau sold his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage as the Rich Men sold the Poor for a piece of Silver or a pair of Shooes a Soul for a Lust a Soul for a Whore a Soul for a Name the lowest price the Devil bids will hardly be refused But as low as Men rate it a Soul is worth a Kingdom all the Kingdoms in the World will not buy it from his hands who knows it's worth All the Crowns and Scepters and Thrones and Dominions of all the Earth put all together one poor Soul will weigh them all down And this is it O Sinner that thou hast to lose and yet dost thou say thou hast nothing to lose How canst thou also but live in Fear Yea who in the World hath greater reason to fear than thou Is thy Soul so precious Is thy Soul in danger of being lost Is it so near gone almost past recovery every day every hour ready to drop down into that Pit from which is no Redemption How is it that such a thought shakes not thy Soul IV. What you should Fear 'T is too long to tell you of every thing that is to be feared Fear especially these Things following Fear 1. Your Delilahs or your beloved Sins 2. Your Jezebells or your painted Sins 3. Your Isaacs or any beloved Creature 4. The Cross or Affliction 5. The Curse or Damnation 1. Fear your Delilahs or your beloved Sins You have reason to fear every Sin greater Sins smaller Sins common and ordinary
it God's Ill Will against Sinners God's Blessing is his Good Will and his Ill Will this is his Curse Joseph's Blessing The good Will of him that dwelt in the Bush Deut. 33.16 is the Portion of all the Saints and in God's good Will is every good Thing the precious Things of the Earth and the fulness thereof yea and the precious Things of the Heaven also Psal 30.5 In his favour is Life And in God's Ill Will is every evil Thing thou needest no more to make thee perfectly miserable than this that the Almighty bears thee ill Will. 'T is an Affliction to be under the ill Will of Men for a Child to have the ill Will of his Father for a Wife to have the ill Will of her Husband for a Man to have the ill Will of his Neighbours for a Subject to be under the ill Will of his Prince But what-ever there be in this God's good Will will make amends for all though all the Family where thou livest yea though all the Countrey bear thee ill Will if God bear thee good Will thou art a blessed Man If thou hast the good Will of all the World and only God bears thee ill Will thou art cursed with a Curse This Curse of God is 1. Revealed in his Word 2. Executed in part in this World 3. Pronounced in the last Judgment 4. Executed in full in the World to come 1. The Curse of God is revealed in the Word of God Rom. 1.18 The Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men. It is revealed from Heaven that is by the Law of God The Law of God binds Sinners under the Curse of God and declares to them what this Curse of God is 2. The Curse of God is in part executed in this World The Curse followed Sin close at the heels and is executed on Sinners here 1. In temporal Plagues There is a Curse upon the Creatures which were made for their use Gen. 3.17 Cursed is the ground for thy sake The whole Earth with all things therein hath something of the Curse cleaving to it whereupon though it still be useful yet there is something in it that is noxious to Man Vpon their labours which often become fruitless and ordinarily irksome and tiresome In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread Gen. 3.19 Vpon their Estates sometimes blasting and devouring them entring into their Houses and eating out the Timber thereof and the Stones thereof or else turning them into temptations and snares Vpon their Bodies Sin wounds and bruises in Sickness and Death 2. In Spiritual Evils inflicted upon the Souls of Sinners The Curse of God not only falls upon their outward Man but enters into their very Hearts upon which the Lord most signally executes this Curse by leaving Sinners and giving them up to blindness of Mind to a reprobate Mind Rom. 1.28 to hardness of Heart Isa 6.9 to the power of their Lusts Psal 81.12 whereby they are filled with all unrighteousness and reserved as in Chains under darkness to the Judgment of the great Day Sinner thy blindness thine hardness thy walking after thy Lusts in the Counsels of thy wicked Heart this is the Curse of God upon thee thy Sins are thy Curse And that Impenitence and that reprobate Mind which God gives some Sinners up unto is their sealing under the Curse God sometimes curses Sinners in this Life as Christ cursed the fruitless Fig-tree Mat. 21.19 Never Fruit grow on thee for ever Be thou never good for any thing never good Thought never good Motion come into thee never a drop of Dew or Rain fall upon thee never a Bud or Blossom spring up in thee nothing prosper in thee but be thou barren for ever of every good thing let that Soul wither and perish and die for ever This Curse is the most dreadful of all Curses above-ground and the very next to Hell 3. The Curse is pronounced in the last Judgment in that terrible Sentence Matth. 25.41 Depart from me ye Cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Now that if it be possible Sinners may be awakened out of sleep and be wrought to this Fear I shall a little open the Mouth of the Pit by opening this fearful Sentence Depart from me Depart whither why whithersoever it is 't is sad enough that 't is depart from me from Christ Christ is the Life it can be no less than Death to depart from Life Ye Cursed You that are bound under the Curse you that have been filling your selves with Curses clothing your selves with Curses treasuring up Curses to your selves all your time against this day Get you gone with your Curses upon you your Sins be upon you your Guilt be upon you your Blood be upon your own Heads for ever Ye are cursed with a Curse bear ye that burthen for ever and ever Into everlasting Fire And now you see whither 't is they are to depart I told you but now that 't is Misery enough that they must depart from Christ and from the presence of the Lord. If Sinners were to be sentenced down to this Earth again sent back to their Fields and Vineyards to their Ale-houses and Whore-houses to the best of their dirty pleasures here below yet this that they are sent into banishment from the Presence and Paradise of God when God shall so far open their Eyes as to let them see what they have lost this would be an unspeakable torment to them But this is not their place when they are taken hence they shall return hither no more they must bid an eternal farewel to all their carnal and bruitish ease and pleasures their Houses and their pleasant Places shall know them no more for ever God will not leave them so much as the least of the left-hand Blessings not a drop of Water to cool their Tongues 'T is into the Fire they must go The pain of Fire is the most tormenting of all the pains we know and therefore made use of to shadow out those inexpressible intolerable pains to which the ungodly shall be sentenced in that day Everlasting Fire What not yet at the bottom No this Gulf hath no bottom they shall be ever knowing and yet never know the worst of their Case what-ever they feel the worst is still behind because Eternity is still behind they shall never have ease nor rest again but shall be tormented night and day for ever and ever Prepared for the Devil and his Angels These are their Companions in their Tribulation Must we into the Fire But may we not have good Company in the Fire God may be in the Fire with me So he was in the case of the three Confessors and then the fire could not burn No t is the Devil that will be with you in the fire to torment and to be tormented with you for ever What is it to dwell in an Earthly House that 's
Tongues will tell you we are all out of the Way we must take another course than the Devil and our Lusts will yet suffer us or else wo to us that ever we were born We would be loth to die in the Way we live in we must turn a new Leaf or we are undone These do not so much as pretend to be in the Way of Life Well thus far now a Sinner may come by beholding the Self-evidencing Light that is in the Doctrine of Godliness the convincing Lives of the Sincere Professors thereof the Self-condemnation that is in all other Wayes he may be led into a good Opinion of Sincere-Godliness And this Good Opinion is but a little ground gotten towards it It is not Godliness to think well of it 3. Sinners good Opinion of Godliness may beget good Inclinations towards it and good wishes after it Happy are those Souls that are in Christ who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit O that my Soul were among them I could even find in mine Heart to be one of his Disciples I am in a strait between two as the Apostle said in another case Phil. 1.21 and what I shall chuse I wot not fain I would be a Christian in earnest I see it would be best for me to be so and O that I were But on the other side how shall I bear the Labours and Sufferings of that way What shall I do what shall I chuse I would be a Disciple of Christ but I am afraid what may come of it 4. Sinners good Opinions and good Inclinations may bring forth some ineffectual Attempts and Endeavours they may set forth after Christ their enlightned Minds may set their Hearts upon them and cause them to fall a reasoning thus with themselves If this be the good way why should not I walk in it Is a Godly Life such an Excellent Life can I approve it in others can I pronounce them blessed who so live Come my Soul put in for a part in Christ resolve once what thou wilt do stay not in these Uncertainties hang no longer betwixt Heaven and Hell speak the word once Wilt thou be for Christ Shall the Sincere Christians God be my God their Hope 's my Hopes their Life my Life Shall I cast in my Lot among them and take up my Lot with theirs Come along venture after the Lamb venture for the Blessedness to come set to Praying set to Hearing give thy self to the study and practice of that blessed course which thou knowest will have its Fruit unto Holiness and its end Everlasting Life And yet after all this little or nothing may be done These now are fair Preparations to Grace but this is not Grace Conviction is not Conversion the approving and liking and wishing for and making some ineffectual Attempts and Offers at Godliness this is not chusing and embracing it 2. There are Images of Grace which are not Grace There is a form of Godliness which is not Godliness 2 Tim. 3.5 An Image is not the same an Image of a Man is not a Man the Image of a Christian is not a Christian The Image of Christ is a Christian but the Image of a Christian is no Christian as great a likeness as there is yet there is as great a difference also as betwixt Living and Dead There is something like Faith which is not Faith something like Repentance which is not Repentance something like the New Man and is not it but the Old Man new dressed up and so like it may be in Complexion in Language in Carriage that it is often taken to be the same The Pangs of Travel may bring forth but when all comes to all it may be but a dead Child there may be all the Parts the Head the Eyes the Hands and every Limb but no Life and yet when it is but newly brought forth it may be hard to discern whether it be alive or dead so difficult is it to discern between Common and Special Grace so many Counterfeits have there been found which have both been Deceivers and deceived as is enough to make the Hearts of many Christians indeed to shake 3. There are some Properties of Gracious Persons which are no certain Evidences of Grace but may be found also in Hypocrites Nothing can evidence the Truth of Grace but that which is so adaequately proper to Saints that it cannot be found in an Hypocrite What-ever maybe found in an Hypocrite can never certainly prove me to be no Hypocrite Assuring Marks must be distiguishing Marks such as separate betwixt the Precious and the Vile and nothing can distinguish the Sound from the Unsound but that which the Unsound cannot attain As 't is said of some Sinners Deut. 32.5 Their Spot is not the Spot of his Children So may it be said of all Saints Their Grace is not the Grace of his Enemies and we can never come to give a clear and comfortable Judgment of our selves till we find something in us which is not to be found in any Hypocrites in the World But some Properties there are of Sincere Christians which may be found in Hypocrites which yet some Divines have some-what unwarily made use of and proposed for Peoples Tryal of their States Indeed it is much to be wished that we were more exact and cautelous in this Matter than many of us are at this day Though good use may be made of probable Evidences yet should we declare to our People which are but probable Marks and which are certainly concluding Of those Properties of Christians which some Divines have formerly given as Marks of Sincerity I shall mention three 1. Prayer 2. Hearing the Word 3. Reforming the Life 1. Prayer This is a property of a Sincere Christian He is praying Person Behold be prayeth 't was said of Paul when he was a young Convert Acts 9.11 The whole Generation of the Saints are called Psal 24.6 a Generation of Seekers This is the Generation of them that seek thee But are there no praying Hypocrites as well as praying Believers See Mat. 6. Will he alwayes call upon God saith Job Chap. 27.10 But though he will not pray alwayes yet will he never pray 2. Hearing the Word This also is the property of Christians they are Hearers of the Word Joh. 10.27 My Sheep hear my Voice 3. Reforming the Life 1 Cor. 6.11 Such were some of you that is Drunkards Revilers Covetous Fornicators c. but ye are washed Ye are now reformed Persons and are there no reformed Hypocrites Every Reformation is not Sanctification 'T is a good sight to see Men that once lived like Heathens and never called upon God to set upon a course of serious Prayer 'T is a good sight to behold others that not only neglected the Word but mocked at and persecuted those that heard it to be now become constant Hearers themselves 'T is a good sight and a comfortable to behold those that were once loose livers
still at a loss and in doubt how it is with me By this time you may see what an advantage there is in this Fear to help us to a right understanding of our states it will never rest searching till we be clearly satisfied Well but now you will say will you leave us here Shall our Fear still follow us with ' How may we know How may we prove that all this is in Sincerity Will you not help us out here what can you farther say that may non-plus our Fears and quiet us against such anxious and troublesome How may I know's may there nothing be brought forth to our help concerning which it may be said by this thou mayest know even all that thou desirest To this I answer 't is hard to bring up a Christian in this imperfect state to such full and infallible and satisfactory evidence of the soundness of his state that he should never again need to put the question How may I yet make a fuller proof of my self yet such marks there are laid down in Scripture and such helps there are for the clear discerning of them as may put a Christian beyond all perplexing and disquieting Doubts and Fears And to the end I may both the better assist the Fearing Christian to out-grow his groundless Fears and also may more effectually stir up the Fears of the unsound I shall a little enlarge here and lay down the most distinguishing Marks I find in Scripture to bring the Soul to a settlement Though I have endeavoured something this way in my Vindiciae Pietatis yet I shall here also say something to this purpose Now the marks that I shall lay down of true and saving-Grace shall be these three 1. A resolved choice of God for our portion and Happiness 2. An actual embracing of Christ as he that shall bring us to God 3. A giving up our selves to the practice of a Godly life The first mark 1. A resolved choice of God for our portion and happiness Here our fear will be putting in for satisfaction in 2 particulars 1. How may I know that he that hath chosen God is indeed a Godly man 2. How may I know that I have sincerely chosen God To the first Inquiry I shall give in the answer from Scripture and Reason 1. From Scripture This is the choice that the Scripture Saints have been recorded to have made This was Moses his choice Heb. 11.25 26. Choosing rather to suffer afflictions with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of Sin For he had respect to the recompence of reward This was David's choice Psal 16.2.5 O my soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance This was Asaph's choice Psal 73.25 26. Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee God is the strength of mine heart and my portion for ever This was Mary's choice Luk. 10.42 Mary hath chosen the good part which shall never be taken from her There are but two parts one of which every one chooses the good part and the evil part The good part is God and things above there is none good but one that is God and there is nothing good but one thing the grace and good will of God the evil part are all things below All the good things of the world are the evil part a good Estate a good Name a good House good Friends though they be good in their kind yet are an evil portion and he whose portion they are is an evil man Psal 17.4 Mary was a good Woman and 't is evident she was so for she made a good choice she chose the good part which shall never be taken from her 2. From Reason There are two things included in this choice of God that are infallible evidences of a godly man Our choosing of God for our happiness includes in it Our preferring of God above all things Our being made like unto God 1. Our preferring of God above all things Every man will choose the best that is that which he judges best and loves best The reason of mens choice is their liking that which they choose better than that which they refuse He that neglecting God chooses this world for his portion therein takes the Crown off the head of the Lord and sets it upon the world and sayes of it this is better for me then God he that neglecting the world chooses God for his portion therein sayes God is better than all 2. Our choosing of God for our happiness infers our being made like unto God Every man chooses for himself according to his own heart 'T is the heart that makes the choice and it chooses that which is most suitable to it The heart that chooses God 't is a sign both that it likes God best and is made like unto God As by mens particular choices here below you may judge what spirit they are of he that chooses the pleasures of the flesh shews himself to be of a sensual heart he that chooses riches shews himself to be of a covetous heart he that chooses the honours and pomps of the world shews himself to be of a proud heart so in mens general choice he that chooses for himself here below proves himself a worldly-minded man and he that chooses for himself above therein appears to be of an Heavenly mind He that hath chosen God 't is a sign that he is made like unto God 't is divine grace in the heart that hath made the choice There 's one of these two ruling powers in every heart Nature or Grace and look which of the two hath the rule 't is that which hath the casting voice in the choice that 's made and each of these do choose what 's suitable to them Corrupt nature chooses what 's suitable to it and finding nothing in God nor in all the world to come that will please it it chooses for it self below And a gracious heart chooses what 's most suitable to it and finding as little to content it in this world as a carnal heart doth in Heaven therefore gets it up and takes its lot above Nothing will content grace but God and Glory and nothing but grace can be content with God alone The heart of man will never be carried up to Heaven to pitch there till there be something of Heaven first let down into it to fetch it up Now he that prefers God above all and is made like unto God is certainly a godly man and thus the first enquiry is answered It is evident that he that hath chosen God is a godly man for this is lay'd down as a special character of the Saints in Scripture and in this choice of God is included our preferring God above all and one being made like unto him 2. How may I know that I have sincerely chosen God Here lyes the main doubt to be resolved There
out upon me in vain Behold the winter is past and the spring comes on the flowers appear the fig tree putteth forth and the vines with the tender grapes give a goodly smell Behold the fruits of that blessed blood and spirit in the reviving of this dead heart in the fructifying of this barren heart My Soul make thy boast of God though I have nothing of mine own but what I loath and am asham'd of yet here 's through rich mercy something of his fruits I have brought forth yet not I but the grace of God which was with me and his grace hath not been bestowed on me in vain Come on thou withering Soul cry out with the Spouse Awake thou North-wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden let the Spirit of the Lord breath upon me that my Spices may flow forth and my fruits may appear and then thou mayest go on now let my beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant fruits I cannot enumerate the particular fruits that you should bring forth they are all the fruits of righteousness but in hope that after all that hath been said your fear of being found among the barren may prepare you to receive some farther instruction for your growth and fructifying in every good work I shall only lay before you seven things which if they be in you and abound will make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ Follow after 1. Power 2. Activity 3. Severity 4. Simplicity 5. Ingenuity 6. Spirituality 7. Pleasure 1. Power Grace in the very being of it includes power 1 Cor. 4.20 The Kingdom or grace of God is not in word but in power Natural men have natural powers but there is nothing of spiritual power in them wishes and velleities they may have after that which is really and spiritually good O that I could forsake this world and crucifie this flesh and follow God and walk worthy of the Gospel in all things thus they may wish and desire but for their hearts they cannot come to it they cannot bring forth their wish into a will nor their will into performance The least child of God hath more of the power of God in him than the most knowing and the very best of natural men all the parts and vertues of a natural man do fall as much short as to this spiritual vital power of the least of Saints as a dead man does of a living child But yet where there is grace in the beginnings of it in comparison of what it may grow to its power may be small and its strength may be but weakness How great is the power of the healthy above the sickly and faint how much is the power of a man above the power of an infant 'T is well thou art alive but wilt thou still be but a child O what weakly Souls are many amongst the living Souls How ordinary is this complaint To will is present with me but how to perform I find not O how many frustraneous attempts and ineffectual offers do we make at an holy fruitful life we wish for more care and more diligence and more usefulness but still we fall short we are reaching towards but cannot reach to it We judge our selves for our failings we groan under our imperfect duties we are sick of those corruptions that are mingled with them but we cannot overcome them we lament our barrenness we hunger and thirst after more fruitfulness and yet we cannot obtain we cannot do the good that we would we cannot forbear to do the evils that we would not so weak is our heart that though we can weep over our falls and failings yet we cannot amend them But art thou not afraid to continue thus what if death should overtake thee thus how would'st thou dye when thy sin is so much alive yea how canst thou live in any peace whil'st thou seest thou livest to so little purpose Therefore my Brethren let me exhort you in the words of the Apostle Ephes 6.10 Be ye strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Put forth the power that you have receiv'd trust on God for more Put forth that power that you have that 's the way to encrease your strength Do not make your selves to be weaker than you are say not 't is for want of power that 't is no better with you when 't is for want of care and industry much more certainly might be done if we were better Stewards of what we have Let there not be a pretence of weakness to excuse your laziness do what thou canst thou canst do more than thou do'st and if indeed thy strength be but small thou knowest whether to go for more Study well and lay hold on that word Isa 40.28 29.31 Hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as the Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not be faint Christians let it not suffice you that you are men of understanding and good affections get a Spirit of power as well as of love and of a sound mind 2. Activity An unactive spirit is next to impotence Awaken from thy liveless wretchless temper put away sloth thou sluggard wilt thou still be a drone this drone hath a sting thine own Soul will feel it sooner or later that thy sloth will sting thee to the heart Christians let it appear that the spirit of the living God is in you by your sprightfulness and vivacity Shall the evil spirit be the only active spirit shall sinners flow forth in vanity and wickedness shall their filthy waters be such a quick and running stream and shall the waters of the Sanctuary be but as a standing pool Be bent for holy action be prepared and ready for every good work It 's said Ephes 2.10 that Christians are created unto good works in the very make and constitution of the new creature we may read its use and end we are new made for this very end and purpose we are adopted and prepared for an active useful life for those good works which God hath ordained that we should walk in them Thou had'st need stir up thy self and put thy self on lest thou quickly come to question whether thou be a new creature or no if thou continuest so backward and unready to that for which the new creature is Hast thou grace indeed blow off the ashes from that living coal that it may burn and shine out in a gracious life Fire it the most active of all the elements it will not be inclosed but will find a vent for its flames sure thou hast little of that divine fire in
brands out of the burning and rescuing them out of the power of the Devil in compelling the stragling and wandring Sheep into the Fold of the Lord or whatever else you have before you do it heartily as unto the Lord. What a world of good might a generation of hearty Christians do in the World how many Souls might be the better for them how many Families might bless God for them The blessing of Souls ready to perish might come upon them they may be the blessings of a whole Countrey they may be Lights to the World and Life to the dead Eyes to the blind Tongues to the dumb Feet to the lame and strength to them that have no might the Kingdom of God the Gospel of Christ would be advanced and adorned by them and the Synagogues of Sathan even depopulated and destroyed And how greatly would this both abound to their own account and tend to their own improvement in the Grace of God But wo to many of us yea and to the poor world also because an excuse must serve us instead of an heart we want time we want parts either opportunity or ability we have not thus we talk when 't is an heart only that 's wanting Hence 't is we stand so many of us like cyphers a company of useless and insignificant Souls which the Gospel and the Interest of Christ might spare and find little miss of in the world Friends do but find an heart and that will find you time and ability for other manner of service than hitherto you have done Well this is one thing implyed in Simplicity Heartiness 2. Singleness of heart Singleness of heart notes both plainness of heart without juggles and cheats or pretensions of what is not intended and oneness of heart as I may so speak that does not divide it self betwixt more Lords than one more Ends than one but runs out one way that has but one to serve and but one thing to do But of this having spoken largely elsewhere I shall say no more here 5. Ingenuity with good will doing Service Ephes 6.7 this good will notes that good nature which by grace we are wrought to inclining and disposing us to a more noble and free to a more chearful and ready serving the Lord. An ingenuous Christian doth not only serve the Lord really and without guile but readily and cheerfully it 's sweet to him to do good he bears good will to God for himself he feels the infinite goodness and worthiness of the Lord to melt and draw forth his Soul towards him the name and honour of God is in his heart and is so dear and precious to him that he feels something within him prompting him to all manner of expressions of love and duty to him He is become good natur'd and so not only in point of gratefulness he returns love for love good will for good will duty for kindness which he hath received but it is a pleasure to him to return good will for goodness love for his worthiness to be beloved The name of God he would have to be above every name it is his delight and therefore his desire that as the Lord is infinitely honourable so he should be abundantly honoured the very thing the magnifying and exalting the Lord is the great thing that sits upon his heart it is a pleasure to him that God is pleased and this he loves that God should be loved and served and hence is his care hence are his labours this is the spring-head of all his duties and God is the Ocean into which his streams do run He speaks for God and works for God and lives for God he studies to be holy and righteous he is busie and industrious he is watchful and painful and fruitful in good works that he may thereby shew forth the vertues of him that hath called him and glorifie his Father which is in Heaven He understands and feels that what he thus does for God is to himself also and will abound to his own account and everlasting blessedness and the good will he bears to his own Soul and the hopes he has of his own reward are as oyl to his wheels but his good will to his God is the main spring that sets them all a going O follow after this blessed frame get you such an ingenuous Spirit and then how sweet and easie will the very severities of Religion be The nearer you come up to this by so much the less need will you have of that fear which is so necessary to bring you hitherto Fear will now resign up to love to do its work more immediately by it self Not but that there may be still some use of it more or less so long as there is sin before us and any danger of our falling into it so long will love cause us to fear but as we are more grown up above the power of sin and are not so greatly in danger of it so fear abates By how much the more perfect love by so much the more hatred of sin and so much the less fear of it Love will now make as effectual a resistance against sin by Hatred as it did before by fear and for our course of duty we shall now run not with patience only but with chearfulness the race that 's set before us a chearful willing horse will the less need the rod or spur 6. Spirituality This and the former are twins and grows up together How fit is the spiritual man and how free will he be for spiritual work The new man is a spiritual man he is such from his birth Joh. 3.6 that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit but whil'st he is a child there is so little of spirit appearing in him that the Apostle sticks not to call him carnal 1 Cor. 3.1 I could not speak to you as to spiritual but as unto carnal even as to babes in Christ but as this Child grows up towards a perfect stature so he becomes more spiritual from day to day and accordingly he prospers in his work O Christians get you to be of a more elevated raised spirit through the more abundant diffusion of the spirit of Grace upon your hearts Live more in the contemplation of God Behold his face in righteousness and you shall be satisfied with his likeness Psal 17.15 2 Cor. 3.18 Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord we are changed from glory to glory into the same Image Hereafter we shall be perfectly like him because we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 and by how much the more we see him here by so much the more like him Acquaint your selves with God divine converses beget intimacy in Heaven and none so Heavenly as God's intimates we are too great Strangers in Heaven to have much of Heaven upon our hearts distance breeds difference by being such strangers we become more alienated from the life of God There is nothing more ordinary
than to receive the tincture of our society upon our hearts we like our acquaintance and are apt to grow like them Be familiar with the spiritual God and you will become more spiritually minded no such advance towards divine conformity as divine communion conformity will prepare for communion and communion will increase conformity Christians Be spiritual your work is spiritual it lyes in the exercise of spiritual Graces in the performance of spiritual duties in the offering up spiritual Sacrifices Your encouragements are spiritual encouragements spiritual priviledges comforts and rewards favour and acceptance with God fellowship and friendship with God peace of Conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost What are all these spiritual works and spiritual encouragements to carnal hearts how unfit is the spirit of a brute for the work of a man and how unsuitable is the Spirit of a man the carnal mind to the work of a Christian They that are in the flesh fleshly men cannot please God Rom. 8.8 1 Pet. 2.5 Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Sowing of fields planting of Orchards buying and selling and trading are as proper works for the beasts of the earth and as much they are like to do at it as blessing and praising and serving the living God to carnal men Sinners you also come together to pray and hear and Sing and serve the Lord but you are like to make as good works of it as to the spirit of these duties as your Cattel would do at building your houses or keeping your markets and by how much the more any amongst Christians are like you by so much the more unskilful are they like to be at the work of God And what are spiritual encouragements to carnal hearts how little would it quicken and provoke carnal men on in the Service of God to tell them as you grow more serviceable so you shall be more acceptable to God as you abound in duty so your grace and your comfort and your hopes and your joy shall abound If you could tell them This is the way to be rich to rise and grow great in this world you shall gain favour and friendship with men the Dignities and Preferments the Gold and the Silver shall be shared amongst the most active and industrious Christians What multitudes would this fetch in to be Disciples and what contending would there be who should be the most forward of all Christ's followers But whil'st this is all we can say you shall find grace in the eyes of the Lord you shall have treasure in Heaven we see by experience enough how little this will move them Get these hearts to be more Spiritualized and then you will find both the work of God and his rewards to be most acceptable work and the highest encouragements Friends what 's the reason that we so lose all our arguments which the Lord puts into our mouths to perswade you to more serviceable and fruitful life we open the good treasure of Heaven to you we set the unsearchable riches of Christ before your eyes and do what we can to enamour you of them thereby to allure on your lazy hearts to kindle desire to quicken to labour but nothing will do you are as slow and as heartless in your pursuit of these invisible treasures as if nothing had been told you of their worth and excellency how comes this to pass why are you 〈◊〉 yet carnal I that 's it that spiritual good things are no more taking with you your fleshly wayes your fleshly pleasures your fleshly converses and correspondencies have so kept alive and fed and fomented the carnality of your hearts that they cannot discern or taste the things of the Spirit When we are become more spiritual we shall savour and relish spiritual things and then shall we feel what attractives they will be our desires will be above our delights will be above our hearts will be lost to these carnal things we shall leave this earth to earthly minds when this mantle of flesh is fallen off and we are gotten up into the Chariots of fire then shall we ride upon the high places of the Heavens and our wings shall carry us on swiftly towards the mountains of Spices As far forth as we are become spiritual our motions upward will become natural and by how much the more natural by so much the more strong and pleasant the rougher things of Religion will be then more smooth and the hard things easie 't is this flesh that creates us difficulties when the flesh is swallowed up of Spirit difficulties shall be swallowed up of delight and then shall we go on our way rejoycing then shall we labour and abound in the work of the Lord when we shall thus taste and see that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. Lastly Follow after pleasure the Pleasure of Religion This will spring up to you out of the former branches as I have already hinted Get you such a Spirit of power and holy activity grow up to that exactness simplicity ingenuity and spirituality that you may drink of their pleasures Here I shall shew 1. That Religion hath its pleasure 2. That the pleasures of Religion are the portion of the grown Christian 3. What the particular pleasures of Religion are that we should be reaching after 1. Religion hath its pleasures You may remember I have been lashing and leading you on hitherto at least within a step or two by fear And though your fears will now in great part be left behind you I would not yet leave you That which follows will be of this use to you to encourage you to bear the rougher conduct of fear all along your younger time by that sweeter course you shall have of it when fear shall give up to love as the pleasures that comes in from the hopes of freedom doth allay and sweeten the the severities of an apprenticeship Religion hath its pleasure It hath its tartness and its trouble as you have seen already so much unpleasantness it hath in its fore view that foolish Sinners shun it and run away from it for fear They will not touch the Roses for fear of the prickles As 't is with Saints so 't is with Holiness 't is a Lilly among thorns these thorns not only hurt the Lillies but keep back the hand of the gatherers how many more than there are would be reaching after this precious flower but for fear of being scratch'd Well but whatever there be in Religion to affright it hath much more to invite us to it Her wayes are wayes of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Prov. 36.17 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thine house and thou shalt make them drink of the River of thy pleasures Psal 36.8 what and how great the pleasures of Religion are will be made appear in the third particular
he hath chosen thee John 15.16 Thou art sincerely come unto Christ and therefore he will in no wise cast thee out John 6.37 Thou orderest thy conversation aright and therefore to thee will he shew the Salvation of God Psal 50.23 Thou shalt see the good of his chosen and rejoyce with the joy of his people and glory with his inheritance And now methinks there should be a particoloured face upon this mixed company some of you methinks should have the joy of the Lord in your countenances and his praises in your lips What hath the Almighty brought me hitherto hath he indeed taken me for his own and mark'd me up for life hath he given me an heart to pitch upon him and to accept of his son and thereby witnessed that I am accepted of him Is this his very Image which is to be seen upon mine heart and life and may I now say with boldness I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine blesse the Lord O my soul and all that is within me blesse his holy name Others methinks should be sighing and shaking for fear These are the blessed of the Lord but O in what case am I wo is me if none be the Lords but those that have thus chosen him for theirs if none be the redeemed ones of Christ but those that are his followers in holiness and righteousness O I dread to think whose I am Have I chosen the Lord am I a follower of Christ woe woe is me 't is too evident that I have chosen earth and vanity and am a follower after lies Ah wretch that I am are all my hopes is all my confidence now at last come to this Sinner how is it that thy soul is not yet in sackcloth and ashes that trembling and astonishment hath not taken hold of thee Art thou yet in quiet art thou yet at ease Is it nothing to thee to see thy self without Christ and without God in the world or canst thou wink so fast that thou canst not yet see that this is thy very case sure thou hast lost either thine eyes or thine heart if thy fears are not yet fallen upon thee As for you O beloved whom these markes have proved to be the Lord's Rejoyce in the Lord ye righteous and again I say rejoyce and study to confirm and establish your hearts in the joy of the Lord by walking worthy of that grace wherein you stand And thus I have dispatched the first branch of the first direction Search what good there is in you or whether there be the grace of God in truth in your hearts 2. Search what evils there are found in you You that have made a through proof of the grace of God in you by what hath been already said this part of the direction which yet remaines is intended as to you to humble you under and make you more watchful against those evils which yet remain But it s chiefly intended to that sort of professors who having but slightly search'd themselvs have gotten up to a confidence that they are the children of God In order to your making a further discovery of your selves besides what hath been already hinted to the same purpose let me advise you to search yet deeper what sins and corruptions there may be found in you you hope there is the good seed sown but what tares are there to be found in you Some tares will be found in the best fields some weeds will remain in the best gardens but search if there be no ranke-weeds such as use not to be found in the garden of the Lord whether there be no grosse nor reigning sins with any of you or if any such be whether they be suffered to grow and get head and overtop and choke those hopeful blades when ever they appear is your hand upon them to pluck them up or your foot upon them to tread them down Deal faithfully and passe through all your fields mark and observe your ways and see what you can find Or if your life be clearer than it hath been and you find not much above ground search what 's under ground dig down to the roots descend into your hearts and when you go down into these deeps go down trembling to think what you may find there though you have washt your face and wip'd your mouth and cleansed your hands yet fear what you may find below Men that go down into the bottom of a deep Well or into some dark vault or cavern of the earth they go down trembling there may be toads or snakes Jym and Ohim may dwell there and you also know not what you may find in your deeps Tremble as you go down in search after the evils of your hearts If there be no oaths nor lyes no murthers or adulteries in your lives yet there may be whole nests of them in your hearts See if there be no Images of Jealousie set up there before which all within you fall down and worship if there be not another God within besides him that hath gotten the name without Search narrowly from room to room from corner to corner it may be you may find such evils as may amaze and astonish you If the Lord should lead you through your hearts as once he led the prophet Ezek. 8.5 c. from place to place and first shewed him the Image of jealousie and then by an hole through a wall and a door led him further where he saw every form of creeping things and abominable beasts all the Idols of the house of Israel pourtrayed upon the wall and the ancients of Israel worshiping them and leading him yet further he saw more and more and greater abominations than these If you should thus go in search through your hearts God knows what abominations you might find which yet you have not discovered nor suspected It may be you may find the world sitting upon the throne within you and if there be not the form of every creeping thing yet all the beasts of the field your horses and your oxen and your Sheep may be pourtrayed and engraven upon your hearts these temples of the Lord may be made stables and stalls and folds and barnes where your cattel and your corn may be lodg'd and laid up nay possibly you may find them dunghils full of Toads and Adders lyes and adulteries and all manner of unclean lusts may be breeding in them Or If you find nothing else see if that Image of Jealousie Self be not found behind the curtain sitting upon the throne of God with a crown of pride upon its head and all within you even your very religion doing homage to it and being made its servants Friends you little think what an inside you may have whatever your outside be Dig through the wall look through the hole and enter by the door and search with trembling lest where you hope to find Christ and the spirit of grace you should find the unclean spirit with
his abominations There have been many in the world who have been taken for sincere converts yea and eminent Christians in whom the divel hath seem'd to be slain at the first shot the old man hath seem'd to be knock'd down at the first blow and all on a sudden there hath appeared a spring tide of holy joyes and heavenly affections and their souls have been as it were caught up into the third heaven assoon as they have gotten their heads up out of the mud and mire and yet after awhile the old man gets heart again and those lusts which had been layd asleep for the time have risen up and gotten head again and that filthy fountain which was thought to have been quite drained and damm'd up hath broken its bay and cast out as great a floud of iniquities as ever there was before O fear lest it should be thus with thee lest whatever there be at top there be that lying at the bottom which may undo thee for ever lest sin and the divel be onely laid asleep but not slain lest though the enemy be beaten out of the field he be but only beaten into his hold where he still fortifies himself And be sure though he should have lost his outworks yet whilest he makes good the strong hold though the channels be swept and cleansed yet if the sink be choked up with mud and filth though the issues of the Apostumes be stop'd and dried yet if the bag and core be not gotten out though thou hast quite another face and seemest quite another man than heretofore though every one that sees thee rejoyces in the change that 's made upon thee and with the greatest confidence proclaims the A convert a disciple an Israelite indeed and thou blessest thy self in thine own heart saying Now I have peace yet is there that within which will break down all thy hopes and make thy friends ashamed of their joyes they once had over thee Fear lest this should be thy case and get thee down into thine heart and search yet again whether it be or no. Brethren I would not check the least buds of the spring I would not nip the first blossomings towards true grace peace I would cherish the least of the new creatures of God from the first springing of the babe in the womb O that every soul among you were come so far onward as the little ones among you God forbid that any of you should be discouraged or frighted back by your being put in fear that you are not yet come home But however he that is gotten up to a confidence that the work is done that he hath the seed of God and the life of God within him let him search if there be not such hidden wickednesses within him which he never minded nor thought on that may give him just ground to fear and in fear to put it again to the question whether his estate be so good and so sure as he concluded it Direct 2. Fear and beware That 's a special use of fear to make to beware Fear sin and beware of it fear the wrath of God and beware that it fall not on thee Particularly Fear and Hide Fear and Flee 1. Fear and hide When our first parents had sinned and were afraid Gen. 3.7.8 They went and hid themselves from the presence of God among the trees of the garden It s true 't was but a poor hiding place that they found there was never a tree in all the garden that had shade enough to hide them from the all seeing eye but yet you see how their fear works it made them to hide Prov. 22.3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself If you ask what or when or how shall we hide I answer 1. Get your sins hid Psal 32.1 Blessed is he whose sin is covered There is a covering of sin which proves a curse Prov. 28.13 He that covereth his sin shall not prosper there is a covering it by not confessing it or which is worse by denying it Gehazi's covering a covering of sin by a lye and there is also a covering of sin by justifying our selves in it I have not done this thing or I did not evil in it all these are evil coverings he that thus covereth his sin shall not prosper But there is a blessed covering of sin Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered forgiveness of sin is the hiding it out of sight and that 's the blessedness There is an uncovering of sin which is something towards its covering He that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall have mercy Prov. 28.13 confession is the way to remission Sin is never hid till it be thus open'd There is an impudent opening of sin and a penitent opening of it 1. An impudent opening of sin Isa 3.9 They declare their sin as Sodom they hid it not they are naked and are not ashamed they make their boast of sin and glory in their shame 2. There is a penitent opening of sin and that is by confessing it and condemning our selves for it and this is the opening that is the way to hide it Confession leads on to repentance and repentance to remission the confessing penitent carries his sin to Christ for a pardon and that 's its covering In that time the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the sins of Judah and they shall not be found Jerem. 50.20 in that time in what time why in the day of pardon as in the last words of the verse shall the iniquity of Israel be sought for who will seek for it will God rip up old sores will God rake up old quarrels who will seek it why 1. Whether God seek it or no to be sure the accuser Satan will be seeking for it Yea and 2. God also the justice of God in a sence maybe said to seek for it the righteousness of God will as I may so speak have inquiry made if any sin still stand upon Israels and Judahs score if any uncancell'd bills or uncrossed scores may be found against them but what ever enquiry be made in that day the day of pardons there shall be none found Their remission is such a covering of sins as righteousness will not look through to revenge them Beloved get your sins thus hidden see that they do not lye open to the revenger confesse them repent of them get you to Christ for a pardon Do not deny or extenuate them 't is sad covering sin with sin that will be as the diping the wool in the furnace the second time the dye will be the deeper Get the Covenant the blood of the Covenant for a covering Carry your sores and your ulcers open before the Lord for his covering LORD 't is a vain thing for me to deny it or to excuse what I have done it cannot be excused I have done foolishly I have done wickedly and mine iniquity is marked